What it costs to list as a fractional executive
Most places that connect fractional executives with companies charge the executive. Some charge a subscription, some take a share of the engagement, most take both. Here is what that comes to on one real piece of work, with every figure taken from the published price page it comes from.
The engagement we are costing
£1,000 a day, 2 days a week, across 46 billable weeks. That is £92,000 of work, and it is an ordinary fractional CFO or CMO arrangement rather than a flattering one.
| Model | Subscription | Share of the engagement | The operator pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| getoperators | none | none | nothing |
| A subscription and success-fee marketplace | £400 a year | 10% | £9,618 |
| A traditional recruiter | none | 20% | £18,400usually billed to the company |
Where each number comes from
getoperators
There is no registration fee, and nothing is taken from the executive's rate. Every fee is paid by the hiring company, under its Terms of Business.
A subscription and success-fee marketplace
FindaFractional publishes £40 a month or £400 a year, £1.50 per prospect meeting, and 10 per cent of the engagement fee. The hiring business pays nothing; the executive pays all three. Their published pricing
A traditional recruiter
Typically 15 to 25 per cent of first-year value for contingency work and 25 to 33 per cent retained, usually billed to the company rather than the operator, which shows up in the rate the company is willing to agree.
Checked 15 September 2026. Pricing is somebody else’s to change, so check theirs before relying on ours.
Why we can do it for nothing
Because the money comes from somewhere else. A company that engages an operator it met here pays us a fee of its own, under its Terms of Business, and companies who cannot find what they need can pay us to run the search, priced openly on the Operator Search page. Listing has no registration fee, and that stays. For operators who want more, there is Operator Pro, an optional membership at £49 a month, cancel any time. It places them at the top of their seat, on its page and on the open bench, gives them priority on mandates in their seat and early access to every new role, and gives them a board ready executive summary built from their profile. Nobody has to take it.
That single decision is why the rest of this site can exist in the shape it does. We can publish day rates because the operators set them. We can tell a company in the cost calculator to hire somebody full-time instead, because we are not paid on the engagement. And an operator’s rate is genuinely their own, because there is no arrangement in which part of it is ours.
Common questions
Does getoperators take a commission on the engagement?
Not from you. Nothing is taken from your rate, and an operator never pays a placement or success fee. The company pays you directly and you keep all of it. The company pays getoperators a fee of its own when it engages someone it met here, under its Terms of Business.
Then how does getoperators make money?
From companies: a fee when a company engages an operator it met here, or asks us to run a search, as set out in the Terms of Business. Operators pay nothing and nothing is taken from their rate. Operator Pro is an optional membership an operator can choose, and it never touches a shortlist.
What is the catch?
That the bench is small and deliberately hard to get onto. Every profile is checked by hand against a LinkedIn and a CV before it appears, and applications are declined. If you are looking for volume rather than a vetted bench, a larger marketplace will suit you better.
Listing takes five minutes, with no registration fee
You will want your LinkedIn and a CV to hand. Every listing is verified before it goes live, usually within a day. Join the bench, or read the rules the bench runs on.