Top 4 Affordable Life Coach Certification Programs

For the right person, starting a career as a life coach is one of the best career decisions you could make.

However, if you’ve experienced sticker shock while researching the prices of life coach training programs, you aren’t alone. Some of the high-end programs can cost as much as the down payment on a new home, but in this career guide, we’ll show you how you don’t need to pony up tens of thousands of dollars for a high-quality, ICF-accredited life coaching education.

All four of the life coach certification programs that we’ll discuss today are ICF-accredited programs that leverage ICF-approved training hours. This means that once training has been completed, the student is automatically eligible to apply for certification immediately, just as with the more costly in-person coach training opportunities.

Affordable, virtual coach training programs like the ones we’ll discuss today are therefore the most versatile and adaptable ways to integrate life coach learning with your existing schedule.

The top 4 affordable life coach certification programs on the market are:

1. Coach Training Alliance (Best Overall)

2. Certified Life Coach Institute

3. iNLP Center

4. Universal Coach Institute

Each of these well-respected programs is known to provide well-rounded coach training for prospective coaches anywhere in the world.

Let’s dive into each program one by one.

Coach Training Alliance (Best Overall)

Coach Training Alliance

The Coach Training Alliance, CTA, provides a comprehensive life coach training program called the Certified Coach Program (CCP) that contains not only more than 60 hours of Approved Coach Specific Training Hours (ACSTH) but is also priced far more affordably than other programs.

The CCP is an ICF-accredited program that provides everything an aspiring coach will need to become certified and start their coaching practice. The wildly low cost of just $3897 makes CTA one of the least expensive life coach training programs that are still ICF-accredited. The program contains all of the materials and resources that students will need to complete the program and pass the certification exam.

There are no additional or hidden fees, or costs to acquire the textbooks, with everything being included in the cost. The cost can also be paid in a lump sum, or students can split the tuition cost into smaller, more manageable payments. These payment arrangements are available in 3, 7, or 9-payment plans.

The CCP does not require any in-person lesson or activity attendance and takes place entirely through virtual and online platforms. There are live teleconferences, virtual classes, and prerecorded audio lectures.

Also included are more than 340 pages of information and documentation, and a class size limit of just 12 students, so instructors can dedicate appropriate levels of attention to students who need it.

Another benefit of the CCP is that they do not force the student to keep any particular pace, and they are free to work and learn at a pace that feels right for them. Since all course material is virtual and self-paced, the training hours and other supporting training material can be completed at a rate and schedule that meshes easily with the student’s existing learning structure. This makes the course far less stressful than similar programs.

The CCP doesn’t just teach standard life coach training and core skill development, students will also receive instruction in the foundational steps of owning and operating a business. This includes critical concepts like effective marketing, business management, and financial planning. The comprehensive focus on real-world business training and the required price point.

If you’d like to learn more about Coach Training Alliance, they offer a very popular free coaching workshop where you can meet the Director of Admissions, Lisa Pisano, and ask any questions you may have about the program.

Program Summary

Total Cost: $3897

Method of Delivery: Online

Length: 60+ Hours

Time to Complete: About 6 Months

iNLP Center

The iNLP Center is an ICF-accredited program that focuses on neuro-linguistic programming, or NLP. This program offers a range of programs that are all created and designed to teach coaching and neuro-linguistic programming. Generally speaking, most programs are shorter and are geared toward one of the two primary programs that are offered, the standard and the advanced.

Enrollment for these programs starts at $799, with the actual cost depending heavily on whether or not you choose to augment the program with additional add-ons or niche training courses. The tuition can be paid in full or it can be split into either a 2-month or 4-month payment program.

iNLP offers a complete, 7-day money-back guarantee with every enrollment, so you students can enroll with confidence, knowing that they can back out if they determine it’s not a good fit.

If your goal is to achieve the title of Associate Certified Coach from the ICF, the cost will be significantly higher, with a total of $3400. Only the NLP certification program is $799, but it is still ICF accredited and provides 25 credits.

Once enrolled, students can access the program’s materials and resources at any time through an online student portal. This completely digital format allows students with challenging schedules or complex needs to customize the pace of their completion.

The standard NLP program has more than 160 hours of digital materials, while the advanced version will require roughly 200 hours of material to be reviewed and understood. Since the course is self-paced, this means that students may be able to complete the entire program path in 6 months or even less, depending on their learning style, schedule, and level of dedication.

Included with the program are weekly coaching workshops that help the students link up with peers, mentors, and coaching teachers. This creates a unique one-on-one learning and mentoring situation that serves as one of the most incredible benefits of the iNLP program. These sessions are also a major contributing factor to helping many of our alumni find their certification path.

The integrated Practice Partner and Coaching Buddies groups are incredibly valuable components of the iNLP program that you just won’t find anywhere else.

The programs available from the iNLP Center are fully accredited by some of the biggest and most respected governing and regulating bodies in the industry. This includes the International NLP Association, the California Association for Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT), the ICF, and the International Association of Professional Life Coaches (IAPLC).

