Hiring a senior engineer costs roughly $180,000 a year in salary and bonus, or $230,000 to $280,000 once you add benefits, payroll tax, equity and overhead, and it takes 6 to 9 weeks to hire plus months to reach full productivity. Playhype Engineering is a flat subscription from $5,000 a month, a team of senior engineers, and a first reviewed pull request in days. It costs about half to a third as much, and there is nothing to unwind if you stop.
The cost, side by side
- Annual cost. Senior US hire: ~$180,000 salary and bonus; $230,000 to $280,000 fully loaded. Playhype Engineering: $60,000 at the flat monthly rate.
- Time to output. Hire: 6 to 9 weeks to hire, then 3 to 6 months to ramp. Playhype Engineering: first reviewed PR in days.
- If it does not work out. Hire: severance and a lost quarter re-hiring. Playhype Engineering: pause or cancel anytime, no notice.
- Capacity. Hire: one person. Playhype Engineering: a team, so work does not stall.
Sources: BLS OES 15-1252 and Built In (2025 to 2026); MIT/Hadzima and BLS Employer Costs for the loaded multiplier; SHRM and Gem for time to hire.
What you give up
A hire is yours full-time and owns strategy, planning and long-term architecture. Playhype Engineering is scoped to execution: you keep the roadmap and the decisions, and it ships the reviewed code. If you need someone in every planning meeting, hire. If you need a backlog shipped, subscribe.
When each one makes sense
Hire when engineering is core to the company and you need someone embedded permanently. Use engineering as a service when you have more backlog than people, a temporary surge, or you want senior output before you are ready to commit to headcount. Many teams do both: a small core team plus a subscription for the overflow.
Frequently asked questions
Is it really cheaper than hiring?
Yes, on total cost. A senior US hire is $230,000 to $280,000 fully loaded; Playhype Engineering is $60,000 a year at the flat rate. Against a fully loaded big-tech senior it is closer to a third.
Can it replace a full engineering team?
It can replace or extend one. For a company where engineering is the whole business, a permanent team still makes sense. For shipping a backlog without growing headcount, the subscription does the job.
What about knowledge staying in-house?
Every change is a documented pull request in your own repo, reviewed by a senior engineer. The work and the context stay with you, not locked in a vendor.
How do I start?
Email hello@playhype.ai or fill out the form at playhype.ai. You describe your backlog and the first request goes on the board.
Send your first request to Playhype Engineering
Tell us what's on your backlog. A team of senior engineers ships it as reviewed pull requests, for a flat monthly rate. Pause or cancel anytime.
Talk to Playhype Engineering