Tech Recruiter Fees: How much should you pay in 2025?
Dover
September 8, 2025
•
5 mins
Let's break down the three main pricing models you'll encounter when hiring external recruiting help.
Percentage-based fees are the most common, ranging from 15-30% of the candidate's first-year salary. For a software engineer making $120,000, you're looking at $18,000 to $36,000 in recruiting fees. That's a big chunk of change, especially when you're hiring multiple people.
Flat fee models typically run $5,000 to $20,000 per hire, regardless of salary. This can be more predictable for budgeting, but you might overpay for junior roles or underpay for senior positions. Some agencies use flat fees for high-volume hiring or specific role types.
Hourly or fractional recruiting charges $75-250 per hour depending on the recruiter's experience and specialization. A typical hire might take 40-80 hours of work, putting your total cost between $2,000 and $20,000. The beauty here is transparency: you pay for actual work done, not arbitrary percentages.
That $120K engineer could cost you $24,000 through a traditional agency (20% fee) or potentially $8,000 through fractional recruiting (50 hours at $160/hour). When you're hiring multiple people, these savings compound quickly.
The fractional model also gives you more flexibility. Need help with sourcing but want to handle interviews yourself? Pay for sourcing hours only. Want full-service recruiting for one role and just candidate screening for another? Mix and match based on your needs.
Let's get specific with some real numbers that reflect what startups actually pay in 2025.
Software Engineer ($120k salary):
Traditional agency (20%): $24,000
Fractional recruiter (50 hours at $150/hour): $7,500
Savings: $16,500 per hire
Senior DevOps Engineer ($140k salary):
Traditional agency (25%): $35,000
Fractional recruiter (60 hours at $180/hour): $10,800
Savings: $24,200 per hire
Engineering Manager ($160k salary):
Traditional agency (25%): $40,000
Fractional recruiter (70 hours at $200/hour): $14,000
Savings: $26,000 per hire
Now imagine you're a Series A startup hiring five engineers in six months. Traditional agencies would cost you $120,000+ in fees alone. Fractional recruiting might run $40,000-60,000 for the same hires. That's $60,000+ back in your budget.
Role | Salary | Agency Fee (20%) | Fractional Cost | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Frontend Engineer | $115K | $23,000 | $7,500 | $15,500 |
Backend Engineer | $125K | $25,000 | $8,000 | $17,000 |
DevOps Engineer | $140K | $28,000 | $10,800 | $17,200 |
Total (3 hires) | $380K | $76,000 | $26,300 | $49,700 |
We've seen startups save exactly these amounts by switching from traditional agencies to fractional recruiting. The key is finding recruiters who specialize in your specific tech stack and understand efficient talent hiring.
In-house recruiting averages about 12% of each hire's salary when you factor in recruiter salaries, benefits, tools, and overhead. A full-time tech recruiter costs $80,000-120,000 annually, plus another $20,000-30,000 in benefits and tools. They might make 8-12 hires per year, putting your cost per hire around $8,000-15,000.
The challenge? You need consistent hiring volume to make a full-time recruiter worthwhile. If you're only hiring 2-3 people per year, you're paying for a lot of downtime.
Traditional agencies cost 15-30% per hire but require zero ongoing commitment. They handle everything from sourcing to offer negotiation, which is appealing when you're swamped. The downside is losing control over candidate experience and paying premium rates for every single hire.
Fractional recruiting sits in the sweet spot between agency expertise and in-house control. You get experienced recruiters at $100-250/hour with complete transparency into their work. No long-term commitments, no percentage fees, just pay for results.
We've found that fractional recruiting works particularly well for startups in growth mode. You get the expertise of senior recruiters without the overhead of full-time staff or the markup of traditional agencies.
The math usually works out like this: if you're hiring fewer than 6 people per year, fractional beats in-house. If you're hiring more than 3 people per year, fractional beats traditional agencies. There's a reason more startups are making this switch.
Hidden costs in tech recruiting
The sticker price is just the beginning. Hidden costs can easily double your true cost per hire, making seemingly expensive recruiting solutions actually cost-effective.
