New contributors wait 53% longer for their PRs to be reviewed. The onboarding tax is real.
Longer Wait
for first-time contributors
Based on 3,387,250 merged PRs | GitHub Archive / BigQuery | December 2024
First-time contributors wait a median of 26 hours for their PRs to be reviewed. Repeat contributors? Just 17 hours. That's 53% longer for newcomers.
| Contributor Type | PRs Analyzed | Median Wait | P90 Wait |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-time contributor | 133,315 | 26h | 305h (12.7 days) |
| Repeat contributor | 913,530 | 17h | 199h (8.3 days) |
The P90 numbers tell an even starker story. For 10% of first-time contributors, the wait stretches to 305 hours—that's 12.7 days. For repeat contributors, the P90 is 199 hours (8.3 days).
1 in 10 new contributors wait this long
Established contributors fare better
"First-time contributors wait 53% longer for their code to be reviewed."
Open source sustainability isn't just about funding—it's about contributor retention. Every new contributor represents potential long-term investment. But when their first experience is a two-week wait, many never come back.
Studies show that contributors who don't get timely feedback on their first PR are significantly less likely to submit a second one.
Projects that struggle to onboard new contributors eventually face maintainer burnout. Fresh perspectives and help are essential for long-term viability.
New contributors often bring fresh ideas and approaches. When they're discouraged by slow responses, projects miss out on innovation.
Only the most persistent contributors push through long waits. This filters for stubbornness over talent, limiting contributor diversity.
"The P90 wait for new contributors is 12.7 days. Would you stick around?"
The first-contribution tax doesn't affect all contributors equally. Those with less time to invest—whether due to caregiving responsibilities, multiple jobs, or different time zones—are disproportionately impacted by long wait times.
If your project values contributor diversity, prioritizing first-time PRs isn't just nice—it's essential. The hidden tax on newcomers systematically filters out exactly the perspectives many projects say they want.
The first-contribution experience sets the tone for everything that follows.
A 12-day P90 wait tells new contributors they're not valued. If you want sustainable open source, prioritize first-time PRs. Tag them differently, route them to dedicated reviewers, or set SLAs. The small effort pays dividends in contributor retention.
Use GitHub labels like "first-time-contributor" and filter for them in your review workflow. Some projects have dedicated triage for newcomer PRs.
Even a quick "Thanks, we'll review this soon" within 24-48 hours dramatically improves the contributor experience. Silence feels like rejection.
Have experienced contributors volunteer to shepherd first-time PRs. This spreads the load and creates relationships that encourage continued contribution.
A warm welcome message, adding them to a contributors list, or a shoutout in release notes can turn a one-time contributor into a regular.
You can't improve what you don't measure. Set up dashboards to track response times specifically for first-time contributors.
This analysis is based on 3,387,250 merged pull requests from GitHub Archive / BigQuery during December 2024. A "first-time contributor" is defined as someone with no prior merged PRs to that repository. Wait time is measured from PR creation to first review comment or approval. For full methodology, see the complete study.
CodePulse shows you how long different contributor types wait for review in your repos.