Funding round deadline. Product launch. Technical debt sprint. We add throughput.
Surge engineering capacity that plugs into your product team for 4 to 12 weeks. No long-term commitment, no recruitment lag. Scale up for the sprint, scale back when it's done.
7 to 10 days
to first committed PR
30-day rolling
no lock-in beyond current term
from $4,000
per engineer per month
- Engineers embedded in your product team within 7 to 10 days
- Joins your GitHub, Jira, and sprint ceremonies
- Scale up or down with 5 to 30 days notice
- 30-day rolling after the initial window
- No permanent headcount commitment
- Fixed scope or rolling. Your choice.
Typical timeline
- Days 1–3Sprint scoping
- Days 4–7Team assembled
- Days 8–10First sprint starts
When product teams need surge
Four situations that call for surge capacity
Series A / Series B feature push
Investor milestone or demo date locked. The roadmap needs 6 months of output in 3 months. Surge headcount on the product team delivers the sprint, then scales back.
What we provide: 2–4 engineers for a defined sprint window
Tech debt sprint before platform migration
You can't migrate to the new architecture while the existing system has 40 open issues. A focused 8-week burst team clears the backlog without blocking your in-house team.
What we provide: Backend engineers for legacy migration and debt reduction
Mobile app launch running behind
Your iOS or Android build is 3 weeks behind where it needs to be for the App Store submission window. Surge mobile capacity closes the gap without a full-time hire.
What we provide: Mobile developers joining your existing mobile team
Post-acquisition integration sprint
Two codebases need to become one. Integrations need building. APIs need aligning. A time-boxed burst team handles the integration sprint while your team keeps the live product running.
What we provide: Experienced full-stack engineers for integration work
Why not just hire?
Surge vs permanent hire: what the numbers actually say
Permanent hire
Codalyst surge
Time to productive
12–16 weeks
7–10 days
Commitment length
Permanent FTE
30-day rolling
Scaled down after project
Redundancy cost
No notice cost
Company liability
Employment law
Single contract
Total cost (6-month sprint)
$90,000+
from $48,000
Cost comparison based on a 6-month senior engineer engagement. Local hiring includes salary, NI, benefits, and recruitment fee.
The 6-month calculation
Cost to hire one senior engineer locally
$90,000+
salary, NI, benefits, recruitment fee
Cost of a Codalyst surge for 6 months
from $48,000
2 engineers, rolling terms, no exit cost
Difference
$42,000+
stays in your runway
How surge engagements are structured
30-day minimum
Start with one month. Extend as the project demands. No lock-in beyond the current 30-day window.
Defined scope or time-box
We scope around your milestone or calendar deadline, not open-ended hours. Clarity from day one.
Scales up and down
Add an engineer mid-sprint with 5 days notice. Scale back with 30 days notice. No penalty.
In your tools from day 1
Engineers join your GitHub, Jira, Slack, and CI pipeline. No parallel setup, no onboarding overhead.
Pricing
Surge engagement pricing
All tiers include: full toolchain integration, our NDA, IP assignment, and 30-day rolling terms after the initial term.
Solo engineer
from $4,000/mo
1 senior engineer embedded in your sprint
30-day rolling, all-inclusive, active within 7 business days
2–3 engineer burst
from $8,000/mo
Small burst team across 2–3 roles
30-day rolling, delivery lead available, active within 7–10 business days
4–6 engineer sprint pod
from $20,000/mo
Full sprint pod for a major roadmap push
60-day minimum, dedicated PM sync, fully scoped at kick-off
Need a custom quote? Talk to us
Need something different?
Other engagement models for product companies
Common questions
Questions about surge capacity
We cover how surge differs from hiring a contractor, minimum engagement lengths, how to scale team size mid-sprint, how surge engineers use your existing tools and process, and what happens when the sprint window ends in the product company FAQ.
Read product company FAQTell us your sprint window and the roles you need
Share your timeline, the skills you need, and your tech stack. We'll confirm availability and present options within 6-8 hours (Mon-Sat).