Internal time costs are massive but often ignored. Every interview round pulls your engineers, managers, and founders away from building product (and engineers are often the highest paid in the company). A typical hiring process involves 6-8 internal people spending 2-4 hours each on interviews, reference checks, and decision-making. At $100+ per hour for technical staff, you're looking at $1,200-3,200 in lost productivity per hire.
Failed hire replacement costs are brutal. Industry data shows 20-30% of new hires don't work out in their first year. When a $120k engineer leaves after six months, you've lost their salary, benefits, onboarding time, and recruiting fees. Then you get to pay all those costs again for their replacement.
Time-to-fill impacts compound quickly in competitive markets. Every extra week an engineering position stays open is lost product development, delayed features, and increased pressure on existing team members. For a senior role, this opportunity cost can exceed $10,000 per month.
Opportunity costs of unfilled positions are hardest to quantify but potentially most expensive. That missing DevOps engineer might delay your product launch by two months. The frontend developer you can't find might force you to push back a major client deliverable.
This is where candidate experience becomes important. A smooth, professional hiring process reduces the risk of losing great candidates to competitors and improves your employer brand for future hires.
When different fee structures make sense
Not every recruiting situation calls for the same approach. Here's when each fee structure typically makes the most sense.
Contingency fees work best for single, urgent hires where speed trumps cost. If you need a CTO in 30 days and budget isn't the primary concern, paying 25-30% for agency speed and network access makes sense. The agency takes all the risk and you only pay for results.
Flat fees suit high-volume, similar roles where you can negotiate better rates. If you're hiring 10 junior developers with identical requirements, a flat fee structure gives you predictable costs and potentially better per-hire rates than percentage fees.
Fractional or hourly recruiting works best for ongoing hiring needs, multiple different roles, or when budget predictability matters. It's particularly effective when you want to maintain control over the candidate experience while getting expert recruiting help.
Retained search makes sense for executive roles where the search process is complex and relationship-driven. C-level positions often require 3-6 months of dedicated work, making upfront payment structures more appropriate.
The key is matching your specific situation to the most cost-effective approach. A Series A startup hiring their first 10 engineers has very different needs than a Series C company replacing a departing VP of Engineering.
We've found that most growing startups benefit from choosing the right recruiter who can adapt their approach to different roles and timelines rather than being locked into a single fee structure.
How to decide the best recruiting approach for your startup
Hiring volume is your biggest decision factor. If you're hiring 1-2 people per year, traditional agencies or fractional recruiting make more sense than building internal capacity. If you're hiring 3-6 people per year, fractional recruiting typically offers the best cost-effectiveness. Above 6 hires annually, consider building an internal recruiting function.
Budget constraints matter more for startups than mature companies. If cash flow is tight, hourly fractional recruiting gives you more control over spending than large percentage fees. You can scale recruiting effort up or down based on your current funding situation.
Timeline requirements influence your options. Need someone in two weeks? You'll probably pay premium agency rates. Have 2-3 months to fill a role? Fractional recruiting can deliver better candidates at lower costs.
Internal capacity determines how much recruiting work you can handle yourself. If your founding team is already working 80-hour weeks, full-service recruiting makes sense. If you have bandwidth for interviews but need help with sourcing, fractional recruiting lets you pay for just the pieces you need.
Role complexity affects your approach. Standard software engineering roles are easier to recruit for than highly specialized positions requiring specific industry experience. Complex roles might warrant higher fees for recruiters with proven track records in your niche.
For most tech startups, fractional recruiting hits the sweet spot. You get access to experienced recruiters who understand your market, transparent hourly pricing that scales with your needs, and the flexibility to adjust your recruiting investment based on growth stage and funding.
The Dover marketplace connects you with vetted fractional recruiters who focus on tech roles, giving you agency-level expertise without the traditional markup. It's designed for startups who need professional recruiting help without the long-term commitments or percentage-based fees.
Frequently Asked Questions
Table of contents
