How Much Does a Fractional CTO Cost in the UK?

UK fractional CTOs are typically priced two ways: a monthly retainer from around £700 up to roughly £9,600, or a day rate of about £1,000. Both are published figures from working providers, not averages someone made up. For a business with 1–20 staff, the number that matters is usually near the bottom of that range — most owners need a few hours a month of senior judgement, not someone embedded in the team.

What do fractional CTOs actually charge?#

Two providers publish their pricing outright, which is unusual in this market — most quote after a call.

The spread is wide because "fractional CTO" covers two very different jobs: answering questions and reviewing decisions at one end, and effectively running engineering at the other. Most of these providers are pricing for tech companies with an engineering team to lead — that's the buyer their websites are written for. A 15-person services or retail business rarely needs that second job at all.

What actually moves the price?#

• Days per week. This is the biggest lever by far — 941 Consulting's own tiers go from £699 to £9,599 a month purely on how many days you buy, from async-only up to two days a week.
• Advise versus build. A CTO who reviews architecture and vets suppliers costs less than one who is also writing code, managing a delivery team, or running your infrastructure day to day.
• Regulated or compliance-heavy sectors. Finance, healthcare and anyone handling sensitive data pays more for someone who already knows the regulatory ground, because the alternative is paying twice — once for the work, again to redo it correctly.
• Minimum term. Shorter minimums (fcto.uk's engagements, 941's Breakthrough tier) generally cost more per day than a longer retainer, the same trade-off as any contractor rate.
• Who's asking. Published rates are aimed at technology companies with an engineering team to manage, because that's who searches for this service most. A retail, professional-services or manufacturing business with no developers on staff is buying a smaller, cheaper job even when it uses the same job title.

Do you need a CTO at all?#

Before shopping the table above, it's worth asking whether the job is really a CTO's. Most 1–20 staff businesses don't need someone leading an engineering function — they need one senior person who can be trusted to make the technology decisions nobody else in the business is qualified to make: which software to buy, whether a supplier's quote is reasonable, whether the business is exposed on security, and how to think about AI without buying a tool because a salesperson was persuasive. That's a different, smaller job, and it costs less because it's advisory-weighted rather than build-weighted. See do I need a CTO for my small business? and fractional CTO vs virtual CTO vs outsourced IT director for how the labels map to what you actually need.

What does Solutions Delivered charge?#

We don't publish a rate card here, deliberately — the honest answer depends on what you need, and a single number invites comparison against services that aren't the same shape. What we can tell you is the shape of the engagement: advisory-weighted, typically a few hours a month rather than days a week, with scoped pieces of work (a security review, a vendor decision, a technology audit) priced separately when they come up. See outsourced IT director for what that covers, or get in touch and we'll give you a real figure for your situation in the first conversation, not after a sales process.

FAQ#

Is a fractional CTO the same as an outsourced IT director? Not quite. "Fractional CTO" is the US-imported term and usually implies some build or engineering-leadership work. "Outsourced IT director" describes the advisory-only version more accurately for a UK small business with no in-house tech team. See the comparison guide above for the full breakdown.

Is a virtual CTO cheaper than a fractional CTO? The terms overlap enough that price is set by scope, not label. A provider calling itself a "virtual CTO" at two days a month and one calling itself "fractional CTO" at the same commitment will land at a similar price — check what's included, not what it's called.

How many days a month is normal? For a business without an in-house engineering team, anywhere from a few hours to two days a month covers most of what comes up: decisions, vendor reviews, and periodic security or AI judgement calls. Buying more than that is usually a sign the business needs a hire, not a fractional arrangement.

Why do some providers hide their pricing? Most fractional CTO and consultancy sites quote after a discovery call, which is standard for bespoke, scoped work — but it also means you can't compare options before you've given someone your time. 941 Consulting and fcto.uk are unusual in publishing figures up front, which is why they're the two named here: a claim you can check today is worth more than one you can't.