Plain numbers.
No "contact us" games.
Month-to-month, cancel anytime, no equity required. Three retainer tiers depending on how deep you need me — and a fixed-fee Teardown if you'd rather start small.
What does a fractional CTO cost?
A fractional CTO from Fraction costs $6,000–$18,000/month across three retainer tiers — Advisory ($6k, ~1 day/week), Embedded ($12k, ~2–3 days/week) and Command ($18k, ~3–4 days/week) — billed month-to-month with no equity and no long contract. Prefer to start small? The fixed-fee Tech Teardown is $7,500 for a two-week review, creditable toward your first month. See how this compares to a full-time CTO hire, or book a 20-minute fit call to size the right tier.
- Weekly 60–90 min working session
- Monthly architecture & code-health review
- Roadmap owned and kept current
- Same-day "phone a friend" on big calls
- Investor-deck technical section reviewed
- Direct management of your devs / agency
- Hiring: spec, screen, interview, the call
- Hands-on where it matters most
- Sprint planning & delivery ownership
- Board / investor technical representation
- Full ownership of the engineering org
- Build the team & the manager beneath you
- Security / compliance leadership (SOC 2)
- Direct board accountability for strategy
- A defined hand-off to a full-time CTO
Start with a Tech Teardown — $7,500 · 2 weeks
A deep, honest review of your code, architecture, team, and spend, ending in a written verdict and a prioritized fix list. You'll know exactly where you stand in 14 days. Roll the fee into your first month if you go monthly within 30 days.
No contract
Month-to-month. 14 days' notice to cancel. That's it — no lock-in, no notice games.
No equity required
Open to a reduced-cash-plus-small-equity structure for the right early company — just ask.
Low-risk first two weeks
If we're not a fit, we part cleanly and you pay only for what was actually used.
/ hour
Why no hourly option?
Because the second you're watching a clock, you stop calling me with the decisions that actually matter. A retainer means you get my judgment whenever you need it — including the idea I had about your problem at 6am. That's where the value is.
How much does a fractional CTO cost?
Fraction's retainers run $6,000–$18,000/month across three tiers — Advisory ($6k), Embedded ($12k) and Command ($18k) — plus a one-off $7,500 Tech Teardown. For a deeper breakdown of what drives the number, read what a fractional CTO costs in 2026.
Do you require equity or a long-term contract?
No. Every retainer is month-to-month with 14 days' notice to cancel and no equity required. A reduced-cash-plus-small-equity structure is available for the right early company — just ask. More on the equity question here.
Why is there no hourly rate?
Because the moment you're watching a clock, you stop calling with the decisions that actually matter. A retainer means you get judgment whenever you need it — that's where the value is. See how the engagement works.
What if I'm not ready to commit to a monthly retainer?
Start with a fixed-fee Tech Teardown: $7,500 for a two-week review of your code, architecture, team and spend, ending in a written verdict and prioritized fix list. Roll the fee into your first month if you go monthly within 30 days.
How do I know which tier I need?
Advisory suits pre-seed/seed teams with 1–4 developers; Embedded suits seed–Series A teams of 3–15 actively hiring; Command suits funded companies between CTOs. Not sure if you even need one yet? Compare fractional vs full-time, then book a 20-minute fit call and we'll size it together.