posting because the data here skews L5 and below. here's what i know from my own offer + two friends who went through staff loops in the past 8 months.
my offer (L7, backend infra focus, NY-based, finalized jan 2026): base: $255k annual bonus target: 20% (structured differently from big tech, actually pays quarterly in practice) equity: $1.1M RSU over 4 years, 25% cliff at year 1
that equity number is GROSS. robinhood's stock has been volatile. at grant date valuation it looked great; three months later it looked different. factor that in.
one friend (L7, core trading systems, SF): base: $260k bonus target: 20% equity: ~$1.2M, 4yr vest
leveling at staff and above is legitimately harder to predict than at other fintechs i've seen. they can be stingy about leveling people in at L7 vs L6 even with a decade+ of staff-track experience. the behavioral rounds for staff specifically are very focused on scope: how many teams, how many engineers influenced, have you owned an org-level technical direction.
for principals (L8): i don't have clean data but i've heard base sits around $280-310k range with equity $1.5-2M depending heavily on negotiation leverage.
a few structural things worth knowing: the equity refresh cadence is annual but the process is opaque. i've heard it's comp-committee driven, not formulaic. there's a perception that robinhood pays competitively at the base line but the equity value has more variance than stripe or square for comparable levels. TC at staff is in the $450-530k range all-in depending on stock price at any given month. that's real money but it's not stripe L7 territory.
if you're negotiating at L6 or above: get a competing offer. the L5-and-below game is 'we'll match somewhat'. at L6+ a real competing offer from coinbase, stripe, or a fast-growing fintech actually does move the number. one friend got $50k in additional equity by having a stripe L6 offer in hand.