Most consulting firms still answer “what does it cost?” with “it depends.” It does depend, but less than you might think. Defined pieces of work, such as an audit or an assessment, have settled into clear price bands. This guide gives those bands, what a fair quote should include, and our own published prices for comparison.
Price bands for common engagements
These ranges come from price lists that consultancies and marketplaces published in 2026, which we reviewed in November 2026. Security configuration reviews vary too widely to give one band; ours is $6,500 fixed for up to five accounts.
| Engagement | Typical published range | Cloudverg price |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud cost audit (one provider, a few accounts) | $1,500 to $10,000 fixed | $4,500 fixed |
| SOC 2 readiness and gap assessment | $5,000 to $25,000 fixed | $7,500 fixed |
| Paid discovery or roadmap sprint | From about $2,000, often credited to the build | $9,500, credited to phase one |
| DevOps or cloud support retainer | $1,500 to $14,000 a month | From $2,500 a month |
| One expert session | From about $150 on freelance marketplaces | $450 for 90 minutes |
What moves the price
- Scope. The number of cloud accounts, environments, systems or frameworks in scope is the biggest driver. A good fixed price names the limit, such as “up to three accounts.”
- Depth. Automated scans are cheap. Manual expert review of architecture, permissions and spending patterns is where the findings are.
- Deliverables. A ranked, costed plan with exact fixes is worth more than a list of tool alerts.
- Seniority. Ask who will do the work, not who will sell it.
What a fair quote should include
- The scope limit and what happens if you exceed it.
- The deliverables, in writing, and the format of the final readout.
- The timeline and the start date.
- What access is needed, and whether it is read-only.
- How extra work is approved and priced before it is billed.
Fixed price or hourly?
For defined work such as audits and assessments, fixed prices protect you: the firm carries the risk of taking longer. Hourly billing makes sense for open-ended advisory, which is why retainers are usually sold as a monthly block of hours. For delivery projects, ask for a fixed price per phase, with each phase ending in something you can use.
Where to start
If you are not sure what you need, a single expert session is the cheapest way to get a senior opinion. If you know the problem, a fixed-price audit or assessment gives you a plan you can act on with any team. Our free scorecards show where your gaps are in three minutes, and our pricing page lists every package.