Many pricing pages in this field ask you to book a call before they show a number. I’d rather put the market data and my rates in one place, with a source next to every figure.
Four sets of numbers matter when you price technology leadership: the full-time salary you’d otherwise pay, what fractional executives charge, what small firms spend on IT today, and what a one-time assessment costs.
The full-time benchmark
Built In’s 2026 salary data puts the average chief technology officer at $224,550. Employers pay $290,000 to $315,000 once they add benefits and payroll costs (Fractionus, citing Built In).
A full-time hire also brings recruiting time and months of ramp before that person knows your systems. Startups compare fractional fees against that total.
Fractional retainers, by survey
The Frak Conference State of the Fractional Industry survey reported what fractional executives charge per client each month (Fractionus):
| Monthly retainer | Share of fractional executives |
|---|---|
| Under $5,000 | 29.5% |
| $5,001 to $8,000 | 40.0% |
| $8,001 to $10,000 | 18.5% |
| Over $10,000 | 12.0% |
Seven in ten charge between $5,000 and $10,000. The $15,000 to $25,000 figures quoted on consulting sites describe the top eighth of the market.
Vendux, studying fractional sales leaders in 2024, put their average monthly compensation at $9,651, reported at the same Fractionus link. Sales leadership is a different role, so use that figure as a cross-check on the range.
The number small firms compare against
A thirty-person professional services firm doesn’t measure a fee against a $224,550 salary. The owner measures it against the IT budget.
Securetechie.com puts total IT spend for a firm of 30 to 60 people at $5,000 to $10,000 a month, with fully managed IT running $100 to $250 per user per month (securetechie.com, May 2026).
Scopable.io reports virtual CIO retainers of $1,500 to $3,000 a month for firms of 10 to 50 users and $3,000 to $8,000 for 50 to 200 users. It also describes an industry habit of pricing vCIO work at about 20% of a client’s managed services bill (scopable.io, April 2026). Britecity.com lists CTO advisory retainers at $2,500 to $4,500 a month for firms of 20 to 40 employees (britecity.com).
One-time assessments
An IT infrastructure assessment for a firm of 10 to 50 employees runs $2,500 to $7,500 (unio.digital). An assessment gives you a written picture of your systems and a prioritized plan before you commit to a monthly fee.
My rates
I publish these on b4help.com:
| Offer | Price | Involvement |
|---|---|---|
| AI Readiness Assessment | $2,500 | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Technology + AI Assessment | $6,500 | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Advisory retainer | $2,500/month | 2 to 4 hours a week |
| Fractional CTO retainer | $8,500/month | About 10 hours a week |
| Embedded retainer | $15,000/month | About 20 hours a week |
| Ad-hoc hourly | $275/hour | |
| Day rate | $2,000/day |
Retainers convert to effective hourly rates you can compare. A month holds about 43 working hours at ten hours a week, so the $8,500 fractional retainer works out to about $196 an hour, below the $275 ad-hoc rate. The embedded retainer covers about 87 hours a month at about $173 an hour. A retainer also buys availability: you can call when something breaks instead of booking time.
Either assessment fee credits in full against the first month of a retainer that starts within 30 days.
Reading the numbers for your firm
Start from your firm’s size. A firm under 50 people with no compliance load fits the advisory tier, which lands inside the vCIO range above. A firm with a development team, a major migration or regulated data needs the hours in the fractional or embedded tiers.
Then set the fee against two costs: your IT budget, and the price of the last technology decision that went wrong. A five-year contract signed without review can outweigh a year of advice.
If you want a second opinion on where your firm fits, book a free 30-minute call. I’ll tell you which tier makes sense, including when the answer is none of them.