Kit for Coaches: Payment Plans, VAT and Onboarding Sequences

Coaches sell time, programmes and trust, and their email has a particular shape: a free resource that attracts the right people, a sequence that shows how the coach thinks, a discovery call or application, and a package paid upfront or in instalments. Kit supports each step, and Kit's own navigation lists coaches among the creators it serves ^[2]. This page tests the fit, from Kit's pages read on 9 October 2026.

The coaching funnel on Kit

Step	Kit feature	Plan
Free resource	Landing page and form	Free
Nurture	Email sequence	Creator
Invite to a call	Broadcast with a booking link	Free
Sell a package	Product with a payment plan	Free
Onboard a client	Visual automation on purchase	Creator
Stay in touch	Regular newsletter	Free

From Kit's free plan article and plan comparison ^{[6] [3]}.

## The free resource and the nurture sequence

Coaching sells on trust, which an email sequence builds better than any page. A typical coach offers a short guide or a self-assessment on a Kit landing page, confirms the address with double opt-in, which is Kit's default ^[58], and tags each subscriber by the resource chosen ^[6]. On Creator, a sequence of five to seven emails then shares the coach's method, client stories and a clear invitation to a call ^[3].

Kit does not host bookings itself in the pages we read; coaches link to their scheduling tool from the sequence. When a call becomes a sale, the package is sold as a Kit product, and the purchase starts an onboarding automation ^{[3] [26]}.

Payment plans for packages

Kit's payment plans split a product's price into several smaller payments. Kit's own example is a coaching package of four sessions billed in four instalments ^[42]. You set the total price, the number of instalments, at least two, and the frequency: monthly, quarterly or yearly ^[42]. Payment plans differ from subscriptions because the number of charges is fixed ^[42].

Worked example. A $1,200 programme sold in four monthly payments of $300. Kit's fee is 3.5% plus 30 cents on each payment, about $10.80, or $43.20 in total ^[2]. Our arithmetic. On a single $1,200 payment the fee would be $42.30; instalments cost the coach about a dollar more, and the programme becomes easier to buy.

## Payment plan or subscription?

Kit offers both, and the choice changes the client relationship. A payment plan charges a fixed number of instalments for one product and then stops ^[42]. A subscription charges indefinitely until the client cancels ^[26]. A twelve-week programme fits a payment plan. Ongoing group coaching or a membership fits a subscription. Mixing them up produces either clients who keep paying after the programme ends or a membership that stops billing when it should continue. Choose carefully.

VAT for international clients

Coaches with clients in the EU or UK may need to charge VAT. Kit calculates the rate for each sale once VAT collection is enabled and the business's jurisdictions are added, and sends a compliant receipt ^[43]. Each product needs a product type, a good or a service, and a tax code; consulting is among the codes ^[43].

Refunds for clients

Refunds are issued from the client's subscriber profile, for a single payment or a whole purchase, and only in full: "Only full refunds are supported at this time." ^[29]. A coach whose policy allows partial refunds should issue those in Stripe. Kit cannot.

Group programmes and memberships

Group coaching and memberships fit Kit's subscription products: a recurring charge, monthly, quarterly or yearly, with content delivered as broadcasts to members only ^[26]. When a member cancels, they are not charged again and keep access until the next billing date ^[27]. A member who unsubscribes from the list also stops being charged ^[27], so coaches should give members a way to reduce emails without leaving.

Sales calls, pipelines and Kit

Coaches who work leads by hand, with calls, proposals and follow-ups, need a pipeline that Kit does not include. The Kit App Store lists apps such as KitBoard, which gives a kanban view of subscribers by tag . For a coach whose sales process has stages and deals, a dedicated CRM or ActiveCampaign, which pairs automation with a pipeline, fills the gap.

A coach's list on Kit, priced

Most coaches have lists of a few thousand. Kit Creator costs $59 a month at up to 3,000 subscribers and $89 at up to 5,000, or $590 and $890 a year ^[2]. A coach working alone rarely needs Pro; a coach with an assistant and a VA does, because Creator allows two team members and Pro unlimited ^[3]. Seats decide.

Worked example. A coach with 2,800 subscribers sells eight $1,200 programmes a year. Creator annual at the 3,000 band is $590 ^[2]; Kit's fees on $9,600 of sales are about $338 ^[2]. The email side of the business costs under $1,000 a year. Our arithmetic.

Events, webinars and large imports

Coaches often grow their lists in bursts: a webinar, a summit, a live event. Kit warns that importing a large new list "from a giveaway or live event, for instance" can suspend the account temporarily, and asks to be told in advance ^[5]. Collect event sign-ups through a Kit form with double opt-in where possible ^[58]; import only people who agreed to hear from you. A list that jumps from 2,800 to 4,000 after a summit also moves from the $59 band to the $89 band automatically ^{[2] [5]}.

