How much does a fractional CTO cost per month?

At Reflekt Lab, $115 to $210 an hour (100 to 180 euros), billed by the minute for the time actually spent. Most mandates run one to three days a month, so about $900 to $5,000 a month, and a quiet month costs less than a busy one. Pricing guides published in 2026 put US fractional CTO retainers at about $3,000 to $6,000 a month for advisory work, $6,000 to $18,000 for a few hours to two days a week, and $18,000 to $40,000 for near full-time or interim work.

How many hours a month does a fractional CTO work?

Usually the equivalent of one to three days a month: a weekly one-hour leadership session, a standing slot with the engineering team, asynchronous answers through the week, and a monthly written update. Below about a day a month you have an adviser rather than a leader. Above four or five days a month you are close enough to full-time that you should hire.

Is a fractional CTO cheaper than a full-time CTO?

Much cheaper in cash, as long as you need leadership rather than a full-time engineer. One 2026 guide puts a US Series A CTO's first year at $325,000 to $490,000 all in (salary, benefits, management overhead and the recruiting fee), before equity. A fractional CTO at one to three days a month costs a small fraction of that. The comparison stops working once you need someone more than about a week a month.

Do fractional CTOs charge a retainer or by the hour?

Both models exist. Most US guides describe a flat monthly retainer for a set number of hours, and some add a small equity grant. We bill the time actually spent, by the minute, with the first 90 days agreed up front and then month to month, so you never pay for hours that were not used.

What makes a fractional CTO more expensive?

Hours, first: how many days a month the role needs. Then the kind of work (advice and decisions versus managing a team and delivery), the stakes (a fundraise, a sale, a security questionnaire from a large customer, a regulated product) and the location: guides quote $275 to $350 an hour in San Francisco and New York against $150 to $200 in smaller US markets.

Fractional CTO Cost per Month: Our Real Prices (2026)

A desk lamp lighting one corner of a large, mostly dark table, where a calendar with two or three marked days lies beside a short stack of coins and an empty chair

Short answer: at Reflekt Lab, a fractional CTO costs $115 to $210 an hour, billed by the minute, which comes to about $900 to $5,000 a month for the usual one to three days. The first 90 days are agreed up front, then it is month to month. US pricing guides quote retainers from about $3,000 a month for light advisory work to $25,000 and more for near full-time leadership, so compare the hours a quote buys, not only the monthly figure. Below: our prices, what the market quotes, what a month includes, what moves the number, and when you should hire a full-time CTO instead.

Our prices

These are the same prices as on our fractional CTO page, converted to US dollars from our euro prices.

Time a month	What it usually covers	Cost at $115 to $210 an hour
About one day (8 hours)	The weekly leadership session, the monthly written update, the decisions that cannot wait	about $900 to $1,700
About two days (16 hours)	The above, plus a standing slot with the engineering team: architecture review, technical design, hiring	about $1,800 to $3,400
About three days (24 hours)	The above, plus a migration, a security push, a fundraise or a sale running at the same time	about $2,800 to $5,000

We bill the time actually spent, by the minute, rather than in day blocks or a fixed retainer, so a quiet month costs less than a busy one. The rate within the range depends on the mandate: board-facing work, a sale or a regulated product sit at the top. Building software is a separate agreement with its own price, on purpose: why we keep the two apart.

What the market quotes

US pricing guides published in 2026 cluster around these bands (A.Team, HyperNest Labs):

Kind of engagement	Time	What the guides quote
Advisory	2 to 5 hours a week, or 10 to 15 hours a month	about $3,000 to $10,000 a month
Light to standard	8 to 20 hours a week	about $6,000 to $18,000 a month
Active leadership	20 to 40 hours a month and more	about $10,000 to $25,000 a month
Intensive or interim	near full-time	$18,000 to $40,000 a month

The same guides put hourly rates at about $150 to $200 in smaller US markets and $275 to $350 in San Francisco and New York. For comparison, A.Team puts the first year of a full-time US Series A CTO at $325,000 to $490,000 all in, before equity.

Read those numbers with care, ours included: every one comes from a firm that sells the work. Two things explain most of the gap between our figures and theirs. Most US retainers buy more hours than our usual month, and we are an engineering studio in Bordeaux, France, with European rates. Before comparing quotes, put them on the same basis: the hours a month, the rate per hour, and what happens to hours you do not use.

What a month includes

Remote-first, with a fixed cadence rather than availability on demand:

A weekly leadership session, one hour, with an agenda and the decisions written down.
A standing slot with the engineering team: architecture review, technical design, or whatever is actually blocking.
Asynchronous answers in your channels through the week, for the decisions that cannot wait.
A monthly written update for founders and board: what changed, what is at risk, what needs a decision.
Quarterly, a longer working session on the next quarter's plan, on site when the dates line up.

The first 90 days are fixed: understand and stabilise, then decide (architecture, spend, team shape, security), then install the rhythm. At day 90 you continue, step down to lighter advice, or stop. All three are normal endings.

What moves the price

Four things, roughly in this order:

Hours a month. By far the biggest lever. One day a month and three days a month are different jobs, and a quote that does not state the hours cannot be compared.
Decisions or management. Owning architecture, spend and the hiring bar fits in a few days a month. Running a team's delivery day to day does not, and at that point you are buying an interim CTO.
The stakes. A fundraise, a sale, a large customer's security questionnaire or a regulated product put a technical topic on the valuation, and the work has to be right the first time.
Location and on-site time. Remote work keeps the rate down. Regular days in your office add travel and time, which we agree in the contract rather than promising vaguely.

When not to buy one

You need a senior engineer every day. Then hire. A fractional arrangement is not a discount on a salary, and above four or five days a month a full-time hire is the better answer.
You only need a diagnosis. A fixed-scope technical review answers "what is wrong and in what order do we fix it" without an ongoing arrangement. When the software exists and nobody can safely change it, our code audit is a fixed $2,900 (2,500 euros) (code takeover).
You need hands, not decisions. If the roadmap is decided and someone senior already owns it, you need delivery capacity: the decision table sets out which of the two you are missing.

How Much Does a Fractional CTO Cost per Month? Our Real Prices (2026)

The pricing guides quote retainers from $3,000 to $25,000 a month and up. Here is what we charge, how many hours a month that buys, what moves the number, and when you should hire full-time instead.