Preply Review: Teach Online or Learn a Language
Preply is an online platform that connects students with tutors around the world. The platform caters to those in the interest of learning or teaching. This Preply review is a little different from the majority of other articles online.
In this guide, we take a look at the two main uses for Preply, both from a student and teacher perspective. Indeed, it is an ideal platform to learn a language one-to-one with a tutor, or become a tutor and do the teaching yourself.
Through this Preply review, you'll find out:
π Whether this is a suitable place for you to learn a language online π How to make money online by teaching a foreign language (or any subject) π How Preply lessons work and how much you can pay (or earn)
Is Preply legit? The question we're all asking
In 2021, Preply raised $35M in funding to improve its platform capabilities and enhance the student and tutor experience. To put it bluntly, the service most certainly is legit.
The Preply platform comprises two main parts: the student side (front end) and the tutor side (back end).
Students can sign up to language lessons with tutors, or sign up as tutors in order to offer their services as teachers.
The Preply service acts just like any other online marketplace, with an added bonus that the company is focused wholeheartedly on languages.
That said, other subjects are available for students (and for tutors to teach).
How does Preply work? - Preply for students
In order to use the Preply platform as a new student, just start typing the language you wish to learn and the platform will immediately display a list of available tutors.
All Preply tutors have a brief bio in their profile, where you can learn more about their teaching methods, qualifications, and experience.
The calendar of the reservation is automatically set in accordance with the time zone you live in. There's no need to reach out formally to a tutor prior to booking trial lessons.
As well as a short bio highlighting any professional experience and hourly rate, Preply asks that each tutor's profile comprises a short introduction video in which they talk about themselves and how they like to teach.
Being able to read about and listen to a tutor's teaching style is a great way to understand whether or not he or she is suitable.
The online educational platform also provides an easy way to browse through hundreds of tutors by academic subject, lesson quality, tutors on Preply reviews created by students, learning style, hourly rate, and trial classes.
How to become a tutor online: Teaching with Preply
In order to make money teaching online with Preply, you must be a fluent speaker in the language you wish to teach or a native language speaker.
You must go through a short application process before you can find students and carry out your own lessons through the Preply virtual classroom.
During this process, you are required to list your skills in the relevant academic subject.
This does not have to be a formal qualification, but new teachers on Preply will need to speak the language they wish to teach on video so that the Preply team can see that the tutor is prepared for online tutoring.
Below is an example of a simple Preply tutor introduction video.
How much money can you earn with Preply?
The amount of money you make with Preply depends on the number of hours you teach.
The most popular tutors on Preply earn as much as $550 per week, teaching anywhere between 15-25 lessons during this time.
In fact, some tutors with loyal students and positive reviews are able to charge as much as $75 p/hour.
Preply gives every new tutor a 100% commission on his or her first lesson. For all other lessons, Preply takes a commission as high as 18%, depending on the number of completed classes.
Commission fees are used by Preply to keep a stable user-base of students, to handle transfers to tutor accounts, offer ongoing technical support, and create tutor language resources (more on these later).
The more tutoring you carry out on Preply, the lower the fee you pay to access their teaching platform and user-base of students.
What do you need to become a tutor online with Preply?
This is probably the most important part of this Preply review for anybody who is interested in becoming an online language tutor. In order to teach with Preply, you'll need the use of a computer/tablet, reliable internet, and a headset.
Tutors with the best reviews tend to be those with prior knowledge of a subject and some teaching experience. It also works in your favor to be able to tailor lessons according to student needs and interests.
You do not need to have tutor experience to become a language teacher on Preply and you do not need to be a native speaker.
However, if you do have some experience, or formal teaching qualification in the relevant academic subjects, then your profile will have an advantage over other tutors on the site.
Other Requirements
To become a teacher on the Preply platform, you must be fluent or a native speaker of the language that you will teach. So, if you are planning to teach English then you need to be a native English speaker or speak English fluently.
Ideally, you will need some knowledge of the subject or topic, whether through certified qualifications, or previous professional experience. However, the great thing is that you donβt need tutor experience to work on Preply. If you do, though, your profile will stand out amongst other tutors.
In addition, in order to teach for Preply you'll need a fast and reliable internet connection, as well as access to Skype and a webcam. A wireless headset with a microphone is also recommended as this will make each lesson more enjoyable for students.
How much money does Preply take from each lesson?
Preply takes a 100% commission from the first lesson payment π²
After this point, and for all other lessons, Preply takes a commission of up to 18%, depending on the number of completed classes.
The amount of money that Preply takes depends on the amount of money you pay for the lesson.
