I’m pretty sure they are just trying to get devs that don’t know their own value - they don’t even advertise the range.
I applied to aha couple years ago. The leadership’s attitude was pretty bad and in the end they were upset at me that I had 4 other offers and all of them were substantially better. Their offer was capped out at 195k (pretty much full offer - they offer very small equity just so they can advertise they offer equity) for 10yr+ staff position. On the other hand Shopify was starting at 300k (with equity), before any negotiations
I've had a very similar experience to yours. It allowed me to quickly understand why we see their job postings littered across the web at such a high rate over the years. My take away was that they demand more than they are willing to provide.
I applied to aha couple years ago. The leadership’s attitude was pretty bad and in the end they were upset at me that I had 4 other offers and all of them were substantially better. Their offer was capped out at 195k (pretty much full offer - they offer very small equity just so they can advertise they offer equity) for 10yr+ staff position. On the other hand Shopify was starting at 300k (with equity), before any negotiations