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Best startup job sites

The best startup job site depends on what you need: Wellfound and Work at a Startup list startup jobs directly, Hacker News Who's Hiring has the most direct posts from founders, and winq reads company career pages against your deal-breakers.

Last updated . winq publishes this page, and winq is one of the options in it.

The short version

No single site has every startup job. Startups post on their own career page first, and each site below sees a different part of that. Most seekers use two or three.

When each one wins

  • Wellfound. A startup-focused site where you build a profile and apply to startups on it. Its own page says you apply directly to founders and hiring managers. It wins when you want one place built around startups.
  • Work at a Startup (Y Combinator). YC's own job board, limited to YC companies, with one profile for many applications. It wins when you want a YC-backed company.
  • Built In. Job listings plus company profiles for tech employers. It wins when you are comparing companies.
  • startup.jobs and HiringCafe. Both are job-related sites. Their pages would not load for winq's check on 2026-11-09, so this guide makes no claim about their features. Open them and look.
  • Hacker News Who's Hiring. A thread posted at the start of each month where companies post their own openings, often with a person to contact. It wins for engineering roles when you want to write to someone directly. It is one long page, with no filters.
  • LinkedIn. A very large general site with both jobs and people profiles. It wins for reach and for finding who works somewhere. A startup's posting there is often a copy of the one on its own career page.
  • Indeed. A very large general job site that says it operates in over 60 countries. It wins for volume and for roles outside tech. It covers every kind of employer.
  • TrueUp. A search index of tech jobs with company information. It is free to join. It wins when you want to see as many tech jobs as possible in one place.
  • Jobright. An AI job search assistant. Its page lists matched jobs, application autofill, resume tailoring and suggested connections. It wins when you want help with the application itself.
  • winq. You set your deal-breakers once, such as remote only or a minimum salary. winq reads company career pages and the Hacker News thread, applies your deal-breakers as rules, so a job that breaks one is not shown, and shows the few that pass, each with a written reason and your best way in. It wins when your filters keep getting ignored. It does not read LinkedIn, so a job posted only there will not appear.

How to choose

  • Want everything and will read a lot: LinkedIn or Indeed, plus a startup site.
  • Want startups only, with a profile to apply with: Wellfound or Work at a Startup.
  • Want to write to a founder: the Hacker News thread.
  • Want your own rules enforced and a short list, and are fine with career pages and Hacker News only: winq.

Your options

  • Check the startup boards yourself. Pick two or three of the sites above and look at each weekly. Free and thorough, and it takes the most time.
  • Follow the companies you already know. Bookmark their career pages. You see jobs first, but only at companies you thought of.
  • Use winq. It does the reading against your deal-breakers and keeps the list short. It covers company career pages and Hacker News only.

Questions

Which startup job site has the most jobs?
LinkedIn and Indeed are very large general sites. Among startup-focused sites, check Wellfound, Work at a Startup and TrueUp, and compare the same search on each.
Is Wellfound the only site for startup jobs?
No. Startups also post on their own career pages, on Work at a Startup, on Hacker News and on general sites.
Does winq replace the other sites?
No. It covers company career pages and Hacker News. Many seekers use it beside one other site.

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