Your recommendation
Fractional vCISO
$2,500–4,000/mo
Enterprise deals or early scale call for owned security judgment — rent it before you hire it.
Tools
vCISO Cost Calculator
Four questions about your stage. Get a staffing recommendation, an hours band, and a monthly cost range — then read the math behind it.
How much does a vCISO cost?
A fractional vCISO costs $2,000–4,000 per month for roughly five hours of strategic security work — about $400–800 an hour, retained on a recurring contract, with no equity, benefits, or recruiter fee. A full-time CISO at a pre-Series-A startup costs $325,000–480,000 in year one and $275,000–400,000 every year after. That gap is the whole decision, and for most companies under twenty engineers it is not close.
Fractional vCISO vs full-time CISO
| Fractional vCISO | Full-time CISO | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly, year one | $2–4K | $27–40K |
| Monthly, year two onward | $2–4K | $23–33K |
| Year one, cash | $24–48K | $325–480K |
| Year two onward | $24–48K | $275–400K |
| Base salary | None | $220–320K |
| Benefits and overhead | None | ~25% of base |
| Recruiter fee | None | 20–25% of first-year comp |
| Equity | None | 0.5–1.5% |
| Time to start | Days | Two months of sourcing, if it works |
What drives the number
Team size is the primary driver. Between roughly eight and twenty engineers there is a middle tier the calculator will recommend and this comparison skips: a part-time security hire at $6,000–9,000 per month for 15–25 hours, for teams whose security workload has outgrown five hours but not yet earned a full-time salary. Under twenty engineers, security leadership is a part-time judgment role — someone to own the roadmap, answer the enterprise questionnaire, and sit in the audit. Past twenty, it becomes a full-time function and the arithmetic flips. A pending SOC 2 or enterprise deal pulls the decision forward regardless of headcount, because that work has a deadline attached to a contract.
Be suspicious of flat-rate vCISO pricing far below this range. Honest pricing is hourly against a monthly retainer minimum; a $1,500/month flat rate usually means you get attention when you complain. The full breakdown — what a vCISO does, the red flags, and when to graduate to a full-time hire runs through all of it.
Questions people search for
How much does a vCISO cost per month?
A fractional vCISO costs $2,000–4,000 per month for roughly five hours of strategic security work, billed hourly against a monthly retainer minimum. Teams of eight to twenty engineers usually need a part-time security hire instead, at $6,000–9,000 per month for 15–25 hours.
How much does a full-time CISO cost a startup?
$325,000–480,000 in year one and $275,000–400,000 every year after: a $220–320K base, about 25% in benefits and overhead, a 20–25% recruiter fee on first-year comp, and 0.5–1.5% equity. Under twenty engineers the fractional number wins by an order of magnitude.
When does a startup need a vCISO?
When a SOC 2 audit or an enterprise security review has a contract attached to it, whatever the headcount. Without that trigger, security leadership stays a part-time judgment role until roughly twenty engineers, when it becomes a full-time function.
Is a $1,500-a-month flat-rate vCISO legitimate?
Be suspicious. Honest vCISO pricing is hourly against a monthly retainer minimum, which is where $2–4K comes from. A flat rate far below that usually buys attention only when you complain.