Preply vs italki for Teachers: Fees, Trials, Students

Preply rewards tutors who keep students for a long time; italki suits teachers who want a more predictable share per lesson and like to sell packages. On Preply you give up the whole fee for every new student’s first lesson and start with a high commission that falls as your hours increase. On italki the commission was long a flat 15 %; current teacher reports describe rates that vary by lesson type. Which platform leaves you with more money depends on how many students stay after the trial.

As of October 2026. Commission rules change; check the platforms’ teacher help pages before relying on any figure. All values below are in our fact-check log.

Fees side by side

	Preply	italki
Who sets the price	You	You
Trial lesson	Full fee of the first lesson with each new student goes to Preply	You set a trial price; check current commission rules for trials
Regular lessons	Commission by hours taught, falling from about 33 % to 18 %	Long a flat 15 %; reported 2025/26 model varies by single lesson or package
Packages	Learners usually book via subscriptions or lesson bundles	Packages of several lessons are common and are reported to carry lower commission
Profile types	One tutor profile	Professional teacher (with qualification) or community tutor

Preply’s commission tiers

Preply’s tier model, as described in its tutor help pages and widely reported by tutors in 2026:

Total hours taught on Preply	Commission
0–20	33 %
21–50	28 %
51–200	25 %
201–400	22 %
over 400	18 %

Trial lessons count towards your hours, even though you are not paid for them.

What this means in practice

Take an example lesson price of 25 (in any currency), purely to show the mechanics:

• Preply, new tutor (33 %): you receive about 16.75 per regular lesson, nothing for a new student’s trial.
• Preply, experienced tutor (18 %): about 20.50 per regular lesson.
• italki at 15 %: about 21.25 per lesson. At a higher rate for single lessons, correspondingly less.

The decisive factor is retention. If ten new students book a trial and three stay for months, Preply’s trial rule matters less over time. If you mostly teach short-term students, it weighs heavily.

These are example values, not market averages. Payout fees, currency conversion and taxes come on top. Our guide to setting your rates shows how to build a full calculation.

Getting accepted

Preply asks for a complete profile, an introduction video and a review before your profile goes live. A formal teaching certificate is not required for all subjects, but it helps your ranking with learners.

italki separates professional teachers, who upload proof of a teaching qualification, from community tutors, who offer informal practice. For languages with many applicants, especially English, italki has at times restricted new applications. Details and current requirements are on support.italki.com and Preply’s help centre.

Students and visibility

On both platforms your position in search results depends on factors such as response time, reviews, booking rate and availability. New profiles often get some initial visibility. Use it: open your calendar generously in your first weeks, especially at times your target learners are free.

Preply invests heavily in learner marketing, which can bring trial bookings quickly. italki has a long-standing community of language learners, many of whom book packages. Which platform brings more students in your language is something you can only find out by testing; many teachers run profiles on both at first.

Payouts

Both platforms pay out to electronic payment services and, depending on your country, to bank accounts or cards. Methods, minimum amounts and fees differ and change. Check what is available in your country and calculate conversion costs if you are paid in US dollars.

Which one should you pick?

Your situation	Leaning
You expect to keep students long term and teach many hours	Preply
You sell packages and want a steady share per lesson	italki
You are new and need students quickly	Test both, compare trial-to-regular conversion
You teach a language with fewer teachers	Check the listings on both, competition differs

Neither platform makes you an employee. Your income is self-employed income, see taxes for freelance online tutors. For a wider view including online schools, read tutoring platforms compared, and for your first steps, how to become an online language tutor.

The provider cards below link to both platforms. Their partner programmes, where available, relate to new learners, not to teachers.