Pricing your coaching can be one of the hardest parts of running the business. Get it wrong, and the more your business grows, the less you're actually earning per hour. Here's why so many coaches undercharge, and how to price your coaching right.
The pricing problem
A coach sets their price when they start out, then their business grows, along with their experience and skill. More clients means more programming, more check-ins and more admin. But it turns out, not necessarily more income.
We saw this when we reviewed our own coach data.
Over 70% of coaches on Fitr charge below the market average for 1-2-1 coaching programs. The typical 1-2-1 program on Fitr costs about £100 a month, while a sample of published pricing from online coaching businesses puts the middle of the market at around £145, that's over 30% less.
We also saw that the price of the program doesn't typically grow with the business either. Whether a coach has 2 clients on a program or 25, the price stays at around £100. Coaches are adding clients without valuing the extra time it takes to manage them.
Why it happens
- You’re pricing against the wrong benchmark: A generic fitness app could cost £10 a month. But you're not an app. You're a qualified coach, who writes the program, reviews every lift and answers the 9 o’clock message on a Saturday night.
- You're worried about losing clients: But pricing low to keep everyone means working harder for less, and that's not a business you can sustainably grow and continue providing value through.
- You’re forgetting the hours around the programming: Checking bank transfers. Chasing payments. Logging who's paid, who hasn’t. 15 minutes a week per client might not sound like a lot but for example across 15 clients, that's over 16 hours a month you're not charging for.
- You just haven't thought to review it: If it's been 12 months since you last raised your rates, that's a year of new learning, new qualifications and new results you’re giving away for free.
- You think online coaching is worth less: You might not physically be in the gym with the client, but your experience, your expertise and the time you spend planning and reviewing every workout are just as valuable. So are the results you deliver.
How to price your coaching right
1. Start with the market. We did a quick desk audit of the 1-2-1 online coaching market and a program typically sits between £80 and £200 a month, with the middle at around £145. That's your benchmark and will help when deciding how to price your own service.
2. Then price in what you bring. Move up as these grow:
- Experience: Years of coaching give you the know-how to build better programs that get clients to their results, faster.
- Qualifications: Specialist qualifications in areas like strength and conditioning, nutrition or pre- and postnatal are worth charging for and people will pay for that expertise.
- Time per client: Check-ins, personal tips, tricks and form reviews. This level of personalised support should cost more.
3. Raise it gradually. Think progressive overload for your pricing. Start with new clients at your new price, then think about moving existing clients over.
Take the admin off the bill
If you're not properly charging for experience, qualifications or time per client, odds are you’re also not charging for the mountains of admin a coaching business creates. That time is costing you each month.
Let Fitr foot the bill with full Business Automation. Payments, VAT and program access handled, for 5.99% per transaction. No chasing. No awkward reminder texts. Just more hours back to coach.
Just connect Stripe when creating your programming in Fitr to get started.
This data is based on anonymised pricing from active Fitr coaches with paid 1-2-1 programs, September 2026. Market figures come from a sample of published pricing from online coaches and coaching businesses.
