Coding bootcamp mentors, TAs, and alumni get paid outside the bootcamp by selling two Brillay offers directly from their own page: a priced Paid Question for a single text-based coding question, and a custom request for a scoped project review, code audit, or mock-interview feedback session — paid upfront, with no booking calendar or consulting contract required. 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.
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 (pricing). Clients pay upfront, you deliver later, and creators in 41 countries can receive payouts—without adding a booking calendar (how it works).
Bootcamp mentors routinely keep answering questions after a cohort ends. A former student messages on Discord or LinkedIn about a stuck build, a confusing error, or an upcoming technical interview, and the mentor answers because they were asked directly, not because a course or a paid office-hour slot exists for it. Brillay gives the people already asking you a way to pay.
Who counts as a "bootcamp mentor" here?
A bootcamp mentor, in this guide, is any instructor, teaching assistant, or graduate who answers coding questions or reviews projects informally for people who are not their current paying students in a scheduled class. The scope of this page is pricing that one-off help, not running a bootcamp, teaching a cohort, or replacing structured curriculum.
Person-to-person help remains a measurable learning channel for working developers: 25.6% of the 33,454 respondents to the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey said they learned to code in the past year through a "colleague or on-the-job training."
Bootcamps remain a smaller but real slice of how developers learn. In the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, 5.2% of the 33,454 developers answering the "how did you learn to code in the past year" question selected "Coding Bootcamp," rising to 7.3% among the 7,203 respondents aged 18 to 24. Those two bootcamp-share figures describe how developers learned to code, not how often they paid a mentor, so a bootcamp alumni network is a plausible audience to test rather than a measured demand pool.
Human explanation also holds its ground against AI tooling, which is the underlying reason a paid human answer still sells. In the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, 46% of the 33,244 respondents answering the AI-accuracy question said they distrust the accuracy of AI output while 33% said they trust it.
"More developers actively distrust the accuracy of AI tools (46%) than trust it (33%), and only a fraction (3%) report 'highly trusting' the output." — 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, AI section
What can a bootcamp mentor actually sell?
A bootcamp mentor can sell Paid Questions for one written question and Custom Work for work involving a file, a codebase, or a recording. Custom Work accepts attached files from the client, including recordings.
Paid Questions are one typed question and one written reply. That format fits a single stuck error message or a yes/no design question. With Custom Work, a client can send links and attach up to five files, each up to 50 MB. The mentor can deliver written notes, files, links, or a recorded walkthrough within the delivery time they set, up to 5 days. Custom Work fits a capstone review, a code audit, or feedback on a recorded mock interview.
Should a quick coding question be a question or a service?
Choose the format by what the client needs to send, not by how hard the question feels. A request the client can type entirely as text — an error message, a stack trace, a "should I use X or Y" call — fits the Paid Questions offer. A request needing a file or recording attached fits Custom Work.
| Client's request | Right-fit offer | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One error message or stack trace | Paid Questions | Written submission |
| Full capstone project or repository | custom request | Requires a file/repo attachment and a longer review |
| Recorded mock-interview answer | custom request | Requires a recording upload and voice/video feedback |
| Career-transition encouragement | Personalized Video | A message, not technical feedback |
Client demand splits along similar lines. In the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, 54.6% of the 29,163 developers answering the question said they would still want to ask another person for help "when I'm stuck and can't explain the problem," and 49.8% chose "when I need help fixing complex or unfamiliar code."
Two sibling Brillay guides go deeper on each lane: charging for a single explained error message covers the Paid Questions version, and selling project feedback for bootcamp students covers the Custom Work version for full capstone and portfolio reviews. The broader developer offer guide covers the same two formats for working developers who never went through a bootcamp cohort at all.
How much should outside mentoring cost?
No published rate card exists for informal bootcamp mentoring, so a mentor should set price from their own time, experience, and how narrowly the request is scoped. The scoping table in this section is an illustrative framework built on stated assumptions — not survey data, and not a guarantee of what any mentor can charge.
