The best software for business coaches who work with leadership teams
Nine options compared honestly, from coaching platforms that run your practice to EOS software and AI that keeps your client’s plan moving between sessions
The short answer
It depends which job you need done. To run your own practice, booking, payments, contracts and notes, look at a coaching platform such as Paperbell, Simply.Coach or CoachAccountable. To keep a client’s plan alive between sessions, you need something the client’s own team uses: Ninety or Bloom Growth if you coach EOS, Rhythm Systems for a Scaling Up-style planning rhythm, an OKR tool if the client wants OKRs, or Clearahead if you want AI to keep the client’s goal, constraints and moves current from one-line updates. Many coaches use one of each.
Two jobs for a business coach’s software
Business coaches who work with founders and leadership teams need software for two quite different jobs. The first is running the practice: finding and booking clients, contracts, payments, session notes and programmes. The coach is the user. The second is running the client’s plan: the goal agreed in a session, what’s holding it back and the work to clear it, kept current by the client’s team between sessions. The client’s team is the user.
Most tools that come up when you search for “business coaching software” are built for the first job. They’re good at it, and many coaches need one. But if the results you’re paid for depend on what a leadership team does between sessions, the second job matters more, and it’s usually done by a different tool that the client owns and you join as a guest. We’ve written more about the difference in Most business coaching software is built for the wrong job.
This guide is written for coaches, strategists, consultants and mentors who work with companies of roughly 4 to 200 people. We make Clearahead, so it’s on the list, but we’ve tried to be fair about where each of the others fits better. Where we’ve written a full comparison, the option links to it.
Software for business coaches at a glance
| Option | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Clearahead | Coaches who want each client’s goal, constraints and moves kept current between sessions, with AI doing the upkeep | Not practice software: no booking, invoicing or session notes |
| Ninety | Coaches and implementers who run EOS with their clients | Built around EOS: Rocks, the Scorecard, Issues and the Level 10 Meeting |
| Bloom Growth | EOS coaches who want an alternative to Ninety, with a coach directory | Still an EOS-style toolkit with meetings and manual updates |
| Rhythm Systems | Coaches whose clients want a structured annual and quarterly planning rhythm, close to Scaling Up | A full planning methodology and software to adopt; best with a trained facilitator |
| Simply.Coach | Coaching businesses that want client management, programmes and coaching tools in one platform | Built for the coach’s practice; the client’s wider team doesn’t work in it |
| Paperbell | Solo coaches who want booking, packages, payments and contracts with no fuss | Practice admin only; no tools for a client’s company plan |
| CoachAccountable | Coaches who want structured action items, metrics and worksheets for each client | Accountability flows to the coach, not across the client’s team |
| An OKR tool such as Perdoo | Clients who are committed to OKRs and want them scored each quarter | The client has to adopt OKRs properly; per-user pricing on paid plans |
| Shared docs and spreadsheets | Coaches just starting out, or clients with no budget | Someone has to keep it current, and it goes stale between sessions |
The best software for business coaches who work with leadership teams
1. Clearahead
Clearahead is where a client’s leadership team keeps one goal, the constraints holding it back in the order they agree and the moves that clear them, each with an owner. The team updates AJ, the AI inside it, in a sentence; AJ keeps the plan current and writes a brief every Monday that the coach can read before a session. The client owns the organisation and starts free for up to three Architects and Contributors; the coach joins as a Viewer, free and unlimited, and switches between clients from one login. Coaches can earn 25% of what each client they refer pays, for life. See Clearahead for coaches and advisers.
2. Ninety
Ninety is the best-known software for running EOS, with Rocks, the Scorecard, Issues, To-Dos, the Accountability Chart and the Level 10 Meeting in one place, and it works with coaches who implement EOS. If your method is EOS and your clients want its full toolkit, it’s a natural choice. If you don’t coach EOS, much of it won’t fit. See our EOS alternatives roundup.
3. Bloom Growth
Bloom Growth, formerly Traction Tools, is another long-standing tool for EOS-style meetings, goals, metrics and issues, and it lists coaches who use it with clients. Choose it if you run EOS or something close to it and prefer its approach to Ninety’s.
4. Rhythm Systems
Rhythm Systems pairs planning software with its own coaches and a method for annual and quarterly planning, priorities and KPIs, in the tradition of the Rockefeller Habits and Scaling Up. Strong for clients who want a disciplined, facilitated planning process and a coach who works within it.
