12-month technical roadmap
Architecture, team, security, and budget plans in one document, updated every quarter against what actually shipped.
The Problem
Every Technical Decision Lands on a Founder Who Isn't Technical
It shows up when vendors disagree, investors ask technical questions, and nobody on the team can say which option is right.
01 · Vendors
Two agencies give opposite advice on the same app.
A senior lead compares both options in writing, with costs and risks.
02 · Investors
Investor technical questions get guessed at or go unanswered.
A roadmap and architecture notes you can hand to investors and their advisers.
03 · Hiring
You can't judge a senior engineer's interview answers.
We write the job spec, join interviews, and review take-home tasks with you.
04 · Cloud cost
The cloud bill grows and nobody can explain it.
A cost review finds idle resources and oversized services before the next bill.
Your agency wants to rebuild the app in a new framework, and your one developer says it's fine as it is. An investor asks how the platform will cope if usage grows fast, and you don't know. A senior candidate wants to talk architecture, and you can't judge the answers. Your cloud bill doubled last quarter and nobody can explain why. Every week you sign off on technical choices you can't check.
We start with a review of what you have: code, cloud, vendors, and team. Then a senior technical lead from our team writes a 12-month roadmap with you and becomes the person who makes or checks each technical call. Every decision goes into a written log with its options and costs. You get senior judgment on set monthly hours, not a full-time salary or a vendor pushing its own build.
A roadmap you can show
A 12-month technical plan your investors, hires, and vendors can read and question.
Neutral on who builds
We check vendor quotes and your team's plans on their merits, whoever wins the work.
Help hiring engineers
Job specs, interview questions, and take-home reviews so your first engineering hires fit.
Our Fractional CTO Services Process
From First Call to a Working Technical Roadmap in Five Steps
You see what we find, approve the roadmap, and get a written log of every technical decision we make or check.
We talk through your product, your team or vendors, and the decisions waiting on you. You get a recommended plan, the hours it needs, and an honest view of whether part-time leadership or a full-time hire fits better.
What's Included
What You Get When You Hire Fractional CTO Support
Senior technical leadership on set monthly hours: a written roadmap, checked vendor quotes, architecture reviews, hiring help, and a decision log your next CTO inherits.
Compare Options
Fractional CTO vs Full-Time CTO vs an Agency Tech Lead
A full-time CTO gives you daily leadership, and an agency lead costs nothing extra during a build. Here's where each one fits a growing company.
| Feature | DeveloperLookBest fit | Full-time CTO | Agency tech lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | From $850 for set hours | Full salary, equity, and benefits | Bundled into the build price |
| Time each week | Set hours each month | Full-time and on call | Only while the build runs |
| Independence from vendors | Checks quotes on their merits | Independent, inside your company | Advises on its own build |
| Hiring support | Specs, interviews, and task reviews | Builds and leads the team | Rarely part of the role |
| Investor readiness | Roadmap and due diligence pack | Leads investor tech questions | Project documents only |
| Daily team leadership | Planning and reviews, not daily | Daily management and culture | Their own developers only |
| Time to start | About 2 to 3 weeks | Months of searching | Starts with the build contract |
| Exit path | Decision log handed to your CTO | Knowledge leaves if they leave | Knowledge stays with the agency |
DeveloperLook
Full-time CTO
- Monthly cost
- DeveloperLook: From $850 for set hoursFull-time CTO: Full salary, equity, and benefits
- Time each week
- DeveloperLook: Set hours each monthFull-time CTO: Full-time and on call
- Independence from vendors
- DeveloperLook: Checks quotes on their meritsFull-time CTO: Independent, inside your company
- Hiring support
- DeveloperLook: Specs, interviews, and task reviewsFull-time CTO: Builds and leads the team
- Investor readiness
- DeveloperLook: Roadmap and due diligence packFull-time CTO: Leads investor tech questions
- Daily team leadership
- DeveloperLook: Planning and reviews, not dailyFull-time CTO: Daily management and culture
- Time to start
- DeveloperLook: About 2 to 3 weeksFull-time CTO: Months of searching
- Exit path
- DeveloperLook: Decision log handed to your CTOFull-time CTO: Knowledge leaves if they leave
Projects We've Built
Products Our Team Has Planned and Built
Booking platforms, a crypto app, and a food delivery app with a restaurant dashboard: the kind of architecture decisions our technical leads weigh in on.
Seatour Tour and Vacation Rental Booking Platform
- Travel
- Vacation Rental
- Booking System
CoinSphere Crypto App Design & Development
- Crypto & NFT
- Dashboard
- Mobile App
HoliNest Travel Booking Website and Dashboard
- Travel
- Vacation Rental
- Booking System
Sevanor Food Delivery App and Restaurant Dashboard
- Food & Beverage
- Food Delivery
- Dashboard
What Our Clients Say
What Clients Say After Launch
Feedback from teams we have planned and built software for.
