Rule of thumb: startups pay less (sometimes much less) in base salary than the industry standard. You should be getting some equity though that has a 0.01% chance of becoming an equivalent of winning a lottery in 10+ years.

There are exceptions of course, but they're usually the big, later stage well-funded startups that don't really resemble startups anymore but are more just pre-IPO big tech (think Stripe, Databricks etc.).

If you're thinking of joining a small, early-stage startup and worried about finances, then don't do it. The main reason to join should be because you believe in the product, you wanna work more hands-on and have more direct responsibility. Also make sure the team, especially the founders, are good! There's so many bad founders out there that will not only make your work there miserable, but also set you back on your career path and at worst make you pick up bad engineering habits.

Also no matter the team quality, if you are early stage and presumably without significant funding, you will also be working A LOT. Overtime is pretty much a standard for startups like this.

I really appreciate this detailed answer, thanks!