A fractional CTO for your startup, without giving up equity.
Senior technical leadership a few days a month: decisions on architecture and vendors, a roadmap your team can deliver, hiring help, and someone who can answer an investor’s technical questions with confidence.
- Monthly
- $3k – $8k/mo
- Equity
- None
- Notice
- 30 days
- Time
- 2–6 days a month
Who it’s built for.
- Non-technical founders who need a technical decision-maker
- Startups between their first developers and a full-time CTO
- Companies preparing for a fundraise or technical due diligence
- Founders managing an agency or offshore team who want a second opinion
What a fractional CTO does
A fractional CTO does the parts of the CTO job a young company actually needs: choosing the stack and vendors, keeping the architecture simple, setting priorities with the founders, reviewing what the developers ship, and hiring the first engineers.
Ours is hands-on. They read the code, join your planning, and write the technical sections of your data room. When you are ready for a full-time CTO, they help you hire one and hand over.
What’s included
In scope
- Technical strategy and roadmap
- Architecture, stack and vendor decisions
- Code and delivery reviews of your team or agency
- Hiring plans, job specs and technical interviews
- Investor and due diligence support
- Security, cost and scalability reviews
Available as add-ons
- Day-to-day coding, available through a dedicated team
- Full-time availability
- Equity or board roles
How it runs, week by week.
Assessment
Code, team, vendors and costs reviewed. Top risks written down.
Plan
Roadmap, architecture decisions and hiring plan agreed with the founders.
Lead
Planning, reviews and decisions on a set number of days each month.
Hand over
Help hiring your full-time CTO, with a proper handover.
Fractional CTO pricing
Prices in US dollars.
| Factor | Effect on price |
|---|---|
| Days per month | The main driver |
| Team size to manage | Larger teams need more time |
| Fundraise or due diligence underway | Adds intensive weeks |
Paid in milestones: 50% to start, 40% when you can use it on staging, 10% at launch (40/40/20 on larger projects). Prices are set for each market, not converted at the day’s exchange rate.
Your options, side by side.
| Full-time CTO | Technical co-founder | Agency lead | Fractional CTO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Senior salary plus equity | Significant equity | Built into project fees | One monthly fee |
| Time to start | 3–6 months to hire | Months to find | With the project | Within two weeks |
| Independent of your vendors | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Commitment | Permanent | Permanent | Per project | 30 days’ notice |
Questions, answered.
How much does a fractional CTO cost?
Our monthly fee is shown above in your currency and depends on days per month. A full-time startup CTO typically costs a senior salary plus meaningful equity.
How many hours does a fractional CTO work?
Usually two to six days a month, set in advance, plus time for urgent questions.
Do you need equity?
No. It is a monthly fee with 30 days’ notice.
Can you oversee another agency or our offshore team?
Yes. Independent reviews of an outside team are one of the most common reasons founders hire us.
Will you help us hire a full-time CTO?
Yes. We write the role, interview candidates and hand over when you hire.
Your v1 could be live next month.
Tell us what you are building. Get a fixed scope and price in writing within 24 hours.
Prefer email? hello@v1build.com