How Much Does a Bodyguard Cost?
The honest market rate.
If you have ever searched "how much does a bodyguard cost" and found vague ranges with no context, you have met one of the industry's most persistent problems: nobody wants to talk plainly about money. This page does.
It covers daily rates by country, monthly retainer costs, what drives prices up or down, the difference between a qualified close protection officer and a doorman in a suit, and the exact questions to ask before hiring anyone - the information anyone hiring close protection deserves before making a decision that could one day matter enormously.
What a bodyguard costs per day.
From €850/day
The market base for a licensed, trained and operationally experienced professional on 12-hour availability. The final rate is shaped by the profile, the threat picture and the season.
From €850/day
The same European base applies. The UK’s deep pool of SIA-licensed operatives means strong availability at the base - never a lower standard.
From $900/day
The EUR 850 base, converted. UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar; armed protection is tightly restricted and separately licensed.
From $900/day
The EUR 850 base, converted. Brazil and Colombia; Rio and São Paulo require genuine urban experience and law-enforcement relationships.
From $900/day
The EUR 850 base, converted. International-standard operatives are scarcer here than the price of a suit suggests - vetting is essential.
By negotiation
Not a line item: a minimum 30-day authorisation process, jurisdiction-specific compliance and firearms permits. Always higher than unarmed.
What a Personal Bodyguard Costs Per Month
A dedicated personal bodyguard on a monthly retainer is quoted per engagement - it depends on the consultancy, the principal and the situation, and no two briefs price alike. Set against the €850-per-day market base, a month of regular cover on day-hire adds up quickly; the retained professional delivers continuity, principal familiarity and accumulated threat awareness for less than the equivalent day-rate total.
Enquire about retained operativesWhy Continuity Matters
The argument for a retained bodyguard is not primarily financial - it is operational. An officer who has worked with a principal for six months understands their patterns, instincts and risk tolerance in a way a day-hire operative cannot. They know which routes the principal avoids, the staff at the regular hotel, the signal that means "extract now" without a word. A day-hire starts from zero. For those who travel regularly or face consistent risk, the retained model is the correct operational choice.
EnquireThe Risk Most Clients Never See
Many agencies supply operatives who are not what the title implies - men who look the part and have perhaps worked nightclub doors or corporate reception. Sometimes cheaper, sometimes priced identically. The difference only becomes visible in the engagement that is not routine. When a threat materialises, a bouncer in a suit and an operative with ten years of hostile-environment experience are not in the same category of response. A client who does not ask the right questions may be paying for the second while receiving the first.
Our professionalsWhat to demand before hiring.
Verify Credentials
SIA (UK), SIRA (Dubai), CNAPS (France) - every legitimate operative has documentation. Request and verify it.
First Aid Standard
Minimum HSE First Aid at Work; preferred FPOS or HEFAT. An operative who can't stabilise an emergency is incomplete.
Threat Assessment
A structured answer covering principal, environment, route and contingency. Vague means no methodology.
Extraction Protocol
What happens beyond their capability? Backup contact, escalation chain - answered immediately by a professional.
Communication
With you, with backup, with local emergency services. The absence of a clear answer is disqualifying.
Begins With Assessment
Protection starts with the threat assessment, not at the airport. No assessment means presence, not protection.
What Algoz Group Delivers
We coordinate close protection and Executive Destination Management for HNWI and UHNWI clients worldwide, through a network of qualified, licensed professionals - many of them former French Foreign Legionnaires. We do not supply operatives; we design engagements. Every briefing begins with a threat assessment, every operative is vetted personally, and every engagement is held to a standard that does not vary. Day-hire and monthly retained, families with children, EA and PA coordination, and cryptocurrency accepted for complete financial discretion.
Enquire nowWhat a bodyguard costs in specific cities.
Rates move with the market a city sits in, the licensing regime and the season, so the useful number is always the local one. Europe works from the EUR 850 per day market base; outside Europe the equivalent is USD 900 per day. Where an armoured vehicle is normal rather than exceptional, as it is across Brazil, the car and the security-trained driver are quoted separately and often matter more to the outcome than the officer does.
City pages carrying a local rate and the local legal framework: bodyguard in Rio de Janeiro, bodyguard in São Paulo, bodyguard in Brasília and bodyguard in Brazil nationwide, alongside London, Paris, Milan and Dubai.
West Africa is quoted on the same USD 900 per day base, but the split between the officer and the vehicle is different: across Nigeria and Lagos and Abuja the security-trained driver and the car routinely cost more than the officer and protect the principal more, and in Liberia a programme that leaves the paved corridors is priced as journey management rather than as a daily rate at all. Ghana is the calmer case, where the December season moves the price more than the risk does.
A confidential quote, no obligation.
All communication is treated with complete confidentiality from the first message. We operate across Europe, the Middle East, South America and Southeast Asia.
EnquireAlgoz FZ-LLC (Trade License 5033995 | TRN 105119056700001) is licensed for Businessmen Services and Lifestyle Development Consultancy by RAKEZ. We do not directly provide armed or unarmed security, bodyguard or close-protection services. All operational execution is performed exclusively by licensed third-party partners holding the necessary local permits (e.g. SIRA in Dubai, PSBD in Abu Dhabi, SIA in the United Kingdom, CNAPS in France). We provide direct assistance and support in partnership with local regulated providers, complying with local laws. Clients are responsible for obtaining any required approvals. Armed services require a minimum 30-day lead time for authorisation, which may be refused. All activities comply with UAE laws and RAKEZ regulations.