We had a pretty specific idea of what we wanted our website to become, but I wasn’t sure how easily we could explain all of it to a development team. There were quite a few moving parts, and we were working toward a deadline, so I expected a few things to get lost along the way. That never really happened. They understood what we were trying to achieve, kept us updated throughout the process, and got everything ready within the agreed timeline. The final site feels much easier to navigate, works beautifully on mobile, and is noticeably smoother for our customers. It was a huge relief seeing the original idea actually turn into the website we had in mind.
The mobile experience is probably my favourite part of the new site. We had spent a lot of time making sure the desktop version looked right, and the team kept pushing us to think about how everything would actually feel on a phone too. They were right. The navigation is clean, the interactions feel natural, and everything we’ve tested so far works exactly as it should. They also went through the links, forms, integrations, and other details more than once before launch, which I really appreciated. And even after going live, we could still reach out when something came up. The whole process felt friendly, organised, and surprisingly straightforward.
What I appreciate most is that the website is actually easy for us to manage now. We can update content ourselves instead of sending a developer a message every time we need to change something small. They also paid attention to the technical SEO side, which mattered to us because we didn’t want a new website to create problems for the traffic we already had. I’ve probably asked more questions than I should have since launch, but every question has been handled patiently and without any fuss. The team is easy to work with, they explain things clearly, and when we need something changed, they focus on getting it done rather than making the process complicated.
1,250+
Projects shipped
10+
Years of experience
Top 3%
Upwork Top Rated Plus
5 stars
Average review score
Want results like these?
Tell us what you are building. You get a reply within 24 hours on business days, then a written estimate.
Work Culture
Why Founders Pick Us Over Other Fractional CTO Consulting Firms
Part-time leadership only works if every hour leaves something behind. These habits make sure it does, even after we step back.
Every decision logged
Each technical call goes into a shared log with the options, costs, and reasons. Your next CTO or investor reads why, not just what.
Advice independent of the build
Our advice doesn't depend on who builds the product. If another vendor's quote is fair, we'll say so, and you're free to hire them.
Hours you can see
Your plan has a set number of hours, and the monthly report shows where each one went. Nothing is billed outside the plan without your approval.
Plain answers for founders
We explain architecture and risk in business terms: cost, time, and what breaks. You make the call with the trade-offs in front of you.
Your team's judgment grows
We review your developers' plans and pull requests and explain the feedback. The goal is a team that needs less outside leadership each quarter.
Honest about going full-time
When your company needs a CTO every day, we'll tell you and help you hire one. Part-time leadership is a bridge, not a permanent fixture.
Overview
What is a fractional CTO for a startup or small company?
DeveloperLook provides a fractional CTO for startups and small companies on set monthly hours. You get a 12-month technical roadmap, vendor quote reviews, architecture decisions, and hiring help, all recorded in a decision log. Plans start at $850 per month, and the first roadmap is ready within 2 to 3 weeks.
DEVELOPERLOOK
Project facts · Fractional CTO Services
- Service
- Fractional CTO services (roadmap, architecture, vendor reviews, hiring)
- Typical timeline
- Technical review in 1 to 2 weeks, roadmap by week 3
- Platforms
- AWS, Google Cloud, React, Node.js, Python, and PostgreSQL
- Built with
- GitHub, Jira, Notion, Sentry, Terraform, and Loom
- Experience
- 10+ years of development experience and 1,250+ shipped projects
- Post-launch support
- Decision log and roadmap handed over when the plan ends
- Communication
- Calls in US, UK, and AU business hours
- Starting price
- From $850 USD per month
Reviewed 8 Oct 2026 by Saimul Islam
Good fit
Non-technical founders before a build
You're about to spend your seed round on an app, and you want a startup fractional CTO to check the plan and the agency before you sign.
Startups preparing for a funding round
Your investors will run technical due diligence next quarter, and you need a senior lead to tidy the architecture notes, security basics, and roadmap first.
Small teams without a tech lead
Your 2 or 3 developers ship features, but nobody sets standards, reviews architecture, or plans hiring, and a full-time CTO isn't in the budget yet.
Companies managing outside vendors
You pay an agency every month and can't tell whether the work, hours, or quotes are fair, so you want to find a fractional CTO to check.
Agencies pitching complex platforms
Your agency is pitching a complex platform and needs a senior technical lead, under your brand, to shape the architecture and the estimate.
Not a fit
Need hands to build
You need code written, not leadership. Hire Dedicated Developers gives you a team that works through your backlog every month.
One decision, one time
You have a single question, such as a stack choice or one vendor quote. Web Development Consulting Services handles one-off decisions from $550.
Budget under $850 a month
Your budget is under $850 a month for technical leadership. A one-time consulting engagement gives you a written plan without a monthly fee.
Need a daily CTO
You need someone leading engineers every day and owning the culture. That's a full-time CTO hire, and we can help you write the role.
Not sure we're the right fit?
Book a free call or message us. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right team.
Pricing
Transparent Starting Prices for Fractional CTO Services
These are monthly starting points in USD. Your plan depends on the decisions on your desk, the size of your team or vendors, and investor timelines, and you get a fixed proposal after a free leadership call.
