How much does a virtual CISO cost?
Industry-wide, virtual CISO retainers run $3,000 to $15,000 per month. Standalone projects run $2,500 to $10,000 fixed-fee. Real numbers, not "contact us for quote."
Below is the actual pricing landscape: what reputable firms charge, what drives prices higher, what to walk away from, and what we charge specifically. Compared to a full-time CISO hire that runs $250K to $400K loaded.
What other vCISO firms charge.
Five rough tiers, based on dozens of public proposals and our own market visibility.
Freelancer territory
Solo consultants, junior practitioners, side-gig vCISOs from compliance platforms or marketplace sites. Real work happens here, but it is rarely senior CISO work. Avoid if you need someone who can sign your management representation letter or take a difficult board call.
Mid-market vCISO
Standalone consultancies, often founder-led, typically running 2 to 4 retainers at a time. Senior enough for SOC 2 readiness and basic compliance work. Limited bandwidth for incident response or complex multi-framework programs.
Senior practitioner-led · Where we sit
Where most reputable senior vCISO work lives. Practitioner-led firms with real depth across SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI. Includes retainer-grade IR and board-level reporting. Our published pricing sits here.
Embedded near-full-time
Half-FTE to near-FTE engagement. Usually for companies actively scaling their compliance program or in active M&A diligence. At this price point, hiring a full-time CISO becomes a real comparison.
Big consultancy partner-rate
Big 4 firms, named consultancies, partner billing rates. You pay partner rate, you usually get associate work. The named principal shows up at kickoff and quarterly reviews. We do not recommend this tier for most growth-stage companies.
What we charge specifically.
Published rates, not behind a "contact for quote" gate.
SOC 2 Sprint
Two-week productized engagement. Pentest included. Credited toward retainer.
Start a SprintStrategic vCISO
Monthly security reviews, policy authoring, customer questionnaire response, annual IR + DR tabletop.
Book a discovery callEmbedded vCISO
Hands-on leadership for audit prep, M&A, and complex programs. Weekly syncs, board briefings, on-call IR, compliance platform admin.
Inquire about availabilityAWS Security Review
Productized cloud security assessment. IAM, S3, KMS, GuardDuty, networking, audit logging. Auditor-ready report.
Learn moreSecurity Questionnaire
Standalone customer security questionnaire response. Or included free in all retainer tiers.
Learn more50% off retainer for our first 5 clients.
Strategic vCISO at $2,500/mo (was $5,000), locked for 12 months. Plus the SOC 2 Sprint at $500. Embedded vCISO is custom-scoped and negotiated case-by-case for cohort members. Trade: testimonial, case study rights, reference call. Year two reverts to list pricing.
What pushes vCISO cost higher.
Regulatory complexity
SOC 2 alone sits at the low end. HIPAA + HITRUST adds cost. PCI DSS scope decisions and bank diligence add cost. CMMC Level 2 adds cost. Most healthtech and fintech engagements run 25-50% above straight SaaS retainers because the framework load is heavier.
Number of frameworks in parallel
Running SOC 2 alone is one effort. Running SOC 2 + ISO 27001 + HIPAA simultaneously is more, but rarely 3x more, because most controls overlap. Pricing increase is usually 30-60% for a multi-framework engagement vs. single framework.
Audit observation window
SOC 2 Type I (point-in-time) is one engagement. Type II (3-12 month observation window) requires ongoing evidence collection and is a longer engagement. Most retainers reflect Type II maintenance because it is where the work actually lives.
Incident response SLA
Embedded retainer with 24-hour response SLA and rostered on-call costs more than Strategic retainer with 48-hour response and email-only access. The difference reflects the bandwidth held in reserve, not just the work executed.
What to watch for in vCISO contracts.
Not ready to talk? Score your SOC 2 readiness.
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Common questions about vCISO cost.
What is the typical vCISO cost range?
Industry-wide, virtual CISO retainers run $3,000 to $15,000 per month depending on engagement depth, company size, and regulatory complexity. Below $3,000/mo, you are typically getting a junior consultant or part-time freelancer rather than a senior CISO. Above $15,000/mo, you are paying for a near-full-time engagement that may be cheaper to hire as headcount instead.
How does vCISO cost compare to a full-time CISO?
A full-time senior CISO costs $250,000 to $400,000 per year fully loaded (base salary, equity, benefits, recruiting fees, ramp time). A vCISO at $5,000/mo (Strategic) runs $60,000 per year. Embedded vCISO is custom-scoped for higher-touch engagements and quoted to scope. For most companies between Series A and Series C, the vCISO option is roughly one-fifth the total annual cost and starts in 2-4 weeks instead of 4-6 months.
Are vCISO services priced hourly or by retainer?
Reputable senior vCISO firms price by monthly retainer because outcome ownership is the value, not hours billed. Hourly engagements at $200-$400 per hour exist for one-off projects but rarely make sense for an ongoing security program. We have seen $20-$50/hr "vCISO" listings on freelancer marketplaces; those are not senior CISO work and should not be compared on price.
What factors drive vCISO pricing higher?
Five factors: (1) regulatory complexity (HIPAA, PCI DSS, CMMC raise the bar above SOC 2 alone), (2) company size and headcount, (3) number of frameworks in scope simultaneously, (4) audit cadence and observation windows (Type II is more work than Type I), (5) incident response readiness expectations and on-call SLA. A SaaS startup pursuing only SOC 2 sits at the low end; a healthtech company with HIPAA + HITRUST + SOC 2 + frequent EHR integrations sits at the high end.
What does vCISO.com charge?
Strategic vCISO at $5,000/mo. Embedded vCISO is custom-scoped (Inquire). SOC 2 Sprint at $2,500 fixed-fee, credited toward retainer. 90-Day vCISO Foundation at $24,000 fixed-fee. Founding Cohort pricing puts the Strategic vCISO retainer at $2,500/mo for the first 12 months in exchange for a testimonial and case study rights. Embedded vCISO is negotiated case-by-case for cohort members. AWS Security Review at $3,500 fixed-fee. Customer security questionnaires at $1,500 standalone or included in retainer.
Are there hidden costs to watch for?
Three to look for: (1) "Plus expenses" clauses that add 10-20% on top of retainer for routine work, (2) annual minimum-commitment contracts that lock you in regardless of value delivered, (3) tier upgrades triggered by scope changes that should be in the original retainer. We do not do any of these. Every retainer is month-to-month, expenses are baked in, and scope changes are renegotiated openly.
Can I get a vCISO for under $3,000/month?
Yes, but the work will not be senior CISO work. At that price point you are getting either a junior consultant doing policy templates, a freelancer treating it as a side gig, or a heavily packaged offering with limited engagement time. None of those will sign your management representation letter, take the difficult board call, or lead a real incident response. We price above that threshold because the work is above that threshold.
Does the SOC 2 Sprint really credit toward retainer?
Yes. The full $2,500 Sprint cost credits in full against your first month of retainer if you sign a retainer within 30 days of Sprint completion. The Sprint becomes the discovery work for the retainer, not a separate line item. This is structured to remove the financial friction of "trying us out" before committing to a longer engagement.