Pricing
TransparentEngineering Pricing.StartSolo,ScaleToAManaged Crew.
One engineer from $20/hr. A managed crew from $90/hr.
Hire An Engineer. Or Hire A Crew.
- One dedicated engineer, billed hourly
- You set the direction and manage delivery
“Best when you already have technical leadership in-house”
- A managed delivery unit: tech lead, engineers, and full sprint ownership
- Architecture, code review, and reporting included
“Best when you need senior execution, not just extra capacity”
Solo engineer or managed crew. Pick what fits.
Solo Engineer
1 Dedicated Engineer- Daily standups in your time zone
- Embedded in your workflow and tools
Solo AI Engineer
1 Dedicated AI/ML Engineer- AI feature development, integrations, and automation
- LLM, RAG, MLOps, NLP, and more
3-Person Managed Crew
1 Hands-On Tech Lead + 2 Senior Engineers- Sprint planning, demos, and delivery reports
- Architecture decisions and code review
- Account Manager included for grievance and escalation
- Scale to 5+ engineers anytime
AI / ML Managed Crew
1 ML Lead + 2 AI/ML Engineers- Production AI delivery: MLOps, LLM, NLP, computer vision, and more
- Account Manager included for grievance and escalation
Principal / Staff Engineer
1 System Architect + Delivery Authority- System architecture & design ownership
- Technical direction for complex modules
- Code + design reviews across the crew
- Escalation point for blockers & ambiguity
- Ensures production-grade stability at scale
Sprint Teams (Outcome Pods)
Full Feature Delivery Units- Defined outcome delivery (not hourly execution)
- Full stack crew + lead + QA coverage
- Weekly execution checkpoints & demos
- Repo-based delivery with working increments
- Built for 1-3 week production cycles
Not sure which fits? Book a 30-minute call, and we'll recommend the right plan.
Book a discovery callCan I just hire 3 engineers instead?
Yes, if you can manage delivery yourself. Here is how it compares:
When you take a self-managed crew, you bring the priorities. The crew handles the rest.
Fixed-scope and specialist options
MVP Sprint
Full crew for 4 to 8 weeks. You get a working product, not a retainer.
AI/ML Sprint
Model training, pipeline build, or LLM integration. Delivered in a defined sprint window.
Invisible Crew
Solo specialist or full delivery crew under your brand. NDA-protected. No Crewlane branding, ever.
What marketplaces don't give you
a crew that owns the delivery.
Questions we get asked. Answered.
Every engagement starts with a 2-week paid pilot tied to a specific milestone you define. We ship first, you pay only after the milestone is met. If we don't hit the target, you owe nothing. After the pilot, billing is monthly in arrears with transparent time tracking. You see the work before you pay for it.
The initial engagement is 3 months. After that, it's month-to-month: scale up, scale down, or walk away with 30 days' notice. No long-term contracts, no lock-in. The 3-month minimum ensures the crew has time to fully integrate and deliver meaningful results.
Monthly invoicing with detailed time tracking visible to you in real time. Solo plans bill at $20/hr flat (160hrs/month standard). Crew plans are flat monthly rates. No surprise charges, the rate you see is the rate you pay.
Yes. Add engineers or reduce headcount with 2 weeks' notice. Going from a solo to a crew, or adding AI specialists to an existing team, takes about 5 business days. Your cost adjusts the next billing cycle, no penalties, no renegotiation.
For fit issues, we guarantee a replacement within 48 hours, no re-recruiting, no downtime. All engineers come from our own bench, so we can match a replacement quickly. For delivery concerns, the embedded tech lead owns the sprint and can course-correct within the same cycle. The 2-week pilot is specifically designed to surface both types of problems early, before you're committed to a long engagement.
No. The published rate is fully loaded: engineer's salary, benefits, equipment, workspace, management overhead, and the embedded tech lead for crew plans. No recruiting fees, no platform fees, no setup costs. What you see is your complete cost.
No. That's the point. Every crew plan includes an embedded tech lead who runs the standups, owns the sprint, and makes the daily delivery decisions. You get visibility into progress without being in the loop for every decision. If you have an existing CTO, the tech lead integrates under them.
The crew operates under your brand, on your client's project, with no Crewlane branding visible anywhere. NDAs are standard. Sprint demos and reports use your name. Your client never knows we exist. The rate you see is your cost, you set your own margin.
It's the total team rate, not per person. A 3-person managed crew at $90/hr means you're paying $90/hr for the entire crew working together, which works out to ~$14,500/month based on 480 team-hours. That's equivalent to ~$30/hr per seat, with tech lead and delivery ownership included in the rate, no separate line items.