How to make money online as a language tutor with Preply
As a Preply tutor, you are able to set the number of lessons you wish to teach, control the number of students you take, and create your own rates, all from the comfort of the Preply user space.
All tutors receive access to the benefits and key features of the online educational platform, which includes
The only time you may be required to work for free is if you choose to offer free trial lessons in order to bring more students on board.
Preply will take a small percentage of your hourly rate, so be sure to factor this in when deciding how much to charge for a single lesson.
Preply Review of Pricing: Does Preply pay well?
After a free or low-cost trial lesson (depending on the tutor), Preply tutors can charge anywhere between $5 p/hour to $40 p/hour.
Generally, pricing is dependent on tutor experience, qualifications and ratings. Good tutors receive positive reviews and are pushed by the algorithm to the top of the search results for relevant academic subjects.
Whilst a low price does not equate to a low-quality teacher, a qualified language tutor will generally command a higher price.
As a student, you can find professional tutors within your budget using a slider, or use the filters to display tutors within your price range.
You can research every single individual tutor and read the bio of his/her evaluator, read what others have written and of course, watch the introduce yourself video!
Is Preply a good place to work?
The Preply platform is a great place for those looking to make money teaching online. If you want to set your own price and enjoy autonomy over your tutoring style then the platform is a good place to teach.
Tutors can set their own rates, tutor in the language of their choice, and have access to lesson plans for whichever subject they want. Preply tutors are paid twice monthly by PayPal or bank transfer, working as little as two hours per week.
In other Preply reviews written by teachers, some have complained about the 18% commission that Preply takes.
Preply trial lesson feature: finding a good tutor
Many students on the platform, or those who are new to language learning in general, are reluctant to spend money until they have found a suitable tutor.
For this reason, tutors typically offer a trial lesson at a reduced rate, or free of charge, as part of the service.
This is beneficial for students and teachers alike. After the trial lesson, the student decides if he/she has found the right teacher and would like to book another lesson via the lessons tab.
If the first lesson does not go to plan or the trial lesson is underwhelming, students can look elsewhere and book another trial lesson.
Finding the perfect tutor on Preply
Preply has loaded its database of tutors and displayed a vast network of potential tutors.
Once you've browsed the profiles, you can send messages and chat first with your tutor. Preply arranges classes for anyone, at any time, anywhere.
You may apply a filter for the country of birth of the tutor to further narrow down the searches for a suitable tutor for your needs.
Preply Review: Key features
Preply matches language learners with teachers through its built-in 'matchmaking' technology. It is through this dedicated Preply space that the platform has received most of its investment, which shows.
Each student and tutor on Preply has access to an online classroom, a space through which to exchange lesson resources, chat through a video platform and pre-schedule more lessons.
Payment and transactions are well managed by a support team, who typically refund students who are dissatisfied with a lesson, for any reason.
Typically, this is for due to technical issues. There is also a technical support team on hand.
Pros of Preply for Students
π Ease of use:
Prepy makes the signup process very easy so that any new student can start straight away.
π Access to a huge tutor pool
Once you create your personal account, you receive access to a huge list of tutors. By applying filtering functionality you can find tutors who can also speak your native language, before scheduling a lesson with them.
This may be the part of this Preply review that is most of interest to you. Importantly, this means you can talk with a tutor.
The Pros of Preply for tutors
This is a fairly easy platform to start with as tutors. Below are some features which make teaching a language online with Preply an attractive proposition.
β Preply requires no prior experience
β The platform offer tutors the freedom to dictate when they provide the lessons and how much they wish to charge
β The ability to set your own hourly rate for your own lessons
β Preply provides access to hundreds of courses and online learning webinars to improve tutoring skills
β Access to a broad collection of tips and articles about teaching effectively (more on this in the next paragraph)
β The process of applying to become a tutor is very simple and easy
Preply reviews teacher efficiency through online training
The platform provides free training through online webinars, which tutors can sign up for free of charge.
Preply also provides a diverse collection of articles that provide useful advice relating to teaching and can help tutors a great deal. There is no discrimination with regards to the tutors Preply provides resources to.
Currently, Preply is working on a beta version called Preply Lessons Plan. This feature will help tutors plan lessons quickly and efficiently, saving time and money.
Currently, this feature is only available for English tutors, so native speakers can start to utilize this tool immediately.
Furthermore, in an attempt to develop this feature, Preply is in the process of creating a tutor resource library, to which all tutors will be granted access.
We have not yet explored this resource, but the long list of lesson plans looks superb. Streamlining this process makes teaching a language online a far more enjoyable prospect.
Plans & Pricing
Tutors can set their own prices on Preply. Classes are one-on-one, and lessons last for about forty minutes. This price varies between about $5 and $100 (this is rare) based on the individualβs teaching experience, teaching style, education, etc.
