Top Companies Offering Internships in San Francisco (Oct 2026)

You want an internship in San Francisco and you want to know who is actually hiring, not who has a nice careers page. As of 14 October 2026, the JobRise live jobs feed shows 34 open internship listings in the city, and 30 of them were posted in the last 30 days. Five landed in the last 7 days. You can browse the full set of internships in San Francisco on JobRise and sort by what is newest.

The companies with the most open internship listings right now#

These are the employers with the highest counts in this slice, taken straight from the listing titles. Some names on job boards are recruiters or staffing firms posting on behalf of a client, so read each posting carefully before assuming direct employment.

1. Togetherai, 11 open listings
2. Figma, 7 open listings
3. Lyft, 4 open listings
4. Pinterest, 4 open listings
5. Affirm, 3 open listings
6. BKF, 1 open listing
7. Faire, 1 open listing
8. Scaleai, 1 open listing
9. Stripe, 1 open listing
10. Isuzu Veterans Apprenticeship Program (IVAP), 1 open listing

Togetherai alone accounts for roughly a third of the visible market in this slice. If you are ignoring it because you have not heard of it, you are skipping the single biggest block of open roles.

How San Francisco compares with the national picture#

San Francisco holds 34 internship listings out of 431 internship listings across the entire United States in this feed. That is a meaningful share for one city, and it fits the pattern in the JobRise Hiring Report for the US, where you can see how hiring is distributed nationally.

The city also has 1,314 open listings across all categories. So internships are a thin slice of the local market, and you are competing for a small pool inside a big one. Every listing here is tagged full-time, 34 of 34, which usually means full-time internship hours during the program window.

What the open roles actually look like#

Titles tell you more than the company name does. Here is a sample of what is open right now, word for word.

• "PhD Intern, Software Engineer - Graphics (2027)" at Figma
• "2027 Summer Civil Engineering Intern" at BKF
• "IT Engineer Intern (Early Careers Summer 2027)" at Affirm
• "Applied AI/ML Scientist, Intern" at Faire
• "Software Engineering Intern (Summer 2027)" at Scaleai
• "Software Engineer (Machine Learning) Intern (Summer 2027)" at Affirm
• "Software Engineer Intern (Summer 2027)" at Figma
• "Software Engineer, Intern (Summer or Winter)" at Stripe

Two things stand out. Almost everything is a Summer 2027 program, and almost everything is engineering or applied science. Civil engineering shows up once at BKF, which is a useful reminder that the city is not purely software.

One blunt reality check: no listing in this slice shows a salary. Do not assume a number. Ask the recruiter directly, and check the official careers page or offer letter for anything current.

How to target each type of employer#

Every company needs a slightly different pitch. Sending one generic application to all ten is a waste of the openings.

High-volume poster (Togetherai, 11 listings). Apply to two or three roles that genuinely fit, not all eleven. Recruiters notice the same name appearing everywhere, and it reads as noise. Pick the roles closest to your coursework and say why in one line.

Design and product heavy (Figma, 7 listings). Figma's titles include graphics and general software engineering. If you have a portfolio, coursework with visual computing, or side projects with real users, put the link at the top of your resume. Talk about the product you would improve.

Consumer platform (Lyft, Pinterest, 4 each). These companies get flooded. Referrals matter more here than anywhere else on the list. Lead with a specific observation about their product in your outreach, not a compliment.

Fintech (Affirm, Stripe). These roles are technical and the titles say machine learning or general software. Show one project where you handled data, models, or reliability, and be ready to talk tradeoffs in an interview.

Specialist and non-software (BKF, Faire, Scaleai, Isuzu Veterans Apprenticeship Program (IVAP)). One opening each means one shot. Read the posting line by line and mirror its language back in your resume. BKF wants civil engineering, so lead with your design or construction coursework, not your Python.

Referral and outreach scripts that get replies#

Cold messages work when they are short, specific, and easy to answer. Here is a message you can send to someone on a team with an open internship.

"Hi Sam, I'm a junior at San Jose State studying computer science. I saw the Software Engineering Intern (Summer 2027) opening on your team and I built a small graphics renderer last term that got me interested in this work. Would you be open to pointing me to the right recruiter, or telling me what a strong application looks like from your side? Ten seconds of your time would help a lot. Thanks, Priya."

For a referral request, be direct about what you want.

"Hi Jordan, hope you're well. I'm applying for the IT Engineer Intern (Early Careers Summer 2027) role at Affirm this week. If you feel comfortable referring me, I can send my resume and a short blurb you can paste. If not, no pressure at all, and I'd still value any advice on what the team looks for."

If a recruiter replies, keep the momentum with one short message.

"Thanks for the reply. I've attached my resume. Two quick questions: what does the interview loop look like, and is there anything you'd want to see in a candidate that rarely shows up in applications? Happy to work around your schedule."

A 7-step plan#

1. Pick three target employers from the list above and write down the exact title of the role you want at each.
2. Check the free company insights tool to see what a company is hiring for before you write a word.
3. Rewrite your resume bullets to match the language in each posting. Mirror the words "software engineer," "machine learning," or "civil engineering" where they are true for you.
4. Find two people at each target company on LinkedIn and send the short script above. Aim for six messages total this week.
5. Apply within 24 hours of finding the listing. Five of these 34 roles were posted in the last 7 days, and early applicants get read first.
6. Track every application in a simple sheet: company, title, date applied, contact name, last touch. Review it every Friday.
7. Prepare one story per role using the format situation, action, result. Write it out. Do not improvise in the interview.

Worked example: one bullet rewritten

Weak: "Worked on a class project involving graphics programming."

Stronger: "Built a real-time graphics renderer in C++ for a 4-person class project, cutting frame render time from 400ms to 90ms by rewriting the rasterizer, and presented the results to a class of 30."

The second version names the language, the numbers, and the outcome. It reads like someone who did the work.

FAQ#

How many internships are open in San Francisco right now?

As of 14 October 2026, JobRise shows 34 open internship listings in San Francisco, with 30 posted in the last 30 days and 5 in the last 7 days. This is a snapshot of live listings, not a market survey, so the number moves daily.

Which companies have the most internship openings in San Francisco?

Togetherai leads with 11 open listings, followed by Figma with 7, then Lyft and Pinterest with 4 each, and Affirm with 3. BKF, Faire, Scaleai, Stripe, and Isuzu Veterans Apprenticeship Program (IVAP) each show 1 open listing in this slice.

Do these internships list a salary?

No listing in this slice shows a salary. Ask the recruiter for the range before you invest interview time, and verify any number against the official posting or offer letter.

Are these internships only for software engineers?

No, though most are. Figma has a PhD graphics role, Affirm has an IT engineer role, and BKF has a civil engineering internship. Read the exact title before deciding you are not a fit.

Should I apply to every open role at the biggest company?

No. Pick two or three roles that match your background at a high-volume employer like Togetherai. Applying to all eleven reads as unfocused and makes it harder for a recruiter to know where to place you.