5. Simply.Coach
Simply.Coach is a coaching platform for independent coaches and coaching companies, covering client management, coaching programmes and engagements, goals and action plans, scheduling and invoicing. It’s a strong pick for running a practice, especially one with several coaches. For a leadership team’s company plan, most coaches pair it with a tool the client’s team uses.
6. Paperbell
Paperbell is an all-in-one tool for solo coaches: a simple site, packages, scheduling, payments, contracts and a client portal. It’s one of the easiest ways to take the admin out of a coaching practice. It isn’t trying to hold a client’s business plan, so pair it with a planning tool if you coach leadership teams.
7. CoachAccountable
CoachAccountable is a long-running coaching platform built around client accountability: action items, metrics, worksheets, session notes, scheduling and billing. It works well when the coach is the person the client reports to. With a leadership team, the plan often needs to be visible to everyone in the company, not just the coach.
8. An OKR tool such as Perdoo
If a client has chosen OKRs, an OKR tool like Perdoo or Tability gives their team a home for objectives, key results and check-ins, and you can coach the method on top. Choose this when the client wants OKRs; if OKRs have turned into form-filling before, look at the other options. See our OKR alternatives roundup.
9. Shared docs and spreadsheets
Plenty of coaches keep each client’s plan in a Google Doc, a Notion page or a spreadsheet. It’s free and flexible, and fine while someone updates it. In practice it’s usually updated the day before the session, which means the coach finds out what moved in the room. See also Notion and Clearahead.
How to choose software for your coaching practice
Which job do you need done?
If it’s booking, payments and notes, choose a coaching platform. If it’s keeping a client’s plan moving between sessions, choose a tool the client’s team will use. Many coaches need one of each.
Who will use it?
Tools for the coach are used by the coach. Tools for the client’s plan only work if the client’s whole leadership team uses them without being chased. Ask how updates happen, and how long they take.
Does it fit your method?
EOS coaches usually choose EOS software; Scaling Up coaches often choose tools built for that rhythm. If you use your own method, pick something that works alongside it rather than imposing its own vocabulary.
Who owns the data?
For the client’s plan, the client should own their account, data and subscription, and you should join as a guest. It keeps the relationship honest and means the plan survives if the engagement ends.
What does it cost you per client?
Check whether you pay a seat in every client’s account. With fifteen clients, per-seat pricing for the coach adds up quickly; some tools let coaches join client accounts free.
Our honest read
Coaching platforms are good at what they do, and most coaches will want one to run their practice. But the hours you spend with a client aren’t where their results come from. They come from what the client’s leadership team does in the weeks in between, and that happens in the client’s business, not in your practice software.
That’s the gap we built Clearahead to fill: a home for the client’s plan that their team keeps current in a sentence, that tells everyone, including you, what moved each week, and that the client owns. Whatever you choose, put the plan somewhere the client’s whole team uses, and keep your own admin as light as you can. For how to run the sessions themselves, read How to run an annual planning session for a client.
Questions about software for business coaches
What software do business coaches use?
Most use a coaching platform or scheduling tool for their practice, such as Paperbell, Simply.Coach or CoachAccountable, plus a tool for each client’s plan: EOS software such as Ninety or Bloom Growth, an OKR tool, shared documents, or a planning tool like Clearahead that keeps the client’s goal, constraints and moves current between sessions.
What is the best software for business coaches?
For running a solo practice, Paperbell is one of the simplest. For a coaching business with several coaches and programmes, Simply.Coach. For EOS coaches, Ninety or Bloom Growth. For keeping a client’s leadership team moving on their plan between sessions with AI doing the upkeep, Clearahead.
Is there free software for business coaches?
Yes. Clearahead is free for a client with up to three Architects and Contributors, and coaches join every client as a Viewer at no cost. Many coaching platforms offer free trials, and shared documents and spreadsheets are free but need someone to keep them current.
What is the difference between coaching software and planning software?
Coaching software runs the coach’s practice: bookings, payments, notes and programmes. Planning software is used by the client’s own team to keep their goal and the work towards it current. The coach reads it and helps, but the client owns it.
Can business coaches earn from recommending software?
Yes. Several software companies run partner or affiliate programmes. Clearahead pays coaches 25% of every payment each client they refer makes, excluding VAT, for as long as the client stays on a paid plan. Always disclose the relationship to clients.