Freelance CTO rates: what you pay per day, per month and why

A freelance CTO bills by the day, by the hour, through a monthly retainer, or at a fixed price for a clearly defined deliverable. My rate is €900 per day or €150 per hour, excluding VAT, with no mandatory monthly retainer: two days a month cost €1,800, one day a week about €3,900 a month. Your budget depends first on how much time you book, then on the kind of engagement and the level of responsibility you hand over.

This article gives you what you need to build a budget, read a quote and compare with a full-time hire. All prices exclude VAT.

How does a freelance CTO bill?

A freelance CTO (chief technology officer) is not on your payroll: they invoice you for a service. There are four common ways to pay, and each suits a different need.

• By the day. You book a number of days per month, and the CTO spreads them across priorities: team meetings, technical reviews, hiring interviews. In France, the day rate is called the TJM (taux journalier moyen).
• By the hour. Useful for one-off needs: making a call, reviewing an architecture, preparing an interview. Check the billing increment (full hour, half hour) and what counts as billable time (written exchanges, preparation).
• Monthly retainer. A fixed amount each month for an agreed volume. The budget is predictable, but you also pay for the quiet months. Ask what happens to unused days.
• Fixed price. One price for a deliverable defined in advance, such as an app audit or a first product version. The price only holds if the scope is written down, exclusions included.

Four ways to pay a freelance CTO

Model	How it is calculated	Best for	What to check
Hourly	Hours worked, as logged	A decision, a review, an interview	The billing increment
Daily	Days booked × day rate	Regular work with the team	What a day covers
Monthly retainer	Fixed fee for a monthly volume	A steady, predictable need	What happens to unused days
Fixed price	One price for a defined deliverable	An audit, a first version	The written scope and exclusions

I bill advisory work and technical leadership by the day or the hour, and projects with a defined scope (audits, product builds) at a fixed price, set after scoping.

How much does a freelance CTO cost per month?

The monthly cost follows directly from the time you book. Here is what a few common volumes come to at €900 per day:

• A few hours a month, at €150 per hour: to make a key decision, review an architecture or prepare a hire.
• 2 days a month, so €1,800: to keep a clear technical direction and oversee an agency or a small team.
• 1 day a week, so about €3,900 a month (€900 × 52 weeks ÷ 12 months): to lead a team, the roadmap and delivery.
• 2 days a week, so about €7,800 a month: for a growing team, with hires in progress and delivery to watch closely.

Monthly cost of a fractional CTO at €900 per day

• 2 days a month1,800 € per month, excl. VAT
• 1 day a week3,900 € per month, excl. VAT
• 2 days a week7,800 € per month, excl. VAT
• 3 days a week11,700 € per month, excl. VAT

05,00010,00015,000€ per month, excl. VAT

The volume is not fixed. It is normal to book more time during a launch or a hiring round, then less once the team has found its rhythm. That is why I do not impose a monthly retainer: you pay for the time you actually book.

Is there a reference rate card?

Not that I know of. I could not find a public survey of freelance CTO rates in France with a readable method: sample size, period, how the average is calculated. The figures I found come from rates that freelancers declare on platforms, with no published method.

So I would rather not give you a market range. To compare two quotes, look at the factors in the next section, and ask each CTO what a day actually includes.

What drives the price of a freelance CTO?

Time booked remains the main factor. The others explain why two CTOs can quote different rates for what looks like the same engagement.

1. The kind of engagement. Occasional advice, leading a team day to day and writing code do not require the same commitment. A CTO can write code when it helps, but the core of the role is analysis, decisions and management.
2. The level of responsibility. Hiring, managing people, representing the technology in front of investors or a large customer: the broader the responsibility, the more experience the role requires.
3. The regulatory context. Health data, finance, sensitive personal data: these require more scoping, documentation and checks.
4. Urgency. An immediate start, on-call duty or work outside the agreed time are negotiated separately. In my case, urgent requests outside the booked time are handled separately.
5. Intermediaries. If you go through a platform, a consultancy or an umbrella company, ask whether the quoted price includes their fee.
6. Travel. A regular on-site presence adds travel costs and travel time, which remote work avoids.

Tool subscriptions (hosting, database, AI APIs, software) are not part of the CTO’s rate. They stay in your name and on your bill, and a good CTO estimates them before starting.

What should you get for the money?

At the end of each month, you should be able to point to what your fractional CTO has produced: written decisions, documents, hires moving forward. Here is what an engagement should deliver.

• An assessment of what existsCode, architecture, team and costs, explained in plain language.
• A prioritised roadmapPresented to leadership, with what waits and why.
• Explained decisionsFor each choice: the cost, the risk and the option ruled out.
• A structured hiring processJob descriptions, technical interviews and onboarding.
• Delivery trackingWhat shipped, what slipped, and what changes.
• Accounts in your nameCode, hosting, database and documentation.

