Cost Comparison: Hiring a Technical Writer vs. Using Hyperlint for Documentation Reviews

In today's fast-paced software development world, maintaining high-quality technical documentation is crucial. However, ensuring that documentation stays up-to-date and accurate can be a time-consuming and costly process. This is where Hyperlint's automatic documentation review product comes in, offering a cost-effective alternative to hiring a technical writer for pull requests - but not in the way that you might thing.

In this article, we'll compare the costs of hiring a technical writer for documentation reviews versus using Hyperlint's automatic documentation review product. We'll explore the financial implications of each option and highlight the benefits of using Hyperlint for your documentation review needs.

More importantly, we're going to highlight why BOTH are critical to a successful content strategy and how the power of Hyperlint frees up technical writers to work on the most important content.

The Cost of Hiring a Technical Writer

When it comes to reviewing technical documentation, many companies rely on hiring technical writers. According to PayScale, the average hourly rate for a technical writer in the United States is around $30. However, this rate can vary depending on factors such as experience, location, and industry.

Now, let's consider the time required for a technical writer to review a pull request. On average, a thorough review of a pull request can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the complexity and length of the changes. Using the average hourly rate of $30, a single pull request review by a technical writer would cost between $15 and $30.

The Cost of Using Hyperlint's Automatic Documentation Review

Hyperlint's automatic documentation review product offers a more cost-effective solution. By leveraging advanced algorithms, natural language processing, and LLMs, Hyperlint can review changes to technical content and provide valuable insights and suggestions.

The pricing model for Hyperlint's product is straightforward: it costs between $1 and $2 per blog post or documentation page reviewed. This means that for each pull request, you can expect to pay a fraction of the cost compared to hiring a technical writer.

Moreover, Hyperlint's reviews are completed in just a few minutes, allowing you to get feedback and make necessary changes quickly. This on-demand nature of the product further contributes to its cost-effectiveness.

Cost Comparison

Let's compare the costs side by side. For a single pull request review:

  • Technical Writer: $15 to $30
  • Hyperlint: $1 to $2

The cost savings are clear. By using Hyperlint's automatic documentation review product, you can potentially save up to 90% on each pull request review compared to hiring a technical writer.

Additional Benefits of Automatic Documentation Review

In addition to the significant cost savings, using Hyperlint's product offers several other benefits:

  1. Faster review process: With reviews completed in minutes, you can iterate on your documentation more quickly and efficiently.
  2. Consistency in reviews: Hyperlint's algorithms ensure a consistent review process, eliminating potential variations in feedback from different technical writers.
  3. Scalability: As your team and project grow, Hyperlint can easily scale to handle an increasing number of pull requests without the need to hire additional technical writers.

The Real Point

If you're hiring technical writers to review documentation, you're wasting their time and your companies valuable resources. Technical writers are too valuable to be spending their time on routine documentation reviews. Instead, they should be focused on creating high-impact content, such as tutorials, guides.

Technical writers should be thinking about the end user and what the end user needs. They should be focused on creating content that is engaging, informative, and easy to understand. They should be working on content that helps users solve problems and achieve their goals.

Conclusion

Hyperlint's automatic documentation review product offers a more cost-effective solution, with prices ranging from $1 to $2 per review and results delivered in just a few minutes.

By leveraging Hyperlint's product, companies can save a significant amount on documentation review costs while still maintaining high-quality and accurate technical content. With the added benefits of faster reviews, consistency, and scalability, automatic documentation review is a compelling alternative to traditional technical writer-based reviews.