The Exalynt readme

How Exalynt works: how clients buy engineering, how engineers do the work and get paid, and where the money goes. It's public because transparency is a core part of how Exalynt works.

Not a contractual agreement

Nothing in these documents is a contractual agreement. They explain how Exalynt works and are not client terms, offers, or contracts. An engineer's written agreement governs their work and pay.

Start with your role

ClientsWorking with Exalynt →How an engagement runs block by block, what it costs, what you own, and how to leave.Considering joiningWhy engineers choose Exalynt →Sustainable pace, end-to-end ownership, a community of engineers, and clear pay.Exalynt engineersProducing value in a block →What value means, how to produce it in a block, and how to show it to the client.

How Exalynt works

Exalynt sells Engineering Capacity in fixed-price blocks, not hours. The client buys one iteration at a time, sees real progress at the end of each iteration, and decides whether the next block is worth buying. For products Exalynt operates in production, a monthly operations plan keeps an engineering team accountable for them.

1. 1Buy a blockFlex, Core, or Dedicated, paid once and up front.
2. 2Agree the goalThe most valuable slice we can finish this iteration.
3. 3We buildOne week. Risks are raised as soon as we see them.
4. 4CheckpointWe show what changed, why it matters, and what we recommend next.

↺

Buy the next blockSized for the work we recommended.

✓

Or stopKeep everything built so far, including the source code.

No contract, retainer, or minimum number of blocks. Every block is the whole commitment.

Document	What it covers
Mission and core values	Why Exalynt exists, the six values that guide our conduct, and the culture we are building.
Our philosophy	Caring about the problem, excellence as a practice rather than perfection, and the habits behind every block.
AI in software engineering	Exalynt's position on AI in software engineering: definitions, principles, and supporting evidence.
Code of conduct	How engineers, open source contributors, and clients treat each other, and how to raise a concern.
Engineering Capacity	Flex, Core, and Dedicated blocks and their prices: one price, whoever operates the software.
Engineering Teams	Stable teams of engineers, how they serve clients with continuity, not exclusivity, and how engineers work across them.
Features and Capabilities	How Exalynt describes software: Features are the jobs it does, Capabilities are what each can do.
Operations plans	Self Operated vs. Operated by Exalynt, the Essential, Standard, and Extended plans, and what each commits to.
Sharing risk	Why blocks beat fixed-scope quotes and hourly billing, and who carries what.
Stability levels	Prototype, Alpha, Beta, and GA: how stable work is, and how it moves up quickly.
Maturity	How complete and stable a Feature or project is, as a percentage from its stability levels.
Stability checklist	What should be in place at each stability level, area by area, for clients and engineers.

For each audience

Document	For	What it covers
Working with Exalynt	Clients	An engagement block by block, who operates the software, what you own, and leaving.
What we mean by value	Clients	What counts as value, starting with one sentence, and how to recognize progress at each checkpoint.
Using AI with Exalynt	Clients	How our engineers use AI on your project, and how you can use AI to make the process easier.
Project estimates	Clients	How to read a Low, Mid, and High estimate, and why it's a planning range, not a quote.
Why engineers choose Exalynt	Prospective engineers	Sustainable pace, end-to-end ownership, community, and how pay and variable work fit.
Producing value in a block	Engineers	Our definition of value, how to produce it in a block, and how to show it to the client.
Using AI to amplify value	Engineers	Using AI well: turning its speed into client value, owning what you ship, and protecting client data.
Creating project estimates	Engineers	Writing Focuses and notes, T-shirt sizing, and pricing the range on every block.
Stability levels in practice	Engineers	Using stability levels to move fast and set expectations with clients.
Marking stability levels	Engineers	Labeling issues and pull requests, versioning after GA, and showing levels in software.
Levels and growth	Engineers	Associate to Principal: the skills we value and what distinguishes each level.
Engineer compensation	Engineers	Payout = Capacity Payout Basis × Engineer Share, team support, location-independent pay, and examples.
Team Lead	Engineers	The engineer on each team who helps it coordinate and succeed, and the Team Lead Share.
Self-funded work	Engineers	How Exalynt buys its own capacity for open source, tooling, and charitable work.
How the money flows	Everyone	Revenue lines, payout allocations, what Exalynt retains, and how cash is held.
Partnership Program	Everyone	How clients, engineers, and partners who know Exalynt can share in the value of introducing new clients.

Unfamiliar term? Underlined terms show a definition on hover, and every term is in the Glossary.

How the money flows

Every client payment for a block follows the same order:

1. The client pays for the block up front, and Exalynt holds that payment until the block is fulfilled.
2. When the block is fulfilled, its Capacity Payout Allocations are earned and paid from it: shares of the block's Capacity Payout Basis. The engineer payout (Capacity Payout Basis × Engineer Share) comes first, with team support for each of that engineer's available teammates, the Team Lead payout for the Team Lead of their team, and partnership earnings when they apply. Client prices don't affect any of them.
3. What's left is the Contribution: client payment − Capacity Payout Allocations − other direct costs.
4. Exalynt retains the contribution, and only then uses it to pay for everything else. Exalynt is the vehicle for providing value to engineers and clients: it aims to retain 10–20% to keep everything running, and anything beyond that is its buffer for coupons and running the company.

When Exalynt is the client, engineers are paid the same way, and there is no contribution. How the money flows shows the split for every block.

Keeping these documents current

• Client prices come from exalynt.com. If a document disagrees with the website, the website wins.
• Numbers live in one place. Block sizes (capacity units), effort references, client effort ranges, prices, payout bases, the Engineering Team size, the Engineer, Team Support, Team Lead, and Partnership Shares (with the Partnership Program's window), and what Exalynt aims to retain are defined in src/data/exalynt.ts, and the tables, calculators, and inline figures across these documents are computed from it. Change a number there, not in the prose.
• Update the date in a document's header when you change its policy.
• Link with relative paths to the .mdx file so links work in the editor, on the Git host, and on the published site.

Frequently asked questions

Are these documents a contract or an offer?

No. They explain how Exalynt works, and nothing in them is a contractual agreement. An engineer's written agreement governs their work and pay, and current client prices and terms are on exalynt.com.

Why does Exalynt publish how it earns revenue and pays engineers?

Transparency is a core part of how Exalynt works. Clients can see exactly how a block payment is split, and engineers can see what the company keeps and what it pays for. See How the money flows.

What if a document disagrees with exalynt.com?

The website wins, and the document should be updated.

Where should I start?

Pick the card for your role at the top of this page. If you come across a term you don't know, hover over it or look it up in the Glossary.