How to Earn by Teaching Online (2026): Tutoring vs Courses

Most people start teaching online on a tutoring marketplace like Preply, italki or Cambly, where students already look for lessons. Cambly pays a fixed $10.20 an hour and needs no degree. On Preply and italki you set your own rate and the platform keeps 15% to 33%. Recorded courses on Udemy or Teachable can earn without live hours, but they take longer to pay off because you need an audience first.

How to choose where to teach

• Your skills. Fluent conversation is enough for Cambly. Language marketplaces reward teaching skill and a strong profile, and academic tutoring services test subject knowledge. Course platforms need you to plan, record and edit a full course.
• Startup cost. Every tutoring marketplace below is free to join. Your own course site costs from $39 a month on Teachable's Starter plan to $179 a month on Kajabi Basic.
• Time to first payment. Live tutoring can pay within a week or two of your first lesson. A course can take months to find buyers.
• Where you live. Tutor.com accepts applications only from the U.S. Outschool, Preply and others restrict some countries, and Preply does not accept tutors from Iran, Sudan, Cuba, Syria, North Korea, Crimea, Russia or Belarus.
• Who sets the price. Cambly fixes your pay. On Preply, italki and Superprof you choose your rate, so income depends on winning students at that price.

The options side by side

Tutoring marketplaces: fastest route to paid hours

Preply

Preply is free to join, reviews tutor applications within 5 business days and requires tutors to be at least 18. It says no certification or teaching experience is required. Preply keeps 100% of the first trial lesson with each new student, then 33% of your rate, falling in steps to 18% once you pass 400 teaching hours. Its tutor page puts the average English tutor at $15 to $25 an hour. On a $20 lesson at the starting tier you keep $13.40. Withdrawals go by Wise bank transfer, PayPal, Skrill or Payoneer. Our step-by-step guide covers how to get students on Preply.

italki

italki charges nothing on trial and instant trial lessons. After that it takes 21% on single lessons, 19% on 5-lesson packages, 17% on 10-lesson packages, 15% on 15- and 20-lesson packages and 30% on group classes. Because packages cost you less commission, selling them to regular students raises your take-home pay. The minimum withdrawal is $30.

Cambly

Cambly is the simplest start for fluent English speakers. It states that no teaching certificate, bachelor's degree or prior experience is needed and that there are no minimum hours. Pay is $0.17 a minute ($10.20 an hour) with adults and $0.20 a minute ($12 an hour) on Cambly Kids, paid weekly. Ten hours a week comes to about $102. The trade-off is a fixed rate that does not rise with experience.

Superprof and GoStudent

Superprof lets you publish a free ad for any of more than 1,000 subjects, from maths to tai chi, and states that it takes no commission because students pay Superprof for access. You agree rates and payment with each student. GoStudent works differently: you pass a subject quiz, record an intro video and complete a background check, then teach 50-minute lessons as a self-employed tutor. It says 10 lessons a week earn about GBP 620 a month, or roughly GBP 14 a lesson, and that your hourly rate rises as you teach more.

Outschool for kids' classes

Outschool runs live classes for children aged 3 to 18. Teachers keep 70% of the class price, and Outschool keeps 30% as its teacher fee. Payouts go to PayPal in US dollars, 7 to 8 days after an upfront-enrolment class starts. Its educator page lists eligible countries including the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.

US-only services

Varsity Tutors says it has a network of 40,000 tutors, uses an application and video interview, and pays twice a week. Tutor.com currently accepts applicants only from the U.S. Both suit teachers, graduate students and professionals who want the company to find students for them. Compare the rest in our list of platforms to teach and tutor online.

Course platforms: slower, but not tied to your hours

• Udemy is free to publish on. You receive 97% of the net amount when a student buys through your own coupon or referral link, and 37% when the sale comes from Udemy's marketplace or ads. Net amount means after taxes and fees such as the 30% Apple or Google charge on app sales. The minimum payout is $25.
• Skillshare pays from the minutes members watch in your classes, plus referrals, on the 16th of each month for the previous month, by PayPal, direct deposit or wire.
• Teachable costs $39 a month on Starter with a 7.5% transaction fee, or $89 a month on Builder with 0%, plus card processing of 2.9% plus $0.30 on US cards.
• Kajabi starts at $179 a month with no revenue share, which only makes sense once you have steady sales.

A marketplace like Udemy brings buyers, but it keeps 63% of every organic sale. Your own site keeps nearly everything, but you have to find every buyer yourself. Many teachers build an audience with live tutoring or a free channel on YouTube before launching a paid course. See the full course platforms section.

Professionals: mentoring and paid calls

If you teach a profession rather than a school subject, such as coding, design or career skills, mentorship platforms let you charge for 1-on-1 sessions. Codementor and MentorCruise are examples. Browse the mentorship section and the expert networks section for higher-rate paid calls.

First steps this week

1. Pick one lane: conversation (Cambly), language teaching (Preply or italki), school subjects (GoStudent, Superprof) or a course.
2. Check the eligibility rules for your country and age before you build a profile.
3. Record a 1 to 2 minute intro video in good light, speaking the language you teach.
4. Write a profile that names the exams, levels and goals you help with, not just "I love teaching".
5. Price your first lessons at or slightly below the going rate for your subject, then raise prices as reviews arrive. Work out what you keep after commission before you commit to a price.
6. Open more calendar slots than you think you need for the first two weeks, because availability affects how often you appear in search.
7. Set up a payout method early. If you live outside the US, read how to receive international payments with Payoneer or Payoneer vs Wise for freelancers.

What to avoid

• Anyone who asks you to pay to get a teaching job. Preply, italki, Cambly, Outschool and Superprof are all free to join. A "placement fee", "training kit" or "registration deposit" asked for over chat or email is a warning sign.
• Buying an expensive certificate before you know there is demand. Preply offers its own free Language Teaching Certification course, and Cambly needs no certificate at all.
• Taking students off the platform against the rules. Marketplaces can close your account for it, and you lose the payment protection and reviews that bring new students.
• Overpayment tricks. A "student" who sends too much money and asks for the difference back is running a known scam.
• Assuming the headline rate is your pay. Preply's first trial with each student pays nothing, and Udemy's organic sales pay 37%. Do the maths before you set prices.

Sources

• Preply Help: Preply commission model
• Preply Help: Register to teach on Preply
• Preply: Become a tutor
• Preply Help: How to withdraw your earnings
• italki Help: How does italki charge a commission
• italki Help: How do I get paid and what's the withdrawal fee
• Cambly: Become an English tutor
• Outschool: Teacher earnings and payments policy
• Outschool: Teach on Outschool
• Outschool: Becoming an educator on Outschool
• Superprof: Become a private tutor
• GoStudent: Tutor benefits and earnings
• Varsity Tutors: Tutoring jobs
• Tutor.com: Apply to tutor
• Udemy: Instructor revenue share
• Udemy: Instructor payment overview
• Skillshare: When and how do I receive payments
• Teachable: Pricing
• Kajabi: Pricing