Typically sales engineers/solution engineers/solution architects will make more than their software engineering counterparts in the beginning and through most of their careers. That being said, the top software engineers at the top companies will absolutely make more, but I'd venture to say that's only the top 1-2%. I switched from pursuing software engineering to being a cloud engineer and got my first gig at 115k with no experience and no degree, just a couple certs. Less than a year later I switched to being a solutions architect (pre-sales) and I made just over 200k, and the last two years I've made 355k and 348k, just crossing 4 years experience this July. Solution Architecture, being a very technical sales role, allows mobility into many different career paths. For example, I could easily transition to full sales if I wanted to go for higher variable pay, or I could being a software/devops engineer by focusing more on the technical side. I can also move more into leadership having both the people skills and technical chops. If you do go into solution architecture, do it for a company with a very technical hands-on product, and you'll still be able to code a fair amount if you'd like.