Preply Pricing in 2026: Tutor Fees, Commission, and What You'll Actually Earn

Your hourly rate on Preply isn't what you actually earn.

While tutors can set their own rates, their actual earnings depend on a few factors: 

• Commissions
• Trial lessons
• Student retention
• Subject demand

If you're considering teaching on Preply, understanding its pricing model will help you maximize your income. In this guide, we cover how Preply pricing works for tutors, how the commission model affects earnings, what influences the rates tutors can charge, and the key factors to consider before joining the platform.
‍

Preply Pricing at a Glance

How Preply's Pricing Model Works

Preply follows a marketplace model where tutors create a profile for free and set their own hourly rates. 

Students book lessons based on tutor profiles, reviews, availability, and hourly rate, and make a payment to Preply. Preply takes a commission from each lesson and processes the remaining payment to the tutor.

Student → Books Tutor → Pays Preply → Preply deducts commission → Tutor receives payout
‍

Preply Pricing Commission Explained

Preply earns revenue by taking a commission from tutors' lesson earnings. This means the hourly rate you set isn't the amount you receive after every lesson.

New tutors start with a 33% commission, and the rate gradually decreases as they teach more hours on the platform. The lowest commission tier is 18%, which is available after reaching higher lifetime teaching hours.

Here are the commission rates for different tiers based on the overall number of teaching hours of tutors:

So, if you charge $30 per hour and are in the 33% commission tier, you'll receive approximately $20.10 before any applicable taxes or payment processing fees. 

As your commission drops to 18%, your earnings from the same lesson increase to $24.60.

What About Trial Lessons?

Trial lessons follow a different pricing policy. Preply retains 100% of the trial lesson fee, meaning tutors don't receive payment for a student's first trial lesson.

The platform positions trial lessons as an opportunity to understand a student's goals, assess their level, and demonstrate your teaching approach. Because of this, many experienced tutors focus on converting trial students into long-term learners who begin earning from regular lessons.

Why This Matters

Preply's commission model rewards tutors who consistently teach and retain students over time. However, when evaluating your earning potential, it's important to look beyond your advertised hourly rate. Your actual income depends on factors such as: 

• Your current commission tier
• The number of regular students you retain
• How effectively you convert trial lessons into ongoing subscriptions
  ‍

How Much Can Tutors Charge on Preply?

One of Preply's biggest advantages is pricing flexibility, where tutors set their own hourly rates. You can adjust your pricing as you gain more experience, receive positive reviews, or specialize in high-demand subjects.

What tutors charge depends on several factors that we’ve discussed below. 

The Subject Taught

Hourly rates vary widely across subjects. 

Tutors teaching general English may compete in a larger marketplace and might have to differentiate themselves with competitive pricing.

Those offering specialized subjects such as digital SAT, ACT, corporate finance, advanced mathematics, or physics often charge higher rates based on demand and expertise.

Here’s the difference in Preply pricing for an English tutor and a Corporate Finance tutor:

Experience and Qualifications

Tutors with formal teaching credentials, certifications, advanced degrees, or several years of experience generally position themselves at higher price points. 

New tutors, on the other hand, often start with lower rates to attract their first students and gradually increase pricing as they build their profile.

Here’s the pricing difference between a professional and non-professional profile:

Reviews and Student Success

As tutors build credibility through completed lessons and satisfied students, many choose to increase their hourly rates. Therefore, positive reviews and a strong teaching record can significantly improve a tutor's visibility on Preply. 

Here’s an example of how reviews and success stories affect your Preply pricing:

Market Demand

Demand also plays a role in pricing. 

Tutors teaching exam preparation, professional certifications, or niche subjects may have greater flexibility to charge premium rates than those in highly competitive categories. Take the following tutor for example:

What Affects Your Earnings on Preply?

Setting your hourly rate is only one part of the equation. Your actual earnings on Preply depend on several factors. Understanding these factors can help you price your lessons strategically and maximize your income over time.

• Hourly Rate: Your hourly rate directly influences how much you earn per lesson. While higher rates can increase your income, they also need to remain competitive for your subject, experience level, and target audience. 
• Commission Percentage: Preply deducts a commission from every paid lesson. The lower your commission tier, the more you keep from each lesson.
• Number of Active Students: A tutor with a steady roster of active students typically earns more than someone relying on occasional bookings. 
• Student Retention: Since tutors don't earn from trial lessons, converting trial students into regular learners is one of the biggest factors affecting long-term earnings. 
• Profile Visibility and Reviews: Your profile's visibility influences how often prospective students discover your services. Positive reviews, completed lessons, profile quality, and consistent activity can improve your chances of receiving new bookings. 
  ‍

What Tutors Get with Preply

Beyond connecting tutors with students, Preply provides a range of built-in tools for tutors to help manage lessons and daily teaching activities, like:

• Tutor Profile: Every tutor receives a public profile where they can showcase their teaching experience, qualifications, subjects, languages, availability, and student reviews. A well-optimized profile plays a significant role in attracting new learners.
• Scheduling and Calendar: Preply includes an integrated scheduling system that lets tutors set their availability, manage bookings, and automatically adjust lesson times across different time zones. Students can book available slots directly through the platform.
• Virtual Classroom: Lessons are conducted through Preply's built-in online classroom, eliminating the need for separate video conferencing tools. Tutors can teach, communicate, and share learning materials within the same platform.
• Student Messaging: Tutors can message prospective and existing students before and after lessons to answer questions, discuss learning goals, and maintain communication throughout the learning journey.
• Payment Processing: Preply handles lesson payments and payouts, so tutors don't need to manage invoicing or payment collection themselves. Earnings are credited after the platform deducts the applicable commission.
• Learning Resources and Tutor Support: Preply also offers resources designed to help tutors improve their teaching business, including onboarding materials, webinars, teaching tips, and community resources.
  ‍

