You are asking about consulting prices. Good. Let us talk straight.
Consultant Costs 2026: The Overview
Consultant costs at a glance:
- Junior consultant: 100 to 150 euros per hour
- Senior consultant: 200 to 400 euros per hour
- Partner / specialist: 500 to 1,000 euros per hour
- Day rate mid-market: 1,200 to 2,500 euros
Project costs 3 months, 2 consultants: 150,000 to 400,000 euros
These are not outliers. This is the market. What is behind it and whether it has to be this way, we explain here.
Freelancer or consultant, what costs what?
Freelancers often start at around 80 euros per hour and typically move around the 100 euro mark. No overhead from a large consulting firm, no travel costs billed separately, no partner who shows up for the kick-off and is never seen again.
Consulting firms have different cost structures. A junior consultant might cost the firm 60 to 80 euros per hour internally. Externally, 150 to 200 euros get billed. The difference finances offices, hierarchies, training and the brand premium. Those who want a big consulting name on the invoice pay for it. Sometimes that is internally necessary for political reasons. Most of the time it does not solve the problem any faster.
When does which model make sense? For clearly defined, technical tasks a good freelancer is often the more efficient choice. For complex, cross-functional projects with many stakeholders a consulting firm can bring more structure. Price alone should not decide.
What does a consultant cost?
The range is extreme. Junior consultants start at around 100 euros per hour. There is barely a ceiling at the top. Highly specialised consultants charge 1,000 euros per hour. And get it.
For mid-market companies the reality usually lands somewhere between 150 and 250 euros per hour. That sounds manageable at first. Until you calculate what a three-month project with two consultants actually costs.
What drives the price
Three factors determine the hourly rate:
- Seniority. The more experienced the consultant, or the higher their title in the firm's hierarchy, the higher the rate. A partner costs a multiple of what a junior costs. Whether the partner actually works on your project or just shows up for the kick-off? Different question.
- Specialisation. The more specific the brief, the more can be charged. "Digital transformation" costs more than "process optimisation." "AI strategy" is particularly expensive right now. Because everyone wants one and almost nobody really knows what it means.
- Project duration. And this is the part that should interest you. The longer a project runs, the higher the total cost. And who decides how long a project takes? Exactly.
Hourly rate, day rate or fixed price?
All three models exist, with very different implications.
The day rate sounds fair at first. A fixed amount per day regardless of hours worked. In practice this means: whether the consultant is on-site for 7 or 12 hours, the cost is always the same. Overtime is absorbed. Short days too. The model rewards nobody for finishing quickly.
Hourly rates are billed in various intervals, from 15-minute increments to the nearest full hour. A short alignment call? That is a full hour. A brief email with a follow-up question? Depends how the contract is worded.
Fixed prices exist too. 380 pages of slides for 28,750 euros for example. The deliverable is fixed. Whether it solves your problem, that is a different story.
When does a consultant actually make sense?
There are situations where external consulting is sensible. When a company genuinely does not know where it stands, when internal resources for a specific topic are completely missing, or when external validation is internally necessary for political reasons.
But those are exceptions. In most cases we encounter, the real problem was known. The people who could solve it were available. What was missing was someone who starts, pushes decisions through and takes responsibility for the outcome.
That is exactly where the difference lies between a consultant who consults and a doer who delivers.
Why are you actually looking at costs?
Let me guess. One of three reasons:
- You want to push your current consultant on price and need ammunition.
- You are mid-negotiation and need a reference point.
- Or, and this is the most common case, the costs are slowly spiralling, the problem still is not solved, and you are wondering if that is normal.
It is normal. But it does not have to be.
What you actually need
If you have a problem that needs solving, not documenting, not strategically framing, but actually solving, then the question about hourly rates is the wrong question.
The right question is: am I paying for time or for results?
At MacNorris you pay for results. Fixed price, clear goal, no surprises on the invoice. If it does not work, we have a problem. And we do not let go until it is solved.
— Robert
