How much to charge for online coaching: rates per session, packages and retainers

Coach practitioners charge an average of $234 for a one-hour session, according to the 2025 ICF Global Coaching Study. That is a survey average across online and in-person coaches, not a price you must match. Work out your own rate from the income you need and the paid hours you can really fill, then choose how clients pay: per session, as a package, or as a monthly retainer.

WithMe is $25 per month billed annually (UK £25), with a 14-day trial and 0% WithMe commission. Stripe and PayPal fees still apply. More than 8,000 creators use it.

What do coaches charge per session?

These are survey averages from the 2025 ICF Global Coaching Study, as of November 2026:

• $234 average fee for a one-hour coaching session.
• $270 an hour for Baby Boomers and $193 an hour for Millennials.
• $49,283 average annual revenue from coaching, and $69,721 for coaches with over ten years of experience.
• 12.4 active clients on average, and 11.6 hours a week working as a coach.

The study has limits. It gives no separate figure for online-only coaches, and no fee by specialty. 80% of respondents were ICF members, and business-related coaching, such as leadership, executive, career and team coaching, made up 77% of the specialties coaches declared. Health, fitness and life coaches may see different rates. The figures are what coaches reported, before costs and tax.

How should your rate change by coaching format?

The more of your time and attention a client gets, the more the format should cost:

• Free discovery call: a short call, often 15 to 30 minutes, to see if you are a fit. It is a sales step, so it is free.
• Single session: one paid call for a specific problem. This is your base hourly rate and usually the highest price per hour.
• Group coaching: several clients on the same call. Each pays less than for 1:1, but the session earns more in total.
• Ongoing 1:1 programme: regular calls plus messages between them. Price it per month or per programme, not per hour.
• Message-based coaching: feedback and answers by message or voice note, without calls. It takes less of your diary, so it can cost less than call-based coaching.

Per session, package or monthly retainer?

• Per session: simple to buy and easy to try, but your income goes up and down, and clients drop off between calls.
• Package or programme: a set result over a set time, such as 12 weeks, paid up front or in instalments. Clients commit, and you can plan your diary.
• Monthly retainer: clients pay every month for ongoing access to you. It gives you steady income, as long as each month feels worth it to the client.

Many coaches use all three: a single session as the way in, and a programme or retainer as the main offer.

How do you work out your own rate?

Start from the income you want, then divide by the sessions you can really sell. Count only paid sessions, not admin, marketing or prep time, and leave out holidays.

An example, not a forecast: a goal of £40,000 a year, over 40 paid weeks, at 10 paid sessions a week, is 400 sessions. That needs £100 a session. At 5 paid sessions a week, the same goal needs £200 a session.

Do not multiply the ICF fee by the ICF hours. The $234 fee, the 11.6 hours and the 12.4 clients are separate averages, and they do not add up to the $49,283 revenue figure.

When should you raise your rates?

Raise them when your diary is full, when clients get results you can show, or when you add more support. In the 2025 ICF study, 37% of coaches expected higher fees to drive their revenue growth, against 60% who expected more clients. Those are expectations, not results.

Raise prices for new clients first. Existing clients usually accept a change better with notice and a reason.

How do you set your coaching prices on WithMe?

1. For booked calls, add a Coaching Call product. Set your availability, Google Calendar sync and a Google Meet link, or Zoom on some accounts.
2. Choose Paid Session and enter the Amount. A paid call must cost at least 1.00 in your currency (11.00 in SEK). Turn on Discount Price to show a crossed-out "was" price.
3. Turn on Payment plan to let clients spread a high-priced call over 2 to 24 weekly or monthly payments. Or choose Free Session for a discovery call.
4. For group coaching, set Maximum attendees per time slot above one, so everyone who books that time joins the same meeting.
5. For ongoing coaching, add a 1:1 Coaching product. Choose Recurring for a monthly retainer, or a one-time fee with an access time, and add a payment plan if you want one.
6. Use Bundle Coaching Call to include your calls with the programme, so clients book sessions without paying for each one. Turn on Enable Apply Process to approve clients before they can pay.

What is not included?

There are no session packages that count down: each paid Coaching Call purchase books one session, so sell regular sessions through a 1:1 Coaching programme or a membership. There are no buffer times between calls, and cancelling a booking does not refund it automatically.

How much does WithMe cost?

WithMe is $25 per month billed annually (UK £25), with a 14-day trial and 0% WithMe commission. Stripe and PayPal fees still apply. Free migration of up to 10 GB of your courses and members comes with the yearly plan. One plan covers courses, memberships, community, coaching, webinars and digital products.

Coaching rate questions

Start your 14-day trial at https://www.withme.so/become-a-creator.

Related reading

• Start your 14-day trial
• How much do online coaches make?
• How to take coaching bookings without Calendly
• How to run a 1:1 coaching programme
• How to sell coaching online
• The coaching platform built into WithMe
• How to offer payment plans for coaching
• How to price an online course
• Customer story: $12,318 in 10 weeks selling 1:1 coaching
• How to charge for DMs and Q&A