FAQ
Questions, answered
without the hedging.
Including the ones where the honest answer is that someone else is a better fit.
Pricing
How much does it cost to hire a senior software engineer in 2026?
Through SDL, $3,000 per engineer per month, or $2,500 at 3 or more. For context, third-party 2026 pricing roundups put a comparable senior engineer at roughly $17,600–$29,000/month through Toptal, $17,000–$35,000 through Turing, $12,000–$14,000 through Andela, and $20,800–$25,000 fully loaded for a US in-house hire before recruiter fees.
What is included in the $3,000?
One experienced engineer working your core hours, full access to the SDL platform, workforce integrity and on-task tracking, AI-graded testing with re-test loops, a live delivery dashboard, and Slack or Teams integration. There is no separate platform fee, onboarding charge or deposit.
Are there any hidden fees?
No. No deposit, no monthly subscription on top of the rate, no recruiter fee, and no fee if you later want to hire the engineer onto your own payroll. Several competitors charge $14,000–$50,000 for that conversion.
Why is SDL so much cheaper than Toptal or Andela?
Four structural reasons. We don't pay recruiter commissions or carry a bench, so there is no overhead priced into your rate. We are a US company with a globally distributed engineering team, so we're not paying Bay Area salaries. You engage the engineer directly rather than through a marketplace taking roughly half the invoice. And our engineers work AI-first by default, so a smaller team covers more ground.
The engineers
What does AI-native actually mean?
Agentic coding tools are the default way our engineers work, not an experiment they run on the side. It changes what one person can take on — but we deliberately don't publish a productivity multiplier, because the 2026 research on AI coding gains is genuinely contested and we would rather make a claim you can check. The claim we will make is arithmetic: three SDL engineers cost less than one Toptal engineer.
Where are your engineers based?
SDL Engineering is a US company headquartered in San Francisco with a globally distributed engineering team. Your engineer works your core hours and communicates in your Slack.
How senior are the engineers?
5+ years of production experience, vetted through our own hiring process. We're a smaller company than Toptal or Andela, so we're not going to pretend our bench is as deep on niche specializations — if you need an FPGA specialist next week, they're a better call.
How do you manage remote engineers?
Through the platform rather than through status meetings. On-task ratio is measured and backed by screenshots, test execution is graded by AI with honeypot checks that catch shortcuts, and delivery progress is visible live. You can audit the work instead of asking how it's going.
Working together
Is there a minimum contract?
No. Every engagement is month-to-month with 30 days notice. No minimum term, no penalty for scaling down, no renegotiation.
How quickly can an engineer start?
Days, not months. That is the main practical difference against hiring in-house, where a senior US engineering hire typically takes two to four months from opening the role to a start date, plus a recruiter fee of 20–30% of first-year salary.
Can I hire the engineer directly later?
Yes, and we don't charge a conversion fee. If someone becomes core to your team, we'd rather help you keep them than hold the relationship hostage.
What if it isn't working out?
Tell us and we'll either replace the engineer or wind the engagement down with 30 days notice. Because there's no minimum term, the cost of finding out we're not a fit is one month.
What is the difference between SDL and a staffing agency?
A staffing agency places a person and bills you a marked-up rate. We publish the rate, run every engagement on our own platform so delivery is measurable, and don't charge you to hire the person permanently. The tracking is the part most agencies don't have.
Still have a question?
Email hello@sdl.engineering, or start with one engineer and find out.