Holdfast vs EPT
The core difference
Staff augmentation adds engineers to your team and you direct them. The unit is a seat. Holdfast delivers a shipped feature. The unit is an outcome. With augmentation you keep the management and the risk. With Holdfast we take both.
When capacity is the real problem
If you have a strong engineering organization and simply need more hands under your own direction, staff augmentation is efficient and direct. If you do not have spare management capacity, augmented staff become overhead instead of leverage.
The differences, line by line.
| Dimension | Holdfast | EPT |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Fixed price per shipped feature, 14,000 dollars | Monthly rate per augmented engineer |
| Minimum commitment | One sprint, or month to month for embedded | Ongoing, you manage the engineer |
| Conversion fee to hire | Zero, hire anyone any time | Conversion terms vary by provider |
| Delivery guarantee | Money back if we miss day 14 | None |
| Who runs your intro call | The founder, every time | A sales or account team |
| AI tooling transparency | Published toolchain, AI time-saved logged per sprint | Not disclosed |
When to choose EPT
Choose staff augmentation if your bottleneck is purely capacity, you have the management bandwidth to direct extra engineers, and you want them working under your own process. For a well-run team that just needs more hands, augmentation is direct and effective.
Holdfast vs EPT, in short.
No. Holdfast delivers shipped features and manages the work. Our embedded option is the closest to augmentation, but it still includes founder review and delivery discipline.
Think Holdfast is the fit?
Send a one-page brief. A fixed price and a ship date back by morning, with no marketplace contract.