Compare/Head to head

Lenny’s Jobs vs Work at a Startup

Same facts, side by side: starting price, free tier, MCP, API and what each one is actually built for.

Starting price

Lenny’s Jobs

Free Free tier

Free job board for product, engineering, design and growth roles at tech companies, built by Lenny Rachitsky with TrueUp. For employers it is a free channel, not a paid one: roles shared in the paid subscriber Slack or under Lenny's monthly “Who's hiring?” posts on X and LinkedIn are added to the feed, and jobs at Series A and later tech companies are tracked automatically.

Where Lenny’s Jobs fits

  • Tech startups hiring product managers, engineers, designers or growth marketers
  • Founders and hiring managers already active in Lenny's community
  • Series A and later companies that want their open roles found by builder talent

Work at a Startup

Free Free tier

Work at a Startup is Y Combinator's own job platform for the companies it has funded. YC publishes no employer price and lists it as a founder benefit. It only fits YC portfolio companies hiring engineers and early team members.

Where Work at a Startup fits

  • YC-funded startups
  • Founders hiring early engineers
  • Startups willing to show salary and equity
  • Teams hiring founding or first employees

At a glance

DetailLenny’s JobsWork at a Startup
Starting priceFreeFree
Free tier✓Yes✓Yes
MCP server–No–No
Public API–No–No
Listed underJob boardsJob boards, Sourcing

Where they pull apart

Lenny’s Jobs

Stands out: The audience. Lenny's Newsletter and podcast reach a large community of product managers, engineers, designers and growth people, and roles shared there carry a “Lenny's Community” tag in the feed. Every company is vetted, ghost roles and generic staffing-agency posts are filtered out, and each job sits next to TrueUp data on funding, layoffs, headcount growth and compensation.

Watch out: There is no paid job posting or employer product yet; the site says one is in the works. Getting a role in front of the community means either a paid Lenny's Newsletter subscription for the Slack, or replying to the monthly “Who's hiring?” posts. Coverage is limited to four builder roles, so it is not a channel for sales, operations or non-tech hiring, and staffing-agency posts are filtered out by design.

Not the right fit for

  • Staffing agencies posting client roles
  • Employers who want to buy sponsored reach or applicant volume today
  • Hiring outside product, engineering, design and growth

Work at a Startup

Stands out: Every employer on the site is a YC company, and listings show salary and equity ranges alongside the YC batch. Candidates use one profile across hundreds of startups, and founders can reach out to them directly. YC also promotes roles through its own events and expos.

Watch out: You must be a YC-funded company to post, so it is not an option for most employers. YC publishes no employer pricing page or feature list, so details of the recruiter tools are not public.

Not the right fit for

  • Companies outside the YC portfolio
  • Enterprise or high-volume hiring
  • Non-startup employers

Pros and cons

Lenny’s Jobs

  • Free, with a large and focused product and tech audience
  • Ghost roles and staffing-agency posts filtered out
  • Each job shown with funding, layoff, headcount and pay data
  • No paid posting or employer product yet
  • Community posting runs through a paid newsletter Slack or monthly social threads
  • Only four role families covered

Work at a Startup

  • No published cost for YC companies
  • Salary and equity shown on listings
  • Candidates choose startups on purpose
  • Closed to non-YC companies
  • No public employer feature or pricing page
  • Audience skews to startup-minded candidates

What each one costs

Lenny’s Jobs

Free

Lenny's Jobs is free for job seekers, and the vendor says it will stay free. Paid Lenny's Newsletter subscribers get higher AI limits, unlimited personalized results and an AI agent that emails matching new jobs. There is no paid job posting for employers yet; roles are added from the paid subscriber Slack, from replies to Lenny's monthly "Who's hiring?" posts, and by automatic tracking of Series A and later tech companies, and the vendor says an employer option is in the works. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 5 Oct 2026

Work at a Startup

Free

Y Combinator does not publish a price for employers. Work at a Startup is listed among the benefits YC founders receive, and access is limited to YC-funded companies, so there is no plan a non-YC company can buy. Candidates join for free. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 26 Sep 2026

Common questions

Can you try Lenny’s Jobs or Work at a Startup for free?
Lenny’s Jobs and Work at a Startup carry a free tier on our listing.

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Editorial listings, never paid rankings. Prices checked 5 Oct 2026. Confirm current terms on the vendor site. Spot an error?