Most advice on how to bill online coaching clients stops at the price. That's the easy part. The harder choices are structural: subscription or package, weekly or monthly, upfront or as you go. They decide your cash flow, your refund exposure and how many awkward money conversations you have each month.
We've used QuickCoach Client Billing and Stripe's published card rates for the worked examples. The logic holds whatever you bill with.
The short answer
Bill ongoing coaching as a monthly subscription and fixed-length programs as one-off packages. Offer quarterly or yearly only as a discounted option for committed clients. Billing frequency barely moves your card fees: on a $2,600 coaching year, weekly billing costs $15.30 more in Stripe fees than paying once. The plan you're on, and your refund policy, matter far more.
Should online coaching be a subscription or a package?
Match the billing to the shape of the coaching. A subscription is a recurring package: it charges your client's card on a schedule until someone cancels it. A one-off package is a single payment for a single thing.
| What you sell | Bill it as | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ongoing one-to-one coaching | Monthly subscription | No renewal to chase. The client stays until they choose to stop. |
| A 12-week block or transformation program | One-off package | Fixed length, fixed price, paid before the work starts. |
| Contest or event prep | One-off package, or a subscription with an end date in mind | Prep has a deadline. Price the whole run, or bill monthly and cancel after the show. |
| A group challenge entry | One-off package | Each entrant pays once. Charge them one at a time from their profile. |
| Committed clients who want a lower rate | Quarterly or yearly subscription | Cash upfront in exchange for a discount you build into the package price. |
Subscriptions are the quiet retention tool. Every renewal you have to ask for is a decision point for the client, and decision points are where people drift off. A subscription removes the monthly "do I keep going?" moment. It doesn't remove the reasons people leave, which our guide to client retention for online coaches covers, but it stops admin from becoming one of them.
How often should I charge clients: weekly, monthly or upfront?
Client Billing's recurring packages bill weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly or yearly. Monthly is the default for a reason: it's the rhythm most clients budget in, and it lines up with how most coaches review progress. Fortnightly makes sense when your clients are paid fortnightly, which is common in Australia. Weekly suits coaches whose clients think in sessions rather than months.
The cost difference is smaller than coaches expect. Card processors charge a percentage plus a fixed amount on every payment, and only the fixed part grows with frequency. Here's one client paying $2,600 a year, at Stripe's standard US rate of 2.9% + 30¢ per payment:
Stripe fees on a $2,600 coaching year, by billing frequency
US dollars, Stripe standard US card rate. The QuickCoach platform fee is a percentage, so it's the same in every row.
| Billing | Payments | Each payment | Stripe fees a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | 52 | $50.00 | $91.00 |
| Fortnightly | 26 | $100.00 | $83.20 |
| Monthly | 12 | $216.67 | $79.00 |
| Quarterly | 4 | $650.00 | $76.60 |
| Yearly | 1 | $2,600.00 | $75.70 |
The 2.9% part is $75.40 at every frequency. The rest is 30 cents per payment. Australian domestic cards run 1.65% + A$0.30 on Stripe's AU pricing, so the fixed part works out the same in Australian dollars.
Weekly billing costs $15.30 a year more than yearly for this client. Across 20 clients that's about $306, which is real money but not a reason to force clients onto a rhythm they don't want. The platform fee dwarfs it. At 3.5% on Pro, QuickCoach's fee on the same $2,600 is $91.00 whichever frequency you pick, and on Free at 10% it's $260.00. If you bill several clients through Client Billing, the plan decision is worth more than the frequency decision. We did that sum in Client Billing on Free vs Pro.
Where frequency does matter: small payments and overseas cards
The fixed fee bites on small amounts. A $15 weekly accountability check-in loses 30 cents of every payment to the fixed fee alone, which is 2% before the percentage starts. If a product is cheap, bill it monthly or bundle it into a bigger package.
Overseas clients cost more to charge everywhere. An Australian Stripe account pays 3.5% + A$0.30 on international cards against 1.65% + A$0.30 on domestic ones. Packages are priced in your Stripe account's currency, so an overseas client pays in your currency and their bank converts it. If you coach across borders, as more coaches do than you'd think (see coaching has no borders), price your international packages with that higher rate in mind.
What does a refund cost me?
This is where upfront billing has a catch. On Client Billing, refunds are for the whole payment, and the fees don't come back: QuickCoach keeps its platform fee and Stripe keeps its processing fee. The refund comes out of your Stripe balance.
