Consulting Stack
The AI-Powered Hub for Independent Consultants
AI proposal generator with niche templates, fee calculator with industry benchmarks, contract builder, and an AI advisor — built for independent consultants, fractional executives, and boutique firms. Free, no signup.
🎯 AI Practice Advisor
💰 Fee Calculator
📄 Proposal Generator
📊 Industry Benchmarks
🔗 Contract Generator
🧾 Invoice Builder
📌 Direct Answer
Consulting fees are set by specialty, experience, and geography — not guesswork. Mid-career consultants (5–10 years) typically earn $150–$400/hour depending on domain. The most common pricing mistakes: charging hourly when project fees would earn more, pricing based on your cost instead of market rates, and not raising rates for 2+ years. Use the Fee Calculator below to benchmark your specific rates against current market data.
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Free, unlimited. Ask about fees, proposals, client engagement, or anything about building your consulting practice.
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Your Consulting Intelligence Tools
No competitor bundles proposal generation + fee benchmarking + contract builder + tools directory in one place. Consultants still use 4 separate tools for this. Not anymore.
AI-Powered
AI Rate Calculator
Enter your specialty, overhead costs, and income goals — get AI-powered rate recommendations with percentile benchmarks (25th–90th), a needs-based floor, and personalized strategy.
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Free
Consulting Fee Calculator
Get your hourly rate, day rate, monthly retainer, and project fee benchmarks — by specialty, experience level, and geography. 2026 market data.
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Enhanced ✨
AI Proposal Generator
Complete proposals in 2 minutes — executive summary, scope, deliverables, pricing breakdown, and terms. 5 niche templates. 3 styles. Save to email. Contract CTA built in.
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New
AI Contract Builder
Generate retainer agreements, SOWs, NDAs, and project contracts in 60 seconds. AI-powered, customizable, print-ready. Covers scope, IP, termination, and payment terms.
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New
AI Invoice Builder
Generate professional invoices with line items, tax calculations, and payment terms in 60 seconds. Multiple templates, PDF export, and payment status tracking.
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Consulting Tools Directory
Curated directory of 23 consulting tools — CRM, invoicing, proposals, time tracking, scheduling. Find the right stack for your practice stage and niche.
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Client Portal
Create a branded portal per client — proposals, milestones, files, and project updates in one link. Share with your client instantly. No client login required.
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🔐 Lock-in Tool
Client Portals — Your Clients Will Never Leave
Give each client a branded hub — proposals, contract status, milestone progress, and invoices all in one link. Once they're using it, switching consultants means disrupting an active project portal. The strongest retention tool in this stack.
🔗 Unique client link
📊 Milestone tracker
📁 File sharing
📋 Activity feed
🎨 Your branding
Consulting by Specialty
Every consulting domain has different fee norms, client types, and engagement structures. Find yours.
Strategy Consulting
Market entry, competitive positioning, growth strategy. Highest rates in consulting — $300–$700/hour for senior practitioners. Typically project-based engagements.
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Operations Consulting
Process improvement, supply chain, operational efficiency. Strong demand across manufacturing, logistics, and services. $150–$350/hour typical range.
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High Demand
Finance & CFO Advisory
Fractional CFO, financial modeling, fundraising support, M&A advisory. Retainer-heavy engagements. Fractional CFO rates: $8K–$25K/month depending on scope.
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HR & People Consulting
Org design, compensation benchmarking, HRIS implementation, culture assessments. Growing demand post-2024 layoff cycles. $125–$275/hour.
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Technology & IT Consulting
Digital transformation, cloud migration, IT strategy, ERP implementation. Wide rate range by specialty: $125–$400/hour. Strong project and T&M demand.
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Marketing & Growth Consulting
Fractional CMO, GTM strategy, demand gen, brand positioning. Fastest-growing consulting category for startups. $150–$400/hour, retainers common.
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Premium Consulting Intelligence — Full Practice Analysis
Personalized fee benchmarks by your exact market, full proposal library with contract templates, client pipeline tracker, and quarterly rate trend reports with your specialty's data.
Personalized fee benchmarks — your specialty × geography × experience
Full proposal library with 12 engagement templates + PDF branding
Contract generator — SOW, retainer, project, NDA templates
Quarterly rate trend reports — what's moving, by specialty
Client pipeline + engagement tracker — no CRM needed
$349/mo
or $149 for a one-off practice audit report
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much should a consultant charge per hour in 2026?
Consulting rates in 2026 by specialty and experience:
Strategy: Junior $100–$200 · Mid $250–$450 · Senior $400–$700+
Finance/CFO: Junior $100–$175 · Mid $200–$375 · Senior $350–$600
Operations: Junior $85–$150 · Mid $150–$300 · Senior $275–$450
Technology/IT: Junior $75–$150 · Mid $150–$275 · Senior $250–$400
HR/People: Junior $75–$130 · Mid $125–$250 · Senior $225–$375
Marketing/Growth: Junior $75–$150 · Mid $150–$300 · Senior $275–$450
Geography adds 20–40% for NYC/SF vs national average. Use the Fee Calculator above to get your specific benchmark.