Where Preply Works Well

Preply is a strong option for:

• New Online Tutors: If you're new to online tutoring, Preply offers an easy way to get started. You can create a profile, set your availability, and begin attracting students without investing in your own marketing or technology.
• Independent and Freelance Tutors: For tutors teaching independently, Preply combines student acquisition, scheduling, communication, and payment processing into one platform. This reduces the administrative work involved in running one-on-one online lessons.
• Testing the Market: Tutors launching a new subject or expanding into online teaching can use Preply to validate demand before investing in their own tutoring business. The marketplace makes it easier to understand what students are looking for and how different subjects are priced.
• Building Experience and Reviews: Preply can also help tutors establish credibility. As you complete more lessons and receive positive reviews, you can strengthen your profile, improve visibility in search results, and gradually increase your hourly rates.
  ‍

Where Preply Starts Limiting Growth

Preply is designed to help individual tutors connect with students, but as your teaching business grows, some limitations become more apparent, like:

• Commission on Every Lesson: Preply deducts a commission from every paid lesson, even after you've built a loyal student base. While the commission rate decreases as you teach more hours, it remains an ongoing cost that directly impacts your earnings.
• Marketplace Dependency: Most student discovery happens within Preply's marketplace. Your visibility depends on factors like profile optimization, reviews, pricing, and platform algorithms. This means your ability to attract new students is closely tied to how you perform within the marketplace.
• Limited Branding Opportunities: Tutors can personalize their profiles, but the overall learning experience remains under the Preply brand. If you're looking to establish your own tutoring business with a unique identity, customization options are limited.
• Difficult to Scale Beyond Solo Tutoring: Preply works well for individual educators, but it isn't built to operate a tutoring company or coaching institute. Features for managing multiple tutors, organizing student batches, creating structured courses, or running an entire education business are limited compared to dedicated tutoring platforms.
• Limited Business Operations: As your business grows, you may need capabilities beyond scheduling and virtual lessons. You’ll need more tools for learning management, assessments, detailed reporting, student lifecycle management, and administrative controls. These are typically priorities for tutoring businesses rather than individual tutors.
  ‍

How EdisonOS Helps Tutors Scale Beyond Marketplaces

Preply is a great platform for finding students and starting your online tutoring journey. However, as your student base grows, many tutors begin facing the challenges mentioned above. At this stage, you're no longer just teaching; you're running a tutoring business.

That's where EdisonOS comes in. 

Unlike Preply, which is a tutor marketplace, EdisonOS is an all-in-one platform built for tutoring businesses, coaching centers, and test prep providers. It gives you complete control over your brand, students, and operations, making it easier to scale without relying on a marketplace.

With EdisonOS, you get:

• White-label platform: Build a fully branded learning platform that gives students a consistent experience under your own name instead of a third-party marketplace.
• Assessment creation (BYOT): Create custom assessments using your own question bank or EdisonOS's library, reducing assessment creation time from hours to minutes.
• Bulk question uploads: Upload thousands of questions at once using Excel, making it easy to digitize and organize your existing content.
• AI question extraction: Convert questions from PDFs and images into editable digital assessments, eliminating manual data entry. 
• Digital test interface: Simulate official exam environments with tools like calculators, highlighters, timers, flagging, interactive graphs, and other exam-specific features to help students practice under realistic conditions.
• Live classes and study plans: Schedule live sessions, assign homework, and organize structured learning plans from a single platform.
• Detailed performance analytics: Track scaled scores, skill analysis, time analysis, question analytics, and progress reports to identify learning gaps and personalize instruction.
• Skill trend reports: Monitor how students perform on individual skills across multiple assessments, making it easier to measure long-term improvement.
• Public assessments: Share assessments through a public link for diagnostic tests or lead generation, helping you attract prospective students before they enroll.
• Parent reports and session logs: Keep parents informed with automated progress reports while using session logs to better understand student performance and engagement.

Start your free EdisonOS trial and discover how you can build, manage, and scale your education business, all from a single platform.
‍

Preply vs EdisonOS: Which Is the Better Fit?

Preply and EdisonOS serve very different purposes. Here’s a quick comparison:

Is It Time to Move Beyond Preply?

Preply is a great choice for independent tutors who want to start teaching online and connect with students through an established marketplace. However, if you're building a tutoring business, managing multiple tutors, or want complete control over your brand and student experience, a dedicated platform offers greater flexibility and long-term scalability.

EdisonOS gives you everything you need to grow your education business, from white-label branding and assessments to live classes, student management, and detailed analytics, all in one platform.

Book a free demo to see how you can grow your tutoring business on your own terms.
‍

Frequently Asked Questions About Preply Pricing

Is Preply free for tutors?

Yes. Tutors can create a Preply profile and join the platform for free. Instead of charging an upfront fee, Preply earns money by taking a commission from lessons taught.

How much commission does Preply charge tutors?

Preply charges 100% commission on trial lessons. For regular lessons, commission starts at 33% and gradually decreases to 18% as tutors teach more hours on the platform.

Can tutoring businesses use Preply?

Yes, but Preply is primarily designed for individual tutors. Tutoring businesses that need features like white-label branding, multi-tutor management, assessments, and advanced reporting may find dedicated tutoring platforms better suited to their needs.

When should tutors move from Preply?

Tutors should consider moving away from Preply when they're ready to build their own tutoring business, manage multiple tutors or student batches, and want full control over their branding, operations, and student experience.

Is EdisonOS a better option for tutoring businesses?

For tutoring businesses and coaching centers, yes. EdisonOS offers a white-label platform with assessments, live classes, student and tutor management, analytics, and reporting, making it easier to scale beyond the limitations of a tutor marketplace.