Before signing, get these points in writing:

• the time booked and the rate, excluding VAT;
• how time is logged and reported (monthly statement, tracking tool);
• how urgent requests and work beyond the booked volume are handled;
• the minimum commitment and the notice period to stop;
• who owns the code, the accounts and the documentation;
• confidentiality, if you share sensitive data.

To choose the person, read how to choose a freelance CTO.

Freelance or full-time CTO: which costs less?

It depends on how much time you need. To compare, put both costs over the same period.

A full-time CTO costs more than their gross salary. In France, you add employer social contributions, which the official Urssaf simulator calculates for any salary. For example, for a gross salary of €8,000 a month (an amount chosen only to illustrate the calculation), the simulator gives a total employer cost of about €11,530 a month with its default settings: permanent contract, executive status, full time. That is about €138,000 a year. Calculated on 6 November 2026. Employer costs differ from country to country, but the method is the same.

On top of that cost:

• the time it takes to hire, then the candidate’s notice period with their current employer;
• the probation period: in France, for an executive on a permanent contract, it lasts at most 4 months and can be renewed once under conditions, so 8 months at most, according to Service-public.gouv.fr. A hiring mistake can surface late;
• equipment and tools;
• equity, if you want to attract someone committed for the long run: shares or stock options (BSPCE in France).

A fractional CTO’s cost is straightforward: days booked × day rate, excluding VAT. At €900 per day, one day a week comes to about €46,800 a year, two days about €93,600, three days about €140,400.

In this example, the fractional CTO costs as much as the full-time hire from about three days a week. The threshold moves with the salary you assume: run the numbers with your own figures.

Criterion	Fractional CTO	Full-time CTO
What you pay for	The time booked, excluding VAT	Gross salary and employer contributions
Volume	From a few hours to several days a week	Full time
Start	After a call and a scoping session	After hiring and the notice period
Ending it	According to the notice in the contract	According to employment law
Equity	Not needed	Shares or options to plan for a partner
Best when	The need is partial or still uncertain	The need is daily and long-term

In practice, a fractional CTO makes more sense before your first hires, when the need is partial, or to prepare for a full-time CTO. Hiring makes more sense when you need someone three days a week or more for several years, or when technology is the heart of the product and you are looking for a partner. The two work together: a fractional CTO can define the role, run the technical interviews, then hand the roadmap over to the person you hire.

What do a freelance CTO’s other services cost?

A freelance CTO also offers fixed-price work, such as an audit or a product build. Here are my prices for each type of engagement, as shown on the pricing page:

All prices exclude VAT. The first call lasts 15 minutes, at no cost and with no commitment.

My take as a CTO

I bill by the day or the hour because a company’s needs change: more time during a launch or a hiring round, less once the team runs on its own. I also think about it as a business owner. I co-founded Welco in 2019 and I am its CTO, and I have been a partner and CTO at Jo’s Burger since February 2024: in both companies, a bad technical call costs my own business. So my advice is to start with the smallest volume that lets you make a real decision, a few hours or two days a month, and increase it only if the need is confirmed.

Frequently asked questions

What is a freelance CTO’s day rate? Mine is €900 per day, excluding VAT. I could not find a reliable public survey of freelance CTO rates in France, so compare quotes on time booked, the kind of engagement and what a day includes.

Can you pay a freelance CTO by the hour? Yes. I charge €150 per hour, which works for making a decision, reviewing an architecture or preparing a hire without booking a full day.

Do you need to commit for several months? Not with me: you can book a one-off engagement or regular support, with no mandatory monthly retainer. With other providers, read the minimum commitment and the notice period in the contract.

Is a freelance CTO cheaper than a full-time CTO? Yes, as long as the need stays partial. In the example calculated with the Urssaf simulator, both costs meet at around three days a week. Beyond that, and over several years, hiring makes more sense.

Are tool subscriptions included in the rate? No. Hosting, database, APIs and software are subscribed in your name and paid by you. Their cost is estimated before starting.

Next step

To compare with your own numbers, use the calculator Freelance or full-time CTO: what does it really cost? (in French). It compares the annual cost of a full-time CTO with that of a fractional CTO, using your own figures.

If you need technical leadership without hiring, the fractional CTO offer explains what I take on and how an engagement runs. You can also book a 15-minute call: I will tell you how much time to book and where to start.

Sources

• Urssaf, salary simulator for employees (mon-entreprise.urssaf.fr), calculated on 6 November 2026 with the default settings.
• Service-public.gouv.fr, Probation period of an employee (in French), page checked on 12 August 2026.
• Techvisor, pricing page and fractional CTO offer.