IT Consulting Hourly Rate in 2024: Full Price Comparison

The global IT consulting market was valued at USD 273.13 billion in 2022, and it’s expected to expand with compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.1% from 2023 to 2030. The growing adoption of technological trends and ever-rising investment in advanced technologies will increase the demand for IT consulting services.

Businesses across the world rely on IT consultancy to keep pace with technological advancement in a cost-effective way. IT consultants are experienced professionals in a particular field, and thus expensive ones. The IT consulting rates can vary between $25 and $150 per hour. In some regions, rates go up to $250/hour and over.

In this article, we’re covering average IT consulting rates, what factors impact the consulting service cost and how IT consultants set fees for their service.

Some companies prefer working with software developers, others looking for professional IT consultants. Both of these options are fine, while you get a high-quality service that matches your requirements, business needs and goals.

Though, if you need a high-level technical specialist, it’s better to work with IT consultants. They’re often more experienced and have in-depth tech expertise in specific areas. For example, fraud prevention by means of AI in the FinTech product.

Some IT consulting agencies charge from $85-$125 per hour and up for their expert advice. Generally, software consulting hourly rates vary depending on the country, consulting service providers size, type of work, industry specialization, experience, and other factors influencing cost of IT consulting.

To stay competitive and turn technologies into a growth driver, companies of all sizes resort to software consulting. They make a significant investment in software development services to optimize their workflows: reducing the time, focusing on the core business goals, and saving money on in-house staff.

Enterprise companies offer first-class development and consulting services and work with businesses in a wide range of industries. They interact with the government and work with Fortune Global 500 companies that can afford their rates that start from $500,000 to $100 million and up for the project.

Average rate for IT consultants of those companies range between $250-$850/h, depending on the consultant's tech expertise, location, skills, and so on.

They also work with big industrial companies and are popular among large business owners, but they’re not as expensive as enterprise-level ones. The project price starts from $125,000 and reaches $5+ million. “Big class” companies have 100 to 1,000 consultants on staff and headquarters in different countries. Their hourly rate for IT consultants is about $200to $300.

It’s a great option if you want to get an experienced consultant for a reasonable price. They have 10 to 100 developers and consultants in-house serving SMBs, but also occasionally work with Fortune 500 companies. IT consulting prices start from $125 to $175 per hour, with the entire project cost from $50,000 to $5 million. Of course, different regions have different rates. While IT consultants in the United Kingdom charge $100 per hour, Central and Eastern Europian specialists charge less for the same service. For instance, Cleveroad is also a medium-size software development company, but we charge per hour from $50 to $80.

Also, it’s better to check their portfolio on their website or read reviews on Clutch or GoodFirms to be sure that you’ll get a good service.

These IT companies have from 2 to 10 consultants, including a CEO, and cooperate with startups, small businesses, and mid-size regional businesses. Their hourly IT consulting rates start from $75 and go up to $175. The average project costs range from $10,000 to $500,000.

Usually, small IT consulting outsourcing companies or freelancers specialize in one specific area, like UI/UX design services, custom software development, or exact programming languages like Node.js, React Native, and so on.

Let’s compare the IT consultant rates per hour depending on company size:

IT consultants work within almost all industries and have deep domain expertise (healthcare, logistics, FinTech, blockchain, real estate, e-commerce, etc.) The IT consulting prices may vary significantly depending on the business domain your company works in. Thus, such industries as healthcare or FinTech are subject to stricter regulation, causing IT consultants to be more expensive. On the other hand, IT consulting fees on simpler commercial software will be cheaper.

Let's look at average hourly consulting fees depending on the industry in the US, Australia, and Central and Eastern Europe.

By developing IT infrastructure in healthcare facilities, IT consultants ensure patient data security and effective communication between medical staff. Projects such as a mobile app for mental health demonstrate the need for innovative approaches and the high IT consultant rates per hour, ranging from $100 in Central/Eastern Europe to $300 in the US.

• USA: $100-$300 per hour.
• Australia: $90-$250 per hour.
• Central/Eastern Europe: $40-$120 per hour.

IT consulting specialists in logistics are focused on building sophisticated supply chain tracking and management systems. The demands for high efficiency are reflected in the IT consultant cost, starting at $35 per hour in Central/Eastern Europe and up to $250 per hour in the US.

• USA: $90-$250 per hour.
• Australia: $80-$200 per hour.
• Central/Eastern Europe: $35-$100 per hour.

In financial services, IT consultants provide security and innovation. The high standards of financial services in the U.S. require a high software consultant hourly rates, starting at $120 per hour, while in Central/Eastern Europe, this level starts at $50 per hour.

• USA: $120-$400 per hour.
• Australia: $100-$300 per hour.
• Central/Eastern Europe: $50-$150 per hour.

IT consultants in retail focus on a high degree of personalization and secure handling of customer data. IT consulting rates per hour range from $30 in Central/Eastern Europe to $250 in the US

• USA: $80-$250 per hour.
• Australia: $70-$200 per hour.
• Central/Eastern Europe: $30-$90 per hour.

Education IT consultants strive to integrate modern technology for effective learning. IT consulting fees start at $25 per hour in Central/Eastern Europe and go up to $200 per hour in the US.

• USA: $70-$200 per hour.
• Australia: $60-$180 per hour.
• Central/Eastern Europe: $25-$80 per hour.

IT consultants providing tech services for social media development ensure high security and functionality to handle user data. IT consultant prices range from $35 per hour in Central/Eastern Europe to $300 per hour in the US.