For founders who need a senior second opinion on a few big decisions each month.
$850/month
- Up to 6 hours a month with a senior technical lead
- 12-month technical roadmap, updated quarterly
- Vendor quotes checked before you sign
- Monthly strategy call and written answers
- Decision log of every technical call
- Decision log and roadmap handed over when the plan ends
Recommended
For startups with a small team or vendor that need ongoing technical direction.
$1,450/month
- Everything in Technical Advisor
- Up to 10 hours a month
- Weekly check-in with you or your developers
- Architecture and code quality reviews
- Hiring help: job specs and interview questions
- Security and cloud cost review each quarter
For companies preparing for funding, a first engineering hire, or a major rebuild.
$2,250/month
- Everything in Part-Time CTO
- Up to 16 hours a month
- Joins sprint planning and candidate interviews
- Technical due diligence pack for investors
- Monthly technology update for your board
- Vendor and contract management
For Agencies
White-Label Technical Leadership for Agencies and Studios
You own the client relationship. We supply a senior technical lead who shapes architecture, checks estimates, and joins client calls under your brand. Your team keeps the account, and the client gets the technical depth that complex pitches need.
How the partnership works
White label: your client only ever sees your brand
- Your client
- You, the agency
- DeveloperLook
Share the account
Send the client brief, the current stack, and the decisions on the table.
- Client needs
- You share the details
- Details received
We lead quietly
We review, plan, and sit in on client calls under your agency's name.
- Scope and plan
- Proposal to resell
- Your quoteYOUR LOGO
You keep the client
Your agency delivers the roadmap and keeps the long-term relationship.
- Done by our team
- Your brand on it
- Handed to your clientDone
Partner with DeveloperLookDelivered under your brand
Your brand on top
Roadmaps and architecture notes go out under your agency's name.
Sharper estimates
Senior review of scope and risks before you commit to a price.
Pitch-ready architecture
Diagrams and plans that answer a client's technical questions early.
Escalation cover
A senior lead your developers can call when a build gets stuck.
The Right Technology for Your Project
Technology Stack
The cloud, product, and delivery tools our technical leads review and plan around most often.
AWS- Google Cloud
Docker- Kubernetes
- Terraform
React
Next.js
Node.js
Python
PostgreSQL
- GitHub
- GitHub Actions
- Sentry
- Jira
- Notion
Figma
Loom
Slack
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers on what a fractional CTO does, rates, hiring one, and when to go full-time.
Saimul IslamFounder & CEO, DeveloperLookStill have questions?
Send a message or book a call with the team.
A fractional CTO from DeveloperLook starts at $850 per month for up to 6 hours. The other plans cost $1,450 per month for up to 10 hours and $2,250 per month for up to 16 hours. That puts our fractional CTO hourly rate at about $140 to $145. Fractional CTO rates elsewhere vary with seniority and how hands-on the role is.
A fractional CTO sets technical direction and checks the big decisions on a part-time basis. That usually means writing the technology roadmap, choosing architecture and vendors, reviewing code quality, helping hire engineers, and answering investors' technical questions. Most don't write production code daily: the value is judgment and accountability.
The role runs on a set number of hours each month, split between scheduled calls, reviews, and written answers. With us, the first weeks go to a technical review and the roadmap. After that, your lead joins planning, checks vendor work, and logs each decision, while you keep the final say.
The fractional CTO role is a part-time executive seat that owns technical strategy and reports to the CEO or founders. The person usually serves several companies at once and holds authority over the technical decisions you delegate, not daily people management. Clear limits on hours, decisions, and system access keep the role effective.
You need a fractional CTO if big technical decisions wait on you and nobody on the team can make them with confidence. Common signs are vendor quotes you can't judge, investor questions you can't answer, or developers working without standards. If you have one small question, a one-time consultation is enough.
For a startup, hire a part-time CTO who has shipped products at your stage and explains trade-offs plainly. Ask for a sample roadmap or decision record, check how hours are tracked, and confirm their advice doesn't depend on selling you a build. Start with a short review before committing to monthly hours.
Hire a full-time CTO when you need daily leadership of a growing engineering team, or when the technology itself is the product's core risk. Choose fractional when the decisions matter but the workload is a few hours a week. Many companies start fractional and use the decision log to onboard their first full-time CTO.
The main benefits of part-time technical leadership are senior judgment at a part-time cost and decisions you can check later. You avoid a full-time salary and equity grant before you need one. You also get independent quote reviews, a roadmap investors can read, and a decision log that survives any staff change.
A fractional CTO works set hours across several companies, while a full-time CTO works only for you and manages the team every day. The fractional role focuses on strategy, reviews, and decisions. The full-time role adds people management, culture, and being on call when production breaks.
We help you write the full-time CTO role, join interviews if you want, and hand over the roadmap and decision log. Your new CTO starts with every past decision and its reasons in writing. You can keep a few advisory hours during the handover month, so nothing falls through the gap.
Saimul IslamFounder & CEO, DeveloperLookStill have questions?
Send a message or book a call with the team.
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