Top remote startups to work for in 2022

We are halfway into 2022, and there is a massive spike in demand for skilled remote workers. That means that more than ever, remote companies are having to go above and beyond to attract and retain the best talent. This is good news for the remote workforce as remote job openings are popping up everywhere.

At Building Remotely, we wanted to recognize the top remote startups that are going above and beyond to make their companies an absolute pleasure to work at. We selected these companies using 3 criteria:

P.S. We have also released a super insightful article on how to get a remote job! Take a look, and make sure you sign up for email updates on this page to stay updated!

Company size: 180 Why were they selected? Collaboration and diversity are the core pillars of Bunny Studio. They hire people that are awesome at what they do, but also want to improve every day. They embrace transparency, giving everyone access to all company metrics, including financials and salaries. Team members have access to an education budget for personal development, and are currently experimenting with a 4 day work week. Asynchronous communication systems allow remote employees to work from any time zone. They also have unlimited PTO, give 4 months of gender-neutral parental leave, and will even pay 70% of your most recent salary for 78 weeks should you come down with a serious health condition. Woah! To back it up by data, for the last 2 years, their turnover has been on average 6% and our e-NPS scored an avg. of 86.

Hiring? Yes! You can see open roles here.

Company size: 1400 Why were they selected? Gitlab is one of the world’s largest all-remote companies, and is incredibly intentional about how it sustains its culture as it continues to grow and scale. At the center of everything they do are six company values: Collaboration, Results, Efficiency, Diversity & Inclusion, Iteration, and Transparency. To sustain this culture as new team members are added, Gitlab incorporates these values into the hiring process from the very beginning. While they have a clear bias towards asynchronous communication, Gitlab is also extremely intentional about fostering informal communication to build connections and culture, like coffee chats, social hours, breakout groups, special interest Slack channels, Contributes, etc.

Hiring? Yes! See open roles here.

Company size: 273 Why were they selected? The best remote companies are deliberate about the things office-bound companies take for granted. At Remote, communication happens mostly in open channels and in documentation, not in private messages. Remote hires people from all over the world, and is one of the top companies in the world when it comes to offering global benefits for the team. Remote is composed of a diverse global team, with more than 270 people in 47 countries on six continents.

Company size: 80 Why were they selected? It should be noted that Building Remotely is a SafetyWing resource. Having said that, the company that provides remote benefits for other remote companies has some of the best benefits themselves. The team has an enforced minimum PTO policy of 20 days a year, offers their own global health insurance product and pension plans. The company also flies the team around the world for an in-person gathering several times a year. Additionally, there are fun benefits that pop up throughout events and gatherings like office stipends and health and wellness benefits where the team can choose what works best for them.

Hiring? Yes! See open roles here.

Team: 90 Employees Why were they selected? Doist's mission is to help people do more each day so they can make the most of their potential. Defining themselves as a productive, virtual team (that makes productivity tools), Doist is united by a common goal, not a common location. Over 25 million people currently use Doist's products in their daily lives. Team members are encouraged to pursue personal projects and receive a recurring budget for their personal education, while being offered 40 holiday days and generous parental leave policies. And of course, you can work from anywhere in the world.

Hiring? Yes! Check out their opportunities here.

Company size: 100 Why were they selected? Galactic Fed is an incredibly friendly team that believes in treating each other with kindness. They take the time to recognize a job well done. The team does things like company-wide Photo Competitions and shows real appreciation for employees by treating individual achievements as a team celebration. In addition, they also take part in courses, training and skill enhancement workshops to make sure everyone is growing in their careers. If you are looking for a fun team focused on personal development, you've found the place!

Hiring? Yes! See open roles here.

Company size: 10 Why were they selected? Establishing a remote culture is tough, especially when you are small and new as a startup. When employees are scattered across different time zones and continents, priorities are often procedural or productivity-first. This means that the building of inter-team connections often falls to the bottom of the list. Hacker Paradise believes that their employees' output is directly related to the bonds they have with each other. They're a close-knit team that has taken time to get to know each other beyond the professional context, despite being remote. It's the single most important thing that makes Hacker Paradise a great remote company to work for, and why they made it on the list.

Hiring? Yes! See open roles here.

Company size: 20 people Why were they selected? A lot goes into a healthy remote culture, but for Goosechase it comes down to trust, transparency, and a genuine value for people and their time. Goosechase feels that leaders and team members need to be transparent about successes, failures, direction and objectives. While most companies are micromanaging things like vacation time, Goosechase has decided to be strict on enforcing employees taking time off to recharge and explore other interests outside of work. The leaders know a happy team = happy customers.

Hiring? Yes! See open roles here.

Company Size: 26 Why were they selected? Fluent Forever is a mission-driven company with a specific goal of enabling ten million people to have comfortable conversations in a foreign language by 2030. They use PFARD Values (proactive, fun, authentic, responsive, direct) to ensure working at the company is both enjoyable and productive. These values are at the forefront of their workplace culture and everyone works to continually improve in these areas personally, professionally, and collectively. They also have weekly team member trivia and monthly team games to foster fun and informal communication and relationships.

Hiring? Yes! See open roles here.

Company Size: 28 Why were they selected? Remote or not, WRKOUT believes great people make great companies. They go out of their way to find people that bring a variety of skills, viewpoints and interests to the team, and once we find great teammates we never stop respecting their differences. Remote work can be hard on the body and mind but being a connected fitness startup, WRKOUT is lucky to be able to support the health of their remote workforce by providing access to a world-class training team. Also, the WRKOUT virtual “Happy Hour” that kicks off the weekend every Friday afternoon, has become an internally famous embodiment of the team’s WRK HARD PLAY HARD culture.

