Freelance CTO Rates 2025: Complete Guide and Pricing Grid

Looking for a freelance CTO and don't know what budget to plan? Or you're a CTO and hesitating on your pricing position? Here's the market reality in 2025, no bullshit.

TL;DR: 2025 Pricing Grid

Profile	Daily Rate	Monthly (20d)	Annual
Junior (0-3 years)	400-600€	8K-12K€	96K-144K€
Confirmed (3-7 years)	600-800€	12K-16K€	144K-192K€
Senior (7-12 years)	800-1000€	16K-20K€	192K-240K€
Expert (12+ years)	1000-1500€	20K-30K€	240K-360K€

Daily Rate = Taux Journalier Moyen (daily billing)

Factors Influencing Daily Rate

1. Technical Experience

Junior CTO (0-3 years): 400-600€/d

• First CTO experience
• Good technically but lacks business vision
• Ideal for: Pre-seed startup, simple MVP

Confirmed (3-7 years): 600-800€/d

• Several successful CTO projects
• Modern stack mastered
• Ideal for: Seed/Series A, scaling 0→10

Senior (7-12 years): 800-1000€/d

• Solid track record (fundraising, exits)
• Business + tech vision
• Ideal for: Series A/B, SME digital transformation

Expert (12+ years): 1000-1500€/d

• Former CTO in-house large groups/scale-ups
• Strong network, established reputation
• Ideal for: Series B+, IPO, technical restructuring

2. Mission Type

One-off Audit/Consulting: +20-30% vs standard daily rate

• 1-5 day mission
• Deliverable: report + recommendations
• Example: Pre-fundraising technical audit

Part-time CTO (2-3d/week): Standard daily rate

• Recurring technical leadership
• Regular presence (rituals, recruitment)
• 3-12 month commitment

Full-time CTO (5d/week): -10-15% vs standard daily rate

• Long commitment (6-18 months)
• Total involvement (direction, management)
• Equivalent to salaried CTO

Pure Development: -20-30% vs CTO daily rate

• Code focus, no strategy
• Deliverable: features, not roadmap
• Often delegated to senior dev

3. Sector and Location

Premium Sectors (+15-25%):

• FinTech / Banking
• HealthTech / MedTech
• DeepTech / AI
• Crypto / Web3

Location:

• Paris: +0-10% (reference market)
• Province: -10-20% (Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes)
• Remote international: Variable by client country

4. Technical Stack

Standard Stack: Base daily rate

• Next.js, React, Node.js
• PostgreSQL, MongoDB
• AWS, Vercel

Premium Stack (+10-20%):

• AI/ML (TensorFlow, PyTorch)
• Blockchain (Solidity, Web3)
• Complex infrastructure (Kubernetes, microservices)
• Legacy modernization (COBOL, mainframe)

5. Urgency and Constraints

Urgent mission (<1 week start): +20-30% Weekend/night on-call: +50-100% Frequent travel: +10-20% + expenses High confidentiality (strict NDA): +10-15%

Freelance CTO vs Salaried CTO Comparison

Salaried CTO (CDI)

Gross Salary: 80K-150K€/year Employer Charges (45%): +36K-68K€ Total Company Cost: 116K-218K€/year

+ Benefits:

• BSPCE/stock-options
• Health insurance, RTT, holidays
• Company car (sometimes)

= Real Cost: 130K-250K€/year for the company

Availability: 218 days/year (365 - 104 WE - 25 CP - 11 holidays - 7 sick)

Cost per working day: 600-1150€

Freelance CTO

Daily Rate: 600-1200€/d Billable Days: 200-220/year (vacations, between missions) Annual Revenue: 120K-264K€

Charges:

• Contributions (22-45% depending on status)
• Insurance (Pro RC, provident)
• Accountant (100-200€/month)
• Expenses (equipment, travel)

Net Income: 60K-150K€/year

Verdict: Who is Cheaper?

For mission <6 months: Freelance wins

• No notice period
• No long social charges
• Flexibility

For mission >12 months: Equivalent

• CDI: 600-1150€/d real cost
• Freelance: 600-1200€/d daily rate
• Marginal difference

But: Freelance = immediate experience, no recruitment, no HR management

Pricing Grid by Mission Type

Mission 1: Technical Audit

Duration: 2-5 days Daily Rate: 1000-1500€ (premium due to dense deliverable) Total Budget: 2K-7.5K€

Deliverables:

• Technical state of play (archi, code, infra)
• Risk identification
• Modernization roadmap
• Budget estimates

Ideal for: Pre-fundraising, due diligence, technical crisis

Mission 2: Part-time CTO (2d/week)

Duration: 3-12 months Daily Rate: 800-1000€ Monthly Budget: 6.4K-8K€ (8 days/month)

