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Fractional CMO cost · the number is on the page

How much does a Fractional CMO cost? A straight answer, with the price on the page

Most fractional CMO sites make you book a call to hear a number. PQV publishes the retainer. Here is what fractional marketing leadership actually costs, what drives the number up or down, and what you get for it.

See the published pricingBook a 15-minute scoping callOr start the complimentary Discovery Sprint
The short answer

What a Fractional CMO costs at PQV

No call required to hear the number. Here is the ladder, lowest to highest.

Published monthly retainers

Tier fees are published. The Discovery Sprint that precedes any tier engagement is complimentary for qualified prospects.

Get Found Locally

$750/mo

$400 setup

Content Velocity

$1,800/mo

$500 setup

Pipeline Builder

$3,800/mo

$1,000 setup

Most chosen

Revenue Operations

$6,500/mo

$2,000 setup

Custom Stack

Contact sales

Custom setup

White-Label Partnership is a separate reseller track, discussed under NDA. See full pricing.

There is also a local-only on-ramp, Get Found Locally, at $750 per month plus $400 setup, for owner-operators who just need to show up on the Google map first. Every number is on the pricing page, and the Discovery Sprint that confirms which tier fits your scope is complimentary for qualified prospects.

The drivers

What actually moves the price up or down

Advisory only, or advisory plus execution

A human fractional CMO mostly advises; you still hire and manage the people who do the work. PQV's retainer includes the operator bench that ships the work, so you are not buying strategy and then paying again to execute it.

How many functions you turn on

Marketing alone is the entry tier. Add sales motion and the price steps up. Add the full operating bench across marketing, sales, retention, and finance and it steps up again. You pay for the functions you switch on, not a flat all-or-nothing number.

Days a week, or outcomes shipped

Time-based pricing moves with the calendar, so the cost is unpredictable. Outcome-based tiers hold steady. The same tier costs the same whether a deliverable takes the bench an afternoon or a week.

Ramp and overhead, or start within a day

A senior hire carries months of ramp and permanent overhead. A fractional engagement starts within one business day of a signed agreement and ends when you say so, so there is no severance math or idle-seat cost baked into the price.

The comparison

Three ways to buy marketing leadership, and how each is priced

OptionHow it is pricedHow PQV prices it
Full-time CMO hireAnnual salary, plus benefits, payroll tax, equity, and ramp. A permanent line on the books whether or not the pipeline is full.A published monthly retainer, month to month. Senior capacity you scale with the work, not a permanent seat.
Human fractional CMOA retainer for two to four days a week, often with a multi-month minimum. The number moves with the days you negotiate, and execution is still your problem.A flat tier price that includes the bench doing the work. The number does not move with the calendar, and the execution is included.
Marketing agencyMonthly retainer that buys hours and account-management time. Scope creep and change orders move the real cost around.Outcome-named tiers with the price on the page. No hourly bills, no change orders to find out what you actually owe.

PQV does not publish competitor prices, because they vary too much to quote honestly. What we can publish is our own number, and the structure each model uses to reach yours.

The value

What you are paying for at PQV

Execution, not just a strategy deck

The retainer includes the operator bench that ships the work. You are not paying for advice and then paying again to make it happen.

One coordinated function

Marketing, and the sales and operations it connects to, run on one cadence under named operators. You stop paying separate vendors that do not talk to each other.

A human review pass on every output

Nothing leaves the building unreviewed. Every action lands in an audit trail you can read, so you see what shipped, when, and by whom on the bench.

Month to month, no lock-in

The price is a retainer you scale with the work. Start within one business day of a signed agreement, change tiers as priorities shift, cancel under the terms in the service agreement.

See the full breakdown of what ships at each price

Tier fees are published. The Discovery Sprint that precedes any tier engagement is complimentary for qualified prospects.

Get Found Locally

$750/mo

$400 setup

Content Velocity

$1,800/mo

$500 setup

Pipeline Builder

$3,800/mo

$1,000 setup

Most chosen

Revenue Operations

$6,500/mo

$2,000 setup

Custom Stack

Contact sales

Custom setup

White-Label Partnership is a separate reseller track, discussed under NDA. See full pricing.

Honest read

When the lowest number is the wrong target

  • If you only need a single human face-of-marketing for board decks and press, hire a human fractional CMO. The cost buys a presence, not a bench. PQV is the bench.
  • If your real problem is one narrow function, start at the tier that covers it rather than the cheapest one. Underbuying the scope is more expensive than the retainer you saved.
  • If you operate in a regulated industry that needs a compliance addendum before automated outreach, that is custom enterprise scope, priced separately from the standard tiers.
Cost questions

Straight answers on what a fractional CMO costs

How much does a fractional CMO cost?
At PQV, fractional marketing leadership starts at $1,800 per month plus a $500 setup for the Content Velocity tier, which is the marketing-only entry point. Pipeline Builder runs $3,800 per month plus $1,000 setup when you want sales motion layered on, and Revenue Operations runs $6,500 per month plus $2,000 setup for the full bench. A local-only on-ramp, Get Found Locally, is $750 per month plus $400 setup. Every tier fee is published on the pricing page, and the Discovery Sprint that scopes your fit is complimentary.
Why do most fractional CMO firms hide their price?
Because a human fractional CMO bills for time, and the number moves with how many days a week you negotiate. PQV charges for shipped outcomes on a named tier, so the retainer is the same whether the work takes the bench four hours or forty. That is why we can put the number on the page. Real operators already know what marketing leadership costs, so hiding it just wastes the first call.
Is a fractional CMO cheaper than a full-time CMO?
On structure, yes. A full-time chief marketing officer is salary plus benefits plus payroll tax plus ramp time plus the permanent overhead of a senior seat, and you carry it whether the pipeline is full or empty. A fractional engagement is a published monthly retainer, month to month, that you scale up or down as the work changes. You buy senior capacity without buying a senior payroll line.
What is included in the cost at PQV?
The retainer covers the operator bench that does the actual work, not just advisory hours. Depending on tier that means search and content, the local map presence, outbound and pipeline, conversion work, and a weekly revenue read, each owned by a named operator with a human review pass on every output. The pricing page lists exactly what ships at each tier. There is no separate per-deliverable invoice.
Are there setup fees, and what are they for?
Yes. Setup runs from $400 to $2,000 depending on tier, one time at the start. It covers onboarding the engagement: connecting your accounts, building the first content and prospect assets, standing up the audit trail, and getting a named operator briefed on your business so week one ships real work instead of paperwork.
Is there a contract or a minimum commitment?
Engagements are month to month with no multi-year lock-in. You can scale a tier up or down as priorities shift, and cancellation terms live in the service agreement. The only multi-year arrangements are Custom Stack engagements that a buyer asks to structure that way for their own procurement reasons.
How do I know which tier my budget should target?
Bring the work that is actually on your desk to the complimentary Discovery Sprint and we will tell you the lowest tier that covers it. If a single function is enough to start, we say so. If your scope is between tiers, we say that too. You leave with a written recommendation scoped against the published numbers, whether or not you engage.
In a regulated industry that needs a compliance addendum?
Some regulated industries require custom enterprise scope with the appropriate compliance addendum, and pricing is set in that scope rather than on the standard tiers. Reach out at Sergio@pilonqubitventures.com to discuss the custom path.

See the number, then see if we fit

The pricing page has every tier and what ships at each one. The scoping call tells you which one matches your scope before the complimentary Discovery Sprint.

See published pricingBook a scoping call
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AI-generated content may be incorrect, biased, or out of date. Human review on every output.