The interview process itself was excellent. I interviewed with the Engineering Manager, Technical Architect, and Business/Product teams over a period of more than two months. Everyone I interacted with was professional, and the feedback throughout the process was extremely positive. Before beginning the interview process, I clearly communicated that I already had a competing offer and shared my compensation expectations. I specifically asked whether the role had the budget to meet those expectations, as I didn't want to waste anyone's time. I was assured that it was worth proceeding. Unfortunately, after completing the entire process, the offer was significantly below both my competing offer and the compensation expectation I had clearly communicated from the beginning. The CTC was presented by including components such as PF and gratuity, but even considering the company's strong employee benefits, the overall offer was not competitive with what I already had. I continue to have great respect for the company's products, stability, culture, and the professionalism of everyone who interviewed me. My disappointment is solely with the compensation alignment after such a lengthy interview process and the substantial mismatch between the compensation expectations discussed upfront and the final offer. My advice to future candidates is to confirm the compensation budget very clearly before investing time in a long interview cycle, especially if you already have another offer or have a non-negotiable compensation expectation.