Best Life Coach Certification Programs

The Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) provides one of the most comprehensive life coaching certifications available. The program is accredited by the International Coach Federation (ICF) and offers a three-day live seminar either virtually or in person at select locations, a workshop series, and over 320 hours of coaching education online.

You’ll earn three certifications in one: iPEC’s Certified Professional Coach (CPC) credential, along with two other credentials that can help set you apart from other life coaches. Aside from the three days of live classes, the entire course is delivered via on-demand webinars, e-workbooks, and self-study materials.

Once you complete the iPEC life coaching course, you can go on to earn more certifications in additional specialties, such as sports performance, health and wellness, business leadership, couples coaching, and more.

This certification can take 7 to 9 months, split into two phases, and the full program cost is around $13,395. When you finish the coursework, you'll receive the CPC credential.

For those looking to get certified quickly, the three-day life coach certification from the Certified Life Coach Institute offers about 33 hours of immersive education. Expect three full days of high-quality information and training.

Through the course, you’ll learn the ICF Core Competencies of being a life coach, strategies to help establish and grow your business, and coaching scope of practice. You’ll also learn key coaching strategies and techniques, such as how to let your clients lead and how to listen attentively.

While you can certainly start your life coaching business with this quick $995 certification, it’s wise to invest in longer-term training over the course of your career to ensure that you deliver a valuable service to your clients. In order to join ICF, you will need to complete Certified Life Coach Institute’s Coaching 102 class ($1,295).

There’s a difference between a life coach and a health coach, but the two specialties overlap a great deal—after all, staying healthy plays a significant role in cultivating a happy, successful life. This self-paced dual life and health coach course from the Health Coach Institute unites the two certifications into one seamless experience, where you’ll learn the ins and outs of both professions.

The training includes four main pillars: nutrition, habit change, personal growth, and business education. The program takes place 100% online and your training will mostly be self-guided with recorded webinars, weekly mentoring sessions, online homework and activities, and hands-on training.

The course is self-paced and takes about six months. You'll earn the ICF-accredited titles of Certified Health Coach and Certified Life Coach. Get in touch with a program representative to learn more about this program. It costs $5,450 when paid in monthly installments of $850. You can save $500 by paying the whole fee up front.

If you already have a life coach certification from the Integrative Wellness Academy (IWA), you can advance your career by earning a master life coach certification. In the IWA advanced life coach training program, you’ll build upon what you already know, apply high-level coaching techniques, and learn how to coach even the toughest clients.

The master course covers five distinct areas: integrative life coaching, relationship and family coaching, career and finance coaching, health coaching, and self-development and spiritual coaching. You can choose one niche over the others for your final credential, but you’ll learn about all five nonetheless. You can complete the course online.

For those who do not have an ILC from the Integrative Wellness Academy, dual enrollment is offered. You can complete the life coaching course and move on to the master course at a bundled cost.

Note that IWA courses are not ICF-accredited. Though that is the gold standard for coaching certifications, the industry is unregulated. You are not required to take an accredited program to be a coach, nor does the coaching program accreditation convey the same esteem that universities and other professional schools offer in medical, mental health, and dietetics fields.

The IWA says accreditation removes flexibility from training programs. Because IWA is always developing new coaching techniques and educational material based on world changes, its leaders feel that having to pass accreditation for every program alteration would be too limiting.

After completing the master's program, which costs $2,499, you will earn the Master Practitioner of Integrative Life Coaching certification (MILC).

If you’re looking for an extremely intensive life coaching program that will set you up for years of success and continued knowledge, look no further than the Professional Certified Coach program from the Institute for Life Coach Training (ILCT). This program is an Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP) by the ICF.

Though this life coach certification program has fewer training hours (130) than some others, you’ll end up putting in much more time than that. The ILCT website specifies that most weeks require a time commitment of at least four to five hours. To obtain ILCT's professional coach certification, you'll have to rack up 500 hours of coaching experience and pass an exam.

This life coaching course also requires you to sign up for specific classes at specific times on certain days—the course structure is very much like that of a college program. It might help to think of the Professional Certified Coach program as an unofficial associate’s degree in life coaching: You’ll have instructors who expect you to show up to class for an attendance grade, and for the Foundations course, you’ll have to complete a written exam with a score of 70% or higher.

The ILCT Professional Certification also offers seamless advancement into master coaching programs and specialty credentialing. This life coaching certification definitely isn’t a quick and easy way into the profession, but it’s worth it for life coaches who really care about their careers and their clients.

Tuition for this program is around $7,800. By the end of it, you'll earn a certification as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC).

Coach U offers a comprehensive approach to life coaching, with the opportunity to refine your business into niche specialties.

The Coach U life coaching certification is ideal if you're considering a career change. The organization is very attuned to the fact that many life coaches work part-time around other job schedules until they can make the leap to full-time coaching. In addition, some life coaches only want their certification to implement strategies into their current job or business.

The Coach U Core Essentials program in particular is entirely virtual via live online courses and only requires 78 hours of coaching education to complete (usually done in 6 to 8 months, according to the company’s website).

Since the class length is limited, the Coach U Core Essentials program focuses on foundational elements of coaching. You will learn all the fundamental knowledge it takes to be a successful life coach, as well as the ICF Core Coaching Competencies, the scope of practice, and ethics standards for life coaches.

You can also opt for the Coach U Core Essentials Fast Track Program, which consists of six immersive, intense days of coaching education, plus pre-and post-program events. With either option, you’ll become an ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC).

This self-paced, 6- to 8-month program varies in cost based on which course format you choose. For distance learning, expect to pay around $6,095 in tuition.

It’s probably fair to guess that most people who seek a life coach certification are doing so because they want to coach other people. However, it’s often worth it to invest in a course for the sake of self-development.

If you’re looking to learn some life coaching skills and knowledge to apply to your own life, check out the Life Purpose Life Coach Certification on Udemy. This is a short, condensed course that focuses on you finding your life’s purpose. Discovering the answer to this question can spark inspiration, courage, motivation, and determination—all good qualities to have.

Plus, who knows? You might end up using this life coach certification to help others, too.

This course costs $174.99, but like most Udemy courses is frequently on sale for a small fraction of that price. You'll get more than seven hours of on-demand video with lifetime access and earn a life coach certification from Transformation Services.