Fractional recruiting vs staffing agency

Capacity by the hour, or a fee when you hire.

A clear comparison of fractional recruiting versus paying per placement — how each is priced, who owns the search, and which one fits the hiring in front of you. Masarna runs both, so the honest answer depends on volume.

Discuss your open role See fractional recruiting

25 minutes · Talk with someone who has done this work

The short answer

It comes down to how many hires you're making.

A placement fee buys an outcome: you pay a percentage of first-year salary when someone is hired, and nothing before that. Fractional recruiting buys capacity: a senior recruiter's time to own sourcing, screening, coordination, and weekly accountability inside your tools. One hire usually favors the fee. Several favor the capacity — which is why Masarna offers both and will tell you which one your hiring plan actually calls for.

Side by side

Fractional recruiting vs staffing agency

Masarna fractional

Staffing agency

What you're buying

Weekly recruiter capacity on your roles

An introduction that ends in a hire

Pricing

Scoped talent leadership

Typically 20–25% of first-year salary

Who does the work

One senior recruiter, same person weekly

Often rotating recruiters / coordinators

Where work happens

Your ATS, Slack, inbox, calendar

Agency CRM + email attachments

Time to first shortlist

~7 days after intake (typical)

Often 4–6 weeks to useful signal

Contract

Month-to-month; dial hours up or down

Retainer + contingency / exclusive terms

Best for

Several active roles at once

A single important hire

Choose capacity when

Fractional recruiting is the better fit if…

You have several roles active at once, where per-hire fees stack up quickly
A founder or hiring manager is currently owning the search
You want the work inside your ATS and Slack, not a parallel agency process
You need pipeline, calibration, and coordination — not just introductions
Hiring is ongoing, so recruiting capacity gets used every week

Choose a placement fee when

Sometimes paying per hire is the right call.

You have one role, not a hiring plan: A single important seat rarely justifies buying weekly capacity. A success-based search puts a senior recruiter on it and ties the cost to the outcome.
You want cost tied to the result: If nothing being owed until someone is hired matters more than total cost, the fee model aligns the cash with the outcome. Masarna's Success-Based Search works this way.
Your internal team already runs the loop: If you screen, coordinate, and close well and only need reach into the market, an introduction-led search can be enough on its own.

Questions

Fractional vs agency, answered.

Is fractional recruiting just a cheaper agency?

It's a different product. An agency is paid for an introduction that becomes a hire. Fractional recruiting buys a senior recruiter's time to own sourcing, screening, and coordination in your stack — including the work that doesn't produce a placement, like recalibrating a role or fixing a stalled loop.

Do you charge a placement fee?

Can fractional recruiting replace an agency mid-search?

When should we move from fractional to embedded?

Keep comparing.

Success-Based Search Fractional recruiting Embedded vs in-house Pricing

Not sure which model your hiring calls for?

25 minutes · Talk with someone who has done this work. Tell us which roles are open — we'll run the math on a success-based search versus fractional capacity for your plan, and say which one we'd recommend.

Discuss your open role

25 minutes · Talk with someone who has done this work

Fractional recruiting vs staffing agency

Capacity by the hour, or a fee when you hire.

Discuss your open role See fractional recruiting

25 minutes · Talk with someone who has done this work

The short answer

It comes down to how many hires you're making.

Side by side

Fractional recruiting vs staffing agency

Masarna fractional

Staffing agency

What you're buying

Weekly recruiter capacity on your roles

An introduction that ends in a hire

Pricing

Scoped talent leadership

Typically 20–25% of first-year salary

Who does the work

One senior recruiter, same person weekly

Often rotating recruiters / coordinators

Where work happens

Your ATS, Slack, inbox, calendar

Agency CRM + email attachments

Time to first shortlist

~7 days after intake (typical)

Often 4–6 weeks to useful signal

Contract

Month-to-month; dial hours up or down

Retainer + contingency / exclusive terms

Best for

Several active roles at once

A single important hire

Choose capacity when

Fractional recruiting is the better fit if…

You have several roles active at once, where per-hire fees stack up quickly
A founder or hiring manager is currently owning the search
You want the work inside your ATS and Slack, not a parallel agency process
You need pipeline, calibration, and coordination — not just introductions
Hiring is ongoing, so recruiting capacity gets used every week

Choose a placement fee when

Sometimes paying per hire is the right call.

You have one role, not a hiring plan: A single important seat rarely justifies buying weekly capacity. A success-based search puts a senior recruiter on it and ties the cost to the outcome.
You want cost tied to the result: If nothing being owed until someone is hired matters more than total cost, the fee model aligns the cash with the outcome. Masarna's Success-Based Search works this way.
Your internal team already runs the loop: If you screen, coordinate, and close well and only need reach into the market, an introduction-led search can be enough on its own.

Questions

Fractional vs agency, answered.

Is fractional recruiting just a cheaper agency?

Do you charge a placement fee?

Can fractional recruiting replace an agency mid-search?

When should we move from fractional to embedded?

Keep comparing.

Success-Based Search Fractional recruiting Embedded vs in-house Pricing

Not sure which model your hiring calls for?

Discuss your open role

25 minutes · Talk with someone who has done this work