Preply alternatives for teachers: the sums, the rules, and what to check before you move
This page is written by a platform that would like you to teach on it, so read it with that in mind. Every Preply figure below links to Preply’s own page, and the section on what we are worse at is the one to read most closely.
The short version: Preply publishes its commission clearly, its Terms let you teach elsewhere as well, and they do not let you take its students with you. So the sensible question is usually what to add alongside Preply, not whether to leave it.
What Preply publishes
Preply’s commission page says the commission on every trial lesson with a new student is 100%. For later lessons it charges between 18% and 33% of your hourly rate, depending on the total hours you have taught on the platform: 33% for new tutors and 28% after 20 hours. Trial lessons count towards those hours.
Its own example: on $10 an hour, a new tutor receives $6.70 for each lesson other than a trial, and a tutor past 400 hours receives $8.20.
Preply’s reasons, in fairness: the page says a large part of the commission goes on bringing students to the platform, and that the 100% on trials lets it offer students a free replacement if a trial does not suit, which it says makes them more willing to book.
The sum for your first 20 hours
Preply gives the rate. What it does to your first weeks depends on how many of those hours are trials, because a trial pays you nothing and still uses up your time. Here it is at $20.00 an hour and 33%, which leaves $13.40 for a paid hour.
| Trial hours out of 20 | Paid hours | You receive | Per hour taught |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 20 | $268.00 | $13.40 |
| 4 | 16 | $214.40 | $10.72 |
| 8 | 12 | $160.80 | $8.04 |
| 12 | 8 | $107.20 | $5.36 |
The number of trials here is our assumption, not a Preply figure, and a trial shorter than an hour costs you less time than this sum counts. Yours will differ: put in your own rate and your own count of trials. Before withdrawal fees.
Trials are not simply lost money. A student who stays pays you for many lessons, and if most of yours stay, this table matters much less to you than the rate after 20 hours.
What Preply’s Terms let you do
Three passages of the Terms of Service (updated 25 November 2025) decide how a move can work.
You may teach elsewhere. The Terms say tutors “may and, in fact, are expected to” do other work “including with Preply’s competitors if desired”, provided it does not breach the Terms.
You may not take Preply’s students with you. Section 3.4 has tutors agree not to provide tutoring services to Students outside the Preply Platform, or take or solicit payment from them directly. Section 27 bars using the service to solicit for any other business.
A breach can cost you your balance. Section 14 says that if Preply terminates an account for a breach, it may withhold funds remaining on the account.
So do not tell a student you met on Preply to follow you here, and we will not ask you to. Bring students you found yourself. This is our reading, not legal advice.
Five things to compare
1. The rate on students you bring. Preply’s commission page describes one scale by hours taught, and its referral page offers a $25 reward when a new user you invited subscribes. Neither page describes a lower commission for a student you brought. Wyzant charges 0% on students you refer yourself, and we charge 5%.
2. Whether the first lesson pays. See the table above.
3. What happens to your visibility. Preply’s Tutoring Standards Policy hides a profile from search if, over 90 days, a tutor has 5 or more absences, 40% or more of lessons rescheduled at short notice, or 20% or more cancelled. It applies from 5 bookings in 90 days, and only changes the tutor starts count. Your existing students can still book you.
4. How the money reaches you. On Preply’s withdrawal page, PayPal charges 2% up to $20 and Skrill 1%, and bank transfer through Wise shows its fee before you confirm. Check what works in your country on any platform, including ours.
5. Whether the platform has students. A lower percentage of nothing is nothing. Ask any platform, including us, what it can honestly say about students in your language.
The full table for Preply, Wyzant and KoloLingo is on the fee comparison. If you are also on italki, its rules differ: see italki alternatives.
What KoloLingo offers, and what we are worse at
15% commission after payment processing fees, and 5% after those fees on students you bring yourself, fixed at booking. Your tier never changes your rate. There is no trial mechanic, so the first lesson pays like any other. You set your prices and lesson lengths, and you are paid to your own Stripe account or in USDT or USDC on Polygon.
We have just launched. We cannot promise you students yet, and on this Preply is plainly ahead of us. That is what its commission pays for.
Payouts are done by hand while the platform is new, one request at a time, so ours are not automatic.
We have no track record. The lowest-risk version is to keep what fills your calendar on Preply, and use us for students you find yourself.
Questions teachers ask
- What commission does Preply charge tutors?
- Preply's own commission page says the commission on every trial lesson with a new student is 100%. After that it charges between 18% and 33% of the hourly rate, depending on total hours taught: 33% for new tutors and 28% after 20 hours. Trial lessons count towards those hours.
- Am I allowed to teach on other platforms while I am on Preply?
- Preply's Terms of Service, updated 25 November 2025, say tutors may and are expected to do other work, including with Preply's competitors if desired, provided it does not breach the Terms.
- Can I move my Preply students to another platform?
- Preply's Terms say a tutor will not provide tutoring services to Students outside the Preply Platform or take payment from them directly, and that Preply may withhold funds left in an account it terminates for a breach. Read the Terms before you do anything with a student you met on Preply, and bring only students you found yourself.
- What does KoloLingo charge?
- 15% commission after payment processing fees, and 5% after those fees on students you bring yourself. Your tier never changes your rate, and there is no trial mechanic. We have just launched, so we cannot promise you students yet.
Every Preply figure on this page was read on Preply’s own pages on 6 November 2026. Found something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it where you can see the correction.