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.
They explain how Exalynt works and are not client terms, offers, or contracts. An engineer's written agreement and assignment govern their work and pay.
Start with your role
How Exalynt works
Exalynt sells Engineering Capacity in fixed-price blocks, not hours. The client buys one block at a time, sees real progress at the end of each iteration, and decides whether the next block is worth buying.
- Buy a blockFlex, Core, or Dedicated, paid once and up front.
- Agree the goalThe most valuable slice we can finish this iteration.
- We buildUsually about a week. Risks are raised as soon as we see them.
- CheckpointWe show what we did and learned, and recommend what comes next.
| Document | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Engineering Capacity | Flex, Core, and Dedicated blocks, their prices, and Exalynt Managed vs. Self Managed. |
| Sharing risk | Why blocks beat fixed-scope quotes and hourly billing, and who carries what. |
| Excellence is a practice | The standard every block is held to: excellence, not perfection. |
For each audience
| Document | For | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Working with Exalynt | Clients | An engagement block by block, choosing a plan, what you own, and leaving. |
| 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 | How to spend a block so it creates real value, including how much time to dedicate. |
| Engineer compensation | Engineers | Payout = Capacity Payout Basis × Engineer Share, levels, markets, and annual examples. |
| Self-funded work | Engineers | How Exalynt buys its own capacity for open source, tooling, and charitable work. |
| How the money flows | Everyone | Revenue lines, what Exalynt retains after payouts, and cash priorities. |
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:
- The engineer is paid first: Capacity Payout Basis × Engineer Share. Client prices don't affect it.
- What's left is the Contribution: client payment − engineer payout − direct costs.
- Exalynt retains the contribution, and pays for everything else from it.
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. Prices, payout bases, Engineer Shares, and block sizes 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
.mdxfile 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 are drafts that explain how Exalynt works. An engineer's written agreement and assignment govern 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.