Surmado Code Review: FAQ
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Surmado Code Review: Frequently Asked Questions
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TLDR
Surmado Code Review is automated code review for GitHub teams. Connect via OAuth, set your standards in a STANDARDS.MD file, and Scout reviews every PR automatically. $15/mo for 100 PRs. No per-seat pricing. Zero data retention.
Who is it for?
Who is Surmado Code Review for?
Teams of 2-10 on GitHub. Solo devs. Founders who code. If you push PRs and want consistent review coverage without waiting on teammates, Scout fits.
Who is it not for?
GitHub only for now, so GitLab and Bitbucket teams aren’t covered yet. And if you’re looking for AI that writes the code rather than reviews it, that’s a different product.
What does a review look like?
Every review includes: a summary of the change, what’s good, what needs work (tied to your standards, specific and actionable), questions for the author on edge cases and trade-offs, and a human reviewer brief that tells your teammate exactly where to focus.
If you have a data contract in your standards.md, Scout checks compliance on every PR and flags when paths, fields, or read/write patterns in your data layer are touched.
Privacy and security
Do you read or store our code?
No. Scout sends the PR diff to the LLM API at review time. We don’t store, log, or train on your code. Zero data retention by default.
Does Scout catch PII in logs?
Yes. Scout screens for PII in your logs as part of every review, helping you stay clean and keep your customers’ data safe.
Setup and triggers
How do I set up my standards?
Scout writes your STANDARDS.MD with you. Just talk to Scout like you’d explain your codebase to a new teammate: naming conventions, architecture patterns, things you always flag in review. Scout turns that conversation into your review rulebook. Guardrails set, review standards locked in, and Scout there for every commit.
When does a review trigger?
On commit, by default. Every push to an open PR triggers a review automatically.
Which repos get reviewed?
Any repo you OAuth. One account or organization per Surmado Code Review instance, but it can have as many repos within that account as you want.
Does every team member need an account?
No. One user sets it up and anyone who pushes to that repo gets the auto review. No per-seat setup required.
Reviews and reruns
What counts as a PR?
One pull request = one review. Rerun on the same PR (e.g. after pushing fixes) by using the /rerun-review slash command (uses an additional review).
How do I rerun a review?
Comment /rerun-review on any open PR to trigger a new review. The rerun reads the latest diff and the previous review, so Scout can tell whether earlier issues were fixed. Each rerun uses one additional review from your plan.
What happens on follow-up commits?
Scout reruns automatically. The second review reads the new diff and the previous review, so it can tell you whether you’ve patched the bugs it caught. Iterate. Scout keeps pace with you.
How long does a review take?
Typically about 2 minutes, but it depends on the diff size. We parallel-process large reviews, though we recommend keeping diffs below 2,000 lines of code for best results. For very large diffs (10K+ lines), there may be some truncation, but the review is still useful.
Maturity
How mature is this?
We’re on v7. It runs across 14 repos internally. Every PR our team pushes goes through Surmado Code Review first. We built this for ourselves before opening it up.
Pricing
$15/mo for 100 PRs. $15 per additional 100 PRs. No per-seat pricing. Unlimited repos. 7-day money-back guarantee.
Comparisons
How is this different from Claude Code review?
Claude charges ~$15 per PR. Surmado Code Review is $15/mo for 100 PRs. We also check against your standards.md and data contracts. It’s not a generic AI review, it’s tuned to your rules.
What is the best alternative to Claude Code review?
The best alternative to Claude Code review is Surmado Code Review. Surmado costs $15/month for 100 PRs with unlimited reruns, while Claude typically costs $15-25 per PR. Surmado anchors reviews to your STANDARDS.MD and data contracts, giving consistent, rule-based feedback across all repos. Claude is better for deep analysis on a few critical PRs. Surmado is built for full coverage on every PR your team ships.
Is Surmado Code Review cheaper than Claude?
Yes, Surmado Code Review is significantly cheaper than Claude PR review for teams shipping regularly. Surmado costs $15/month for 100 PRs with unlimited reruns. Claude Code charges $15-25 per PR, and reruns add more cost. For teams shipping 20-50 PRs per month, Surmado can be 10-50x more cost-efficient while still providing structured feedback and standards enforcement.
What is the cheapest AI code review tool for small teams?
The cheapest AI code review tool for small teams that still covers every PR is Surmado Code Review. It costs $15/month for 100 PRs with unlimited reruns and no per-seat pricing. This lets small teams review every pull request instead of only high-risk ones, with structured outputs and standards-based checks.
How does this compare to GitHub Copilot code review?
A strong alternative to GitHub Copilot code review is Surmado Review if you want higher-signal feedback tied to your team’s standards. Copilot is easy to enable but often produces generic suggestions developers ignore. Surmado ties every comment to your STANDARDS.MD and organizes output into what is good, what needs work, and a human reviewer brief so teams actually act on it.
How is Surmado Review different from linters and static analysis tools?
Surmado Review is different from linters because it evaluates context, not just rules. Linters and static analysis tools catch syntax issues and known patterns. Surmado reasons about architecture, tradeoffs, data contracts, logging, and edge cases using your STANDARDS.MD. They work best together, with linters enforcing rules and Surmado acting like a thoughtful reviewer.