Disclosure: I run Eupraxic, and its price is one of the 34 below.
A full-time forward deployed engineer in the US has a median posted base range of $180,000 to $250,208, before equity. Buying one by the month from a firm that publishes its prices costs about $15,000 to $40,000 for an embedded engineer and about $25,000 for a senior marketplace builder. By the hour it's $23 to $99, depending mostly on where the engineer lives. Fixed-price work starts lower: a ten-day sprint for one workflow at $5,000, proofs of concept from $8,000, and audits from $10,000.
Those numbers come from two datasets I put together and published in full. One covers 34 companies that sell forward deployed engineering, with their prices as published, collected on October 14, 2026, and re-checked on October 21. The other covers 382 public FDE job postings, collected on October 12, 2026.
Most providers don't publish a price
Of the 34 providers, 9 publish any dollar figure, and one of those is mine.
- Model and platform vendors (OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS, Microsoft, and others): 0 of 7.
- Consultancies and services firms: 6 of 19.
- Talent marketplaces: 3 of 7.
- Independents: 0 of 1.
So at most providers the price is a sales conversation. And most published figures start with "from," so read them as the bottom of the range, not the typical bill.
What the published prices say, by how you pay
- By the hour: from $23 an hour for engineers based in Asia, with payroll and equipment included (Second Talent); $50 to $99 by role (Uvik Software); and $65 to $95 on sample FDE profiles (Beetroot).
- By the month: $15,000 to $40,000 for an embedded engineer (Brilliantech), from $15,000 after an audit (Phos AI Labs), and about $25,000 for a senior builder, fully loaded (A.Team).
- By the year: a single embedded FDE from $60,000 (AY Automate).
- Pilots and audits: proofs of concept from $8,000 (Brilliantech), an audit from $10,000 (Phos AI Labs), and engagements from $25,000 (Uvik Software).
- Fixed sprint: one workflow in ten business days for $5,000 fixed through the November 17 kickoff, then $7,500, with a full refund at Day 5 or Day 10 (Eupraxic).
- Priced, but not in public: flat monthly subscriptions on AWS Marketplace (ClearScale and Jefferson Frank), a fixed cost per sprint (Dinacode), and outcome-based engagements (AWS, Microsoft, and Nextbrick).
What a full-time hire costs
The job postings cover 260 distinct roles at 44 companies. Of those, 74 are US engineering roles that post a salary range, which is 88% of the US engineering roles, so the pay figures cover nearly the whole US sample.
- Median posted base range: $180,000 to $250,208.
- Median midpoint: $216,104. The middle half of roles fall between $170,000 and $242,500.
- By level: staff and principal roles have a median midpoint of $250,000; senior roles, $216,104.
- Lowest and highest: $90,000 at the bottom of a Palantir range, $445,000 at the top of OpenAI's Forward Deployed Security Engineer range.
- Travel: 56% of roles mention it, and the most common stated figure is up to 50% of the time.
These are posted base ranges, not offers or total compensation. At most of these companies equity and bonus come on top.
Putting them on one scale
Converted to a month:
- Full-time hire at the median midpoint: about $18,000 a month in base salary. With a 1.25 multiple for benefits, taxes, and equipment (my assumption; use yours), about $22,500 a month, before equity, and only once you've found the person.
- Hourly contractor at 160 hours a month: about $3,700 at $23 an hour and about $15,800 at $99.
- Embedded engineer through a consultancy: $15,000 to $40,000.
- Senior marketplace builder: about $25,000.
Cost per shipped workflow
A monthly price tells you what a month costs, not what a working workflow costs. If an embedded engineer at $20,000 a month needs two months to ship one workflow, that workflow cost $40,000. A fixed-scope engagement turns that number into the price, which is why I sell one. Whichever option you choose, ask every provider three things before you sign:
- What ships, and by what date?
- What happens if it doesn't?
- Who owns the code, the prompts, and the model settings afterward?
What I'd budget
- One workflow this quarter: a fixed-scope pilot or sprint. Published fixed prices start between $5,000 and $10,000.
- Several workflows over six months: an embedded engineer at $15,000 to $40,000 a month, or a marketplace contractor if someone on your team can scope and manage the work.
- AI as the core of your roadmap: hire. Budget $180,000 to $250,000 in base salary plus equity, and plan on months to find the person.
Which of these fits depends on more than price; I compare the options for startups in a separate article.
Caveats
- Published prices move. Second Talent's hourly floor dropped from $29 to $23 in the week between my two checks.
- Hourly rates mostly reflect where the engineer lives, not seniority alone.
- The vendor teams publish nothing and mostly serve enterprises, so they're missing from the price ranges above.
- Job postings show posted base ranges. They aren't offers, and they leave out equity.
The data
- The 34 providers, with each one's price, terms, and source link (CSV).
- The FDE job market analysis (CSV of 382 postings).
- A cost calculator that compares hiring, contracting, and a sprint with your own numbers.