Company Size: 186 Why were they selected? There's a certain magic that happens when a company can combine its product with its culture. JAM is your one-stop shop for all things play and all of the teammates really embrace this mentality at work. They are promoting the power of play on a global scale through online virtual events, in-person events, and sports leagues. JAM's purpose is to connect people through play remotely and in person, and this translates directly into the company culture. Being experts at helping other teams strengthen their bonds has helped JAM to ensure theirs is the strongest it can be.

Hiring? Yes! See open roles here.

Company size: 40 Why were they selected? Producers Market has a unique company culture that values authenticity, real connection, and transparent communication—not only between producers and consumers, but also within the company, between team members. They believe it is a privilege to work with a team of humans who inspire every day, and who motivate others to live their passions and values in the workplace, and beyond. They're also serious about uplifting value chains and empowering farmers, and know that this work must begin right in their own community. That's why Producers Market team members are encouraged to take initiative and embody our mission from the ground up. Oh, and they laugh a lot, too!

Team Size: 12 Why were they selected? Growmotely is not only a fully remote and async company (with an unlimited leave policy), but the company's mission from day one has been to be the leading global remote work platform, placing experienced professionals all around the globe into long term remote positions (with benefits) at companies they feel aligned with. The higher vision driving this mission is to support the evolution of conscious culture and conscious work and create equality, growth, fulfillment, freedom and empowerment for all. Their culture is built on trust and co-creation and steered towards empowerment and ownership, and tapping into our full potential.

Hiring? Yes! See open roles here.

Team: 26 Why were they selected? Makrwatch is a fast-paced, growing, and versatile company that was launched just over 5 years ago and is connecting talented content creators with impactful brands. They have a diverse team of 100% remote workers that are distributed all over the world. What makes Makrwatch stand out compared to other remote companies, is their generous parental leave policy, remote office compensation, dedicated study time and a yearly retreat for the whole team - not to mention complete location independence, flexible working hours and a high level of autonomy and impact of your work.

Hiring? Yes! check out their open roles here.

Team: 270 Why were they selected? Rhino is a multi-award winning team, recognized for their innovation by Ivory Prize Housing as one of the best small companies to work for by Built In NYC. Their mission of bringing greater financial freedom to renters everywhere is changing an industry and their employees benefit from a flexible remote work policy, 401k contributions, as well as paid time off and parental perks. Moreover, gym memberships are subsidized and a wide range of mental well-being resources are offered for free. Additionally, 90% of employee health premiums are covered.

Hiring? Yes! Check out open positions here.

Team: 10 Why are they selected? Bravely established a fully remote and flexible work policy that actively supports work-life balance. Employees are not allowed to work on the weekends, and also have unlimited mental health days — no questions asked. This ties in with their mission of providing a holistic, evidence-based solution to mental well-being. They have worked hard to build a diverse and respected team, with a strong culture of active care and inclusion. The people of the team make Bravely what it is and one's skillset is considered secondary to their character and authenticity.

Hiring? Soon! Keep an eye out for open roles here.

Check out the podcast episode we recorded with Melissa Ng, the founder of Bravely on "Using remote work to improve your mental health"!

Team: 46 Employees Why are they selected? Representing ten countries on three continents (and counting), Jobbatical is a global team working to solve a global problem. They aim to decrease friction when hiring remotely, by making it easier for employees to immigrate to their country of choice. Spearheading the first Digital Nomad Visa was just one their impressive steps towards that goal and the vision of a more open global world is represented by Jobbatical's flexible and inclusive remote work policy.

Hiring? Yes! You can see open roles here.

Team: 75 people Why were they selected? The Impala team believes that, when done right, remote work allows people to do their best work and live their best lives. Today’s best-ever remote companies are intentionally designing work processes, programs, and team culture that breeds trust. They know that remote team success depends on a lot more than your tool stack or synchronous hours worked - and that, at the heart of a high-performing company, is a group of people deeply connected and committed to not only their daily work, but also each other.

Hiring? Yes! You can see open roles here.

Company size: 85 Why were they selected? Buffer's team is distributed around 15 countries, so you can truly live and work where you choose. The internal culture is based around 6 values: default to personality, cultivate positivity, show gratitude, practice reflection, improve consistently and act beyond yourself. These values stretch from everyday life within the company into their product development. Hiring? Yes! You can see open roles here.

Why were they selected? Oyster believes that teams who work together in a cohesive way outperform the rest, and that is why they put together a public Notion page outlining How They Work Together. This acts as their company-wide operating system, outlining internal communication processes, goal systems, rituals, and some commonly adopted time management and efficiency practices. Oyster is proudly a 100% distributed company, with a growing number of continents already represented among their diverse team. They embrace being a remote-first organization because they want to open their doors to any talented, like-minded individuals who wish to join their team, wherever they might happen to live in the world. They're also inspired by the opportunity to combine high-performance as a team with great work/life balance.

Hiring? Yes! You can see open roles here.

Company size: 200 Why were they selected? Care is a cornerstone of Deel and their competitive advantage. According to Deel: "we demonstrate it in our every action and communication. We are happy people, we focus on the good and consider ourselves critical optimists." They had an incredible last year of growth, and it's a testament to focus on values that they've been able to maintain this culture while scaling so rapidly.

Hiring? Yes! See open roles here.

Think there is a remote company that should have been on the list? Nominate a company here!