• USA: $100-$300 per hour.
• Australia: $80-$250 per hour.
• Central/Eastern Europe: $35-$110 per hour.

IT consultants work within almost all industries and have deep domain expertise (healthcare, logistics, fintech, blockchain).

For instance, Cleveroad offers an IT consultation in the following industries:

• Healthcare software development services
• Logistics software development services
• FinTech software development services
• Retail software development services
• Travel app development services
• Education app development services

The IT consulting market provides services across various industries, with different IT consulting rates significantly depending on the consulting provider experience. For example, according to ZipRecruiter, IT consulting hourly rates in the US can vary from $18 - $25 for the entry level consultants to $150 - $300 for the experienced specialists.

Consultants with beginning experience, typically between 0-2 years, provide services at rates commensurate with their limited experience and skills. This category includes young professionals just starting their professional journey in IT consulting. Typically, such consultants offer around $50-$120 per hour, which can attract companies looking for budget solutions.

Consultants with 2-5 years of experience are considered advanced and able to provide better services. Their rates reflect a deeper level of knowledge and experience, which can be a deciding factor for more complex and demanding projects. The average advanced IT consultant hourly rate is $80 to $180.

Consultants with 5+ years of experience are considered experts in their field. Their high rates, averaging $120-$300 per hour, reflect the extensive knowledge, skills, and experience they can provide. Experts specialize in solving complex problems and providing high-level advice critical to successfully completing large-scale and strategically important projects. These average consulting rates depend on each consultant's specific skills and expertise and their geographical location.

Choosing a region for cooperation with IT consultants nowadays is not based on its biles location. Remote consulting is becoming more and more popular with the development of technology, so most often when choosing a region to find a specialist, companies are focused on IT consultants' rates.

According to the Grand View Research report, the United States leads the consulting market in terms of providing IT consulting service. This is due to increased investment in ERP, CRM, IoT, Machine Learning, and data analytics.

That's why the US consultants charge one of the highest IT consulting fees per hour — $100-$250.

The Asia Pacific accounts for the second-largest consulting market and is expected to register the fastest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2023 to 2032. That’s associated with the growth of the ecommerce industry. Growing demand for e-commerce services leads to an increased requirement for software development consultation.

Europe keeps the third position in the Global IT Consulting Market. Such factors as fast investments in development programs and government support define the European consulting market's growth.

For example, if you’re looking for a cost-effective offshore destination Central and Eastern Europe (CEE region) could be the right solution. They offer a high-quality service for a competitive consulting costs.

We’ve analyzed IT consulting billing rates in different countries, including in-demand outsourcing destinations like Western and Central and Eastern Europe. Prices are taken from UpWork, Clutch, and GoodFirms platforms.

When it comes to hiring a consultant, the first question is how much they charge for their services. IT consultants use different billing strategies to be as flexible for customers as possible.

IT consulting pricing and fees can be submitted in several ways:

• Hourly or daily rate
• Monthly retainer
• Value-based
• Project-based

Let’s consider each fee strategy in detail.

Many IT consultants use hourly fees to value their services. They charge for the number of working hours they’ve spent to carry out the project. It’s a demanded option in projects where it’s challenging to set a fixed timeline. Basically, IT consulting fees per hour vary depending on location.

The daily rate is just an hourly rate multiplied by the number of hours the consultant will spend working on the project. Typically, IT consultants work average between 12 and 14 hours a day and charge from $1,500 to $3000 and up.

One of the issues with hourly rates is that you don’t know how much you’ll pay in the end.

You pay a monthly fee in advance to have consultants on your team anytime you need them and ensure they help make the right decisions during some risky project.

It’s a good choice once you’ve worked with a consulting company for some time and ready to continue month-to-month cooperation.

The consultant needs to fulfill the project in a given time frame. Most projects go through several stages such as:

• Project assessment
• Deep research
• Analysis
• Development
• Implementation
• Assessment

You may not need expert advice in all of those stages, but they’re still a part of IT consultant costs.

The project-based model is more complicated than the hourly model, but you know exactly how much you pay upfront.

The value-based method is a high-level pricing model. Consultants get paid based on the tangible value of the project. In other words, you pay for the result and outcomes the consulting company creates for you. Generally, IT consultants charge 10% of the value of what they’re providing.

Let’s consider the most commonly use pricing strategies:

Multiple factors are affecting IT consultants' costs. However, this depends mostly on the average hourly rates in the region and the consultants’ expertise. To save time and money, you can work with a reliable outsourcing company like Cleveroad. We offer IT consultation from our senior specialists who’ll help you choose the best tech solution for your specific case. Our IT consultants charge $50 - $80 per hour, which is an average IT consultant rate in Central and Eastern Europe. The exact pricing depends on the project complexity and the development team structure.

We provide a full cycle of software development and its subsequent maintenance, which will allow your digital product to always stay ahead of the competition and surprise your customers with new functionality. Our team has more than 12 years of experience creating software for various business domains, including Healthcare, Logistics, FinTech, Education, Retail, Travel, etc.

The Cleveroad team works with various technologies and programming languages, including Java, Node.js, React, Swift, Objective-C, Kotlin, .Net, Flutter, etc. Moreover, our specialists have deep expertise dealing with advanced technologies such as cloud computing, business intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, etc.

In 2023 Cleveroad was certified according to two international standards — ISO 9001:2015 (quality management) and ISO/IEC 27001:2013 (information security management). We also received AWS Select Tier Partner status within the AWS Partner Network .

You’re encouraged to look at the software solutions we’ve developed for various domains in our portfolio.