Refund one $216.67 monthly payment on Pro and you're out $7.58 in platform fee and $6.58 to Stripe. Refund a $2,600 yearly payment and it's $91.00 plus $75.70, or $166.70 in fees gone. That doesn't make yearly billing a bad idea. It means a yearly package needs a written refund policy before you sell it, so you decide in advance whether a client leaving in month two gets the remainder back and who wears the fees.
To refund part of a payment, use your Stripe Dashboard. And remember that a refund doesn't cancel a subscription unless you tick "Also cancel this subscription".
How should I handle a failed payment?
Decide before it happens. When a card fails, the payment shows as "Failed" on the Payments tab and a subscription may show "Past due". What Stripe does next, like retrying the card, follows your Stripe Dashboard settings. QuickCoach doesn't send an alert for a failed payment, so check the Payments tab weekly.
Payments also don't change a client's access to their plans or app. That stays in your hands, which is a good thing, because a failed card is usually an expired card, not a client trying to dodge you. A simple policy covers it:
- Day one: a friendly message with the payment link again. Links don't expire, so you can resend the same one.
- Day seven: a second message, and a note that the next block of programming waits on payment.
- Day fourteen: pause new programming until it's sorted.
Put the policy in your onboarding so it's never a surprise. Our client onboarding guide has a natural place for it.
How do I raise my prices on existing subscriptions?
Packages can't be edited, because each one is a fixed price in Stripe. To raise a price, create a new package and archive the old one. Archiving stops new clients buying the old package, but clients already subscribed keep paying the old price on their schedule.
So a price rise for existing clients is a conversation, not a setting. Give notice, send the new subscription link from their profile, and cancel the old subscription once the new one is paid. Many coaches grandfather loyal clients on the old rate instead, which is easier and often worth more in goodwill than the difference. If you're deciding what the new number should be, start with how much to charge for online coaching.
Do I need to add GST or sales tax?
QuickCoach doesn't add GST, VAT or sales tax to your packages. Your client pays the price you set. If you're registered and need to charge tax, include it in that price, and check your obligations with your accountant or your local tax office. Stripe keeps your tax forms in your Stripe Dashboard.
A setup that works for most coaches
Three packages cover the majority of one-to-one rosters:
- "Monthly online coaching": a monthly subscription at your standard rate.
- "12-week program": a one-off package for clients who want a defined block.
- "Yearly coaching, two months free": a yearly subscription priced at ten months of your monthly rate, sold with a written refund policy.
Name each one so the client recognises it, because the name appears in their payment email and on Stripe's checkout. Then charge from the client's profile with a payment or subscription link. The Help Center walks through creating your packages screen by screen. Before you set those prices, decide whether card fees sit inside them or come out of your payout. Australia's new surcharging rules make that choice more than cosmetic, as we explain in whether coaches can pass card fees on to clients.
Frequently asked questions
Should online coaching be a monthly subscription or a package?
Use a monthly subscription for ongoing coaching with no fixed end date, and a one-off package for anything with a set length, like a 12-week block or contest prep. A subscription keeps charging until it's cancelled, so it suits open-ended coaching and saves you chasing renewals.
Is weekly billing more expensive than monthly?
Slightly. Card processors charge a fixed amount per payment as well as a percentage, so more payments cost more. On a $2,600 coaching year at Stripe's US rate of 2.9% + 30 cents, weekly billing costs $91.00 in Stripe fees and monthly costs $79.00. Percentage platform fees are the same at any frequency.
What happens to fees when I refund a client?
On QuickCoach Client Billing, refunds are for the whole payment and fees aren't returned: QuickCoach keeps its platform fee and Stripe keeps its processing fee. Refunding a large upfront payment therefore costs more in lost fees than refunding one month.
Can I offer a discount for paying upfront?
Yes, by creating a separate package at the lower price, such as a yearly package priced below twelve monthly payments. Client Billing has no discount codes, so the discount lives in the package itself.
Does QuickCoach add GST or sales tax to my prices?
No. Your client pays the package price and QuickCoach doesn't add GST, VAT or sales tax. If you're registered and need to charge tax, include it in the price you set. Stripe keeps your tax forms in your Stripe Dashboard.
Card rates are Stripe's published standard rates as of October 2026: 2.9% + 30¢ for US cards, and 1.65% + A$0.30 for domestic and 3.5% + A$0.30 for international cards on an Australian account. Your rate depends on your country and your client's card. Client Billing is optional: 10% on Free or 3.5% on Pro when you use it. Questions? Reach us at support@quickcoach.fit.
