1. The short version

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A fractional CTO in 2026 typically costs somewhere between €2,500 and €12,000+ per month, depending on how deep the engagement goes and whether you need strategic guidance, hands-on execution, or both. Hourly rates for senior people generally land in the €100–€150/hour range.

That's a wide band, so let's break down what moves the number.

2. What you're actually paying for

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Depth of involvement. Strategic-only — a few hours a week setting direction and reviewing decisions — sits at the lower end. Hands-on — where the CTO is also building, hiring, and running the team — sits higher because it's more time and more accountability.

Seniority and track record. Someone who has scaled real systems and can de-risk your architecture is worth more than someone offering generic advice. You're buying judgment; cheap judgment is expensive.

Scope clarity. A tightly scoped engagement (a specific build, a defined leadership gap, a fundraise) is easier to price and usually better value than an open-ended "be our CTO sometimes."

3. Compared to a full-time CTO

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A full-time CTO in a startup hub costs well over €150,000–€250,000+ a year once you include salary, equity, and overhead. A fractional arrangement gives you senior leadership for a fraction of that — which is the entire point. For most pre-Series-B companies, you simply don't need a CTO 40 hours a week; you need the right calls made a few hours a week.

4. How Fracto prices it

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We keep it simple and transparent (we're an Irish-registered company, so all figures are in EUR):

1. AI Audit — ~€1,000 fixed, delivered in 5 days. The front door. A focused diagnostic that finds where AI and better technical decisions cut costs or speed up delivery, with a concrete plan.
2. MVP / No-code Sprint — from ~€2,500, scoped. Get a real product or prototype built fast.
3. Fractional CTO — €120/hour or a monthly retainer. Ongoing technical leadership sized to what you actually need.
4. Technical Due Diligence — fixed fee, scoped. For investors and acquirers who need a clear-eyed technical assessment.

The right way to think about it

Don't anchor on the monthly number — anchor on what the constraint is costing you. If unclear technical priorities are slipping your roadmap by weeks, or a shaky architecture is about to cost you a funding round, the relevant comparison isn't "rate per hour," it's "what does not fixing this cost." Usually it's a lot more than the engagement.

Want a concrete number for your situation? The AI Audit is the cheapest way to get a senior read and a real plan before committing to anything ongoing.

Fracto is an Irish-registered consultancy providing fractional-CTO, AI-audit, MVP-sprint, and technical due-diligence services to startups and scale-ups across the EU, UK, Ireland and US.