The full review
What is Preply?
Preply is an online marketplace connecting learners with independent tutors for live one-on-one lessons, with language instruction at the core. The vendor reports more than 100,000 experienced tutors from over 180 nationalities covering upwards of 120 subjects. English dominates the roster, followed by Spanish, Chinese, French, Arabic and Japanese.
What separates Preply from a fixed-curriculum app is the marketplace model underneath. Tutors publish profiles, set their own hourly rate, and teach inside the Preply virtual classroom, while the platform handles discovery, scheduling, payment and progress tracking. That structure explains the wide spread in lesson prices and puts the quality decision squarely in the learner's hands.
How lessons and subscriptions work
The how-it-works page lays out three steps: find a tutor, book a 25- or 50-minute trial lesson in the virtual classroom, then subscribe to a plan sized by weekly hours. Preply describes plans running from one to five hours a week, billed every 28 days rather than on a calendar month.
Preply states that plans can be adjusted, paused or cancelled at any time, and that one week of unused hours rolls into the next cycle. The trial carries a stated safety net too: learners who are not satisfied can request a full refund or switch tutors at no charge.
Finding the right tutor on Preply
Discovery is where Preply earns its keep. The English tutors directory lets you filter by price per lesson, availability, country and speciality, and each profile carries an intro video, verified reviews, years of experience, active student count and total lessons taught. Badges help as well: listings carry Super Tutor, Professional or New tutor labels, though the directory page itself does not explain the criteria behind them.
Preply also publishes average rates broken out by tutor nationality and by native versus non-native speaker status, a genuinely useful budgeting aid before you commit.
Live instruction is only part of what Preply sells now. The Preply Classroom is the dedicated lesson space, Lesson Insights summarises each session with guidance on what to improve next, and Daily Exercises deliver short personalised drills you can run from a phone. Preply's own Efficiency Study, cited on the how-it-works page, claims learners progress 3x faster than typical learning timelines, based on learners who took 24+ lessons over 12 weeks; that is a vendor figure, not an independent finding.
Preply Business for teams
Preply Business repackages the same tutor network for corporate training across 60+ languages. Managers get an admin dashboard covering engagement, completion and attendance alongside CEFR proficiency assessments, so budget holders can see movement rather than guess at it. SSO, automated provisioning and LMS integration support larger rollouts, and the vendor cites SOC-2 certification and GDPR compliance. Pricing is quote-based via a demo request.
Teaching on Preply
The supply side is worth understanding before booking. Preply tells prospective tutors they choose their hourly rate and can change it whenever they like, with no minimum commitment or fixed schedule, backed by a smart calendar and the interactive classroom. Preply is also open about taking all trial lesson revenue and a commission starting at 33% that falls toward 18% as tutors accumulate hours.
Who should choose Preply
Preply suits learners who want a real person on the other end of the call, a schedule that bends around work, and freedom to swap tutors until the fit is right. It is strong for conversational fluency, exam preparation, accent work and job-specific vocabulary, while Preply Business fits distributed teams needing reporting attached to training spend.
It is a weaker fit for self-directed people who prefer a structured, gamified curriculum at a flat monthly price, since quality and pacing vary from one tutor to the next. Anyone unwilling to vet profiles and trial a couple of candidates will get less from Preply than the platform can actually deliver.
Strengths
- Enormous supply — 50,000+ tutors across 180+ languages and subjects, in most time zones
- Genuine price flexibility: rates from budget community tutors to certified professionals
- Solid built-in classroom (video, chat, files, homework) with no third-party tools needed
- Paid trial is de-risked — an unsatisfactory trial is credited toward another tutor
Watch out for
- Marketplace quality varies widely; a good fit can take several trials to find
- Unused lessons expire at each 28-day renewal instead of rolling over
- No transparent flat price — total cost depends entirely on the tutor you pick
- High tutor commissions (up to 33%, 100% on trials) draw persistent tutor complaints and can affect retention
Key features
| Feature | What it does |
|---|
| Tutor marketplace with filters | Filter tutors by price, availability, specialty, native/non-native status, and rating; each has intro video and reviews |
| Preply Classroom | Built-in video calling, chat, file sharing, and vocabulary/homework tools; lessons run in-browser |
| Subscription lesson plans | Choose lessons per 28-day cycle (min 4); reschedule, change tutor, or cancel between cycles |
| AI and self-study add-ons | AI conversation practice, placement checks, and progress tracking supplement live lessons |
How Preply compares
| Alternative | How it differs |
|---|
| italki | Closest rival; pay-as-you-go language tutor marketplace with no forced subscription and large tutor pool |
| Cambly | On-demand English conversation with native speakers; simpler flat subscription, English-focused |
| Lingoda | Structured group and 1-on-1 language classes with a fixed curriculum and set monthly pricing |
Frequently asked questions
Is Preply free, and what will I actually pay?
Creating an account and messaging tutors is free. You pay per lesson at your chosen tutor's rate — averaging about $10–$15/hr but ranging from roughly $3 to $40+/hr — billed as a plan of at least 4 lessons every 28 days.
What happens if my trial lesson goes badly?
The trial is paid, but if you're not satisfied Preply credits the amount back so you can book a trial with a different tutor. Note that regular (non-trial) lessons have limited refund options, so vet tutors during the trial.
Preply ratings on other platforms
Independent user ratings from third-party review sites, linked here for transparency.
These are not our editorial score, are captured on the date shown, and may have changed since.