A Claude Code skill that estimates what your codebase would cost a real team to build, using component decomposition instead of lines of code.
Most cost estimators count LOC and multiply by a rate. That's backwards. A 100-line Stripe integration takes 3x longer than 1,000 lines of CRUD. Lines of code measures typing speed, not engineering effort.
This skill identifies what your code actually does (auth systems, payment integrations, real-time features, external APIs), scores each component by complexity, maps to industry-standard hours, and prices four team profiles from solo developer to enterprise.
- Scans your codebase: files, configs, dependencies, integrations, architecture
- Decomposes into 24 component types, each with a complexity rating (Simple/Standard/Complex/Expert)
- Calculates hours, calendar time, and dollar cost across 4 team profiles
- Detects integrations and weights them heavily (APIs are where the real hours go)
- Optionally compares against Claude's actual build time for ROI analysis
# Copy the skill into your project
cp -r cost-estimate/ your-project/.claude/commands/cost-estimate/
# Or just copy SKILL.md as a single command
cp cost-estimate/SKILL.md your-project/.claude/commands/cost-estimate.mdThen run /cost-estimate in Claude Code.
/cost-estimate # scan current working directory
/cost-estimate ./src # scan specific directory
/cost-estimate --claude-hours 30 # include Claude ROI comparison
| What you built | LOC | Actual effort | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| CRUD endpoints | 1,000 | ~16 hours | Copy-paste with different field names |
| Stripe webhook handler | 100 | ~40 hours | Auth, retries, idempotency, sandbox testing |
| Metal shader | 50 | ~20 hours | GPU debugging, specialized knowledge |
LOC-based estimators would price the CRUD at 10x the Stripe work. Component-based estimation prices what the code does, not how many lines it takes.
| Profile | Overhead | Rate | Who's on the team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo Developer | 0% | $125/hr | 1 senior dev |
| Lean Startup | +45% | $110/hr | 1 senior + 1 junior + part-time designer |
| Growth Company | +120% | $125/hr | 2 senior + 1 mid + 1 junior + PM + QA + designer |
| Enterprise | +165% | $125/hr | Full cross-functional team (13 people) |
Codebase Cost Estimate
Project: my-saas-app
Scan date: 2026-03-07
Total files: 847 | Total LOC: 42,350 | Languages: TypeScript, Python, SQL
Tech Stack: Next.js frontend, FastAPI backend, PostgreSQL, Redis,
Stripe payments, SendGrid email, S3 file storage
Component Breakdown (top items):
Auth system (OAuth + email) Complex 56 hrs
Payment/billing (Stripe) Expert 80 hrs
Admin dashboard Standard 60 hrs
REST API (12 resources) Simple 144 hrs
Real-time notifications (WSS) Complex 48 hrs
Background jobs (Celery) Standard 24 hrs
Search (Elasticsearch) Complex 48 hrs
CI/CD pipeline Standard 24 hrs
...
Subtotal (engineering) 682 hrs
Testing (+20%) 136 hrs
Documentation (+10%) 68 hrs
Total base hours 886 hrs
Cost by Team Profile:
Solo Developer 886 hrs $111K ~6 months
Lean Startup 1,285 hrs $141K ~4 months
Growth Company 1,949 hrs $244K ~3.5 months
Enterprise 2,348 hrs $294K ~3 months
Claude ROI (if --claude-hours 40):
Human solo equivalent: 886 hours
Claude active hours: 40 hours
Speed multiplier: 22x
Human cost: $111K | Claude cost: ~$200 | ROI: 555x
The skill recognizes 24 component types with base hour ranges. See references/component-hours-and-team-profiles.md for the full table.
MIT