From best to worst - Senior Software Engineer Chess.com Employee Review

1.0
May 12, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Most of the people you interact with are really nice. Fully remote. Work-life balance is (still) good.

Cons

This company used to rule. People loved working here. Culture was amazing. Being an engineer around here was amazing. But now: - Pressure - Reports every 2 hours, because agents don't need more than that for a task (is this even ethical?) - CTO hyper micromanagement - Leadership monitors AI tool usage - Morale is at all time low - 0 enjoyment from the work that you do - Feedback doesn't to flow upward well - (Coming soon) No hand-written code allowed

Explore other reviews about Chess.com

5.0
May 15, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Generally relaxed work culture - Incredible flexibility due to remote work - 99% of people here are good people and fun to work with - Interesting though still niche product - Seeing incredible growth in recent years

Cons

- Below market pay (they are working on this) - Lack of clear strategy at times, feels reactive - Senior leadership hired externally has generally been terrible, with a couple exceptions (need more internal promotions/growth) - Lack of solid retention incentives for top talent (though this is slowly improving, a bit late however)

5.0
May 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Fantastic culture and work life balance. The company treats you with respect and positivity. Couldn’t be a better work environment.

Cons

Pay is not up to industry standards

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