Being an online teacher or tutor is typically a great gig as it lets you leverage all that hard work you put into specializing in a specific subject over the years. With tutoring platform Preply, over 800,000 students are working with or actively looking for a tutor. These are people who want help with languages, math, coding, business skills and hundreds of additional subjects. As a tutor, you set your own rate, choose your own hours, and teach from wherever you are via video call. Let’s dive in so I can take the role of tutor myself and teach you all about this interesting gig with our Preply Review.
Quick Facts
| Platform Name | Preply |
| Earning Potential | You set your rate |
| Typical Duration | 50 to 60 min lessons |
| Payment Frequency | Every two weeks |
| Required Equipment | Computer, Webcam & Internet |
What’s Inside
- Is Preply real and safe?
- How hard is it to sign up?
- Can I do this whenever I want?
- How much money can you really make?
- When and how do you get paid?
- What stuff do you need to start?
- Is the work easy or hard?
- The Pros and Cons of Preply
- Final Verdict: Is Preply worth your time?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Is Preply real and safe?
Preply is well-established, reportedly helping over a million students worldwide. Trust pilot gives it a solid 4.2 out of 5 based on over 14,000 reviews. The platform launched in 2012 and has grown into one of the most used language and academic tutoring marketplaces in the world. Tutor payments are processed on a consistent two-week schedule. The only real complaint from tutors comes from the fact that you have to do an unpaid trial tutor session, which is unpaid. That said, Preply’s reviews from tutors are mostly all positive which is always reassuring.
How hard is it to sign up?
The process to sign up and apply as a tutor is fairly involved and you should plan to take about 20 minutes to complete from beginning to end. Specifically, the application has eight steps where you provide your email, fill in your background and qualifications, set your hourly rate, record a short intro video, and write a profile description. While no degree is required to apply, having credentials helps your profile rank higher in search results.
After you complete your application, it typically takes around five business days for Preply to complete their review and respond with a yay or nay. The intro video is worth spending time on as it is the first thing prospective students see when deciding whether to book a trial lesson.
💡 Insider Tip:
Start with a rate lower than where you want to eventually be. New tutors have no reviews and no student history, so students are kind of taking a risk in booking you.
Can I do this whenever I want?
You set your own availability calendar and students book lessons within your open slots. However, you’re going to want to book around popular times for students as sitting in your availability for three in the morning is gonna yield very bad results.
In our research, other tutor suggest keeping at least 30 hours per week available in your calendar boosts as your profile ranking and gets you more visibility in student searches. You don’t have to work 30 hours, you just have to make that time available.
How much money can you really make?
Potential earnings vary significantly; unless a tutor is highly specialized, initial income may be lower than expected during the high-commission phase. While, you are setting your own rate, Preply’s own reports state that new tutors working 1 to 10 hours per week average around $118 per month according to Preply’s own data.
Preply takes 33% from new tutors, dropping to 28% after 20 teaching hours, and eventually to 18% after 400 hours. Another factor is that every new student you tutor will get a free trial lesson to see if they like you. For this lesson you are not paid and you earn zero from. Factor all of this into your rate-setting as it certainly matters.
When and how do you get paid?
Getting paid consistently and with certainty is a big plus that Preply offers to their tutors. Payments are issued automatically every two weeks via Stripe to your bank account or PayPal. No minimum balance is required to receive payment, it’s whatever you’ve earned in the past two weeks that gets paid out. This part of properly is something tutors widely praise..
What stuff do you need to start?
A Internet-connected desktop computer or laptop with a working webcam and microphone. No smartphones are allowed here. Preply has its own built-in classroom tool so you do not need any third-party video app as that’s all handled by their system.
Since you’re being judged on your students, the environment, you tutor them in, does matter a lot. Ensure you are in a quiet space for lessons with good lighting. Even simply sitting while facing a window will make you instantly look more professional with natural light on your beautiful mug.
Is the work easy or hard?
Being a good tutor isn’t involved gig and can be hard harder than you think. You should naturally be somewhat energetic with patients, but also very situationally aware as you try to help the student with the lesson lessons. Explaining a concept clearly and keeping a student engaged for 50 minutes can be challenging and that’s why we say it is something that takes real skill. Preply does provide free webinars and a Tutor Academy to help and they are worth using especially in your first months.
Remember you also are looking to get recurring student as clients so while your trial lesson with them is not paid, providing them a solid lesson experience regardless should yield results for you in the long run. That is how you do financially well with this particular gig.
The Pros and Cons of Preply
| The Pros | The Cons |
|---|---|
| Set your own rate: No ceiling on what you can charge. | Unpaid trial lessons: Every new student costs you a free session. |
| 800K+ students: Huge demand for tutors across 100+ subjects. | 33% starting commission: High take rate for new tutors. |
| No degree required: Open to anyone with knowledge to share. | Price competition: Low-rate tutors can undercut your visibility. |
Final Verdict: Is Preply worth your time?
For the right person with specialized skill, it is worth your time because the money can be real and the service is very legitimate. If you just have generalized knowledge or no specialty, it’s a struggle to earn meaningful income from this gig.
The Bottom Line: If you have passion for helping others and are energetic with specific subject matter knowledge, give this gig a try as it’s one of the better tutoring options out there to earn from.
Frequently Asked Questions
No formal teaching experience or TEFL certification is required to apply. Preply is open to anyone with subject knowledge worth sharing.
Preply offers the trial lesson to students as a free evaluation session to reduce their risk when booking an unknown tutor. The 100% commission on trial lessons funds this offer. Think of each trial as a cost to acquire a long-term student.
Three things drive your ranking: your profile score (kept above 90 by keeping information current and complete), your weekly availability (Preply rewards tutors who list 30 or more available hours), and your student ratings.
Yes. While Preply is best known as a language learning platform, it covers over 100 subjects including math, science, business, music, test prep, and coding.
Yes. Preply pays you the lesson amount minus their commission and does not withhold taxes. You receive the net amount and report it yourself at tax time. If you are a US tutor earning over $600 in a calendar year, Preply may issue a 1099 form.
