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Home / Compensation / Linear / Software Engineer
Total compensation for a Linear Software Engineer ranges from about $200K at the entry level to $575K+ at the most senior bands, with a typical mid-level package around $350K. Below is the full breakdown by level - base salary, annual equity, and bonus - from public-source data.
Public-source estimates (Beta). Last updated 2026-06. Figures are annualized USD.
| Level | Years | Base (p50) | Equity/yr (p50) | Bonus (p50) | Total (p25-p90) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EngineerSoftware Engineer | 2-5 YOE | $180K | $50K | - | $200K - $305K |
| SeniorSenior Software Engineer | 5-9 YOE | $210K | $80K | - | $250K - $390K |
| StaffStaff Software Engineer | 8+ YOE | $235K | $115K | - | $300K - $480K |
| PrincipalPrincipal Engineer | 10+ YOE | $255K | $155K | - | $350K - $575K |
Entry point for experienced hires - Linear rarely hires new grads. Equity is options in a private company: illiquid until a sale or IPO, so cash-equivalent value is speculative.
Most-common Linear hire. Strong product-engineering generalists; the bar emphasizes craft and shipping. Equity figures assume the last preferred-round valuation - illiquid until an exit.
Senior-most common IC level at a company this size. Single-digit data points - the band is an estimate triangulated from posted ranges and peer-stage startups.
A handful of people company-wide. Effectively negotiated case-by-case; the band is indicative, not calibrated.
Linear is a small (~100-person) private company - sample sizes are thin (often single-digit reports per level), so treat every band here as low-confidence. Equity is illiquid private stock options. Linear does not really run a new-grad pipeline; the entry level below assumes a few years of experience.
7 rounds. 6 of them can be practised here - each one below links the rep that trains it.
Recruiter screen
30 minutes. Background, level calibration (Senior vs Staff is the most contested call), motivation alignment - Linear's small-team / high-autonomy culture isn't for everyone and the recruiter screens explicitly for engineers who genuinely want this shape of work.
Technical phone screen
60 minutes. One coding problem at Medium difficulty in TypeScript. Often applied - implement a small interactive component, reason about rendering performance, build a piece of sync logic. Linear weights cleanliness and explicit performance reasoning over algorithmic tricks.
Free rep: Coding challenges with a real sandbox →Onsite: Take-home or applied coding
Variable (some loops use a take-home, some a 90-minute live applied session). Realistic engineering task - build a small feature end-to-end, often involving UI + state + a piece of sync logic. Working code with thoughtful tradeoffs and tests expected. Interviewers read your code carefully before the follow-up round.
Free rep: Coding challenges with a real sandbox →Onsite: Take-home review / applied deep dive
60 minutes. Walks through your applied submission. Interviewers probe decisions, alternatives considered, performance tradeoffs, and what you'd extend. Linear's bar on craft and applied judgment is highest in this round.
Free rep: Coding challenges with a real sandbox →Onsite: System design
60-75 minutes. Local-first / real-time sync flavored. Common prompts: design a local-first sync engine that maintains consistency across web/desktop/mobile with offline support, design real-time collaboration on a shared document, design a performance-aware query architecture for a project management UI that needs sub-100ms responses. Depth on consistency models, conflict resolution, and the local-first vs cloud-first tradeoff expected.
Free rep: Design walkthrough: Design a Chat System (WhatsApp / Slack) →Onsite: Design partnership / craft
60 minutes. Behavioral, but Linear-specific. Stories about working closely with designers, sweating performance and visual details beyond the spec, navigating tradeoffs between design polish and shipping speed, holding a high quality bar in a fast-moving environment. Specific opinions about Linear's product surface (including things you'd change) are encouraged. Generic 'I love good UX' answers don't land.
Free rep: Design walkthrough: Design a Notifications / Pub-Sub System (Kafka / SNS / SQS) →Onsite: Hiring manager / values
45-60 minutes. Role and team fit, motivation, calibration on whether the small-team / high-autonomy culture matches what you want. Linear is selective about culture fit because the team is small enough that one mismatch is felt across the org.
Free rep: STAR answers: Ownership (Amazon Leadership Principle) →The full Linear prep pack → what they value, topic emphasis, and the questions candidates ask.
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