BODYGUARD COST

How much does a bodyguard cost? Complete guide to close protection pricing

If you have ever searched "how much does a bodyguard cost" and found vague ranges with no context, you have experienced 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 for personal bodyguards, what drives prices up or down, the difference between a qualified close protection officer and a doorman in a suit, and the exact questions you must ask before hiring anyone — regardless of price.

This is not marketing. It is the information anyone hiring close protection deserves to have before they make a decision that could one day matter enormously.

What does a bodyguard actually cost per day?

A qualified close protection officer in Europe costs between €800 and €1,200 per day, based on standard 12-hour availability. That is the honest market rate for a licensed, trained, and operationally experienced professional.

In the United Kingdom, the rate runs closer to £500–£600 per day. The UK has one of the largest pools of qualified close protection operatives in the world — the Security Industry Authority (SIA) licensing system is rigorous and well-established — and that supply and competition brings rates down relative to continental Europe. Lower rate does not mean lower standard. It means a more competitive market.

Outside Europe, rates vary significantly based on local licensing requirements, threat environment and operative scarcity:

Middle East (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar): Day rates for licensed close protection typically range from $600 to $1,000 USD. Armed protection, isn't legally permitted and licensed.

South America (Brazil, Colombia): Rates vary considerably by city. Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo require operatives with genuine urban security experience and established relationships with local law enforcement. Expect €700–€1,100 per day for operatives meeting this standard.

Southeast Asia: Rates are generally lower — $400–$700 per day — but the availability of truly qualified international-standard operatives is more limited. Vetting is essential.

Armed protection — any jurisdiction: Armed services are not a line item on a quote. They require a minimum 30-day authorisation process through locally licensed partners, legal compliance with the specific jurisdiction, and operatives holding the relevant firearms permits. Pricing is negotiated individually and is always higher than unarmed equivalents. Any firm that quotes armed protection over the phone without discussing authorisation timelines is not a firm you should use.

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Personal VIP Services in Europe and Worldwide

Our Rome-based HQ boasts an international network of elite close protection agents ready to accompany VIPs anywhere, anytime.

* The availability of the operatives may vary.

VIP Security / Close Protection - Concierge

Concierge and chauffeur in Europe, VIP travel abroad, city tours, personal security and other services for different needs and budgets.

We do speak: English, Italian, Spanish, French, Russian, Portuguese and Chinese.

How much does a personal bodyguard cost per month?

This is where the conversation changes — and where most clients discover that retained close protection is not only operationally superior to day-hire, it is often significantly more cost-effective.

A dedicated personal bodyguard on a monthly retainer typically costs between €2,500 and €3,500 per month. This covers a professional who travels with the principal, knows their movements and preferences, has built genuine operational familiarity with their risk profile, and is available as the engagement requires.

When you compare that to a daily rate: at €1,000 per day, ten working days costs €10,000. A retained professional at €3,000 per month delivers continuity, institutional knowledge of the principal, and genuine operational competence built over time — for a fraction of the equivalent day-rate cost.

For UHNWI principals — those requiring a higher-profile operative, multi-country deployments, greater operational responsibility, advanced specialist skills, or a professional who functions as a trusted extension of the principal's inner circle — the monthly figure moves considerably. Depending on profile, experience, language capability, specialist qualifications, and the complexity of the role:

€8,000 to €15,000 per month is the realistic range for a senior retained personal protection professional serving a UHNWI principal at the highest level.

This figure reflects not just security capability but a complete professional profile: multilingual, culturally fluent, operationally versatile, and capable of operating discreetly across social, business, and security environments simultaneously.

This figure reflects not just security capability but a complete professional profile: multilingual, culturally fluent, operationally versatile, and capable of operating discreetly across social, business, and security environments simultaneously.

Enquiry about long term operatives.

Why continuity matters more than most clients realise

The argument for a retained personal bodyguard is not primarily financial. It is operational.

A close protection officer who has worked with a principal for six months understands that principal's behavioural patterns, their instincts, their risk tolerance and their threat environment in a way that a day-hire operative hired for Tuesday simply cannot.

They know which routes the principal avoids. They know the staff at the regular hotel. They know the signal that means "extract now" without a word being spoken. They have built the operational picture over hundreds of interactions and adjusted it continuously.

A bodyguard hired for the day starts from zero. They are capable. They are qualified. But they do not know you. And in close protection, knowing the principal is not a comfort — it is an operational advantage.

For principals who travel regularly or face consistent risk, the retained model is not a luxury. It is the correct operational choice.

What you are actually paying for — and what most agencies don't tell you

The day rate is not just a number. It represents the cumulative investment of a career that most people would not choose if they understood what it costs.

A genuine close protection officer is trained in first aid at minimum — and many hold advanced trauma care qualifications. They are trained in threat assessment, route planning, counter-surveillance methodology, emergency evacuation protocols, and crisis decision-making under pressure. They hold hard skills in defensive driving, physical intervention, and weapons handling where licensed. They hold soft skills — discretion, social intelligence, cultural awareness, multiple languages, the ability to exist invisibly in environments where visibility creates risk — that are harder to train and rarer to find.

They have operated in hostile environments most people encounter only in news reports. They have made irreversible decisions in seconds. They have sat in hospitals. They have given statements to police forces in multiple jurisdictions. They have stood between a threat and a person who trusted them, in situations where the outcome was genuinely uncertain.

This is a profession that takes a physical toll. A personal toll. A professional who has spent a decade in close protection has traded the kind of stability, family presence, and ordinary human risk that most careers allow. Their record is written in their body and their operational history.