The one anchor with a primary source behind it is the underlying labor rate. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $135,980 for software developers as of May 2025 (Occupational Outlook Handbook: Software Developers), which works out to roughly $65 an hour at a 2,080-hour full-time year — a derived figure, not a BLS-published hourly wage. For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median annual wage across all occupations at $50,980 in May 2025.
The illustrative ranges in the table below sit at or above the derived ~$65/hour software-developer anchor, on the assumption that scoped async work bills for context-loading time — reading a repository, reproducing an error — that a salaried hour does not separately charge for.
| Scoped offer | What the client sends | What the mentor returns | Assumed working time | Illustrative price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single error explainer (Paid Question) | One error message or stack trace, as text | Written reply naming the cause and the fix | 10–20 min | $25–$50 |
| "Which approach?" design question (Paid Question) | A written description of the two options | Written reply with a recommendation and trade-offs | 15–30 min | $35–$75 |
| Recorded mock-interview feedback (custom request) | A recorded answer to a practice question | Recorded walkthrough plus written notes | 45–75 min | $75–$175 |
| Capstone or portfolio code review (custom request) | A repository link or zip file | Written review notes plus a marked-up file | 60–90 min | $100–$250 |
Demand for the underlying developer skill is not shrinking, which matters when a mentor decides whether to price at the bottom or the top of a range. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 106,100 openings for software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers each year, on average, over the 2025-2035 decade (Occupational Outlook Handbook: Software Developers).
"Overall employment of software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers is projected to grow 10 percent from 2025 to 2035, much faster than the average for all occupations." — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Software Developers
The sibling guide how much to charge for a mock interview walks through a full worksheet for pricing session-based feedback specifically, and async custom work vs. live calls explains why the recorded-feedback format prices differently from a scheduled call.
What does a mentor keep after Brillay and Stripe fees?
A bootcamp mentor's take-home varies by price and by which of the two published fees applies, so the table below works out the actual amount for each example rather than compressing it into one blended percentage.
Stripe's published rate for typical US domestic online card payments is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (Stripe pricing), and the table below applies both the Stripe rate and the Brillay fee to the illustrative prices in this guide.
| Price the client pays | Stripe processing (2.9% + $0.30) | Brillay fee (8%) | Mentor keeps (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $35 | ~$1.32 | ~$2.80 | ~$30.89 |
| $75 | ~$2.48 | ~$6.00 | ~$66.53 |
| $150 | ~$4.65 | ~$12.00 | ~$133.35 |
| $250 | ~$7.55 | ~$20.00 | ~$222.45 |
At a $150 Custom Work price, the estimated Stripe fee is $4.65, Brillay's 8% platform fee on that Custom Work order is $12.00, and the mentor keeps approximately $133.35 before taxes or other expenses. Tips and Goals carry a 5% platform fee instead. These are planning estimates, not invoices: 2.9% + $0.30 is the typical US domestic online-card rate rather than a universal Stripe fee, and international cards, currency conversion, and other payment methods carry different rates.
Can bootcamp TAs and mentors charge students directly?
Whether you can charge current students depends on your employment or contractor agreement. You can enable Paid Questions or Custom Work with no teaching credential, nothing to apply for, and no follower minimum. Read the contract before charging anyone from the same program.
Teaching-assistant contracts do restrict outside work in practice. The University of Texas at Dallas publishes an example in policy UTDPP1075, which governs graduate assistants, teaching assistants, and teaching associates:
"Students holding these appointments normally are not allowed to accept outside employment. In those very rare cases when it is appropriate for the student to seek limited employment beyond the appointment, written permission must be obtained from both the individual's supervisor (in accordance with UTDPP1102) as well as the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies from the appropriate School." — University of Texas at Dallas, policy UTDPP1075
The UT Dallas policy binds university graduate assistants rather than bootcamp staff, and bootcamp agreements vary, so UTDPP1075 is evidence that outside-work restrictions are a normal contract term worth checking for rather than a rule that applies to any particular mentor. There is also no federal ban on the restrictive covenants a bootcamp might use: the Federal Trade Commission states that its Noncompete Rule "is not in effect and it is not enforceable," noting that a district court stopped enforcement on August 20, 2024 and that the FTC moved to dismiss its appeal on September 5, 2025 (FTC Noncompete Rule). Non-compete and moonlighting terms therefore turn on state law and the individual contract, and a mentor with a specific agreement in hand should get advice from a licensed attorney rather than from a guide.
