Fractional CTO pricing, in plain numbers
How much does a fractional CTO cost in the UK?
A fractional CTO in the UK typically costs between £1,000 and £2,500 per day, or a monthly retainer of roughly £4,500 to £12,000 for one to two days a week. A typical Boardman engagement is £6,000 a month for around four days. You pay only for the days you use, with no salary, equity, or recruitment fees.
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What affects the cost
The number is not arbitrary. A fractional CTO's cost moves with a handful of clear variables, and understanding them tells you roughly where in the range you will sit.
Days per month. The biggest driver. One day a week costs very differently from three, and most of the monthly figure simply tracks the time you book.
Seniority and track record. A CTO who has scaled a business through the exact stage you are at, or led an exit, commands more than a generalist. You are paying for judgement, and experience is what you are really buying.
Scope. Steadying a small team is one thing. Leading a platform rebuild, a funding round, or a fast-scaling engineering org is another, and the rate reflects the weight of the work.
Engagement length. Longer, ongoing engagements are often priced more keenly than short, intensive bursts, where the cost of context-switching and ramp-up is higher.
Sector and complexity. Regulated, technically deep, or highly specialised businesses tend to sit towards the upper end, because the pool of people who can genuinely help is smaller.
Day and hourly rates
Most fractional CTO work in the UK is priced on a day rate, typically £1,000 to £2,500 per day. At the lower end (£1,000–£1,200) you will find experienced generalists who have held CTO roles at SMEs.
At the higher end (£1,500–£2,500) sit specialists with deep sector expertise: fintech, healthtech, regulated industries, track records of exits, and the ability to stand in front of PE or VC investors during due diligence.
The day rate model suits engagements where the work is best measured in blocks of focused time: a strategy sprint, a due diligence exercise, or a fixed number of days a month.
Some engagements are quoted on an hourly rate, usually £150 to £350 per hour, though this is less common for ongoing leadership. Hourly tends to fit light-touch advisory or very early-stage founders who want occasional senior input rather than embedded leadership. For anything sustained, a day rate or monthly retainer is almost always better value than counting hours.
Monthly and retainer cost
For ongoing leadership, most businesses move to a monthly retainer, which buys a set number of days each month at a predictable cost. Typical UK market structures look like this:
| Commitment | Rough monthly cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| ~1 day / week | £4,500 – £6,000 | Steadying a small team, ongoing advisory |
| ~2 days / week | £8,000 – £12,000 | Active leadership through a growth phase |
| ~3 days / week | £12,000 – £18,000 | Intensive periods: rebuilds, raises, scaling |
The retainer model is popular because it is predictable and it keeps your CTO genuinely engaged with the business month to month, rather than parachuting in by the hour. You can scale the days up during intensive periods and back down as things settle. Most mid-market businesses find one to two days a week provides sufficient strategic coverage — that puts a typical annual cost at £54,000 to £144,000, against a fully-loaded full-time cost that starts far higher.
Fractional vs full-time: the real cost comparison
This is where the maths gets persuasive. A full-time CTO's salary is only part of what they actually cost you. Once you load in employer's National Insurance, pension, benefits, and equity, the true figure is considerably higher than the headline salary, and you pay all of it whether or not you need a full CTO's time every week.
| Full-time CTO (London) | Fractional CTO | |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | £120,000 – £170,000 | — |
| Employer's NI (15%) | £17,000 – £25,000 | — |
| Pension contributions | £6,000 – £8,500 | — |
| Benefits & equipment | £5,000 – £10,000 | — |
| Equity | 0.5 – 2% dilution | None |
| Recruitment cost (20–25% of salary) | £24,000 – £42,500 | None |
| Year-one fully-loaded cost | £172,000 – £256,000 | £54,000 – £144,000 |
| Ongoing annual cost | £148,000 – £213,000 | £54,000 – £144,000 |
| You pay for | All of their time | Only the days you need |
A typical Boardman engagement at £6,000 a month is £72,000 a year, roughly a third of the fully-loaded cost of the full-time equivalent, before any equity is granted.
The point is not that a fractional CTO is simply cheaper. It is that for a business that does not yet need a full-time CTO's entire week, you are paying for capability you would not fully use.
Fractional matches the cost to the actual need. For a fuller breakdown of the models, see our fractional vs interim vs full-time comparison.
Which do you need?
Pricing for other fractional technology leaders follows the same logic, day rate or monthly retainer, scaled to days and seniority, though the ranges vary by role.
A fractional CIO typically runs £1,000–£1,500 per day or £3,000–£8,000 a month, with a focus on business systems and IT governance rather than product technology.
A fractional CISO runs £1,000–£2,500 per day or £3,000–£12,000 a month, with deep regulatory expertise (FCA compliance, ISO 27001, CREST/CHECK) commanding the higher rates.
A fractional CPO and fractional Chief AI Officer vary with how specialised the remit is. If you want a figure for any of these, the quickest route is a short call.
How Boardman prices engagements
We keep it simple and transparent.
A typical Boardman engagement is a monthly retainer of £6,000 for around four days a month, roughly a day a week of senior technology leadership, agreed up front, with no hidden fees and no long lock-in.
More intensive engagements are scoped and priced to the days you actually need.
Before we quote, we take the time to understand your situation: the stage you are at, the days you are likely to need, and the outcomes you are after. That way the figure you get is real and specific to you, not a range you have to guess your way through.
And if your needs change, the engagement flexes with them, our retainers include access to the broader Boardman team, not just a single individual.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a fractional CTO cost per month?
What is a typical fractional CTO day rate?
Is a fractional CTO really cheaper than a full-time hire?
Do fractional CTOs take equity?
What are the risks, and how do I avoid overpaying?
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