The rate is the cost of all of that.

The risk most clients never see: unqualified operatives at professional rates

Here is the part of the close protection industry that nobody in it advertises.

Many agencies — not all, but many — supply operatives who are not what the title implies. Men who look the part. Men who carry themselves with confidence and dress appropriately. Men who have perhaps worked nightclub doors or retail security or corporate reception. Men who, in most engagements, will stand near a client and nothing will happen and the client will consider the engagement a success.

These operatives are sometimes cheaper than a qualified close protection officer. Sometimes they are priced identically. The client cannot tell the difference on paper, on first impression, or in a routine day.

The difference only becomes visible in the engagement that is not routine.

When the threat materialises, a bouncer in a suit and a former close protection-trained operative with ten years of hostile environment experience are not the same person. They are not even in the same category of response capability.

A client who does not know the difference between these two profiles — and who does not ask the right questions — may be paying for the second while receiving the first. And they will never know. Until they do.

What to demand before hiring any close protection operative

These are not optional questions. They are the minimum standard of due diligence for any principal hiring close protection.

Ask for the operative's close protection licence. In the UK this is an SIA Close Protection licence. In Dubai it is SIRA certification. In France, a CNAPS authorisation. In Brazil, a PFRR. Every legitimate operative in every licensed jurisdiction has documentation. Request it. Verify it.

Ask what their first aid qualification is. Minimum: HSE First Aid at Work or equivalent. Preferred: FPOS (First Person on Scene) or Hostile Environment and First Aid Training (HEFAT). An operative who cannot stabilise a medical emergency is not a complete operative.

Ask them to walk you through their threat assessment methodology. A qualified professional will have a structured answer. They will mention principal assessment, environment profiling, route assessment, vulnerability analysis, and contingency planning. If the answer is vague, it is because there is no methodology.

Ask what happens when the situation escalates beyond the operative's capability. What is the extraction protocol? Who is the backup contact? What is the escalation chain? A prepared professional answers this immediately. An unprepared one changes the subject.

Ask how they communicate during an engagement. With you, with their backup, with local emergency services. Communication protocols are a basic operational standard. The absence of a clear answer is a basic disqualifying signal.

If the agency providing the operative hesitates, deflects, or becomes defensive on any of these questions — you have your answer. Move on.

Close protection begins before the operative arrives

One of the most misunderstood elements of professional close protection is where it actually starts.

It does not start when the operative meets the principal at the airport. It starts with the threat assessment.

A professional threat assessment is a structured evaluation of the principal — their public profile, known risk factors, travel history, and threat environment — combined with an assessment of the destination, the itinerary, the venues, the local risk landscape, and the operational variables specific to the engagement.

From this assessment flows everything: the appropriate operative profile, the recommended operational posture (low profile or high profile), the route planning, the contingency protocols, the accommodation security requirements, and the communication structure throughout the engagement.

Without this assessment, there is no plan. There is presence. A trained person standing near a client. That is not close protection. That is optics.

Any firm that does not lead with a threat assessment conversation is not offering you a protection service. They are offering you a uniform.

What Algoz Group delivers

Algoz Group coordinates 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. Every engagement is led by our operational management and held to a standard that does not vary regardless of destination, duration, or complexity.

We provide day-hire and monthly retained close protection. We coordinate security for families travelling with children. We work directly with executive assistants and personal assistants coordinating on behalf of their principals. We accept cryptocurrency for clients requiring complete financial discretion.

We operate across Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Southeast Asia.

All communication is treated with complete confidentiality from the first message.

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Frequently asked questions — Close Protection Costs

How much does a bodyguard cost per day in Europe?

A qualified close protection officer in Europe costs between €800 and €1,200 per day based on standard 12-hour availability. Rates vary by country, threat level, armed or unarmed requirement, and operative experience.

How much does a personal bodyguard cost per month?

A retained personal bodyguard typically costs between €2,500 and €3,500 per month for standard engagements, including international travel with the principal. For UHNWI principals requiring senior operatives with advanced skills and greater responsibility, monthly costs range from €8,000 to €15,000 depending on profile and complexity.

How much does a bodyguard cost in the UK?

In the United Kingdom, qualified close protection officers typically charge £500–£600 per day. The UK market has a high density of SIA-licensed operatives, which creates competitive rates without compromising the availability of genuinely qualified professionals.

Why is hiring a retained bodyguard cheaper than using day rates?

A retained personal bodyguard on a monthly retainer often represents significantly lower cost per effective protection day compared to daily hire rates — while delivering the added operational benefit of continuity, principal familiarity, and accumulated threat awareness that day-hire operatives cannot replicate.

What qualifications should a close protection officer have?

At minimum: a valid close protection licence for the jurisdiction of operation (SIA in the UK, SIRA in Dubai, CNAPS in France), a first aid qualification at FPOS level or above, documented training in threat assessment and route planning, and verifiable operational experience. Request all documentation before engagement begins.

What is a threat assessment in close protection?

A threat assessment is a structured pre-engagement evaluation of the principal, their environment, their itinerary, and the risk variables specific to the operation. It is the foundation of all planning — determining operative profile, operational posture, route selection, contingency protocols, and communication structure. Professional close protection does not begin without one.

Does Algoz Group provide bodyguards for one-day engagements?

Yes. Algoz Group coordinates both day-hire and monthly retained close protection engagements worldwide. Contact us directly for availability and a confidential quote.

Can I pay for bodyguard services with cryptocurrency?

Yes. Algoz Group accepts USDT, USDC, Bitcoin, and Ethereum for applicable services, providing complete financial discretion for clients who require it.

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