Research carried out by Review42 demonstrated that, on average, Preply tutors cost approx $50 per lesson.
The platform provides a trial system. However, several Preply reviews online would suggest that this service is not popular.
Users can pay for the first lesson with a tutor either via Mastercard/Visa, or PayPal. Tutors receive the payment only when students have confirmed that the lesson was satisfactory.
Any students dissatisfied with the service receive a 100% refund.
Once the trial lesson has been carried out, students are required to pay for a block of lessons of:
β 5 hours
β 10 hours
β 15 hours
β 20 hours
There is a discount on these packages which scales as the number of hours go up. The 100% refund policy still applies.
The pricing structure is quite different for Preply Enterprise (an entirely different proposition for businesses).
In this case, the costs are dependent on multiple factors, such as company size and the number of people in the classroom.
Preply tutors can withdraw their payments via PayPal, Payoneer, or Skrill. Unfortunately, Preply charges a heavy commission rate. The company receives 100% of the payment for the first lesson.
After this point, the commission taken by Preply starts to decrease. Initially, they take 33%; this then continues to decrease until the commission rate arrives at 18%.
Preply Review: The Scholarship Program
The scholarship program runs on a competition form in which applicants write and submit an essay of at least 500 words on a specific academic topic.
The competition is organized by the community and three articles submitted are picked on the local popular vote. Three winners are selected from more than 4,500 applicants.
You can apply from any part of the globe for this scholarship program and there are no restrictions relating to languages or other subjects. However, you must be between ages of 16 and 35 for entry into the program.
The previous scholarship program competition essay topic was βHow languages enhance gender equality.β
Preply vs italki
If you are familiar with language learning or have read any Preply reviews online then you are probably familiar with italki, the platform's main competitor.
italki was the first tutor marketplace of its kind. Unlike Preply, it offers the widest choice of languages from which to learn. As a tutor, no matter how many lessons you provide, they pay a flat commission of 15%.
The functionality of the platforms and the business models of each are very similar.
In order to apply to teach online with italki, you will need to create an introduction video and, generally speaking, be able to teach one of the world's most common languages in order to create a regular, sustainable income.
Preply vs Verbling
Verbling is a similar platform to Preply with an almost identical virtual platform.
It is another marketplace through which to find tutors. Unlike Preply, which offers lessons in multiple subjects, Verbling only offers language lessons.
Verbling also provides users with trial classes so the first lesson is often free; the student pays from lesson two onwards. In addition, tutor applications are not limited to native speakers.
One of the best features Verbling has to offer relates to payment. Instead of having to pay a deposit for the lessons, you can pay each of them separately.
Preply Reviews & Testimonials
The praise scores are generally high β even among very well-known websites like Glassdoor (often written by a former employee) and Trustpilot.
Overall, the reviews we found were very good, from teachers and students alike.
Students appreciate the ability to choose a tutor according to their needs, whilst tutors enjoy being able to make passive income by teaching a language online.
On the other hand, there are a couple of reasons for which some people complained about Preply.
Some students were unable to find a good tutor with qualifications and experience offering lessons within their budget range.
Furthermore, there have been some complaints about technical challenges, as well as excessive lesson fees.
However, technical challenges are usually a result of poor internet connectivity; it is up to the student and the teacher to make sure their internet connectivity is sufficient.
Our personal experience with Preply
Most of the information provided in Preply reviews is a mix of information spread across the internet.
In order to make this review a little more personal, we signed up to Preply as a student in order to track our experience.
The Preply space has an internal messaging system, which made it really easy to message and speak with any selected tutor with details of what we wanted from our first lesson.
Each tutor provides a quick video intro (this is a prerequisite from Preply for anybody signing up to teach a language online with Preply).
As a student, this was helpful and guided us to selecting a tutor that was written for us.
The signup process (for the first lessons) was simple, as was the lesson itself. Connecting to classes via Skype as the main platform was also very easy.
Preply Review: A Summary
Preply is designed to help both students and language teachers.
The fact that 40,000 people in 190 countries are using the platform currently shows that it is managing to do exactly that.
The service connects tutors with students, and vice-versa, making it possible for anyone to teach or learn any language from anywhere in the world.
Tutoring rates are set by the tutor themselves and can be paid using pre-loaded credits or PayPal, providing total control over your budget.
Preply is not unique with this model but it is growing as the world's most popular online tutor marketplace.
Whether you are planning to become a tutor or a new student, we hope our review helped answer some questions about how Preply could create an income stream for you, or connect you to a tutor that is able to teach you a foreign language.
