For a lot of people, working for a small company is better than working for a large one. The best small companies offer a faster pace, more access to the top brass, and great opportunities for growth. But finding the right small company is key.
So job-hunting and employee-review site Comparably analyzed its database of over 3 million employee ratings on 30,000 US companies to come up with this list of the top small companies, based on overall employee satisfaction rating. Small companies were defined as firms with less than 500 employees.
For its reviews, Comparably conducts detailed questionnaires, asking about everything from compensation information to areas like “Are your company’s meetings effective?” and “Do you have a mentor at work?”
To make the list, each company needed at least 10 employee reviews with at least 100 ratings (feedback on specific questions). Companies with employees who answered more questions were weighted more heavily than those with staffers that provided fewer answers. Comparably also limited the data to reviews written in 2017.
Tech companies, known for their high pay and perks, dominated the list.
No. 50: Entelo
Satisfaction rating: 3.81 out of 5
Company: Entelo
Headquarters: San Francisco
What it does:Entelo offers a recruiting platform that helps HR professionals to find candidates.
No. 49: Baker
Satisfaction rating: 3.83 out of 5
Company: Baker
Headquarters: Denver
What it does: Baker makes customer management and marketing software for the marijuana dispensary industry.
No. 48: Acorns
Satisfaction rating: 3.85 out of 5
Company: Acorns
Headquarters: Irvine, California
What it does: Acorns is a finance company that specializes in "micro investing." It rounds up every purchase that you make to the nearest dollar, then invests that change in stocks and bonds of your choosing.
No. 47: Chrome River Technologies
Satisfaction rating: 3.87 out of 5
Company: Chrome River Technologies
Headquarters: Los Angeles
What it does: Chrome River Technologies offers expense reporting and invoice management software.
No. 46: Unitrends
Satisfaction rating: 3.9 out of 5
Company: Unitrends
Headquarters: Burlington, Massachusetts
What it does: Unitrends offers computer storage backup software and disaster recovery hardware for small businesses.
No. 45: RevLocal
Satisfaction rating: 3.91 out of 5
Company: RevLocal
Headquarters: Granville, Ohio
What it does: RevLocal helps businesses create and manage their online marketing campaigns.
No. 44: CreativeLive
Satisfaction rating:3.92 out of 5
Company: CreativeLive
Headquarters: Seattle
What it does: CreativeLive offers online classes for creative skills (design, photography, graphics, etc.)
No. 43: Revolution Prep
Satisfaction rating: 3.94 out of 5
Company: Revolution Prep
Headquarters: Santa Monica, California
What it does: Revolution Prep is a private tutoring and test-prep company.
No. 42: Widen Enterprises
Satisfaction rating: 3.95 out of 5
Company: Widen Enterprises
Headquarters: Madison, Wisconsin
What it does: Widen offers a cloud service for managing and analyzing a business's digital content photos, web-to-print templates and so on.
No. 41: DroneDeploy
Satisfaction rating: 3.97 out of 5
Company: DroneDeploy
Headquarters: San Francisco
What it does: Drone Deploy offers software to capture images, map flights and analyze data captured by drone cameras.
No. 40: Events.com
Satisfaction rating: 3.97 out of 5
Company: Events.com
Headquarters: San Diego
What it does: Event.com offers event planning software and online registration software.
No. 39: Asana
Satisfaction rating: 3.98 out of 5
Company: Asana
Headquarters:San Francisco
What it does: Asana offers cloud-based software that helps teams manage projects and collaborate.
No. 38: Cotopaxi
Satisfaction rating: 4.01 out of 5
Company: Cotopaxi
Headquarters:Salt Lake City
What it does: Cotopaxi makes outdoor gear and apparel to fund charitable giving.
No. 37: Wave Financial Inc.
Satisfaction rating: 4.01 out of 5
Company: Wave Financial
Headquarters: Toronto
What it does: Wave offers financial software for small businesses.
No. 36: PC Pitstop
Satisfaction rating: 4.03 out of 5
Company:PC Pitstop
Headquarters: Sioux City, Iowa
What it does: PC Pitstop offers PC security software and software to detect performance performance problems.
No. 35: OmegaFi
Satisfaction rating: 4.07 out of 5
Company: OmegaFi
Headquarters:Columbus, Georgia
What it does: OmegaFi offers software to help Greek life fraternal organizations run their chapters.
No. 34: Mobomo
Satisfaction rating: 4.08 out of 5
Company: Mobomo
Headquarters: Vienna, Washington
What it does: Mobomo designs applications and websites for companies and government agencies.
No. 33: Harp Interactive
Satisfaction rating: 4.08 out of 5
Company: Harp Interactive
Headquarters: Lombard, Illinois
What it does: Harp Interactive is a digital marketing and advertising agency that helps companies with social media and search engine advertising.
No. 32: Swift Navigation
Satisfaction rating: 4.1 out of 5
Company: Swift Navigation
Headquarters: San Francisco
What it does: Swift Navigation provides GPS software and technology for autonomous vehicles.
No. 31: BizMerlin
Satisfaction rating: 4.11 out of 5
Company: BizMerlin
Headquarters: Vienna, Washington
What it does: BizMerlin makes HR software that helps companies hire, onboard and manage employees.
No. 30: Zeel
Satisfaction rating: 4.13 out of 5
Company: Zeel
Headquarters: New York
What it does: Zeel is a marketplace for hiring vetted massage therapists.
No. 29: Simplus
Satisfaction rating: 4.15 out of 5
Company: Simplus
Headquarters: Salt Lake City
What it does: Simplus offers software for delivering quotes and estimates for use with Salesforce's software.
