Business and executive coaches in the US and EU bill $75–$250/hour, but mature coaching practices almost never sell single hours — they sell engagements: three-month programs, monthly packages of sessions plus async support, VIP intensive days. The hourly rate exists to price the package, not to appear on the invoice.
Coaching also has a low billable ceiling that surprises newcomers: session prep, notes, between-session support, and the content and marketing machine that fills the pipeline mean 15–20 client hours is a full practice. Price a $100k target against those hours — not against a 40-hour fantasy — and the necessary package prices stop looking optional.
Your minimum hourly rate
$165/hour
Exact break-even: $160.11/hour — rounded up to the nearest $5.
How this breaks down
- Revenue you need to bill
- $138,333/yr
- — covers taxes (~25%)
- $33,333
- — covers expenses
- $5,000
- Billable hours per year
- 864h
Pricing tips for freelance business coaches
- Sell programs with defined outcomes and durations (12 weeks, 6 sessions + async) — packages prepaid, not sessions ad hoc.
- Price between-session access (voice notes, email review) explicitly into the package tier; unbounded access burns practices down.
- Raise prices with each cohort or quarter — coaching pricing is positioning, and last year's rate anchors this year's clients.
For the full method — including how to present higher rates to clients without losing the deal — see our guide to setting freelance rates. And when the work is done, invoice it properly.