Pricing
What a smart contract audit costs
A one-time full audit from me starts at $1,200, and most engagements for small teams land between $1,200 and $5,000. For teams that ship regularly, a one-time Onboarding Review is $300–600 and ongoing review then starts at $300/month. Every number is fixed in writing before any work starts.
Below: the full breakdown, how that compares to the rest of the market, and what actually moves a quote up or down.
My pricing in full
| Engagement | Price | Turnaround | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onboarding Review | $300–600 once | 5–7 business days | Required once before ongoing review. Sets your monthly price against the real code. |
| Ongoing Review | From $300/month | Usually 3–5 business days per diff | Teams shipping contract changes regularly who want each one reviewed before it deploys. |
| One-time Full Audit | From $1,200 | 1–3 weeks, scope dependent | A single point-in-time review before a launch or a major version. No Onboarding Review needed. |
Priced per project on the size and complexity of the scope, agreed in writing before the work starts. Typical engagements for the teams I work with land between $1,200 and $5,000; larger scopes are quoted after reading the repo. Ongoing review runs on a 3-month minimum term, then month to month with 30 days' notice. The full terms are here.
The quoted price is the price
Your monthly number is set after the Onboarding Review, agreed in writing before the first month starts, and does not move inside the term. No hourly overruns, no scope-creep invoices, no surprise line items.
Confidential by default
Your code and findings are never published or shared without your written permission. NDA on request, signed before you send anything.
How that compares to the rest of the market
Useful if you are holding more than one quote. These are directional bands from the pricing guides audit firms publish themselves, not my own measurements, so treat them as rough.
Automated scan services
Roughly $300 – $1,000
A tool run with a report wrapped around it. Useful as a first filter, not a review.
Independent reviewers
Roughly $1,000 – $8,000
One person reading your code. Quality varies enormously, so judge the person, not the price.
Boutique audit firms
Roughly $8,000 – $25,000
A small team, a scoped engagement, a published report. The usual first serious quote.
Mid-tier and top-tier firms
$25,000 upwards, often six figures
Multi-person teams and multi-week timelines, aimed at protocols holding serious TVL.
I sit at the low end of that range for a specific reason, and it is not that the work is lighter. There is one person here and no overhead: no sales team, no account manager, no brand to fund. I also only take work I can do properly, which means small and independent GameFi and DeFi codebases on EVM chains. I do not bid on large protocol audits that need a team and a months-long timeline, so I do not have to price as though I might.
What actually moves the price
Five things, in roughly the order they matter.
- 01
How much code is in scope
Lines of Solidity or Vyper is the crude version. What really matters is how many contracts talk to each other and how much state they share.
- 02
External integrations
Every protocol you integrate is a set of assumptions you inherit. Reviewing those costs more than reviewing self-contained code.
- 03
Upgradeability
Proxies, storage layouts, and initialiser protection add a whole class of failure that immutable contracts do not have.
- 04
Novel economic design
Standard staking maths is quick to reason about. A reward curve nobody has shipped before is not.
- 05
How often you ship
For ongoing review this is the main lever. Two deploys a month and ten deploys a month are different jobs.
Which one do I need?
If your code is about to be frozen for a launch or a major version, take the one-time audit. If you ship contract changes more than once a quarter, take ongoing review. Teams that do both keep the retainer running and book an audit at each major release.
What you are not paying for
No hourly billing, no scope-creep invoices, no surprise line items after delivery. The number agreed before the work starts is the number you pay. Reviews cover security and exploitability only, so you are not paying me to comment on gas optimisation or code style.
Want a number for your codebase?
Send me your repo, your chain, and roughly how often you ship. You get a price and a start date back, usually the same day.
No obligation, and no sales sequence. Ongoing Review runs for a 3-month minimum, then month to month with 30 days' notice.
FAQ
Smart contract audit pricing FAQ
The questions people ask before comparing quotes.
How much does a smart contract audit cost?
With me, a one-time full audit starts at $1,200 and most engagements for small teams land between $1,200 and $5,000, priced per project once I have read the repo. Across the wider market, automated scan services run a few hundred dollars, independent reviewers typically charge $1,000 to $8,000, boutique firms $8,000 to $25,000, and mid-tier and top-tier firms $25,000 upwards. Where a quote lands depends on how much code is in scope, how many external protocols you integrate, whether the system is upgradeable, and how novel the economics are.
How much does ongoing smart contract review cost?
A one-time Onboarding Review is $300 to $600, and it is required once before ongoing review starts. Ongoing review then starts at $300 per month. Your exact monthly figure and turnaround are set after the Onboarding Review, based on how complex your codebase is and how often you ship, rather than quoted off a fixed range up front.
Why is this cheaper than an audit firm?
Because there is one person and no overhead. You are not paying for a sales team, an account manager, a project manager, or a brand. I also only take work I can actually do well: small and independent GameFi and DeFi codebases on EVM chains. I do not bid on large protocol audits that need a multi-person team and a months-long timeline, so I do not have to price as if I might.
Is a cheap smart contract audit worth it?
Sometimes, and the price is the wrong thing to judge it on. An automated scan sold as an audit is poor value at any price. One experienced reviewer reading your code carefully is good value at several thousand dollars. Ask for a past report, check whether the findings include business-logic and economic issues rather than only known vulnerability classes, and look for public work you can verify independently.
Do you charge hourly?
No. Every engagement is a fixed price agreed in writing before the work starts, and monthly retainer fees are fixed for the term. There are no hourly overruns and no scope-creep invoices. If a change falls outside what was agreed, I tell you before doing the work rather than after.
When do I pay?
The Onboarding Review and one-time audits are paid before the work begins. Ongoing review is billed monthly in advance, and carries a 3-month minimum term before it continues month to month.