I hold two fractional CTO seats right now. Here are the market numbers and mine.
What does a fractional CTO cost in 2026?
The national market, roughly (A.Team's 2026 rate guide):
- Advisory, ten to fifteen hours a month: $4,000 to $10,000.
- Active, twenty to forty hours a month: $10,000 to $25,000.
- Near full-time or interim: $20,000 to $40,000.
Specialists in AI, fintech, and regulated industries charge at the top of each band.
My prices come in three levels:
- About two days a month, $3,500. The roadmap, the vendor calls, and a second opinion on every big technology decision before you spend the money.
- About a day a week, $6,500. I own the roadmap and manage the developers, the vendors, and the security basics.
- About two days a week, $11,000. I run technology. Architecture, hiring, vendors, budget, the AI rollout, until you are ready to hire full-time.
What do you do in the seat?
I keep you from buying the wrong thing, and I pick and manage the people who build the right one. When something breaks at nine on a Friday, my phone rings, not yours.
At one client that meant designing and building a 49-workflow automation platform for a small sales team. At another it is the marketing technology and AI rollout for a firm working in 35+ states. At both, I picked every vendor and I answer for every one of them.
Advisor or hands-on lead, which do I need?
If you already have a competent technical lead and want a sounding board, an advisor at two days a month is plenty. If you have a dev shop and nobody on your side who speaks their language, you need the hands-on level. Without that person, the dev shop is grading its own homework.
Is a fractional CTO cheaper than a full-time one?
A full-time CTO in Minneapolis runs a median base near $324,000 (Salary.com, 2026), before benefits and equity. A fractional seat at $6,500 a month is $78,000 a year for someone who has done the job several times. For a company under about twenty million, the fractional seat usually wins. Past that it gets closer, and I will tell you when you have crossed the line.
What is not included?
Writing the code. I can, and sometimes do on a fixed-price build, but the retainer covers planning, choosing, and managing. Routine development at a CTO rate is a bad deal for you, so I find people who do it for less.
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.