Technical Debt Cost Calculator

Turn maintenance hours, incidents, and slow change delivery into a monthly and annual cost, using only the numbers you enter.

The calculation runs in your browser. Nothing is sent to any server.

Enter your system's numbers

Use your own figures — there are no pre-filled values or industry averages. The result updates as you type.

Enable JavaScript to see the calculated result update live. The formulas and inputs below still work as reference — you can do the math yourself with the numbers you enter.

Team and hourly cost

People on the team that works on this system

Count developers, QA, and support staff who spend time on it.

Fully loaded cost per person-hour

The one your company uses internally: salary + benefits + overhead. Your own number — not a market rate or a published price. Only changes how numbers are formatted — there is no exchange-rate conversion.

Maintenance and incidents

Hours per month on maintenance / firefighting

Total team hours spent keeping this system running instead of building something new.

Incidents per month

Production failures or bugs that need someone to step in.

Average hours to resolve each incident

From detection to the fix being in production.

Change lead time

Days a simple change takes today

From request to production — e.g. adding a field, changing a calculation rule.

Days it should take (your target)

What a healthy version of this system would let you do.

% of team time on maintenance vs. building new things0%

Move the slider to your own estimate. It starts at 0% — that is not a typical or expected value, just the starting point of the control.

Knowledge and other costs

People who fully understand this system end to end

If only one or two people truly understand it, that is a continuity risk, not just a cost one.

Monthly cost of licenses / infrastructure / extended support (optional)

For outdated components: ESU, legacy licenses, dedicated servers you would not otherwise need. Your own number.

Result

Fill in the fields above to see your result — it updates automatically as you type.

How it is calculated

Every number below comes only from what you enter above. Nothing is pre-filled with an "industry average" or a suggested price.

Maintenance cost = maintenance hours/month × hourly cost.
Incident cost = incidents/month × average hours to resolve × hourly cost.
Total monthly cost = maintenance cost + incident cost + licenses/infrastructure cost (if you entered one).
Annual cost = total monthly cost × 12.
Equivalent people in maintenance = team size × (% of time on maintenance ÷ 100).
Lead-time gap = days a simple change takes today − days it should take; also shown in hours using an 8-hour workday, only to compare units. We do not assume how many changes you make per month or the business value of each one.
Risk flags: shown when 2 people or fewer fully understand the system, or when the maintenance percentage is above 50%.

What to do with this number

1. Prioritize by risk

If knowledge concentration or the maintenance percentage came back flagged, start there — that is where the risk is most acute right now. Our legacy system self-assessment.

2. Measure this monthly

One calculation is a snapshot; the monthly trend is what matters. Save this result and repeat it with your team's real numbers next month. See the technical debt glossary entry.

3. Consider incremental modernization

You don't need a big-bang rewrite. Read how to quantify the full cost and when modernizing beats patching in our source article on technical debt.

Legacy modernization is delivered together with specialized strategic partners; Nextsoft leads new modules, integrations, frontend, and QA as the single point of contact.

Talk about my result

Frequently asked questions

What hourly cost should I use?

The one your company uses internally to calculate fully loaded costs: salary plus benefits plus overhead. It is not a market rate or a published price — it is the one number in this calculator you may need to ask Finance or HR for if you do not already have it.

Is my data sent to any server?

No. The whole calculation runs in your browser with JavaScript; nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere. The "Copy summary" button only copies text to your own device's clipboard.

Does this number replace a technical audit?

No. It is an orientative estimate based only on the numbers you enter, useful for prioritizing and for internal conversations about the problem. For a deeper look, you can use our legacy system self-assessment or request a review with our team.

Want to go over this result together?

Legacy modernization is delivered together with specialized strategic partners; Nextsoft leads new modules, integrations, frontend, and QA as the single point of contact.

Talk about my result See legacy modernization