Strategy: Junior $100–$200 · Mid $250–$450 · Senior $400–$700+
Finance/CFO: Junior $100–$175 · Mid $200–$375 · Senior $350–$600
Operations: Junior $85–$150 · Mid $150–$300 · Senior $275–$450
Technology/IT: Junior $75–$150 · Mid $150–$275 · Senior $250–$400
HR/People: Junior $75–$130 · Mid $125–$250 · Senior $225–$375
Marketing/Growth: Junior $75–$150 · Mid $150–$300 · Senior $275–$450
Geography adds 20–40% for NYC/SF vs national average. Use the Fee Calculator above to get your specific benchmark.
What's the difference between hourly, day rate, and retainer pricing?
Hourly: Best for small, undefined-scope engagements. Easiest to start with, but caps your earnings and creates invoice friction with clients.
Day rate: Standard for project-based consulting. Typically 7–8× your hourly rate. Cleaner for clients and reduces time-tracking overhead.
Retainer: Fixed monthly fee for ongoing access and a defined scope of work. Usually priced at a 10–20% discount to hourly in exchange for revenue predictability. Best for advisory and fractional roles.
Project/fixed-fee: Single fee for a defined deliverable. Highest risk but highest reward — price at 1.3–1.5× your estimated hours to buffer for scope creep. Most clients prefer this for discrete projects.
Day rate: Standard for project-based consulting. Typically 7–8× your hourly rate. Cleaner for clients and reduces time-tracking overhead.
Retainer: Fixed monthly fee for ongoing access and a defined scope of work. Usually priced at a 10–20% discount to hourly in exchange for revenue predictability. Best for advisory and fractional roles.
Project/fixed-fee: Single fee for a defined deliverable. Highest risk but highest reward — price at 1.3–1.5× your estimated hours to buffer for scope creep. Most clients prefer this for discrete projects.
How do I write a winning consulting proposal?
Winning proposals lead with the client's problem, not your credentials. Structure:
1. Executive Summary — their situation + your recommended approach in 3 sentences
2. Scope of Work — exactly what you will deliver (and what's out of scope)
3. Deliverables & Timeline — specific outputs with delivery dates and phases
4. Investment — your fee with clear payment schedule
5. Terms — IP ownership, revision policy, termination clause
6. Next Steps — exactly what happens when they say yes
Keep it under 4 pages. Use the AI Proposal Generator — choose a niche template (management, IT, marketing, HR, finance) and get a client-specific draft in 2 minutes. Then use the Contract Builder to formalize once accepted.
1. Executive Summary — their situation + your recommended approach in 3 sentences
2. Scope of Work — exactly what you will deliver (and what's out of scope)
3. Deliverables & Timeline — specific outputs with delivery dates and phases
4. Investment — your fee with clear payment schedule
5. Terms — IP ownership, revision policy, termination clause
6. Next Steps — exactly what happens when they say yes
Keep it under 4 pages. Use the AI Proposal Generator — choose a niche template (management, IT, marketing, HR, finance) and get a client-specific draft in 2 minutes. Then use the Contract Builder to formalize once accepted.
When should I move from hourly to value-based pricing?
Move to value-based pricing when you can credibly tie your work to a measurable business outcome. Signs you're ready:
• You consistently deliver more value than your hourly rate captures
• Clients stop questioning your hours and start measuring your outcomes
• You have case studies with specific ROI (e.g., "reduced cost by 23%," "increased revenue $1.2M")
• You can estimate the value of the outcome you're delivering
Start small: propose one project on value-based pricing alongside your retainer clients. Price it at 2–3× your hourly estimate. If the client accepts, you've found your value-based floor. Most consultants discover they can charge 30–60% more than their hourly equivalent once they frame proposals around outcomes.
• You consistently deliver more value than your hourly rate captures
• Clients stop questioning your hours and start measuring your outcomes
• You have case studies with specific ROI (e.g., "reduced cost by 23%," "increased revenue $1.2M")
• You can estimate the value of the outcome you're delivering
Start small: propose one project on value-based pricing alongside your retainer clients. Price it at 2–3× your hourly estimate. If the client accepts, you've found your value-based floor. Most consultants discover they can charge 30–60% more than their hourly equivalent once they frame proposals around outcomes.
What's a fair rate for a fractional CMO or fractional CFO?
Fractional CFO rates (2026):
• Early stage / seed companies: $3,000–$7,000/month (8–12 hrs/month)
• Series A / growth stage: $8,000–$18,000/month (15–30 hrs/month)
• Pre-IPO / complex: $18,000–$40,000+/month
Fractional CMO rates (2026):
• Startup / seed: $3,000–$6,000/month (8–15 hrs/month)
• Growth stage: $7,000–$15,000/month (20–35 hrs/month)
• Mid-market: $15,000–$30,000/month
Fractional rates are typically set at 50–70% of a full-time comp equivalent for the hours committed. A $200K/year full-time CFO at 25% time = ~$50K/year fractional = ~$4,200/month.
• Early stage / seed companies: $3,000–$7,000/month (8–12 hrs/month)
• Series A / growth stage: $8,000–$18,000/month (15–30 hrs/month)
• Pre-IPO / complex: $18,000–$40,000+/month
Fractional CMO rates (2026):
• Startup / seed: $3,000–$6,000/month (8–15 hrs/month)
• Growth stage: $7,000–$15,000/month (20–35 hrs/month)
• Mid-market: $15,000–$30,000/month
Fractional rates are typically set at 50–70% of a full-time comp equivalent for the hours committed. A $200K/year full-time CFO at 25% time = ~$50K/year fractional = ~$4,200/month.