Savings calculatorHire vs hourly vs Boundev.
Hire vs hourly vs Boundev.
Run the math on your real task volume.
Most cost calculators only compare hourly rates. This one models the costs people actually pay: the 75-day hiring delay, the 20% Upwork service fee, the management-and-review overhead on Toptal, the proposal-filtering tax. Adjust your monthly task volume and see where Boundev's flat subscription pencils out.
$6,500
Boundev Growth · /mo
$0
Annual savings vs the cheapest hourly path
5–7d
Median Boundev time-to-PR
0
Hourly tracking, ever
Configure your scenario
How much AI work?
Tasks per month2
18
Avg hours per task40h
10h80h
Recommended Boundev tier
Book a call to confirm scopeGrowth · $6,500/mo
Picks the smallest tier that fits 2 tasks per month.
Total monthly cost — your scenario
2 tasks · 40h each · 80h total
● BOUNDEV GROWTH
Flat $6,500/mo
All-in: senior AI engineer + engineering-lead review + tests + eval suite + deploy guide. PR in 5–7 days.
$6,500
Hire a senior AI engineer (FTE)
75-day delay before output
~$250K TC · ~$26K/mo loaded · 75-day req cycle = $65K of paid-but-not-shipping cost
$26,000
+$19,500/mo more
Toptal (hourly senior)
80h × $80/hr + 20% mgmt tax
You scope, manage, and review every PR. Code review cost not included in their rate.
$7,680
+$1,180/mo more
Upwork (freelance)
80h × $50/hr × 1.50 (fee + vetting)
20% service fee + 30% vetting/bad-fit tax. Variable quality, ghosting risk.
$6,000
—
Annual savings vs the cheapest hourly path: $0. vs hiring an FTE: $234,000 + the 75-day hiring delay you avoid entirely.
How the math works
The numbers behind the calculator.
We tried to be conservative everywhere it matters. If anything, the alternatives are slightly cheaper here than you'd see in real billing because we left out the smallest line items.
FTE
$26K/mo all-in (≈$250K base + 25% loaded). Plus a 75-day hiring delay where comp is paid but no AI work ships — that's $65K of dead burn before the first PR.
TOPTAL
$80/hr senior × monthly hours × 1.20 management tax. The tax is real — your team is scoping work, reviewing every PR, and replacing the engineer if the fit's wrong. None of that is in the hourly rate.
UPWORK
$50/hr × monthly hours × 1.20 platform fee × 1.30 vetting tax. The vetting tax models the hours you spend filtering 50+ proposals plus the cost of bad-fit hires you have to replace.
BOUNDEV
Flat tier-matched price from /pricing. Pilot, Growth, or Scale — picks the smallest one that fits your task volume. Engineering-lead review, tests, eval suite, deploy guide are all included in the flat number.
Calculator FAQ
Common questions about the math.
Why model a 75-day hiring delay for the FTE option?
Because the day you decide "we need to hire" is not the day work starts shipping. The 75-day req cycle is the US-market average for senior AI engineers (search → screen → interview loop → offer → notice period → ramp). That's 2.5 months of fully-loaded payroll for a role that hasn't begun, plus the opportunity cost on the AI feature still sitting in backlog. The calculator treats that as zero output for the first 2.5 months.
Aren't Toptal and Upwork hourly rates lower than what you show?
Sticker rates are. The model adds a 20% management/code-review tax for Toptal (your team managing scope, reviewing every PR) and a 20% service fee + 30% vetting tax for Upwork (filtering 50+ proposals, bad-fit hires). Those are the costs people don't see on the price page and only feel after the engagement starts.
Where does the Boundev number come from?
Directly from /pricing — Pilot $3,500/mo for one task, Growth $6,500/mo for 2–3 tasks, Scale $12,000/mo for unlimited within capacity. The calculator picks the smallest tier that fits your monthly task volume.
What if my task only takes 5 hours?
Then Toptal or Upwork will probably look cheaper on this calculator — and they often are for tiny one-offs. Boundev is built for the 20–60 hour AI tasks where management overhead and code review actually matter, and where the hiring tail risk on contractor work compounds. We'll tell you on the scoping call if your task is too small for our model.
Run the numbers on a real task.
Save $0/yr on AI engineering.
Free 20-minute scoping call. We'll confirm whether the calculator's assumptions match your real task shape and tell you exactly what tier you'd need — whether you sign up or not.
YOUR SCENARIO
- Tasks per month2
- Hours per task40h
- Recommended tierGrowth
- Monthly cost$6,500
Annual savings$0