No. 28: Kollective Technology
Satisfaction rating: 4.15 out of 5
Company:Kollective Technology
Headquarters: Bend, Oregon
What it does: Kollective offers software that helps corporate computer networks run faster.
No. 27: Lullabot
Satisfaction rating: 4.15 out of 5
Company: Lullabot
Headquarters: Providence, Rhode Island
What it does: Lullabot is a user interface design and application development consultant.
No. 26: RealSelf
Satisfaction rating: 4.15 out of 5
Company: RealSelf
Headquarters: Seattle
What it does: RealSelf is a website that helps people find doctors and treatments for cosmetic procedures.
No. 25: Jammber
Satisfaction rating: 4.16 out of 5
Company: Jammber
Headquarters: Chicago
What it does: Jammber offers software for music production and digital collaboration.
No. 24: Designing Digitally
Satisfaction rating: 4.18 out of 5
Company:Designing Digitally
Headquarters: Franklin, Ohio
What it does: Designing Digitally offers corporate online training software.
No. 23: BoldLeads
Satisfaction rating: 4.19 out of 5
Company:BoldLeads
Headquarters:Chandler, Arizona
What it does:BoldLeads offers cloud software to help real estate professionals list properties and generate leads.
No. 22: ParqEx
Satisfaction rating: 4.19 out of 5
Company:ParqEx
Headquarters: Chicago
What it does: ParqEx is an app that lets people rent out their private parking spots.
No. 21: Demandbase
Satisfaction rating: 4.21 out of 5
Company:Demandbase
Headquarters:San Francisco
What it does: Demandbase offers marketing software that helps companies identify and close bigger deals with their key accounts.
No. 20: Ytel
Satisfaction rating: 4.21 out of 5
Company: Ytel
Headquarters:Foothill Ranch, California
What it does: Ytel offers contact-center software that conducts telephone marketing and handles inbound calls.
No. 19: Lingotek
Satisfaction rating: 4.24 out of 5
Company: Lingotek
Headquarters: Lehi, Utah
What it does: Lingotek offers web-based automated language translation tools.
No. 18: Striim
Satisfaction rating: 4.26 out of 5
Company:Striim
Headquarters: Palo Alto, California
What it does: Striim offers software to analyze large amounts of data in real time.
No. 17: Enthusem
Satisfaction rating: 4.3 out of 5
Company: Enthusem
Headquarters: Tampa, Florida
What it does: Enthusem offers software that automates and personalizes direct marketing mail.
No. 16: BambooHR
Satisfaction rating: 4.3 out of 5
Company: BambooHR
Headquarters: Lindon, Utah
What it does: BambooHR offers cloud HR software for small businesses for recruiting, onboarding and managing employees.
No. 15: Cybereason
Satisfaction rating: 4.33 out of 5
Company: Cybereason
Headquarters: Boston
What it does: Cybereason makes computer-security software that helps to identify a hack in progress and stops it.
No. 14: Chatterkick
Satisfaction rating: 4.34 out of 5
Company: Chatterkick
Headquarters: Sioux City, Iowa
What it does: Chatterkick is a digital-marketing company that specializes in social-media marketing.
No. 13: CivicActions
Satisfaction rating: 4.35 out of 5
Company: CivicActions
Headquarters: Berkeley, California
What it does: CivicActions is a software consultant that helps agencies and organizations create major custom software projects.
No. 12: Branch Metrics
Satisfaction rating: 4.36 out of 5
Company: Branch Metrics
Headquarters: Palo Alto, California
What it does: Branch Metrics provides "deep linking" tools that let mobile developers embed links in their apps and analyze how people are using the app.
No. 11: Impact Branding & Design
Satisfaction rating: 4.38 out of 5
Company: Impact Branding & Design
Headquarters: Wallingford, Connecticut
What it does: Impact is a marketing and digital marketing agency.
No. 10: Code.org
Satisfaction rating: 4.38 out of 5
Company: Code.org
Headquarters: Seattle
What it does: Code.org is a non-profit foundation that offers online computer programming courses.
No. 9: Envoy
Satisfaction rating: 4.39 out of 5
Company: Envoy
Headquarters:San Francisco
What it does: Envoy is an iPad app that handles visitor registration to corporate offices.
No. 8: SendGrid
Satisfaction rating: 4.41 out of 5
Company: SendGrid
Headquarters: Denver
What it does: SendGrid offers software that manages corporate email campaigns and customer emails.
No. 7: Help Scout
Satisfaction rating: 4.42 out of 5
Company: Help Scout
Headquarters: Boston
What it does: Help Scout offers help-desk software.
No. 6: Fueled
Satisfaction rating: 4.45 out of 5
Company: Fueled
Headquarters: New York
What it does: Fueled a mobile app design agency.
No. 5: SiteTraker
Satisfaction rating: 4.46 out of 5
Company:SiteTraker
Headquarters: Palo Alto, California
What it does: SiteTraker offers enterprise project management software for large-scale projects.
No. 4: Realvolve
Satisfaction rating: 4.49 out of 5
Company: Realvolve
Headquarters: Greenwood Village, Colorado
What it does: Realvolve offers customer management software for real-estate professionals.
No. 3: TripActions
Satisfaction rating: 4.5 out of 5
Company: TripActions
Headquarters: Menlo Park, California
What it does: TripActions offers corporate travel management software that encourages employees to save money for the company.
No. 2: Pipedrive
Satisfaction rating: 4.5 out of 5
Company: Pipedrive
Headquarters: New York
What it does: Pipedrive offers customer management software for salespeople.
No. 1: Persicope Data
Satisfaction rating: 4.52 out of 5
Company: Periscope Data
Headquarters:San Francisco
What it does: Periscope Data offers "big data" software that analyzes corporate data and helps business people collaborate.