How much should you charge for nutrition coaching?
In short: Work it out from the bottom up rather than copying someone else's price. Add your target income to your yearly business costs, divide by the hours you can actually bill in a year, and add payment fees and tax on top. That gives your minimum hourly rate, and you then price each package by the time it really takes you, including messages, plan writing and admin.
1 min 0 s videoCaptions onUpdated 29 September 2026
Why copying market rates goes wrong
Most new practitioners look up what others charge and pitch a little under. The trouble is that you don't know their costs, their hours or whether they're making a living. A rate that works for a dietitian with a full Medicare-referral diary in Brisbane may not work for an online coach in Leeds who spends half the week on marketing.
Look at local prices to see where you sit, not to set your number. Set it from your own costs and time first.
The formula
Everything here is per year, before income tax, in your own currency.
Minimum hourly rate = (target income + business costs) ÷ billable hours Billable hours = working weeks × client-facing hours a week Price before fees = minimum hourly rate ÷ (1 - card and platform fees)
Business costs include software, professional indemnity insurance, registration and membership fees, CPD, an accountant, marketing, a clinic room if you rent one, equipment and your phone. If you're registered for GST or VAT, add it on top of the price, or say clearly that your prices include it.
A worked example
Say you want NZ$85,000 a year before tax, and your costs come to NZ$15,000. You'll take five weeks off for leave, public holidays and sickness, so you work 47 weeks. Of a 38-hour week, about 20 hours go to clients. The rest is notes, meal plans for people you've already seen, email, bookkeeping and finding new clients.
Billable hours = 47 × 20 = 940 hours Minimum rate = (85,000 + 15,000) ÷ 940 = NZ$106 an hour With 10% fees = 106 ÷ 0.90 = NZ$118 an hour
That NZ$118 assumes a full diary. In your first year you might fill 12 of those 20 hours, which pushes the real break-even rate towards NZ$197. That's why new practices that price by the hour struggle, and why packages matter.
Turn the rate into packages
Add up every minute a package takes, including the work the client never sees. For a 12-week programme:
| Part of the package | Time |
|---|---|
| Initial consultation | 60 min |
| Reviewing intake form and diary beforehand | 20 min |
| First meal plan | 45 min |
| 5 follow-ups of 30 min | 150 min |
| Messages and check-ins, about 10 min a week | 120 min |
| Notes and plan updates, about 10 min per session | 60 min |
| Total | 455 min, about 7.6 hours |
At NZ$118 an hour that's about NZ$895, so a price of NZ$895 to NZ$950 covers your time. If that feels high for your market, cut what's included (fewer follow-ups, messaging on weekdays only) rather than the price. Discounting the same work just means you earn less per hour.
Ongoing coaching works the same way: add up a typical month and price it monthly. Group programmes spread one session across many people, so the hourly return can be much higher. See how to run a group nutrition programme.
Things that change the number
- Rebates and insurance. If clients can claim a rebate, such as Medicare in Australia or private health cover, know the rebate so you can show the gap they pay. Check the current schedule rather than guessing.
- Specialist work. Renal, eating disorders, paediatrics and sports nutrition take more preparation per client. Price the time.
- Payment method. Online card payments cost a percentage. Bank transfer costs little but you chase it. Build the fee in once, don't absorb it.
- Review once a year. Costs rise. A small annual rise is easier for clients than a big jump every three years.
For pricing tiers and the psychology of packages, see how to price nutrition packages. To put the packages on sale, see how to sell nutrition coaching packages online.
How to do it in Foodzilla
Foodzilla lets you charge for packages, single sessions and invoices in one place, and shows the fee it takes before you set a price. Store & Payments, Bookings and Invoices are on the Professional plan and above, and Store & Payments and Invoices are for the account owner.
- 1Go to Store & Payments and open Stripe Setup. The Platform Fee shows what Foodzilla takes from each sale: 7% on Professional, 5% on the Team and White Label plans. Stripe charges its processing fees separately, so add both to the fees line of your formula.
- 2On Plans & Pricing, press Add New Plan and add a pricing option for each billing period. Foodzilla will not save a plan below a set minimum, for example US$29.99 or NZ$39.99 a month, and allows a lower monthly figure for a 3, 6 or 12 month term.
- 3For single sessions, go to Bookings, then Booking types, and open a booking type. On Event setup, switch on Payment, enter the Price and Currency, and under How do clients pay? choose Online with a card or In person or external billing.
- 4Go to Invoices and press Settings to add your business details, your ABN, NZBN or VAT number, and your tax rate and label, such as GST.
- 5Press New Invoice, then Insert from packages or Insert from bookings to bill a client for work already priced. Add a Discount or Due date if you need one.
- 6Check the Revenue tab in Store & Payments each month against the income target you set.
Good to know
- Know your hourly returnEvery few months, divide what each package earned by the hours it really took. Messaging is where the time leaks.
- Try the price on yourselfIf you'd hesitate to say your price out loud on a discovery call, practise it. Clients read the hesitation more than the number.