Developers can get paid for code-review DMs by packaging recurring requests—repo reviews, resume feedback, framework choices, bug triage, and feasibility checks—as fixed-price asynchronous offers. A follower submits and pays for the request, then the developer replies with text, written feedback, audio, or recorded video according to the selected offer. Paid Questions let a follower pay upfront to ask one private question, and you send one written reply on your own time — no live call or scheduling.
Brillay has no follower minimum and is free to start with no monthly fee (pricing).
GitHub's Octoverse 2025 report states that developers merged 43.2 million pull requests on average each month in 2025, a 23% year-over-year increase, on a platform GitHub says now holds more than 180 million developers (GitHub Octoverse 2025). In the Stack Overflow 2025 Developer Survey, 13.9% of the 48,178 developers who answered the employment question described themselves as an independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed, against 69.8% who reported being employed (Stack Overflow 2025 Developer Survey, Work section).
Demand for a human reading the code has not gone away: the Stack Overflow 2025 Developer Survey found that 46% of developers actively distrust the accuracy of AI tools while 33% trust it, and only 3% report "highly trusting" the output (Stack Overflow 2025 Developer Survey, AI section). The same survey reports that 84% of respondents use or plan to use AI tools in their development process, up from 76% a year earlier, and that 51% of professional developers use AI tools daily (Stack Overflow 2025 Developer Survey).
If you build in public through tutorials, shipping logs, or career-advice posts, recurring DMs can become a practical offer menu: “review my resume,” “look at this repo,” “should I use Framework A or B?” or “is my startup idea buildable?” Pricing those requests gives them a defined scope and destination without forcing the follower to book a live call.
The order below is an editorial menu, not a frequency ranking derived from Brillay follower or platform-volume data: it moves from the shortest asks toward the fuller requests that need a file, link, or recording and a produced deliverable back.
What can developers charge for on Brillay?
Developers can charge for six recurring DM types: code or pull-request review, resume or LinkedIn feedback, framework or architecture opinions, startup-feasibility assessments, bug-triage, and mock-interview critique, using Paid Questions for one written answer or Custom Work for defined deliverables at a price you set.
The prices and delivery times below are scope examples written for this guide, not observed market rates. Every Custom Work setup states what the follower gets, what you need from them, and what is not included; the creator sets the title, description, price, and delivery time and can change those details at any time, and the deliverable is one-time (Brillay Custom Work). The method behind the examples: lower prices and shorter delivery times fit short opinions; higher prices and longer delivery times fit requests where the follower submits external material (a repo, a resume, a recording) and expects a produced deliverable back.
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“Will you look at my code?” GitHub's Octoverse 2025 report states that developers pushed nearly 1 billion commits in 2025, a 25% year-over-year increase, alongside the 43.2 million pull requests merged on average each month. For an error or short snippet pasted as text, offer a Paid Question at an illustrative $10–$25. For a deeper repo or pull-request review, create a custom request listing such as “15-Minute Code Review,” with a recorded walkthrough priced at an illustrative $30–$80 and an illustrative 48–96-hour delivery time.
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“Will you review my resume or LinkedIn profile for a role search?” In the Stack Overflow 2025 Developer Survey, 28.8% of the 35,451 developers who answered said they were somewhat considering a career change or new role and a further 14.8% were considering one strongly, against 45.6% who were not looking. A quick written assessment can be offered through Paid Questions at an illustrative $10–$25. A line-by-line deliverable such as “Resume + LinkedIn Rewrite Notes” can be a custom request listing priced at an illustrative $20–$50 with an illustrative 24–72-hour delivery time.
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“Should I use Framework A or B?” or “How would you architect this?” Language and framework defaults move fast enough to be worth asking about: GitHub's Octoverse 2025 report states that TypeScript overtook both Python and JavaScript in August 2025 to become the most used language on GitHub by contributor count, surpassing Python by roughly 42,000 contributors. A fast, opinion-based answer generally fits Paid Questions because the deliverable is one written reply, sent privately. An illustrative range is $10–$35, depending on whether the request is a simple framework choice or a small system-architecture assessment.
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“Is my idea feasible before I hire an agency?” A non-technical founder may need more than a one-line response. Custom Work can accept the written idea or existing site link and return a written feasibility and rough build-cost opinion. An illustrative range is $40–$100 with an illustrative up to 5-day delivery time. It is the technical counterpart to the feasibility questions startup advisors regularly field.
