StartupJobList_
35 Active Listings Updated December 2025

Backend Salary Data

Real compensation packages for Backend developers at high-growth startups. Based on direct data from Hacker News "Who is Hiring" threads.

Median Salary

$150,000

/year
Based on 35 verified postings

Market Range (P25 - P75)

$132,000-$176,000
Entry ($87,500)MedianTop ($200,000)

Top Companies Hiring

Location Distribution

Remote69%
San Francisco Bay Area17%
Other14%

verified_listings

Stealth AI Startup
Founding engineer (ML & Backend)
[F]CRUNCH
$200,000 - $500,000
LLMMachine LearningBackendForecastingArtificial Intelligence
Y
Phantom
Full-stack Senior Software Engineer
[E]grind
$180,000 - $220,000
FrontendBackendApisData PipelinesWeb3
Y
HockeyStack
Backend/Infra Engineer
[E]CRUNCH
$180,000 - $250,000
BackendInfra
Y
DuckDuckGo
Multiple Roles
[E]grind
$178,500 - $243,800
Windows Desktop AppAndroidBackendProduct Design
Y
DuckDuckGo
Multiple Roles
@HRstable
$178,500 - $178,500
Windows Desktop AppAndroidBackend
Y
DuckDuckGo
Multiple Roles
@HRstable
$178,500 - $243,800
Windows Desktop AppAndroidBackendReactTypeScript
Y
DuckDuckGo
Multiple Roles
@HRgrind
$176,000 - $176,000
BackendC++
Y
DuckDuckGo
Multiple Roles
@HRstable
$176,000 - $242,000
AndroidWindowsSite ReliabilityBackend
Y
DuckDuckGo
Multiple Roles
@HRstable
$176,000 - $242,000
C++BackendWindows Desktop App
Y
Adobe
Senior Software Engineer (Behance – Graph & Recommendations)
[E]grind
$170,500 - $320,000
Neo4jGraph DatabasesBackend
Y
Ascertain
Engineers (Fullstack, Backend, Frontend, ML, Senior Data)
[F]CRUNCH
$170,000 - $200,000
Full StackBackendFrontendMachine LearningData
Y
Cocoon
Infrastructure Engineer, Senior Backend Engineer, Senior Product Engineer
@HRgrind
$170,000 - $230,000
InfrastructureBackend
Y
Clockwise
Senior Infrastructure Engineer
[E]CRUNCH
$160,000 - $230,000
KubernetesAWSJenkinsTerraformPostgreSQL
Y
DuckDuckGo
Multiple Roles
@HRgrind
$160,000 - $242,000
C++BackendWindows Desktop App
Y
Turnstile
Backend Technical Lead (data), Frontend Technical Lead, Frontend Engineer, Fullstack Engineer, others (opportunistic)
[F]grind
$155,000 - $250,000
BackendFrontendFull Stack
Y
SmarterDx
Multiple roles
[F]CRUNCH
$150,000 - $230,000
Artificial IntelligenceHealth TechData ScienceMachine LearningBackend
Y
SmarterDx
Multiple roles
[E]grind
$150,000 - $230,000
Artificial IntelligenceData AnalyticsMachine LearningBackend
Y
BRINC Drones
Senior/Principal Full-stack Engineer or Senior/Principal Backend & Platform Engineer
[E]CRUNCH
$150,000 - $225,000
Full StackBackendPlatformCloud ServicesWeb App
Y
SmarterDx
Multiple roles
[E]grind
$150,000 - $250,000
Artificial IntelligenceMachine LearningData ScienceFull StackBackend
Y
Modus
Javascript/Frontend Developer, Designer, Backend Developer
[F]grind
$150,000 - $220,000
JavaScriptFrontendBackend
Y
Sleeper
Backend Engineer
[E]stable
$150,000 - $200,000
Backend
Y
Duolingo
Multiple Roles
@HRstable
$148,800 - $274,600
DatabasePlatformMobileBackendData Science
Y
Icario Health
Sr. Software Engineer
[E]stable
$140,900 - $157,600
CloudJavaJavaKubernetesBackend
Y
Protect AI
Senior Product Designer, Senior Software Engineer, Senior Solutions Architect
@HRgrind
$140,000 - $200,000
Artificial IntelligenceMachine LearningCybersecurityBackendFrontend
Y
Protect AI
Senior Product Designer, Senior Product Manager, Senior Software Engineer, Senior Solutions Architect
[E]grind
$140,000 - $200,000
Artificial IntelligenceMachine LearningCybersecurityBackendFrontend
Y
Moov Financial
Software Engineer
@HRstable
$135,000 - $215,000
FrontendBackend
Y
Apsis Labs
Staff Frontend Engineer
[E]grind
$132,000 - $132,000
FrontendFull StackBackend
Y
Offstream
Backend software engineer
[E]grind
$130,000 - $170,000
BackendFrontend
Y
Continue
Founding Engineer
[F]grind
$130,000 - $170,000
Vs CodeJetbrainsLLMFrontendBackend
Y
Continue
Founding Engineer
[F]grind
$130,000 - $170,000
Vs CodeJetbrainsChatgptFrontendBackend
Y
Continue
Founding Engineer
[F]grind
$130,000 - $170,000
Vs CodeJetbrainsChatgptFrontendBackend
Y
Ntropy
Machine Learning Engineer, Full-Stack/LLM Engineer, (Senior) Backend Engineer, Front-End Engineer
@HRgrind
$130,000 - $200,000
Machine LearningLlmsBackendFrontend
Y
Squint
Engineering
[F]grind
$125,000 - $170,000
ArArtificial IntelligenceBackendMobileFull Stack
Y
Attio
Senior Product Engineer
[E]CRUNCH
$108,000 - $150,000
CrmUIFrontendBackend
Y
DuckDuckGo
Multiple Roles
[F]stable
$87,500 - $243,800
Windows Desktop AppAndroidBackendReactTypeScript
Y
Showing 35 of 35 jobs
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Commonly Paired With

Frontend 40%Machine Learning 31%Artificial Intelligence 20%
## Market Signal (December 2025)

Top Hirers: DuckDuckGo leads hiring for Backend roles with 8 active posts, followed by SmarterDx.

### 🌍 Location & Remote Dynamics
Remote-Friendly: Backend is highly remote-friendly, with 69% of roles open to remote work. Remote Premium: Remote Backend roles currently fetch a 14% salary premium (median $160,000) compared to onsite positions.

### 💡 Tech Stack Context
Common Stack: 40% of Backend jobs also require Frontend, and 31% mention Machine Learning.

### 💰 Compensation Analysis
The median base salary for Backend developers is $150,000, with top-tier roles (P75) reaching $176,000.