Developer Subscription vs Hiring In-House
Hiring a senior engineer takes months and a six-figure commitment. A developer subscription gives you the same output in days, for a flat monthly fee you can pause or cancel. Here is how the two stack up.
Cost and commitment
A single mid-to-senior developer in the US or UK costs roughly $90k–$160k a year once you add benefits, equipment, and overhead — plus recruiter fees and 2–4 months to hire. A FelloCoder subscription starts at $99/mo with no recruitment, no payroll, and no lock-in.
Speed and flexibility
In-house hires need onboarding, management, and a steady stream of work to stay productive. A subscription scales with your roadmap: submit work when you have it, pause when you do not, and never carry idle headcount.
- No recruitment or ramp-up time
- Senior engineers from day one
- Scale up or pause month to month
Frequently asked questions
Is a subscription cheaper than hiring?
For most startups and SMEs, yes — you avoid recruitment, benefits, equipment, and idle-time costs, and you only pay while you have active work.
When does hiring in-house make more sense?
If you need a large, full-time team with deep domain context for years, building in-house can pay off. For variable or early-stage workloads, a subscription is usually faster and cheaper.
Do I still own the code?
Yes — all code and IP is yours, delivered to your own repository.
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Ready to get started?
FelloCoder gives you a senior engineering team on subscription — starting at $99/mo.
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