Technical Debt Assessment
Understand what's slowing you down and what to fix first. We help companies diagnose technical debt and create practical plans to pay it down without stopping feature development.
Since 2006
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$320M+ lifetime client revenue powered by our software
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4+ year avg. client relationship
Every codebase has technical debt. The question is whether it's manageable or crushing. We help you inventory your debt, prioritize what matters, and build a realistic plan to address it while your team keeps shipping.
When technical debt is costing you more than you realize
Technical debt is invisible to everyone except the developers fighting it daily. But the costs are real: slower velocity, more bugs, harder hiring, and mounting frustration. You can't fix what you haven't measured.
Every change takes longer than it should.
Simple features require complex workarounds. Developers spend more time understanding old code than writing new code. Estimates are consistently wrong because the codebase fights back. Sound familiar?
Your best engineers are frustrated.
Good developers want to build things, not wrestle with legacy decisions. When technical debt makes work painful, your best people leave. The ones who stay stop caring. Neither outcome is good for your business.
You don't know where to start.
The debt feels overwhelming. Everything is connected. Fixing one thing might break three others. You need a clear-eyed assessment of what matters most and a practical path forward.
Services
Automated and manual review of code quality, complexity hotspots, test coverage, and architectural patterns.
Evaluating system design, dependency relationships, scalability constraints, and integration points.
Understanding the lived experience of your team. Where do they struggle? What do they wish they could change?
Identifying security vulnerabilities, compliance gaps, and operational risks that need immediate attention.
Ranking technical debt by business impact, effort required, and dependencies to create a practical paydown sequence.
A concrete plan with milestones, effort estimates, and recommendations for tackling debt alongside feature work.
Process
We start by understanding your business: goals, constraints, existing systems (if any), and what success looks like. No 200-page audits.
A prioritized roadmap based on your constraints. What's urgent vs. important. What we can ship in weeks vs. what needs architectural work. Clear trade-offs, not hand-wavy estimates.
AI-augmented development with human review at every decision point. Whether we're starting fresh or working in your existing stack, you get senior engineers. No handoffs.
QA, deployment, and monitoring. We don't ship and disappear.
Ongoing partnership, not a handoff. We stick around to make it better.
Recent Case Studies
ERP for Manufacturing
A custom system that replaced Paperchef’s 40-year-old software stack and moved an entire warehouse operation in record time.
For Paperchef / Built with Ruby on Rails, Android, and AWS
24M+ Inventory Items Tracked
Revenue Re-Model for Real Estate
A membership-based approach that reshaped how Inman, the premier real estate industry publication, makes money.
For Inman / Built with WordPress, Laravel, Sailthru, Stripe Billing, and AWS
30% Revenue Increase in 90 Days
Made by people who care how it turns out.
Behind every brand, product, and line of code we ship is a team you know by name. We use AI where it makes us faster. The judgment, the taste, and the final call stay with people.
Talk to our team
Talk to our team
Coalesce brought a rigorous development approach, meticulous attention to detail, and creative suggestions to the process. The team was clearly invested in the project's success and has become a trusted, valuable collaborator.
Morgan Brown
Inman News
FAQ
What does a technical debt assessment include?
It starts with a full code audit: we analyze your codebase, review your architecture, interview your developers, and assess operational risks. The output is a prioritized inventory of technical debt with a practical remediation roadmap.
How much does a technical debt assessment cost?
A technical debt assessment from Coalesce typically runs $15K to $35K, depending on codebase size and how many systems are in scope. You get a prioritized findings report, a risk ranking, and a remediation roadmap you can act on with us or your own team. It's a fixed-scope engagement with a defined timeline, so the number is firm once we've sized the codebase.
How long does an assessment take?
Typically 2-4 weeks depending on codebase size and complexity. We aim to deliver actionable insights quickly so you can start making decisions.
Do we need to stop feature development during the assessment?
No. We work alongside your team, reviewing code, observing workflows, and asking questions. Your developers keep shipping while we analyze.
What technologies do you assess?
We're language-agnostic. We've assessed codebases in PHP, Python, Ruby, Java, JavaScript, and more. The principles of technical debt are universal even if the specifics vary.
Where is your team located?
We're headquartered in New York City, with partners in Nashville and South Florida. Working as one small senior team means faster turnaround without sacrificing quality or communication.
What happens after the assessment?
You get a detailed report and roadmap. From there, you can tackle remediation with your own team, engage us to help, or both. The assessment stands alone as a valuable deliverable regardless of next steps.
Ready to understand your technical debt?
We've powered $320M+ in lifetime client revenue with a lean team of senior engineers. Let's talk about what's slowing you down.