Meta vs Google: Which Pays More in 2025?

You've grinded LeetCode for months. You've passed the resume screen. Now you're choosing between offers from Meta and Google—two of the highest-paying tech companies in the world.

Which one should you pick?

This guide compares total compensation (TC), work-life balance, career growth, interview difficulty, and long-term prospects at both companies. We'll also reveal which levels pay more at each company.

TL;DR: Meta pays 10-20% more than Google at most levels, but Google offers better work-life balance and job security.

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Compensation: Meta Pays More (But It's Complicated)

Salary Comparison by Level

Level	Meta Title	Meta TC	Google Title	Google TC	Winner
E3	SWE I	$180K-$240K	L3	$180K-$250K	Tie
E4	SWE II	$250K-$370K	L4	$250K-$350K	Meta (+$20K)
E5	SWE III (Senior)	$370K-$550K	L5	$350K-$500K	Meta (+$50K)
E6	Staff SWE	$550K-$850K	L6	$500K-$800K	Meta (+$50K)
E7	Senior Staff	$850K-$1.2M	L7	$800K-$1.5M	Google (+$100K)

Data source: Levels.fyi (2025 reports from 10,000+ verified offers)

Stock Vesting: Google Wins

Meta: 25-25-25-25 (equal vesting over 4 years) ✅
Google: 33-33-17-17 (front-loaded, most stock in first 2 years) ✅

Both are way better than Amazon's 5-15-40-40 cliff.

Winner: Google (front-loaded vesting = more cash sooner)

Bonuses:

• Meta: 10-20% of base (performance-based)
• Google: 15% of base (consistent)

Winner: Google (predictable)

Equity Refreshers:

• Meta: Annual refreshers starting Year 2 (if you perform well)
• Google: Refreshers every 1-2 years (but smaller than Meta)

Winner: Meta (more generous)

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Current Job Openings: Who's Hiring More?

• Meta jobs: 500+ open positions
• Google jobs: 1,200+ open positions

Hiring pace:

• Meta slowed hiring post-2023 layoffs (but ramping up AI roles in 2025)
• Google is hiring steadily across all teams

Winner: Google (more openings = higher acceptance rate)

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Interview Difficulty: Both Are Brutal

Meta Interview Process:

1. Recruiter screen (15 min)
2. Phone screen (45 min coding)
3. Onsite: 2 coding + 1 system design + 1 behavioral ("Jedi")
4. Hiring committee (similar to Google)

Difficulty: Hard (LeetCode Medium/Hard)
Pass rate: ~5-8%

Google Interview Process:

1. Recruiter screen (15 min)
2. Phone screen (45 min coding)
3. Onsite: 2 coding + 1 system design + 1 "Googley

ness" 4. Hiring committee (can take 4-8 weeks)

Difficulty: Very Hard (LeetCode Hard common)
Pass rate: ~3-5%

Winner: Meta (slightly easier, faster process)

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Work-Life Balance: Google Wins Big

Meta:

• Average hours: 45-50/week (varies by team)
• Oncall: Most teams have oncall rotations
• Pressure: High—"Move fast and break things" culture
• WLB score: 6.5/10

Best teams for WLB: Infrastructure, Messenger, Oculus
Worst teams: Ads, News Feed, AI/ML (crunch time common)

Google:

• Average hours: 40-45/week
• Oncall: Less frequent (SRE teams more than SWE)
• Pressure: Medium—"Launch slowly and perfectly" culture
• WLB score: 8/10

Best teams for WLB: Android, Chrome, Cloud
Worst teams: Search, Ads, YouTube (but still better than Meta)

Winner: Google (better work-life balance overall)

Related: Best FAANG companies for work-life balance

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Career Growth: Meta Promotes Faster

Promotion Timelines:

From	To	Meta	Google
E3 → E4	L3 → L4	1-2 years	2-3 years
E4 → E5	L4 → L5	2-3 years	3-5 years
E5 → E6	L5 → L6	3-5 years	5-7 years

Why Meta is faster:

• Flatter org structure (less bureaucracy)
• Focus on impact over tenure
• Annual performance reviews (Google does twice/year)

Why Google is slower:

• "Googleyness" bar is high (culture fit matters more)
• Hiring committees are picky about leveling up
• Politics (compete with peers for promotion slots)

Winner: Meta (faster promotions = higher TC sooner)

