A fully loaded in-house GTM team costs $57,000 to $81,000 a month plus up to 2.75% in equity. Fractional support costs $7,500 to $25,000 a month and is usually running within weeks. Use fractional to build the motion, then hire in-house once it's proven.
Most founders pricing out the cost of a sales team start with a salary number and stop there. That number is the least useful part of the math.
A full in-house GTM team, the kind capable of running strategy, growth, and technical execution together, typically comes down to 3 roles:
Each carries its own OTE and equity, and together they land at $57,000 to $81,000 a month - plus 1.25% to 2.75% in equity, once every cost is counted.
The table below breaks down what each of those three roles typically costs on its own:
Add those three OTE ranges together and divide by 12, and you land at roughly $45,000 to $57,000 a month in OTE alone. Benefits, payroll tax, tooling, recruiting fees and ramp sit on top of that, and they are what push the true monthly cost into the $57,000 to $81,000 range.
"Fully loaded" is the part most cost-of-a-sales-team estimates leave out. It means base salary plus benefits, payroll tax, tooling and software licenses, recruiting fees, and the ramp time before someone is actually productive, stacked on top of the OTE figures above.
Once all of that gets added in, a $130,000 base salary hire is closer to $230,000 in total year-one cost.
That gap between the number on the offer letter and the number that actually leaves the bank account is where most estimates go wrong.
The table below breaks that gap down, component by component:
Recruiting alone can take a full quarter for a senior GTM hire, and that's before the person starts learning about your product, buyers and even your existing systems.
The cost of hiring a salesperson at this level isn't just the salary. It's the search time, ramp, and risk that the hire doesn't work out once all of that time has already been spent.
The in-house math above is one side of our equation. The other is what it costs to buy that same capability instead of building it.
Most fractional providers won't give you real numbers, which is where most pitches lose credibility.
Keeping that in mind, the actual range usually runs from $7,500 to $25,000/month; depending on scope across engagements that typically run 6-12 months.
Scope also drives where you land in that range. At the lower end, support stays operational, involving CRM cleanup, enrichment, and outbound infrastructure. A full-service tier adds messaging, campaign strategy, and reporting to the mix.
At the top of the range ($25,000 a month), sits a full fractional GTM team: an embedded pod running strategy, systems, and execution together.
That's a rather different structure from one fractional engineer working part-time. QC Growth's own packages run $7,500 to $25,000 a month; with our Ventures arm working on an "equity-only" basis.
To understand more, see the comparison of 3 GTM models for where each option fits best.
Given everything covered so far, it makes sense to compare both GTM models side by side, along with the costs associated with each:
Read across the table and the pattern becomes straightforward. In-house costs more every month and takes longer to get moving. It is, however, the only option where the team belongs to you outright from the first day.
Fractional, on the contrary, costs less and moves way faster, but what you're left with once the engagement ends depends entirely on how the contract was actually structured.
To sum it up, neither option is universally cheaper. It varies from problem to problem, and the right fit depends on which gap you're actually closing.
Cost only means something next to what it buys.
Here's what the first 90 days typically look like, under each model, since time-to-value is the part almost nobody covers:
That gap in day 30 and day 90 outcomes is the real argument for fractional GTM support at this stage: not that it's cheaper per month; but the model compresses the distance between "we decided to fix this" and "this is actually working".
Everything above makes the case for fractional GTM support, but that doesn't mean in-house is the wrong call.
The fraction model only becomes the wrong call on a specific set of situations - and the right one for others.
Keeping that in mind, here's a quick breakdown of when "in-house" GTM hires are your best option:
If none of those 3 describe your situation yet, it's a sign that your money would be better spent building the system first.
You can do so by engaging a fractional GTM engineer, with the option to bring things in-house once the system is up and running.
QC Growth runs the "fractional GTM" model as an embedded team, instead of hiring a lone consultant or operating as a "volume-first" agency. We combine strategy, growth and technical execution together, inside a pricing range most providers won't.
One of our customers, Burn Media Co. grew revenue from $142,000 in April to $181,000 in August. They witnessed a 27.5% increase in this time-frame, and the best 2-month stretch in the company's history.
Meredith Byrd, VP of Media at Burn Media, also credited us for building a system that runs consistently, over prioritizing ad-hoc outreach.
This performance isn't isolated, with results from past engagements and testimonials from founders across devtools, AI, and other categories confirming the upside they've achieved using our embedded approach.
Maintaining an in-house GTM function versus hiring fractional support is a significant decision. It's crucial to weigh your runway and the stage your business is at, before choosing the best option for your business.
QC Growth builds an end-to-end GTM system for your B2B business: strategy, infrastructure, and execution run together as one motion, driven by an embedded team rather than advised on from the outside. A full GTM engagement covers the entire workflow; starting with targeting through execution and reporting.
At QC Growth, we're GTM partners who specialize in developer tools, technical products, and healthcare - with a focus on seed to Series A teams past the ceiling of founder-led selling who have no time left to search for the right fit.
If you're still stuck on choosing which model to build your GTM motion with, book a free growth audit and we'll show you the real cost comparison across both to help you make a more informed decision.
A sales team costs $57,000 to $81,000 a month fully loaded in-house, or $7,500 to $25,000 a month for fractional GTM support, depending on scope. The in-house figure includes base salary, benefits, payroll tax, tooling, recruiting, and ramp time, not just salary. Equity of 1.25% to 2.75% typically comes with in-house, while most fractional retainers don't include equity.
A VP of Sales, as part of a fully loaded in-house GTM team, typically costs $220,000 to $280,000 a year in OTE, plus 0.5% to 1.0% in equity, before benefits are added. That sits inside the broader $57,000 to $81,000 a month range for a full team. Recruiting alone can take a full quarter before the hire is productive.
The fully loaded cost of hiring a salesperson typically runs 1.5 to 1.8 times base salary once benefits, payroll tax, tooling, recruiting, and ramp time are included. A $130,000 base salary hire is closer to $230,000 in real year-one cost. That gap is why comparing base salary alone to a fractional retainer understates true in-house cost.
A fractional GTM team typically costs $7,500 to $25,000 a month, with $25,000 at the top of the range for a full team covering strategy, growth, and execution together. Narrower, operational engagements sit closer to the lower end. Engagements usually run 6 to 12 months, giving a system time to move from setup to running.
The minimum commitment for fractional GTM support is typically structured around 6 to 12 month engagements, long enough for a system to be built, tested, and generating results. Shorter engagements tend to leave a build unfinished, since infrastructure and messaging need real time to prove out. Exact terms vary by provider, so confirm before signing.
You should hire in-house instead of going fractional once your GTM motion is already proven and just needs someone to own it full-time. That's different from needing a system built in the first place, which fractional support does faster and cheaper. Runway matters too: in-house fits once your growth plan can absorb $57,000 to $81,000 a month, plus equity.
If you're at the inflection point, technology proven, market waiting, and the canyon between them, we should talk.