The hourly rate is the easiest number to ask about and the least useful one to compare. What matters is the total for the job, what is included, and who does the work.
What drives a consultant's hourly rate?
Four things:
- Seniority. Someone with twenty years of doing the work gets to the answer faster and charges more per hour for it. You often pay less in total.
- Specialty. Narrow, hard-to-find skills cost more than general ones.
- The pricing model. Hourly, fixed price, and monthly retainers price risk differently. More on that below.
- What is included. Travel, software, subcontractors, meetings, revisions. Two consultants at the same rate can send very different invoices for the same job.
Location matters less than it used to, since most of the work can happen remotely. It still matters for on-site work.
Hourly, fixed price, or monthly: which is better for me?
For most buyers, a fixed price is better whenever the scope can be written down.
- Hourly puts the risk on you. If the work takes longer, you pay more. It fits small, open-ended jobs: a second opinion, a quick fix, a prototype where nobody knows yet what the answer looks like.
- Fixed price puts the risk on the consultant. You know the total before you start. It fits anything with a clear end: a workshop, a brand, a website, a study.
- Monthly buys a set amount of a senior person's time in a seat, every month. It fits ongoing leadership, such as a fractional CMO or CTO.
A consultant who only works hourly on a job with a clear end is asking you to carry their estimating risk.
What do you charge?
My rates, all published:
- Hourly: $150 an hour for prototypes, second opinions, and odd jobs. A prototype can also be a fixed quote.
- Start-small jobs: $150 to $1,500 each, from a one-hour second opinion to a one-page website.
- Workshops: $1,500 for a half day, $3,500 for a day, $6,500 for two days.
- Fractional seats: $3,500, $6,500, or $11,000 a month for a CMO, CTO, or Chief AI Officer seat, three months minimum, two years maximum.
Anything over $3,000 can be paid by the month across the months the work takes, no interest. What you pay for a start-small job comes off a bigger job if you hire me for one within 90 days. Nonprofits, co-ops, arts groups, and startups before revenue get a sliding scale.
Everything is on the services page. For UX work specifically, what a UX consultant costs breaks it down by the hour, the study, and the month.
How do I compare quotes with different pricing?
Turn every quote into a total for the same list of things you will be holding at the end. An hourly quote needs an estimate of hours and a cap. A fixed quote needs a written scope. A monthly quote needs the number of days and the number of months.
Then ask who does the work. A lower rate for a junior person who takes three times as long is a higher price.
What should be included in the rate?
Ask, and get the answer in writing. Common things to check: travel inside the metro, the software the consultant uses, meetings and calls, one or two rounds of revisions, and the files and accounts handed over at the end. Anything left off the list is a change order waiting to happen.
What to ask before hiring a consultant has the full list of questions.
Answered by Jared Lukes, Minneapolis. Twenty-five years in brand, UX, and technology, currently holding fractional AI and technology seats at three companies. About Jared.