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Perks & Benefits: Tie

Both Offer:

• Free meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
• Onsite gyms, massages, haircuts
• Generous parental leave (5-6 months)
• $10K/year for education/training
• Top-tier health insurance

Meta-Specific:

• $3K/year wellness stipend
• Free Oculus headsets for employees
• "Meta Fridays" (compressed work week on some teams)

Google-Specific:

• "20% time" for side projects (rarely enforced now)
• Free Google products (Pixel phones, Nest devices)
• More office locations worldwide

Winner: Tie (both are top-tier)

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Job Security: Google is Safer

Meta Layoffs (2023-2024):

• 21,000 employees laid off (~25% of workforce)
• Affected teams: Recruiting, HR, some product teams
• Engineers were mostly safe (but not immune)

Google Layoffs (2023-2024):

• 12,000 employees laid off (~6% of workforce)
• Focused on duplicate roles, low-performers
• Engineers were hit less hard than Meta

Meta's Risk Factors:

• Heavy investment in metaverse (losing $10B+/year)
• Ad revenue volatility (100% of revenue from ads)
• Regulatory pressure (privacy, antitrust)

Google's Risk Factors:

• AI disruption (ChatGPT threat to Search)
• DOJ antitrust lawsuit (could force breakup)
• Cloud competition (AWS/Azure lead)

Winner: Google (more stable revenue streams, less volatile)

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Tech Stack & Learning

Meta:

• Languages: PHP (yes, really), Hack, Python, C++, Rust
• Frameworks: React, React Native (Meta built these)
• Infra: TAO (distributed DB), Folly (C++ library), Hive (data warehouse)

Best for: Frontend engineers, full-stack, ML engineers

Google:

• Languages: C++, Java, Go, Python
• Frameworks: Angular, Flutter (Google-built)
• Infra: Bigtable, Spanner, Borg, Kubernetes (Google-built)

Best for: Backend engineers, distributed systems, infrastructure

Winner: Depends on your interests (React vs Kubernetes)

Related: Google vs Meta tech stack comparison

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Remote Work: Meta is More Flexible

Meta:

• Fully remote roles available (especially for E5+)
• "Remote-first" policy for some teams
• Must live within 4-hour timezone of team

Google:

• Hybrid (3 days/week in office)
• Full remote roles rare (mostly for senior ICs)
• RTO enforced more strictly than Meta

Winner: Meta (better remote options)

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Which Should You Choose?

Choose Meta if:

• ✅ You want 10-20% higher total comp
• ✅ You want faster promotions (1-2 years vs 3-5 years)
• ✅ You're okay with 45-50 hour weeks
• ✅ You want to work on React, AI, or VR/metaverse

Choose Google if:

• ✅ You value work-life balance (40-45 hour weeks)
• ✅ You want job security (less layoff risk)
• ✅ You prefer front-loaded stock vesting
• ✅ You want to work on Search, Android, Cloud, YouTube

Still Can't Decide?

• Negotiate both offers (play them off each other for +$50K TC)
• Join the company with the better team (ask to meet your future manager)
• Consider location: SF Bay Area? Both are great. Seattle? Go Google. NYC? Go Meta.

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Other FAANG Alternatives to Consider

If neither Meta nor Google feels right, explore:

• Netflix (highest TC in FAANG) - $500K+ at senior levels, but brutal "keeper test" culture
• Apple (hardware + software) - Lower TC but better WLB, work on iPhone/Mac
• Amazon (most job openings) - Easier to get hired, but worse WLB

Compare all FAANG companies: FAANG salary comparison 2025

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Final Verdict

For money: Choose Meta (10-20% higher TC)
For work-life balance: Choose Google (8/10 vs 6.5/10)
For career growth: Choose Meta (faster promotions)
For stability: Choose Google (safer from layoffs)

Our pick: If you're early career (E3-E4 / L3-L4), go Meta for faster growth and higher TC. If you're senior (E5+ / L5+), go Google for better WLB and stability.

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Ready to Apply?

Browse open positions:

• Meta Jobs (500+ openings)
• Google Jobs (1,200+ openings)

Prep resources:

• How to pass Google interviews
• Meta interview guide
• LeetCode study plan for FAANG

Good luck! 🚀

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Last updated: January 2025
Salary data: Levels.fyi, Blind, Glassdoor (10,000+ verified reports)