Graduates of these programs can have complete assurance that their certification will always be respected and stand as a testament to the educational and ethical standards that you were trained and examined on.

Program Summary

Total Cost: $799+

Method of Delivery: Online

Length: 160-200 Hours

Time to Complete: About 6 Months

Certified Life Coach Institute

The Certified Life Coach Institute (CLCI) is well-known for its comprehensive coach training program, and it offers a range of training options that appeal to both novices and professionals. The course focuses on the core principles of coaching, the established effective methodologies, and the ethics of life coaching.

The course starts by covering the foundational elements of coaching and lasts for about 3 days. This ensures the students have ample time to cover the core competencies, and allows time to explore the history of life coaching, coaching industry ethics, communication strategies, questioning techniques, and even processes for setting realistic and achievable goals.

The initial program Coaching 101 is designed for students who are new to coaching and want to build a clear understanding of the basic elements.

The Coaching 102 course is for those who have experience in the coaching industry and want to either hone or further develop their coaching skills. This course pushes deeper into the different coaching methodologies, tools, and practices, and helps introduce the students to specialized areas of coaching, like executive coaching, wellness coaching, or even relationship coaching.

The program is largely conducted online but does have some occasional in-person workshops and practice sessions. This provides a significant degree of flexibility for students, making it a great option for those who want to get into coaching but who have scheduling or availability issues.

Program Summary

Total Cost: $995-$1995

Method of Delivery: Online

Length:

Time to Complete: Up to 8 weeks

Universal Coach Institute

Aspiring coaches who have significant budgetary constraints may find a robust option in the Universal Coach Institute, which offers an innovative mix of both guided and self-study coach certification programs, as well as an in-person training option that is available periodically.

UCI typically offers two tracks for certification, life coach and codependency coach. Both coaching tracks are solid learning paths that provide up to 18 ICF-approved credits, and the study sessions can be completed as quickly as the student is comfortable with. This can bring prospective coaches enough approved study hours to apply for initial certification from ICF or to contribute to their continuing education requirement for recertification.

Both programs are incredibly affordable and start at less than $300, which can be paid in full upfront, or split into two installments to make payment more convenient. One downside is that the payments aren’t refundable for any reason.

Each UCI program is about 12 weeks long and is conducted online using a special student portal, as well as live training sessions that are held each week on Monday. Students will receive lifetime access to the course and all training materials, and once the program has been completed, students can also opt to retain access to their student portal for another full year.

Once the program has been completed, students will still need to take and subsequently pass the official ICF credentialing exam to become fully certified life coaches. The course material doesn’t stop at primary coaching skills either, and students will learn many of the skills they’ll need to start, run, and manage their own life coaching business.

Program Summary

Total Cost: $297+

Method of Delivery: Online

Length: Up to 18 Hours

Time to Complete: About 3 Months

Why ICF Accreditation is Critical

You’ve probably noticed by now that we’ve emphasized getting an ICF-accredited education. There’s a good reason for that, and it can have a trickle-down effect over the remainder of your career. The ICF has made it their goal to set an acceptable industry standard for the professionalism and ethical guidelines that anyone in the life coaching industry should be aligned with.

There are countless “programs” out there that you can burn $20 on, that will promise to make you into a “certified” life coach. The problem, however, is that their certification doesn’t come from any regulating or governing body with any weight to it. The ICF is respected globally as the authority on certifying life coaches and ensuring that they meet certain standards when going through training.

What it comes down to is that no matter which course or courses you’re considering, make sure they are ICF-accredited. If they are, that means you’ll be getting a quality education that encompasses industry-current best practices, professionalism, and techniques that all meet predetermined minimum standards. Your legitimate certification will dedicate your commitment to the field and will show your clients that you’re serious about providing a quality service.

Wrapping Up

The path to becoming a professional coach comes with its challenges. There will be many hours packed full of studying, training, and coaching mentorship, all of which will be facilitated through either online or in-person educational platforms.

Many coach training programs can be incorporated as part of crucial college degree programs, or from accredited coach learning centers, both of which typically cost thousands of dollars and consume months.

With the constantly rising rate of inflation, there’s no way around the fact that for aspiring coaches, training simply isn’t cheap right now. There is an upside to this, however, and the silver lining is that getting certification as a life coach doesn’t have to cost you thousands of dollars or more.

The programs we’ve covered are relatively affordable, which can make it much easier for aspiring coaches to save money while still learning the skills needed to be successful in the field of coaching. The cherry on top is that some of these more affordable programs have even managed to achieve International Coaching Federation (ICF) accreditation, so students can be confident they’re getting an industry-standard education.

The biggest hurdle for many people, however, is deciding which program is the best blend of value and price point affordability. This will typically come down to a range of factors, and since just like coaches, no two programs are exactly alike, the ultimate decision is going to be up to you, and what you feel fits your unique needs and learning style the best.