Comparison
Quick answer
A fractional CTO provides senior technical leadership part-time across multiple companies — delivering strategic and architectural guidance without a full-time salary. A full-time CTO is a dedicated executive who owns the entire technical function. For most early-stage startups, a fractional CTO is the right first technical leadership hire.
For most startups pre-Series B, a fractional CTO is the smarter first move — you get the same strategic credibility and architectural guidance at 10–20% of the full-time cost. Hire full-time when the breadth of the role consistently exceeds what part-time can support and your engineering team size justifies the investment.
Hourly rate
$100–$350/hr
Standard range from senior developer consultants to fractional CTOs
Per session
$200–$700
For a focused technical advisory, architecture review, or vendor evaluation session
Monthly retainer
$5,000–$20,000/month
For fractional CTO engagements (typically 2–4 days/week)