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Honest comparisons

Compare your options before you commit budget

Every SMB that needs cloud, DevOps, and security operations picks from the same four options: hire a team, hire a contractor, sign with a large MSP, or work with us. Here is what each one actually costs and what it actually gets you — including where we are the wrong answer.

Build it yourself

Managed DevOps vs an In-House Team

One DevOps engineer costs $142–194K a year in salary and benefits at BLS medians, before recruiting or tooling — and still leaves nights, weekends, and PTO uncovered.

$142–194K per engineer vs $42–180K/yrRead the comparison
Hire a contractor

PlatOps vs Freelance DevOps

Contractors bill $150–250/hr and work business hours. When the one person who knows your infrastructure takes a holiday, so does your recovery plan.

$150–250/hr, no on-callRead the comparison
Go with a big MSP

PlatOps vs Enterprise MSPs

Rackspace, Accenture, and the large MSPs are built around Fortune 500 accounts. SMBs get 12-month contracts, shared pooled teams, and ticket queues.

12-month lock-in, shared teamRead the comparison

All four options at a glance

Figures are typical ranges for a 10–200 employee company running production workloads in the cloud. Your numbers will vary with headcount, compliance scope, and how much infrastructure you already have.

DimensionIn-house teamFreelance DevOpsEnterprise MSPPlatOps
Typical annual cost$425–583K (3 FTEs, salary + benefits)$90–250K (variable)$120–400K + onboarding$42–180K
CoverageBusiness hours, on-call costs extraBusiness hours, best effort24/7 via shared pool24/7 monitoring; 24/7 human response on Professional
Time to productive3–6 months (hire + ramp)2–6 weeks6–12 weeks onboardingAbout 4 weeks (30-day onboarding)
Breadth of expertise2–3 generalistsOne specialismBroad, but rationedCloud, DevOps and security engineers
Contract commitmentEmployment overheadPer engagement12–36 months typicalMonthly, or fixed-scope sprint
Key riskAttrition wipes out knowledgeBus factor of oneYou are a small accountLess on-site context than an FTE

When PlatOps is the wrong choice

A comparison page that only argues one way is a sales page. These are the situations where we would tell you to do something else.

You need someone physically on site — we are remote by design.
You are large enough to staff a real 24/7 rota in-house; past roughly 200 employees the maths starts to favour building.
Your infrastructure is a core competitive product and you want that knowledge held internally.
You need a single named engineer embedded in your team full time rather than a team behind an SLA.

Want the numbers for your setup?

A free 1-hour call gives you a costed picture of your current infrastructure and what each option would mean for it — no obligation, and we will say so if you are better off hiring.

Book a free 1-hour callSee pricing