Code Review Meeting Cost Calculator

Understanding Code Review Meeting Costs

Code Review Meetings are collaborative code review session. While these meetings serve important purposes, their costs often go untracked and unoptimized. A typical 45-minute code review meeting with 8 team members costs approximately $454 per session when accounting for full compensation and overhead.

What's Included in the Cost?

• Direct Salary Cost: Hourly compensation x duration x attendees
• Overhead Multiplier (1.4x): Benefits, payroll taxes, equipment, office space
• Context Switching: 15 minutes of productivity loss per meeting for preparation and recovery
• Opportunity Cost: Alternative productive work that could be completed instead

Code Review Meeting Cost Benchmark (8 People, 45 Minutes)

With a $75,000 average salary baseline, a standard 45-minute code review meeting costs about $303 per meeting including overhead. If this meeting runs weekly, annual cost is roughly $15,756.

Optimization Strategies

Most code review meetings can be optimized without sacrificing effectiveness:

• Reduce attendees: Only invite required decision-makers. Each person removed saves $2948 annually for weekly meetings.
• Shorten duration: Cut to 25 or 45 minutes instead of 30 or 60. Studies show work expands to fill time.
• Async alternatives: Move information-sharing to written formats, preserving meetings for collaboration.
• Preparation requirements: Require pre-reads and agendas. This reduces meeting time by 20-30% on average.

When to Consider Canceling

Not all code review meetings need to happen. Consider canceling or replacing with async if:

• The meeting is primarily information-sharing (no decisions required)
• Attendance is consistently low or optional attendees don't show up
• No action items result from most meetings
• The same updates could be shared via email, Slack, or a recorded video