Fractional CTO vs full-time CTO vs development agency.
A fractional CTO gives you senior technical leadership for as long as you need it. A full-time CTO is a permanent executive hire. A development agency builds what you specify. Which is right depends on two things: whether your need for technical leadership is real yet, and whether it's permanent.
By Alex Jukes, Founder & Fractional CTO · Updated
How the three options compare.
| Question | Full-time CTO | Development agency | Fractional CTO (Argo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | A permanent executive who owns technology across the business. | A team that builds what you specify. | Senior technical leadership for as long as you need it, plus the engineering support to deliver. |
| Commitment | Permanent. Usually salary plus equity, and a long search to find the right person. | Per project or on a retainer. | The duration of the need: a launch, a supplier to manage, a compliance deadline. |
| Who makes the technical decisions | Your CTO. | Often the agency, with limited visibility for you. | You and Alex, together, with trade-offs discussed openly. |
| How you pay | Salary, benefits and equity, whether or not there's a major build underway. | Day rates or a project fee. Changes to scope typically cost extra. | A fixed fee for an agreed scope. If it takes longer, that's our risk. |
| Where the knowledge ends up | Inside the business, for as long as your CTO stays. | Largely with the agency. | With you. The goal is that you could own your stack yourself within six months. |
| Best when | Technology is your core product and you need technical leadership permanently. | You know exactly what to build and have someone technical to manage the work. | You need CTO-level judgement now, but not yet permanently. |
When a fractional CTO makes sense
The fractional model works when the need for technical leadership is real but not yet permanent — when you need the calibre without the commitment. Typical situations:
- You're a non-technical founder and need someone to translate between the business and the technical delivery.
- You're at an early stage and need help working out what to build, and what not to.
- You need to choose, buy or manage a technology supplier, and hold them to account.
- You have a launch date that can't move.
- You need to meet a compliance standard such as Cyber Essentials Plus or NHS DSPT.
"Startups and early-stage companies really suit fractional C-suite officers — as long as the communication is right, the clarity of work is right, and there's flexibility on both sides."
Tim Rideout, CEO of Towards
When it doesn't
When off-the-shelf tools already do everything your business needs, and you're not planning anything beyond them. In that case you probably don't need a CTO at all — fractional or full-time.
Large, established organisations with substantial IT teams usually already have what a fractional CTO provides.
And if technology is your core product and you need technical leadership permanently, hire a full-time CTO.
Towards: from nothing to compliant and live in four months.
Towards, a mental health business, didn't need a full-time CTO. It needed someone with the calibre of one for the duration of the build. Alex joined as fractional CTO in March 2025, managed the platform supplier, took the company to Cyber Essentials Plus and NHS DSPT, and the first clinical hub opened on 14 July 2025, significantly under budget.