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“Can you look at this error and tell me what is likely wrong?” In the Stack Overflow 2025 Developer Survey, 66% of developers named "AI solutions that are almost right, but not quite" as their biggest frustration with AI tools and 45% said debugging AI-generated code is more time-consuming. A bug report or stack trace pasted as text—not a live debugging session—fits Paid Questions. The developer can identify a likely cause and suggest a next step for an illustrative $10–$25.
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“Will you critique my mock interview answer?” Because the follower is submitting a recording, this belongs in Custom Work rather than Paid Questions. The developer can return written feedback for an illustrative $25–$60 with an illustrative 48–96-hour delivery time.
How should developers route each DM?
Route by what the follower has to send and what you have to send back. Paid Questions provide one private written reply, while a custom request lets the follower attach files when they order and comes back as text plus files of any allowed type and/or a private link:
| Follower says | Offer | Follower sends | You reply with | Illustrative price* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “review my resume/LinkedIn” | Paid Question | A text message | Text | $10–$25 |
| “look at this error, what’s wrong?” | Paid Question | The error or snippet as text | Text | $10–$25 |
| “which framework should I use?” | Paid Question | A text message | Text | $10–$35 |
| “walk through my repo/PR on camera” | Custom Work | A repo or PR link | A recorded video | $30–$80, 48–96h |
| “rewrite my resume line by line” | Custom Work | A resume document or link | A written feedback document | $20–$50, 24–72h |
| “is my startup idea feasible?” | Custom Work | A written idea or site link | A written feasibility opinion | $40–$100, 72–120h |
| “critique my mock interview answer” | Custom Work | A recorded answer | A written critique | $25–$60, 48–96h |
*These are author-created, scope-based examples—not market averages, earnings promises, or guarantees of what a specific follower will pay. Every price and delivery time is yours to set and change.
Paid Questions give the follower one written reply, privately, which they can save and reference later. When a request requires the follower to send a repo link, resume file, or recording, route it to a custom request instead.
A Custom Work order is delivered as text plus up to 5 files of any format and/or a private link, with video and audio up to 20 minutes, and the follower can attach their own files when they order. That upload allowance is what makes a repo walkthrough or an annotated resume deliverable on the same page as a one-line framework opinion.
Followers pay upfront; you can decline a request. That safeguard matters when a “quick review” turns out to be an untested 5,000-line pull request.
Why should the paid link go in a developer’s bio?
The bio is the one place a viewer can reach after watching a tutorial without searching for you again, and the major platforms give a developer room for more than one destination. Instagram's Help Center states that a profile can hold up to 5 websites, and YouTube's Help Center states that a channel can showcase up to 14 links on its channel page. A paid-offer link can therefore sit beside a GitHub and portfolio URL rather than replace either. One bio link that carries every offer: followers pay you as guests by card, at prices you set, whatever format the request takes.
The rest of this section is practical advice rather than measured data: a viewer who has just finished your tutorial or career video is already in the moment of wanting to ask, and a direct offer link removes the extra steps of finding you elsewhere, remembering another username, creating an account on a marketplace, or scheduling a call.
Put one Brillay link in your bio so followers can choose a code review or paid question when they need one, without making every post sound like a sales pitch. They pay upfront and send what you need to do the work. On Brillay, the request and the payment happen on the page, as a guest, rather than inside the developer’s social-media inbox (how Brillay works).
For short questions, a written answer with no live call or scheduling can also be a simpler format than calendar-based mentoring. See paid direct messages vs. coaching calls for a fuller comparison of those models.
What else can developers sell beyond code review?
Beyond code review, developers can sell Personalized Videos, fund hosting or open-source work through Goals, accept one-time Tips with nothing to deliver, and route sponsor pitches through Brand Collaboration Inquiries instead of a personal inbox.
Personalized Videos let a follower pay upfront for one personalized video for themselves or someone they care about: you set the price and the delivery time, then record it on your schedule. Developer-focused occasions include congratulating someone on a first engineering job or promotion, encouraging a bootcamp graduate on demo day, or recording a pep talk before a technical interview. Nothing is recorded in advance — the card sits on your page, and you record only after a follower has paid for that one video.
