Describe the shortcut
Name the specific deferred work and its affected area size.
TECHNICAL DEBT COST ESTIMATOR
Technical Debt Cost Estimator
Estimate the future cost impact of shortcuts, deferred refactoring, and fragile dependencies.
- Uses your inputs in a transparent calculation
- Instant result with practical next steps
- No signup required
Planning guidance only. Validate important decisions with customer evidence and your delivery team.
YOUR INPUTS
Build your result
Complete every field. The result updates only when you choose Calculate.
How it works
Rate change frequency
Debt in frequently-touched code compounds much faster than debt in stable, rarely-changed areas.
Compare fix vs defer cost
The tool shows the one-time fix cost against the estimated ongoing annual friction cost.
Continue learning: Hidden costs in MVP pricing · When to stop validating and start building
Frequently asked questions
Is all technical debt bad?
No — some shortcuts are reasonable trade-offs for speed, especially in code that rarely changes or isn't customer-facing.
How is the ongoing cost calculated?
It's an estimate of extra friction time per month spent working around the debt, scaled by how often that area changes.
Should I always fix debt that shows a high ongoing cost?
It's a strong signal to prioritise, but weigh it against other roadmap priorities using your own judgment.
How We Compare
| Feature | MVPHub | Microsoft Excel | Google Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fix-vs-defer cost comparison | Included | Not included | Not included |
| Frequency-aware scaling | Included | Not included | Not included |
| Instant calculation | Included | Included | Included |
| Free, no signup required | Included | Not included | Not included |
Excel and Sheets can track a running debt log with custom formulas. MVPHub gives an instant fix-vs-defer estimate for a single item first.
Related tools
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