Bootcamp outcomes reporting is also more formalized than the informal-mentoring layer around it. The Council on Integrity in Results Reporting, a 501(c)(6) non-profit, requires member schools to publish standardized outcomes reports annually, to break out employment results at 90, 180, and 360 days after graduation, and to submit those reports to annual third-party audits, per the six core standards published in CIRR's 2025 Standards Guide. Mentors selling outside help should keep their own claims equally plain: describe the deliverable, not a job outcome.
The safest sequence is to check any employment agreement, non-compete, or contractor contract before charging current students of the same bootcamp, then build the outside offer around alumni, students of other programs, or self-taught developers instead of a mentor's own active cohort.
What else can round out a bootcamp mentor's page?
A bootcamp mentor can add three lower-friction offers alongside a priced question or review: Personalized Videos, Tips, and Goals. Personalized Videos, Tips, and Goals let clients engage without turning every interaction into technical work, and each offer is optional in Brillay's setup.
- Personalized Videos: A congratulations message for a student who just landed their first dev job, or encouragement before a big interview.
- Tips: A way for someone who benefited from free advice to say thanks, with no reply or delivery required.
- Goals: Cash toward a mentor's own goal, like a free study-guide series or an open-source tool for new grads.
Paid Questions and Custom Work remain the main ways to charge for expertise, while Personalized Videos, Tips, and Goals give students and alumni other ways to engage or support the work.
How do you launch a bootcamp-mentor offer step by step?
Launch a bootcamp-mentor page with one offer rather than five: pick the request that arrives most often — an error explainer or a project review — price only that one thing, write its scope in plain language, and publish. One clearly scoped option is easier for a client to parse than a full service menu.
Write the scope in three lines: what the client sends, what you deliver once, and how long you need—up to 5 days. Custom Work covers commissions and small custom work, so price and describe the deliverable clearly before the client pays. State clearly that feedback does not guarantee a job offer, a passing grade, or a bug-free build. Add a second offer only once demand for the first is clear — Paid Questions are the lower-friction starting point, and Custom Work is easier to price once a mentor knows how long reviews actually take.
Demand for human answers is measurable rather than assumed, which is why a single well-scoped offer is enough to test with. In the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, 75.3% of the 29,163 developers answering the question named "when I don't trust AI's answers" as the top situation where they would still want to ask another person for help.
Frequently asked questions
Four questions come up most often from bootcamp instructors, TAs, and alumni pricing outside help for the first time: whether current bootcamp employment is required, whether current students are off-limits, what the fees are, and whether a quick question should cost the same as a full review.
Do I need to still be employed by a bootcamp to sell mentoring on Brillay?
No. Paid Questions and Custom Work are available to current mentors and alumni, with or without a coaching certification or teaching credential. Alumni who no longer work for any bootcamp can offer the same async feedback formats.
Can I charge my current bootcamp's own students?
Check the employment agreement or TA contract first, because outside-work restrictions are a common contract term — the University of Texas at Dallas, for example, states in policy UTDPP1075 that graduate assistants and teaching assistants "normally are not allowed to accept outside employment" without written permission from a supervisor and an associate dean. Building the offer around alumni or students of other programs avoids the conflict entirely.
What does Brillay charge for this?
Two separate costs apply, both already worked out in the fee table above: Brillay's platform fee (for example, $12 of a $150 Custom Work price) and Stripe's card processing on top of it, typically 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for US domestic cards — international cards, currency conversion, and other payment methods carry different rates.
Should I price a quick question the same as a full project review?
No. Paid Questions cover one typed question and one written reply, while Custom Work covers a repository, capstone, or recorded interview review with a delivery time of up to 5 days. The larger scope and file-based deliverable of Custom Work typically justify a higher price than a single explained error message.
Create your free Brillay page and turn the next "can you look at my code?" DM into a priced offer instead of a free favor.
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