ICF coach training · published tuition, two schools
Symbiosis Coaching vs Co-Active (CTI)
CTI is the best-known name in coach training and charges accordingly — $96.17 per accredited hour at Level 1, the highest figure in the field. It also awards a credential of its own that the ICF does not, which is a real reason to pay it. Here is the full picture, with sources.
The CTI Level 1 figure combines two required purchases: Co-Active Foundations at $490, a prerequisite, and Ignite the Practice at $5,280 for the option that includes the ACC Supervision Package.CTI advertises an unspecified bundle discount when Deepen the Work is booked together with Ignite on the Fast Track, so the Level 2 figure may fall below $12,470 in practice.CTI's own credential, the CPCC, is awarded by the Co-Active Training Institute rather than the ICF; the program separately meets ICF Level 2 requirements for a PCC application.All tuition figures are the schools' own published prices, verified August 20, 2026, pay-in-full, US dollars, before promotional codes.Background details — founding dates, graduate numbers, credentials awarded, class format — come from each school's own public company materials rather than the tuition pages linked below. Promotional descriptions have not been reproduced; where a school does not publish a detail, this page says so rather than inferring it.
The full analysisThis page compares two schools. The complete study puts six ICF-accredited providers side by side on the same basis — tuition, accredited hours, what each package includes, cost per training hour, standalone options and payment terms — with a source link behind every figure.
Compare all six schoolsThe short answer
Which one should you choose?
Choose Symbiosis Coaching
Choose Symbiosis if you want an ICF credential at the lowest cost per accredited hour available, if you need the coaching-hour requirement solved rather than assigned to you, and if live virtual classes fit your life better than travel to in-person intensives.
Cost is where this comparison starts, not where it ends. Every requirement an ICF application makes — the ten mentor coaching hours, the performance evaluation — sits inside the published tuition rather than alongside it. So do four accelerators, which stay with you free for life after you graduate.
The structure is yours to choose. Take a single certification at $1,599 and start practising, or build a Level 1 or Level 2 pathway across two, three or four core programs, reaching up to 325 accredited hours. Classes are live and instructor-led at 10am, 2pm and 8pm New York time, so a working schedule almost anywhere in the world can accommodate one.
- Ten mentor coaching hours and the ICF performance evaluation
- Coaching hours the ICF counts as paid, through Symbiosis Credentium
- Ten full-length ACC or PCC practice tests
- Live instructor-led classes at 10am, 2pm and 8pm New York time
- Standalone certification or a full pathway — 65 to 325 accredited hours
- Four accelerators, free for life after graduation
Choose Co-Active (CTI)
Choose CTI if you want the CPCC. It is CTI's own credential rather than an ICF one, it is recognised independently, and it is sometimes specified by name in hiring — so a CTI student is buying two designations where a Symbiosis Coaching student is buying one. Founded in 1992, CTI has trained more than 150,000 people across 120 countries and runs weekly practice pods of nine or ten peers. If learning in a room with other people suits you better than a screen, nothing here substitutes for it.
Included, not sold separately
Four accelerators, no extra fee
Training hours are the part every school prices. What happens between finishing a course and being good enough — and credentialed enough — to charge for it is where the packages actually diverge. These come with a Symbiosis Coaching program and are not an upsell after enrollment.
Questions
Common questions
Which is more cost effective, Symbiosis Coaching or Co-Active?
At Level 1 the Symbiosis ACC pathway is $2,623 against $5,770 at CTI, 55% less. At Level 2 it is $4,147 against $12,470, 67% less. Per accredited training hour the gap is wider still: $27.61 against $96.17. All figures are published tuition verified on August 20, 2026.
Why does the CTI figure combine several courses?
CTI sells its ICF pathway as separate purchases. Co-Active Foundations is a required prerequisite at $490, and Ignite the Practice is $5,280 for the option that includes the ACC Supervision Package. Ignite without that package is $3,490 but does not include mentoring or a performance evaluation, so it is not a like-for-like comparison. Level 2 adds Deepen the Work at $8,490.
Is the CPCC the same as an ICF credential?
No. The CPCC is awarded by the Co-Active Training Institute itself. CTI's program separately meets ICF Level 2 requirements, so a graduate can apply for a PCC, but the CPCC and the PCC are different designations from different bodies. This is a genuine advantage of CTI that price comparison alone does not capture.
Does either school supply the coaching hours the ICF requires?
Only Symbiosis Coaching. A PCC application requires 500 logged hours, 450 of them paid. CTI teaches the training hours and leaves the graduate to find clients. Symbiosis includes Symbiosis Credentium, where sessions are bartered coaching, which the ICF counts as paid.
Does CTI publish a discount?
CTI advertises a bundle discount when Deepen the Work is booked together with Ignite the Practice on the Fast Track, but does not publish the amount. The $12,470 figure here is therefore an upper bound and the true cost may fall below it.
Can I get certified without committing to an ICF credential pathway?
At Symbiosis Coaching, yes. Every core program — Certified Life Coach, Executive Coach, Organizational Development Coach and NLP Coach — is sold standalone at $1,599 and carries 65 to 95 ICF training hours with a certificate. CTI's smallest unit is Co-Active Foundations at $490, but it carries 8 hours and is a required prerequisite for the pathway rather than a certification in its own right.
Next stepSymbiosis Coaching publishes full tuition for every pathway and every standalone program, with instalment options shown at checkout — no quote request and no call required to see a price. Compare it against what Co-Active (CTI) lists before you decide.