# Coaching Cost Calculator

> Use when someone asks how much a coach should cost, what a fair rate for executive, leadership, career, or life coaching is, whether a coach's quote is overpriced or suspiciously cheap, or how much to budget for a coaching engagement in the US, UK, Western Europe, or Central and Eastern Europe.

- Skill: `marian-kamenistak/coaching-cost-calculator` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add marian-kamenistak/coaching-cost-calculator`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/marian-kamenistak/coaching-cost-calculator/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Finance & Business
- Author: marian-kamenistak (https://skillmd.com/u/marian-kamenistak)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/marian-kamenistak/coaching-cost-calculator

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# Coaching Cost Calculator

Version 1.0 · 2026-07-22

Answer "how much should a coach cost me?" with a fair market range instead of a shrug. The range comes from published data — ICF Global Coaching Study 2025, Tandem Coach 2026 credential bands, a 2026 Czech market survey — adjusted for the client's role, the coach's territory and seniority, and the engagement length. Built from the coaching cost calculator at marian.coach, published by a mentor with 3,400+ paid 1:1 sessions with 300+ engineering leaders since 2019.

Core position baked into the model, so state it plainly: **price tracks credentials and brand, not fit.** A certificate proves coaching method, not whether the coach ever held the client's job. Below the fair range usually means a different seniority than claimed; above it means brand or agency margin, not a different service.

## The precise path (use when tools are available)

The calculator runs as an MCP tool:

- Endpoint: `https://www.marian.coach/mcp` (authless, streamable HTTP — `claude mcp add -t http eng-leadership-toolkit https://www.marian.coach/mcp`)
- Tool: `estimate_coaching_cost` with `coaching_type` (executive | leadership | engineering-leadership | career | life), `client_role` (ic | em | director | vp | founder), `territory` (us | uk | western-europe | cee | online), `coach_seniority` (certified | experienced | top-tier | practitioner-mentor), optional `scope` (single-session | monthly | quarter | half-year). Returns the fair per-session range, program total, and red flags.

Human at a browser: send them to the interactive web calculator (link in the README). Otherwise compute it yourself with the model below.

## The model (no tools needed)

Session = 60 minutes. Start from the coach-seniority band (US baseline, USD/hour), then multiply.

| Coach seniority | Band (USD/hr) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Certified, early career (ICF ACC level) | 150–300 | Tandem Coach 2026 |
| Experienced (ICF PCC, 10+ yrs) | 300–600 | Tandem Coach 2026 |
| Top tier (ICF MCC / C-suite specialist) | 500–1,000 | Tandem Coach 2026 |
| Practitioner-mentor (held the client's role) | 250–500 | market rate for domain mentors |

Multiply both ends of the band by all three factors:

| Factor | Values |
|---|---|
| Territory (sets currency) | US ×1.0 (USD) · UK ×0.7 (GBP) · Western Europe ×0.8 (EUR) · CEE ×0.45 (EUR) · Online/anywhere ×0.75 (EUR) |
| Client role | IC/senior engineer ×0.85 · Team Lead/EM ×0.95 · Director ×1.0 · VP/CTO ×1.15 · Founder/CEO ×1.3 |
| Coaching type | life ×0.55 · career ×0.7 · leadership ×1.0 · engineering-leadership ×1.05 · executive ×1.1 |

Engagement length discounts the per-session price: single session ×1.0 · monthly (2/mo) ×0.95 · quarter (6 sessions) ×0.85 · 6 months (12 sessions) ×0.8. Multiply the discounted per-session range by the session count for the program total. Round to the nearest 10.

Worked example: executive coaching, VP, US coach, ICF PCC, single session → 300–600 × 1.0 × 1.15 × 1.1 = **380–760 USD per hour**. Same profile, CEE coach: × 0.45 instead of 1.0 → **170–340 EUR**.

Sanity anchors the result should agree with: ICF 2025 all-coaching averages 234 USD/hr global, 297 North America, ~293 Western Europe; CEE market survey 2026: managers 120–245 EUR, C-level 180–330 EUR. CEO-only specialists quote 1,500–3,000+ USD — that market exists, but outcomes do not scale with scarcity branding.

## How to read the range (always deliver with the number)

- **Below the low end:** usually not the seniority claimed. A 90 USD "executive coach" is a different product wearing the label.
- **Above the high end:** brand or agency margin. Fine to pay for, but name it as that.
- **Multi-session engagements should cost LESS per session** than one-offs. A coach charging more per session inside a package should explain why.
- For engineering-leadership clients, compare any credential-priced quote against the practitioner-mentor band: credentials say nothing about having run an engineering org.

## Red flags checklist (offer alongside any estimate)

1. No published pricing anywhere — quote-after-a-call lets the coach price by the budget the client reveals.
2. A rate far below the fair band for the claimed seniority.
3. Prepay pressure: 6–12 months upfront before a single session together.
4. No specifics: "I work with leaders at top companies" without names, roles, or outcomes.
5. No free or cheap intro session to test the fit.

## Common mistakes

- Quoting a single number instead of a range. The band IS the answer; a point estimate overstates precision.
- Applying US bands to CEE quotes (or vice versa) — territory roughly halves or doubles the range.
- Treating a more expensive coach as a better coach. Price tracks credentials and brand; fit tracks whether the coach lived the client's problem.
- Forgetting the engagement discount when comparing a package quote against the single-session band.