25 Feb 2026
Expert Network Pricing - what does an expert network interview cost?
An expert interview usually costs between $1,000 and $1,400 per hour. But for most clients, pricing is a black box. You get asked to shell out in advance for “credits” - which are then deducted in mysterious ways. So-called “premium multipliers” make sure that a call rarely costs just 1 credit.
It shouldn’t be this complicated.
Now, if you want to budget well and avoid overpaying, you need to understand why the price varies and how the different networks charge you. This article is based on our 8 years building Inex One as the independent authority on expert networks, and the hundreds of conversations we run each month with firms who have or ponder switching from traditional expert networks to Inex One. For more detail - here’s a guide to comparing expert networks.
Caveat: You can sometimes get calls cheaper, if you waive IP rights to the call. Some firms operating expert call transcript libraries rely on user-generated content: you pay less for doing expert calls, but your calls become the product that the library firm can resell. Here’s a deep-dive in expert transcript libraries, for the curious.
Expert calls: Paying for insights and service
While typcally bundled in one price tag, theExpert network call fees consist of two parts:
The expert’s fee: This is what the expert takes home. It typically ranges from $200 to $500 per hour for mid-level managers or subject matter experts. For certain sought-after experts in odd niches (e.g. healthcare KOLs, certain C-suite leaders, etc., this can at times exceed $1,000+).
The service fee: This is the network’s markup for finding, vetting, and scheduling the expert, handling compliance, and generally just making a margin. This is all fair - they provide an important service to you.But here’s the catch: expert networks associates are typically incentivized on the service fee they make - so they have reason to keep it artificially high. Therefore, using a single expert network makes you a price-taker. Using Inex One gives you both price visibility and a wide net of experts from networks around the world.
Prepaying vs. pay-as-you-go
This is where most first-time buyers get confused (and typically overpay).
Prepaying for credits. Most legacy networks want you to commit to a large upfront subscription - typically $50k-100k/year for starters. In exchange, you get some "credits". Now here’s the catch:
A credit is rarely enough for an expert call. A call with a "premium" expert might cost 1.5 or 2.5 credits. And the expert network is at liberty of deciding which experts are premium.
If you don’t use all your credits by year-end, they expire. You end up having paid for calls you never made. Or, the network graciously offers you to “roll over” the unused credits in next year’s license. This creates a lock-in effect for customers, who tend to have better things to think about than haggling over expert network contracts. Many settle for just rolling over, even when they’re dissatisfied with their network.
Academics call this obfuscated pricing, and it’s quite lucrative until any one vendor defects and offers transparent pricing. That’s what we did:
2. Pay-as-you-go for expert calls. We built Inex One to fix the inefficiencies in expert networks. You pay a small platform fee, and then only for the expert calls you do - in real currency, not credits.
You see the price transparently in your currency (e.g. $/€/£) - that’s the price you’ll pay, no surprises.
The median cost for an expert call on Inex One is ~$1,100/hour. This is effectively ~20-30% lower than traditional networks charge, as you’re not subsidizing a massive salesforce, the expert network’s opex or any unused credits. For larger projects, volume discounts of up to 25% are available - contact us to discuss.
Why are some calls more expensive?
Not all expert calls have the same price tag. You can expect to pay more for:
Scarcity and seniority: There are fewer former CEOs than Line Managers to find and choose between. And senior people tend to charge more for their time.
Geography: Experts in the US and Western Europe generally command higher compensation than experts in emerging markets.
Urgency: Need to speak to someone tomorrow? At least the traditional networks will see the opportunity to slap on a “premium” credit multiplier.
OK let's get started
If you are budgeting for a due diligence project or a market analysis, use $1,300 per call as a safe average with traditional networks. Just watch out for those hidden credit multipliers!
If you use a marketplace like Inex One, you can budget closer to $1,100 per call, while accessing a significantly larger pool of experts.