Stability is worth something, but is it worth 2x?

Unless you're extremely unlucky (and many engineers are far from living paycheck to paycheck and can afford to take some risks) you're better off with the "unstable" company - even if you get the sack after 2 years and then take a year off until you find something you really like, you're better off than if you worked 3 years at the company with the lower offer.

I wouldn't take either offer today for different reasons, but this was during the hiring ramp up right after the March 2020 COVID shutdowns. No reason to take an offer that was significantly lower at that time.