Deliverables:

• Daily technical leadership
• Team recruitment and management
• Product roadmap
• Architecture and code review

Ideal for: Seed/Series A, non-tech founder, scaling 5→20 people

Mission 3: MVP Development

Duration: 15-30 days Daily Rate: 700-900€ (mixed strategy + code) Total Budget: 10.5K-27K€

Deliverables:

• Functional MVP deployed
• Documented code
• Team training
• 1 month support included

Ideal for: Idea validation, quick launch, pivot

Mission 4: Technical Refactoring

Duration: 2-6 months Daily Rate: 800-1000€ Total Budget: 64K-120K€ (4 months x 20d)

Deliverables:

• New architecture
• Data migration
• Tests and QA
• Complete documentation

Ideal for: Critical technical debt, legacy modernization

Mission 5: AI Team Training

Duration: 2-5 days Daily Rate: 1500-2000€ (group training) Total Budget: 3K-10K€

Deliverables:

• 10-20h program (theory + practice)
• Course materials
• Tool access
• 1 month follow-up

Ideal for: AI skill building, digital transformation

How to Negotiate Daily Rate?

Client Side: Get the Best Price

Negotiation Levers:

1. Volume: Long mission (6+ months) → -10-15%
2. Flexibility: 100% remote, flexible hours → -5-10%
3. Visibility: Client reference, case study → -5%
4. Payment: 50% upfront → -5%

Concrete Example:

• Catalog daily rate: 1000€
• 6 month mission (120d): -10% → 900€
• Total remote: -5% → 855€
• Case study allowed: -5% → 810€ Final negotiated daily rate: 810€ (-19%)

Freelance Side: Justify Your Daily Rate

Arguments:

1. Track record: Fundraising, exits, successful scaling
2. Speed: Start D+1, no recruitment
3. Expertise: Rare stack, specialized sector
4. Network: Investor connections, talent
5. No hidden charges: No paid CP, RTT, sick leave

Example Pitch:

"My daily rate is 1000€ because I've led 5 startups from 0 to 5M€ raised. You save 3 months recruitment (30K€) and I start Monday. Over 6 months, you pay 120K€ vs 130K€ for a junior CDI with less experience."

Pitfalls to Avoid

❌ Choose the Cheapest

Mistake: Take CTO at 400€/d instead of 800€/d Consequence: Poor quality code, technical debt, delayed project Real Cost: 400€/d x 60 days (instead of 30) = 24K€ vs 24K€ (same!)

Rule: A good CTO costs 2x more but goes 3x faster

❌ Negotiate Too Aggressively

Mistake: "I want -30% on daily rate" Consequence: CTO refuses or rushes work Alternative: Negotiate on duration, scope, or flexibility

❌ No Clear Contract

Mistake: Vague mission, undefined deliverables Consequence: Billing conflict, scope Solution: Precise contract (days, deliverables, acceptance)

❌ Pay Fixed Price Without Specs

Mistake: "Deliver me an MVP for 15K€" Consequence: Scope creep, conflict on what's "done" Solution: Fixed price only with detailed specifications

My Pricing Position

CTO-as-a-Service

Daily Rate: 890€ Missions:

• Complete technical audit
• Part-time CTO leadership
• Recruitment and team management
• Architecture and code review

MVP Development

Daily Rate: 890€ Fixed Price: 13.5K€ (15 days) Included:

• Framing + wireframes
• Fullstack development
• Deployment + training
• 1 month support

AI Training

Fixed Price: 3K€ (2 days, 10 people max) Program:

• Generative AI fundamentals
• Prompt engineering
• Tools and workflows
• Business use cases

Why 890€/d?

1. 10+ years experience: 2 co-founded startups, successful fundraising
2. Track record: 20+ MVPs, 15+ AI integrations
3. Premium stack: Next.js, React, AI, modern infra
4. Availability: Start <1 week
5. Guarantee: Measurable ROI or partial refund

Checklist Before Hiring a Freelance CTO

• Daily rate aligned with experience (see grid)
• Client references verified (3 min)
• Portfolio/GitHub reviewed
• Contract with precise deliverables
• Payment terms (30-50% upfront, balance on delivery)
• Trial period (1-2 weeks) negotiated
• NDA signed
• Success KPIs defined

Conclusion

A good freelance CTO costs between 800€ and 1200€/d in 2025. It's an investment, not an expense. A CTO at 400€/d who delivers crappy code will cost you more than a CTO at 1000€/d who delivers clean and fast.

Golden Rule: Don't choose on price, choose on fit (experience, stack, availability, feeling).

Book a call to discuss your project and get a personalized quote.

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About the author: Jérémy Marquer has been a freelance CTO since 2015. Daily rate 890€, 50+ successful missions, 95% recommendation rate.