Free calculator
Fractional CTO or full-time hire?
Salary is only part of the cost. Add benefits, recruiting, equipment, and the months spent hiring and ramping up, then compare it with a fractional CTO. It also tells you when a full-time hire is the better deal.
Uses BLS salary and benefits dataShows when full-time winsShareable link
1
Full-time hire
A head of engineering or CTO for a Shopify brand.
$
BLS median for computer and information systems managers is $175,140 (May 2025). The 90th percentile is $297,510.% of salary
Benefits are 31.5% of total pay for management and professional roles (BLS, June 2026), about 46% on top of salary.% of salary
% of salary
Search firms commonly charge 25% to a third of first-year pay. Set 0 if you hire without one.$/yr
2
Fractional CTO
$
Broke Hold CTO Core starts at $8,000 a month; CTO Growth at $14,000.Want help acting on the numbers?
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