A Goal is one named goal with a progress bar: followers make one-time contributions and every contribution is yours whether or not the goal is reached — no deadline unless you set one, and nothing to ship. Suitable examples include a new laptop or monitor, hosting and API costs for an open-source tool, or travel to a developer conference. A concrete goal such as “$250 of $600 raised for server costs to keep the tool free” tells followers exactly what their support funds. For comparison, GitHub's documentation states that a sponsored developer can publish up to 10 one-time tiers and 10 monthly tiers, with a maximum tier price of US$12,000 per month (GitHub Docs, Managing your sponsorship tiers).
Tips let followers send a one-time thank-you, with nothing for you to deliver and no membership for them to join.
If SaaS teams send “can you review or promote our developer tool?” messages, Brand Collaboration Inquiries is a “Work with Me” form on your Brillay page that collects a brand’s budget, timeline, and deliverables into a separate brand inbox.
What does Brillay cost developers?
Each request is one time, with no membership: followers pay upfront as guests, with no follower account needed, and Paid Questions are one question with one written answer that you send on your own time within the window you set, with no live call or scheduling. Creators in 41 countries can get paid; followers pay by card from anywhere. There is no follower minimum, so a developer can sell one code review at any audience size.
Payment processing is billed separately: Stripe's published standard US online rate is 2.9% plus 30¢ per successful card charge (Stripe pricing).
For a fee benchmark on the same activity, GitHub's documentation states that GitHub Sponsors charges no fee on sponsorships from personal accounts and up to 6% on sponsorships from organization accounts — a 3% credit-card processing fee plus a 3% GitHub service processing fee (GitHub Docs, About GitHub Sponsors). GitHub Sponsors funds a developer's ongoing work rather than a scoped, per-request deliverable, so the two models cover different asks.
Applying both cited rates to the gross payment gives an illustrative worked example, not a guarantee: on a $25 code-review payment, the 8% Brillay fee ($2.00) and the 2.9%-plus-30¢ Stripe fee ($1.03) together total $3.03, leaving the creator $21.97; on a $50 payment the combined fees total $5.75, leaving $44.25; on a $100 payment the combined fees total $11.20, leaving $88.80 (calculated from Brillay's 8% platform fee on paid work and Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢ card rate). On tips and goals, the Brillay fee is 5% instead.
Payouts are sent to the creator’s connected bank account through Stripe. A creator’s first Stripe payout typically arrives within 7–14 days of the first successful charge, after which standard payouts settle faster on the account’s ongoing payout schedule (Stripe payout documentation).
Start with the request people already ask you to answer for free, give it a fixed scope and price, and share one link; you do not need to guess whether every follower will buy. If code review is your highest-volume request, put the scope on the listing — what you will look at, what you need from them, what is out — so it never turns into an open-ended debugging queue.
Frequently asked questions
Can I charge for code review without a large following?
Yes. Brillay has no follower minimum. A code review, resume note, or framework recommendation can be offered regardless of audience size.
Is a paid question the same as a live mentoring call?
No. Paid Questions give you one written answer to send on your own time, with no live call or scheduling, while Custom Work lets you deliver defined work on your own schedule. A follower who wants the repo walked through on camera orders that as a custom request instead — and neither route asks either of you to find a slot in a calendar.
How much should I charge for code review, and what fees come out?
No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate. Stripe’s standard US processing rate is 2.9% plus 30¢ per successful card charge. Payouts go to your connected bank account through Stripe. On price, this guide's ranges are illustrative, not market rates: about $10–$25 for a written answer on a pasted error or snippet, and $30–$80 for a recorded repo or pull-request walkthrough, and you can change your price at any time.
How soon does the money reach my bank account?
Connect your bank through Stripe; when the money reaches your bank varies by country and account. Brillay earnings pay out through Stripe to the creator's connected bank account.
Can I decline an unexpectedly large request?
Yes. You can decline a request that is bigger than you want to take on, and each custom request is a one-time deliverable whose scope, price, delivery time, and inclusions are set by you before anyone can order it.
Set up a Brillay page, turn on the rows from the menu above that match what you're already answering for free, and put the link where the questions already show up — your bio. Create your free Brillay page and see which of these your audience actually pays for.
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