Start from the hours, not the market
Write down what one client costs you per month in time: programming and updates, check-in reviews, messages, calls. For a typical online client that is somewhere between two and five hours a month. Multiply by the hourly rate you would accept for skilled work, and add a share of the fixed costs (software, insurance, education). That figure is your floor. A price below it is a hobby.
Then look at the market, but only to decide where above the floor you sit. Coaches with a niche, results they can show and a waitlist charge two to three times what generalists do, for the same hours.
Pick a model that matches the coaching
Monthly subscriptions suit ongoing coaching: the client pays for access and accountability, and you program continuously. Packages (twelve weeks, a competition prep) suit work with a defined end. A hybrid (a package to start, then a lower monthly rate) converts hesitant clients and keeps them.
- Monthly: simplest to sell, easiest to forecast, needs a minimum commitment of three months to be worth onboarding.
- Package: higher ticket, natural renewal conversation at the end, cash up front.
- Hybrid: a 12-week package at a premium, rolling to a monthly rate after. Most coaches end up here.
Show the price in public
A price that only exists in your DMs costs you every prospect who was not going to message first. Put a 'from' price on your public page and the actual plans below it. Prospects self-select, you spend your calls on people who can pay, and the price itself becomes a signal of seriousness.
On CoachVana the storefront shows your plans with real prices and an apply button; a client who is accepted pays on your Stripe account and lands in your roster without a manual step.
Stop paying a percentage of it
Two costs eat a coaching price: payment processing (Stripe's fee, unavoidable) and the platform's cut. Some coaching platforms charge a commission on every sale or price by 'modules'. On $5,000 a month of coaching revenue a 5% commission is $3,000 a year. CoachVana charges a flat per-client fee capped at $149 a month and takes 0% of sales, so the price you set is the price you keep, minus Stripe.
Raise prices with the roster, not the calendar
The right moment to raise your price is when you are full. Raise it for new clients first, keep existing clients where they are for a defined period, and tell them the date. A coach at capacity with a waitlist can raise prices 20 to 30 percent and lose almost nobody; a coach with empty slots cannot raise anything.