Product Debt Index vs Waydev
PDI quantifies technical debt in dollars. Waydev tracks developer activity from git data. One speaks finance, the other speaks engineering. They solve different problems.
| Dimension | PDI | Waydev |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Metric | Technical Insolvency Date - when debt exceeds capacity | Developer activity metrics - commits, PRs, cycle time |
| Economic Output | Dollar-denominated debt liability with quarterly amortization | Developer productivity dashboards and reports |
| Board Readability | Financial language: "Your R&D has $2.4M in technical debt" | Engineering language: "Average PR size is 342 lines" |
| Data Source | Assessment-based - architecture review + team interviews | Git-connected - automated pull from repositories |
| Setup Time | 10 minutes (free calculator) | Hours (git integration, user setup) |
| Ongoing Monitoring | Periodic audits (quarterly recommended) | Continuous real-time dashboards |
| Team Privacy | No individual developer tracking | Individual developer activity visible (controversial) |
| Pricing | Free tier + advisory engagement | $15-30 per developer per month |
Try PDI - Free
Calculate your Product Debt Index and Technical Insolvency Date in 10 minutes. No git integration required.
Calculate Your PDI →Need an expert verdict?
30-minute rapid-fire evaluation. You describe the problem, I tell you which approach wins - and why.
The Gut-Check Evaluation
$45030-minute rapid triage for founders and executives who need to know if their architecture or cloud bill is on fire.
60-Min Insolvency Audit
$2,500Dedicated teardown of your exact token leakage, retry settings, and technical debt bottlenecks with an immediate remediation plan.
Full R&D Capital Audit
$7,500Complete forensic examination across team payroll, codebase health, and cloud spend. Delivers a 40-page board-ready audit.
AI Cost Governance Retainer
$10,000/moOngoing fractional executive oversight, vendor contract negotiations, and runtime guardrails to stop margin decay permanently.
Richard Ewing: AI Economist & Capital Auditor