Codebase cost estimator

Codebase Cost Estimator

Estimate what it cost (or would cost) to build an existing codebase. The estimate is driven by measured lines of code and complexity — not by ticket count, story points, or feature lists. Always present a range with explicit assumptions; never a single number.

Inputs

• A checked-out codebase (local path or repo) you can run git, cloc/tokei, and file counts against.
• Optional: project README/status for version and scope context.
• Optional: git history, for the AI-ROI step (commit timestamps).

Process

1. Measure the codebase. Count LOC by language and separate production code, tests, and docs. Prefer a real counter over guessing:

   # whichever is installed; both break LOC down by language
   tokei .        # or: cloc --vcs=git .
   

   Record per-language LOC, test LOC, doc LOC, and total. Note complexity drivers: advanced frameworks, system-level/GPU/native code, and third-party integrations. These map directly to the productivity bands in references/rates.md.

2. Convert LOC to raw developer-hours. For each code category, divide its LOC by the lines-per-hour band in references/rates.md (e.g. simple CRUD/UI 30–50 LOC/hr; GPU/shader 10–20 LOC/hr; comprehensive tests 25–40 LOC/hr). Sum to a raw coding-hours subtotal. Keep the per-category breakdown — it is the audit trail for the estimate.

3. Apply overhead multipliers. Raw coding time is not total engineering time. Add the multipliers from references/rates.md for architecture & design, debugging, review & refactoring, documentation, integration & testing, and learning curve. Total overhead is typically 1.9x–2.25x raw coding hours. This yields total estimated engineering hours.

4. Research current market rates. Web-search hourly rates for the relevant tech stack and seniority for the current year — do not use stale figures. Build a low / median / high rate table and state the rationale for the recommended rate (stack, specialization, region).

5. Convert to calendar time. Raw hours ≠ wall-clock delivery. Apply the organizational-overhead efficiency factors in references/org-overhead.md (Calendar Weeks = Raw Dev Hours ÷ (40 × Efficiency Factor)) and show calendar time across company types (lean startup → enterprise), since a solo founder and a bureaucracy ship the same code on very different timelines.

6. Layer in full-team cost. Engineering is not the whole bill. Apply the supporting-role ratios and team multipliers in references/team-cost.md (PM, UX/UI, eng management, QA, program management, tech writing, DevOps) to produce a role-by-role breakdown across company stages, plus a full-team total.

7. Assemble the estimate. Use the structure in assets/output-template.md: codebase metrics, dev hours, calendar time, market rates, engineering cost (low/median/high), full-team cost, grand-total summary, confidence level, and assumptions.

8. AI / Claude ROI (optional). If the codebase was built with AI assistance, follow references/claude-roi.md to estimate Claude's actual active hours (git-commit clustering preferred; file timestamps or LOC ÷ 350 as fallbacks) and compute value per Claude hour, speed multiplier vs. a human developer, and cost ROI.

Key principles

• Estimate from measured LOC and complexity — never from ticket volume or story points.
• Always show ranges (low / median / high). A single number is a lie about precision.
• State confidence level and every load-bearing assumption.
• Use current-year market rates; flag the search date.
• Present professionally — the output should stand up in front of a client or stakeholder.

References

• references/rates.md — lines-per-hour productivity bands and overhead multipliers
• references/org-overhead.md — efficiency factors and the calendar-time formula
• references/team-cost.md — supporting-role ratios and full-team multipliers
• assets/output-template.md — the stakeholder-ready estimate template
• references/claude-roi.md — AI/Claude ROI calculation method