The senior engineer comparison.
What you actually get
Not all engineering options are equal. Here's how Alta Marea stacks up against a traditional US hire and a freelancer from Fiverr or Upwork.
| Alta Marea | US Senior Engineer | Fiverr / Upwork | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dedicated senior engineer | |||
| Senior-only, vetted talent | Varies by hire | ||
| Full US business-hours overlap | |||
| Zero recruiting overhead | |||
| Production-ready from Day 1 | Weeks to ramp | ||
| AI-enhanced development workflow | |||
| IP protection & NDA | Limited | ||
| Month-to-month, no lock-in | |||
| Outcome accountability | |||
| Scales up or down instantly | |||
| Integrates into your codebase & processes | Eventually | ||
| No bench substitutions |
Get your free engineering diagnostic
In 30 minutes, we'll map your stack, find the bottlenecks, and show you exactly where automation or a nearshore pod pays for itself — with real numbers, not estimates.
What you'll walk away with
- Custom cost comparison modeled on your actual team size and roles
- Automation audit: which manual workflows can be automated, with estimated savings
- Tech stack gap analysis — bottlenecks and quick-win opportunities
- Prioritized 30/60/90-day velocity roadmap to ship faster starting this week
- Engineering velocity benchmark vs. similar-stage SaaS companies
- AI integration assessment: where AI-enhanced engineers would multiply your output
Common questions about pricing
Something else. Alta Marea is a software studio: you get senior engineers embedded in your product as a pod, not a name pulled off a staffing bench. We own the outcome, not just the headcount.
It stays entirely yours. Every engagement starts with a signed NDA and IP assignment, so all code and data we touch is your property from day one: never shared, resold, or used to train external models. Access is scoped to your own systems and revoked the moment an engagement ends, so you're always in control.
If the work does not meet the standard we agreed on, you do not pay the full engagement. We build every project against clear deliverables defined upfront, and if we fall short, we make it right or adjust the invoice. We take on the risk so you don't have to.
Days, not months. Our engineers are senior-level and AI-enhanced, so they ramp into your stack, tooling, and workflows faster than a traditional hire. Most teams see their first pull request within the first week.
Yes. Every engagement is month-to-month with no long-term lock-in. Add engineers when scope grows, scale back when it shrinks, or wrap up cleanly when the project is done. You decide every month.
Tell us how your business runs.
We'll show you where automation or an engineering pod pays for itself.