Restrictive and insulting new coach contracts - Fellow Coach BetterUp Employee Review

1.0
Apr 26, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I love coaching BetterUp members! I feel the impact of my work, and BetterUp has filled my calendar with clients from top companies. I have honed my coaching skills as a BetterUp coach.

Cons

BetterUp lost my trust with their new coach contracts (which they are currently in the process of reworking due to coaches' outcry). The company gave many coaches pay cuts (disguised as pay raises), based pay on retroactive KPIs that we had no access to, and added restrictive clauses such as: BetterUp having intellectual property rights to our work, coaches being barred from criticizing the company or its clients, coaches not allowed to discuss their compensation, and moving payment to USD (for international coaches) on a short deadline -- profoundly affecting professionals' incomes with no warning. Moreover, the KPIs they used are ethically questionable. BetterUp is in the process of reworking our contracts, and I'm happy to update my review based on updated information, but there are so, so many issues with these contracts, that I doubt BetterUp will backtrack on all their choices. For a company that supposedly cares about workers' well-being, they have caused profound distress in so many coaches. Coaches -- beware of working with this company, and read your contracts carefully.

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BetterUp Response
4y
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. We are glad to hear that you’re enjoying coaching BetterUp members and that this experience as a BetterUp Coach has helped you hone your coaching skills. We’re also grateful for your candor about the recent Coach Contracts, and we want to ensure you have the latest information based on the most recent updates we’ve shared with the Coach community. The updated contracts released on May 9 ensure all 1:1 BetterUp Coaches will see an increase in their 2022 Effective Hourly Session Rates. We’ve also made adjustments to undo the negative impacts on any Coaches who were disproportionately affected by international exchange rates. Most recently, we also addressed concerns around ICF’s Code of Ethics. BetterUp and ICF have a shared goal of growing and advancing the field of coaching to empower coaches worldwide, and we want to ensure that our model does not conflict with their Code of Ethics. We will share more as we deepen our relationship with ICF in 2022 and beyond. We wholeheartedly believe BetterUp Coaches are vital to the Member experience and provide the unique human connection that leads to Member transformation, and we’re grateful to our Coaches for all the input and dialogue shared with us along the way. We’ll continue to solicit and incorporate Coach feedback to refine our Impact & Growth model. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to support@betterup.co to set up time to connect 1:1.

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5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I'm not held here against my will for a cause... I'm paid to do something I actually care about. I see a lot of people on Glassdoor debating the strength of the business model, but I've never seen anyone argue that what BetterUp is trying to do isn't worth doing. I'm a part of a company thats net positive for the world. That alone feels like a feat in 2026. AND I'm getting paid well. No "mission discount".

Cons

This isn't a money-growing-on-trees unicorn startup from 2018. This business model is hard. We're selling human potential development when most companies are trying to figure out how to replace humans with AI. Its not easy but I think its kind of important... A lot of people experience being overwhelmed here. Thats real. It happens enough that clearly the culture is playing a role. Every company has its own version of crazy. My advice to people thinking about working here: ask direct questions in your interviews to figure out if you're okay with Betterup's kind of crazy. You'll get honest answers. After 3+ years I've genuinely grown to love it

5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Nearly 8 years in, and the work still pulls me forward. What keeps me at BetterUp is that the problems are genuinely hard and genuinely worth solving. I came from engineering, so I'm wired to care about infrastructure, not just features, and this is one of the rare places where you can build something foundational and actually see it move metrics, clear escalations, and unblock a whole go-to-market motion. The mission isn't decorative here. I can feel the thread between the work and the outcome. BetterUp also trusts you to figure things out across lanes. I've written SQL, prototyped with AI tools, facilitated workshops, and co-designed vendor strategy, all as a PM, because the culture doesn't penalize curiosity or reaching into adjacent territory. And honestly, some of my closest friendships came out of this place. The people I work with, on engineering, on cross-functional teams, and in peer mentorship, are people I genuinely learn from and, in some cases, people I can't imagine not having in my life. That combination of meaningful infrastructure work, real trust, and people who challenge you and become your people is not easy to find. The benefits span beyond general work-life-balance, if you're curious about something, there's always an open door to learn and contribute. As a woman in tech, I cherish the fact that our colleagues listen to women, and our insight is taken into account instead of just ignored. It's nice to feel safe at work, able to speak your mind freely.

Cons

If you want a boring job, this is not the place for you.

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