Tags for the client lifecycle

Tags let one Kit account follow a coaching client from first contact to alumni. A practical set: the resource that brought them in, call booked, client, the programme bought, and alumni. Purchases add product tags automatically when sold through Kit or a connected checkout ^[28]. Sequences then follow each stage: nurture for leads, onboarding for clients, a check-in for alumni six months later ^[3].

Affiliate links and recommendations

Coaches often recommend books, tools and other coaches. Kit allows affiliate links when most of each email is about your own work, its guidance being around 70 to 80% own content ^[23]. The Creator Network offers a cleaner route for recommending other creators: free recommendations on every plan, and paid recommendations that pay you per subscriber sent, with a 20% service fee and a 3.5% transaction fee ^{[6] [31]}.

Kit against ActiveCampaign for coaches

ActiveCampaign scores 3.44 with us and 4.2 on integrations, pairing automation with a sales pipeline; Kit scores 3.79, with selling, payment plans and VAT built in ^{[2] [42] [43]}. A coach who sells through launches and sequences gets more from Kit. A coach who runs a sales team with stages and forecasts gets more from ActiveCampaign.

Common mistakes coaches make on Kit

1. Selling a programme as a subscription, so clients keep paying after it ends ^{[42] [26]}.
2. Forgetting VAT for EU and UK clients until after the first sales ^[43].
3. Promising partial refunds that Kit cannot issue; do those in Stripe ^[29].
4. Adding an assistant on Creator, which allows only two team members ^[3].

Coaches with several audiences

A coach who works with two distinct audiences, for example executives and new managers, faces Kit's advice to run "A fresh account for every distinct audience" ^[22]. Related audiences can share one account with tags, but every broadcast must then be sent to the right segment, and one unsubscribe can remove a person from both ^[22].

A coach's year on Kit, budgeted

Item	Cost
Creator, annual, up to 3,000 subscribers	$590 [2]
Fees on eight $1,200 programmes	about $338 [2]
Growth after a summit to 4,000 subscribers	Creator moves to the $89 band [2]
Pro, if an assistant joins	$990 a year at up to 3,000 [2]

Our arithmetic. For most solo coaches the email side of the business costs less than one programme sale a year.

Where Kit stops for coaches

Kit does not book calls, run video sessions, track client goals or keep session notes in the pages we read. It sells, emails and tags. Coaches pair it with a scheduling tool and, if they want one, a client portal. Kit's App Store and Zapier, on a paid plan, connect many such tools ^[59]. Keep the list and the selling in Kit and the delivery in the tools built for it.

When Pro is worth it for a coach

Pro adds unlimited team members, collaborative editing, content A/B tests, deliverability reporting and engagement scoring ^[3]. A solo coach rarely needs it. A coaching practice with an assistant, an editor and a sales lead needs it for seats alone, at $99 a month instead of $59 at up to 3,000 subscribers ^[2]. Engagement scoring then helps the team invite the most engaged readers to calls first.

Our verdict in one line

For a coach selling programmes through a newsletter, Kit provides the payment, tax and onboarding tools in one place, and the free plan covers the list until automation is worth paying for. Add a scheduler and a CRM if the practice grows a sales team; keep Kit as the system that writes to clients and sells to them, with every purchase tagged and every programme paid on its own schedule.

Building trust before the sale

Coaching is bought on trust, and email is where most of it is built. A sequence that shares a method, a client story with permission, a free exercise and an honest description of who the programme is not for converts better than a sales page alone. Kit's role is to deliver that sequence to the right person at the right moment, tagged by what they downloaded and what they bought ^{[3] [28]}. The content is the coach's; the system that sends it is Kit's.

Onboarding a new client automatically

When a client buys a package, the purchase can start a Creator automation ^[3]. A practical sequence: a welcome with what happens next, a link to book the first session, a short questionnaire, a reminder the day before, and a check-in after the first week. Tag the client with the programme, so later broadcasts can include or exclude them. If the client pays in instalments, the payment plan runs on its own schedule ^[42], and Kit stops charging once the instalments are complete.

What coaches should watch

• Verification before sending. Send Kit your site link on day one ^[7].
• Affiliate content. Kit allows affiliate links when most of each email is about your own work ^[23].
• Automatic upgrades. A list that grows from a webinar can move up a band overnight ^[5].

## The verdict for coaches

Kit is a natural fit for coaches who sell programmes from a newsletter: payment plans, VAT handling and purchase-triggered onboarding are built in, and the free plan already sells. A coach who needs a sales pipeline with deals and stages should pair Kit with a CRM or consider ActiveCampaign.