What does a fractional CTO cost?

This guide explains my fees and how to budget for the work around them. The useful question is what leadership, implementation and operating capacity your business needs together.

What does the starting fee cover?

A small mandate might include weekly management and developer discussions, Slack or Teams availability and document reviews. The responsibility can include priorities, architecture decisions, supplier oversight or leadership for a capable team.

The arrangement is tailored. Meeting frequency alone does not describe its value: decisions, resolved problems and continued delivery matter more.

I generally work remotely, with business-hours availability and occasional on-site involvement where useful. Working rhythm.

Budget for the complete delivery model

I usually lead implementation through your engineers or development partners and build personally when it makes economic sense. The proposal should make the included responsibilities and costs clear.

What changes the scope?

• Decisions ahead: a steady roadmap, supplier transition and major rebuild need different involvement.
• Delivery condition: a dependable team needs different intervention from unreliable releases and opaque spending.
• People and exposure: skills, suppliers, customer data, integrations, reliability and AI behaviour affect the work.
• Timing: a launch or leadership transition changes what must be resolved and when.

If the business needs a permanent CTO or another delivery arrangement, I’ll say so.

Can you start with a standalone assignment?

Yes. An assessment, hiring process, architecture decision or product build does not require a mandate. We establish the question, work, output and fee. Implementation is included when it forms part of that scope.

Focused services. · Technical decisions and risk.

Compare responsibility and retained capability

Ask who makes decisions, who implements, how quality is accepted and what capability the company retains afterwards.

One client had agency proposals of approximately CHF 350'000–480'000. I led an internal build with the same delivery scope. Engineering salary costs were approximately CHF 74'000, and the venture retained its code, knowledge and development capability. Read the case.

An agency quote pays for a delivery organisation, commercial overhead and margins as well as engineering. An internal model has a different cost structure. Compare what each arrangement includes and who carries the responsibility.

Define what the investment should change

That could be dependable releases, recovered capacity, control over a supplier or a product ready for customers. Choose the measure around the business problem. Faster releases that create more rework do not solve it.

When this way of working fits.