Annual report

2026 Software Engineering Benchmarks Report

Created from a study of 8.1+ M PRs from 4,800 engineering teams across 42 countries.
Learn more about the report

2026 Software Engineering Benchmarks Report

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Cover for Software Engineering Benchmarks Report

Data sourced from

4,800
teams
8.1+ mil
pull requests
42
countries

The benchmarks

About the report
Metric
Elite
Good
Fair
Needs focus
Coding Time
hours
< 54 mins
54 mins - 4 hours
5 - 23
> 23
Pickup Time
hours
< 1
1 - 4
5 - 16
> 16
Approve Time
hours
< 10
10 - 22
23 - 42
> 42
Merge Time
hours
< 1
1 - 3
4 - 16
> 16
Review Time
hours
< 3
3 - 14
15 - 24
> 24
Deploy Time
hours
< 16
16 - 106
107 - 277
> 277
Cycle Time
hours
< 25
25 - 72
73 - 161
> 161
Merge Frequency
per dev/week
> 2.0
2 - 1.2
1.2 - 0.66
< 0.66
Deploy Frequency
per service
> 1.2
1.2 - 0.5
0.5 - 0.2
< 0.2
PR Size
code changes
< 100
100 - 155
156 - 228
> 228
PR Maturity
%
> 89%
89 - 83%
82 - 77%
< 77%
Change Failure Rate
%
< 1%
1 - 4%
5 - 17%
> 17%
Refactor Rate
%
< 11%
11 - 16%
17 - 22%
> 22%
Rework Rate
%
< 3%
3 - 5%
6 - 8%
> 8%
Capacity Accuracy
%
85 - 115%
75 - 85% or 115 - 125%
70 - 75% or 125 - 130%
> 70% or > 130%
Planning Accuracy
%
> 82%
82% - 64%
63% - 47%
< 47%
Issues Linked to Parents
%
> 90%
90 - 67%
66 - 56%
< 56%
Branches Linked to Issues
%
> 77%
77 - 62%
61 - 41%
< 41%
In Progress Issues with Estimation
%
> 55%
55 - 26%
25 - 14%
< 14%
In Progress Issues with Assignees
%
> 96%
96 - 84%
83 - 76%
< 76%

About the report

2026 benchmarks breakdown

This year’s benchmarks include 20 metrics spanning the full SDLC – plus all-new AI metrics. Discover industry benchmarks for:
  • Delivery: Cycle Time, Deploy Frequency, PR Size, and more
  • Predictability: Change Failure Rate, Rework Rate, Planning Accuracy, and more
  • Project Management: Issues Linked to Parents, In Progress Issues with Assignees, and more
2026 Software Engineering Benchmarks Report

Real stories from top engineering leaders

Data alone doesn’t tell the full story. That’s why this year’s report goes beyond metrics, capturing real-world perspectives from top engineering leaders regarding questions like:
  • What’s been the biggest challenge or concern with using AI in your role?
  • How confident are you in the quality of AI-generated code or suggestions?
  • Looking ahead, how do you expect AI to influence your work in the next 12 months?
The State of AI readiness

NEW AI productivity insights

This year’s report takes a hard look at AI’s impact on productivity. Here are a few of the standout findings from this year’s data:
  • AI PRs wait 4.6x longer before review – but are reviewed 2x faster once picked up.
  • Acceptance Rates for AI-generated PRs are significantly lower than manual PRs (32.7% vs. 84.4%).
  • Bot Acceptance Rates vary widely by tool, with Devin’s rising since April and Copilot’s slipping since May.
Agentic AI PRs have a PR PIckup Time 5.3x longer than Unassisted ones.
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Cover of the 2026 Software Engineering Benchmarks Report