[ilyagr]

In practice, for software engineers in CA, I'm guessing that https://www.freetaxusa.com/ will be superior to Direct File for a while. It also files federal taxes for free with no limits AFAIK.

In terms of societal and long-term impact of eliminating the middlemen, Direct File has much more potential. Hopefully, in a few years, states will integrate their tax systems with Direct File. Perhaps one day the government will finally send us a completed tax return as opposed to the other way around.