The Tools You Need to Build Your Coaching Business
Starting a coaching business is exciting—but also overwhelming. There are countless software options, services, and strategies for setting up your practice, and it’s easy to fall into decision paralysis. When I launched my coaching business, I needed a simple, functional tech stack that wouldn’t break the bank but would support scheduling, meetings, payments, and client management.
After trial and error (and plenty of frustration), I found a set of tools that worked for me. Here are the essentials—what you need to get started, the pros and cons of different tools, and how I eventually streamlined my setup.
The Must-Have Tools for Your Coaching Business
To start coaching effectively, you’ll need to cover these bases:
- Scheduling – Clients need an easy way to book sessions.
- Meetings & Transcription – A reliable way to conduct and review sessions.
- Website & Blogging – A place to showcase your expertise and attract clients.
You can go a long way with just those three functions. Once you get more than 10 clients in your system, though, you might need to add:
- Contracts & Payments – A simple, professional way to manage agreements and collect payments.
- Contact Management – Keeping track of leads and clients.
- Custom Email Domain – Professional branding for communication.
Not every tool is perfect, and depending on the needs of your business and your wallet, your mileage may vary. When I got started I was optimizing for “costs no money” which sometimes meant a considerable investment of time in learning how to set things up and integrate them together (ie: not easy). Here is what I experimented with along with the friction I experienced.
1. Scheduling: Making It Easy for Clients to Book
A scheduling tool should integrate with your personal and work calendars to prevent conflicts and allow clients to book time easily.
🆓 Cal.com (Free & Open Source)
- ✅ Integrates well with Zoom, Google meet, or Teams
- ✅ Extremely fully featured, including workflows and automated reminders
- ✅ No cost to start
- ❌ Limited customization options (recurring is a little janky)
- ❌ Poor formatting in calendar invites - the rich text editor produces less rich content in translation
This free tool worked well for me early on, allowing clients to book time without back-and-forth emails. Other options include Calendly, which is more fully featured, but has more intrusive branding.
2. Meetings & Transcription: Running Effective Coaching Sessions
Reliable meeting software is crucial—especially when you are getting started and to record and review sessions.
💰 Zoom (Paid Subscription)
- ✅ 60-minute meetings with built-in cloud recording
- ✅ Automatic transcriptions for reviewing sessions
- ❌ Requires a paid plan
⚠️ Otter.ai (Free & Paid Plans)
- ✅ AI-generated transcripts from recordings
- ❌ Free tier is limited (only 3 uploads)
- ❌ Some users experienced poor audio quality with integrations
🆓 Recorder App (Free, Android Built-in)
- ✅ Great for in-person sessions
- ❌ Not useful for virtual coaching
Early on I explored Otter.ai, but I still needed to host 60 minute meetings (the free tier is capped at 40 minutes). I paid for the Zoom subscription (including 100GB of cloud recording) and have never regretted the investment.
3. Contracts & Payments: Keeping It Professional
You don’t need a full legal setup on day one, but having a streamlined process for contracts and payments makes onboarding new clients smoother.
💰 Docusign (Paid, Starts at 5 Docs/Month)
- ✅ Great for official coaching contracts
- ✅ Allows for easy customization (session count, rates, etc.)
- ❌ No free tier—best to set up once you have paying clients
🆓 Venmo (Free, but one of many tools in the space)
- ✅ Easy for quick payments
- ❌ Not everyone has Venmo, and managing multiple platforms is a hassle
💰 Stripe (3% Transaction Fee, No Platform Fee)
- ✅ Integrates with almost everything
- ✅ Automates payments for a seamless client experience
- ❌ Takes a small cut of each transaction
I invested in Docusign before I signed my first client, and while I appreciate it a lot today (new clients say the onboarding experience is polished), I could have gone pretty far without it. For payments, I started with Venmo but quickly moved to Stripe for automation. Partly because Hubspot made it so easy to integrate! More on that later.
4. Website & Blogging: Building Your Online Presence
Your website doesn’t need to be fancy, but it should provide a place where potential clients can learn about you and your services.
🆓 Wordpress (Free Tier Available)
- ✅ Great for blogging
- ✅ Customizable once you upgrade
- ❌ The free version has limitations
🆓 Hubspot (Free for Basic Use)
- ✅ Includes website hosting, landing pages, blog, and CRM
- ✅ Simplifies marketing and client management
- ❌ Somewhat rigid templates
I started with WordPress for my blog and Hubspot for my main site. As my coaching business grew, I consolidated everything into Hubspot for ease of management. Everything works pretty seamlessly together – linking landing pages from my blog or website is a dropdown away, instead of hunting for a URL.
5. Contact & Client Management: Keeping Track of Leads
As you grow, keeping track of potential clients, inquiries, and follow-ups becomes crucial.
🆓 Hubspot CRM (Free for up to 1,000 Contacts)
- ✅ Integrates with docusign & payment systems
- ✅ Helps manage client interactions
- ❌ Some marketing and scheduling features require a paid upgrade
🆓 Hubspot Landing Pages (included in free tier)
- ✅ Excellent for lead generation
- No downsides. This is the best tool in the business.
I eventually moved my entire system onto Hubspot because it handled both client tracking and email marketing, which I am doing more and more of these days.
6. Custom Email Domain: Looking Professional
A professional email domain is a small investment that makes a big difference.
💰 Zoho ($12/Year)
- ✅ Affordable professional email
- ✅ Keeps communications separate from personal inbox
- ❌ Some setup required
💰Google Workspace ($15/mo)
- ✅ Professional email
- ✅ Google Calendar integration
Zoho is part of a bigger toolset that is a competitor to Hubspot, so they are not as strongly integrated as Gmail. I wasn’t ready to purchase a Google Workspace in the early days ($15/month). I am getting much closer now, though – just have to make the time to redo all the integration!
How It Started vs. How It's Going
I began with a la carte solutions—individual tools that worked well but required a lot of setup. As I grew, I consolidated most of my business onto Hubspot ($15/month), which now handles:
- ✅ Website hosting
- ✅ Landing pages
- ✅ Blog
- ✅ Scheduling pages
- ✅ Contact & Client Management
- ✅ Payment links (integrated with Stripe)
I still use Stripe for payments and Docusign for contracts, but everything else is in one place. I have no regrets about starting with the single-use appliances. It has been a learning curve for me, and you will have to ride that same curve into a system that works for you.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that there are lots of platforms out there that solve this shape of problem -- some of them are engineered with coaches in mind! Here is a spreadsheet I put together with all the tools I evaluated when I got started. These numbers are likely out of date, but most of them were clearly out of my price range, or were missing key functionality I would have to look for elsewhere anyway (like scheduling links that integrate with my calendar.. I can't emphasize enough how important that is!).
Final Advice for New Coaches
- Start simple. You don’t need every tool on day one—just the essentials.
- Be prepared to tweak. Your first setup won’t be perfect, and that’s okay.
- Consolidate as you grow. If multiple tools become a hassle, find a platform that streamlines your workflow.
Your tech stack should work for you—not the other way around. I hope this breakdown helps you set up your coaching business with less stress and more confidence.
