Nick Irmo
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Fractional CMO cost calculator: hire, part-time leader or agency?

Compare what each option really costs in year one and over three years, including the parts most calculators leave out: the empty seat during a search, the ramp, and the cost of a hire that does not work out. Every number is editable and the link saves your inputs.

1The full-time hire
2The part-time marketing leader
3The agency
4Your company optional
Sensitivity

What different retainers cost over your months.

How it works

Why this calculator is different.

Three options, not two

Most calculators compare a hire to a retainer. Plenty of companies are actually choosing between a hire and an agency. This shows all three, with a strategy owner added to the agency by default, because an agency without one drifts.

Cost per productive month

A hire costs nothing while the seat is empty and very little gets done in the first quarter. Dividing year-one cost by the months that someone is actually running marketing is the honest comparison.

Year one and year three

The recruiting fee and the search make year one lopsided. The three-year view shows what happens after, so a two-day retainer that looks cheap today is not hiding a bigger number later.

What the numbers include

Full-time: base, bonus, benefits and payroll taxes, equity, tools and training, the recruiting fee, the unpaid empty seat during the search, and an optional weighted cost of a miss. Part-time: the retainer and the assessment. Agency: retainer, setup and an advisor-level strategy owner.

What they leave out

Pipeline you lose while the seat is empty, management time spent on a search, and the plain fact that a full-time leader is yours forty hours a week while a part-time leader is not. Those are judgment calls, so the calculator names them instead of pricing them.

Next step

The math says part-time. Now what?

Start with the 30-day assessment: an audit, a baseline and a 90-day plan with a number attached, for $4,500, credited toward a retainer. If it says you need a full-time hire, it becomes the brief for that search.

See all pricing
Free guide · PDFWhat the F*ck Is a Fractional CMO?A plain-language guide to when a part-time marketing executive makes sense, and when it does not.Leadership · 7 minWhat a fractional CMO costs in 2026, with my actual ratesThe market bands, what moves the number, and five questions to ask of any quote.LeadershipFractional CMO or marketing consultant?What the titles mean, and why the difference decides how an engagement goes.The methodThe IRMO PlaybookIdentify, Roadmap, Market, Optimize: what you get in each move.
Questions

Fractional CMO cost, answered.

How much does a fractional CMO cost in 2026?
Advisory retainers typically run $2,500 to $5,000 a month, part-time leadership one to two days a week runs $6,000 to $15,000 a month, and hands-on embedded leaders run $10,000 to $20,000. Nick Irmo publishes his: $3,500 a month for advisory, $7,500 for one day a week, $12,500 for two, and a $4,500 30-day assessment credited toward a retainer.
Is a fractional CMO cheaper than a full-time CMO?
Per hour, usually not. Per outcome in year one, usually yes, because a full-time hire carries a recruiting fee, benefits and payroll taxes, a 10 to 16 week search and a 3 to 4 month ramp before the role is productive. This calculator shows cost per productive month so the comparison is fair.
What does “productive months” mean?
The months in year one when the leader is actually running marketing. For a hire, that is twelve months minus the search and the ramp. For a part-time leader, the engagement starts in about two weeks and the first 30 days produce an audit and a plan, so nearly every paid month counts.
Why does the agency option include an advisor?
Agencies execute; they do not own your strategy, budget or number. Someone inside or alongside the company has to brief them and hold them accountable. The calculator adds an advisor-level retainer for that role by default. Turn it off if you already have a marketing leader in place.
What is the risk-of-a-miss line?
A share of senior marketing hires do not work out in the first year. The calculator weights six months of loaded cost plus a second recruiting fee by the miss rate you set. Leave it at 20 percent, set it to zero, or turn it off.
When should a company hire a full-time marketing leader instead?
When marketing needs forty hours a week of leadership: usually above roughly $50M to $75M in revenue, with a team of several marketers and a budget to manage. A part-time leader is the fastest bridge to that hire and can run the search.
Next step

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