How Much Does a Personal Coach Cost?

April 22, 2020

In this article, I’ll answer the question, “How much does a personal coach cost?”

This is surprisingly difficult to do.

The coaching industry tends to keep its prices hidden for no good reason.

It’s unfortunate because mysterious pricing only makes it harder for potential clients to hire coaches.

So, in the interest of transparency, I’ll cover everything I’ve seen about how coaches price their services.

A Few Quick Notes

If you’re looking to hire a coach, you should keep in mind that the success rate of coaching is very high at almost any price.

So, you shouldn’t be afraid to hire a more junior coach if that’s all your budget allows.

If you’re a coach reading these prices, I’m sure you have heard magical stories about coaches elsewhere getting away with charging much more.

These coaches are often embellishing to sell their advice to other coaches.

But even when they aren’t, it’s often the case that they are short on clients.

The prices below are more than fair and are enough to be well off if you put your focus on having a steady roster of coaching clients.

Now, onto the question…

How Much Does a Personal Coach Cost?

I’ve listed out the range of prices for all the types of coaches I’ve worked with below.

They are business coaches, life coaches, and habit coaches.

I’d recommend you hire a coach at the level that fits your current budget.

If you and your coach are successful, you may find yourself with a bigger budget down the road.

Business Coaching Costs

Most business coaches charge for time in the same way that a lawyer does.

They may structure the charge on a per-session basis, although it’s increasingly common to see package deals or retainers.

In all cases, though, the underlying cost is based on the price of a session.

Here are general guidelines for pricing for different categories of business coaches.

$150-250 per session: Junior business coaches who generally work with mid-level managers or clients who are trying coaching for the first time.
$250-400: Established coaches who usually work with small business owners, startup executives, or director-level managers at mid-tier companies.
$500-800: Senior coaches who generally work with top leaders in small to mid-size companies.
$1,200-2,000: Corporate coaches who typically work with senior leaders at highly profitable companies.
$50,000+: The top business coaches in the world who generally work with people who make multi-million dollar decisions every week.

There’s some wiggle room here.

If you are a client, you should use the list above as a sense of what’s fair.

The actual rate that a coach quotes you isn’t meant for heavy negotiation.

It’ll differ from the above based on how full their schedule is, where they are located, and what they think is fair for your budget.

If you are a coach, look at these rates as a career ladder.

You will earn higher rates as you get more experienced, get more referrals from past clients, and go more in-depth on the tactics of coaching.

Life Coaching Costs

Life coaches generally charge less than business coaches because it’s harder for clients to evaluate the ROI.

Theoretically, the impact a life coach makes on a client’s feeling of purpose and happiness should command a higher dollar amount than an executive coach merely helping a business make more money.

But the market doesn’t seem to think that, at least not yet.

$100-200 per session: Most life coaches seem to be in this range because the market doesn’t seem to want to pay more, and the coaches don’t seem to want to work for less.
$200-300: Specialized life coaches, for example, relationships, do get to charge more.
$500+: There is a luxury tier of life coaches who specialize in high net worth individuals. If that’s you, then the coaches that work with other people like you are probably charging the equivalent of $500 per session or more.

Package Coaching Costs

Many coaches have specific skill- or outcome-oriented packages.

These are a mix of educational materials and personalized coaching that are delivered over fixed periods.

There are two great things about these packages — you know what the outcome is going to be, and you know what it will cost to get there.

For example, there are public speaking coaches who might work with you for as short as an hour or as long as two full days.

Some coaches will teach you a specific sales routine.

There are hundreds of iterations on this formula.

You should expect that these packages are priced more on value than on the time the coach will spend on you. (But also, to be fair, the coach probably spent hundreds of hours developing their material)

That’s based on the value of their sales material.

When the package has a clear financial value, sales coaching for instance, the pricing will trend even higher and start to approach a percentage of that perceived monetary value.

Habit Coaching Costs

There’s an emerging trend of habit coaches who are focused on short daily interactions, often over text-messaging.

Coach.me pioneered this for general habit coaching, and there are a lot of weight loss coaching organizations that use the same model.

The prices for this model tend to be in the $60–150 per month range.

That’s not very expensive for daily interaction.

It generally works because the coach is aided by technology in some way, and most clients don’t need time-intensive attention each day.

Clients should look out for one thing, which is that there is actually a real person who is paying enough attention to you to personalize the coaching.

Otherwise, all you’re actually getting is a pre-written training plan.

I hope this answers the question…