I tried Preply for the first time in 2017. It has improved a lot since then. Now, I’m using it again to learn Thai.
There’s a lot to unpack in this Preply review, from how to book your first trial, things to know about the subscription plan, the features, my experience, pros and cons, etc.
Preply is one of the best online tutoring platforms for personalized language learning, offering access to over 100,000 tutors across 96 languages and many other subjects. The platform is easy to use, affordable, flexible, and packed with features like built-in classrooms, AI-powered learning tools, tutor filters, and customized lessons.
The trial lesson system is useful for finding a tutor that matches your learning style, and the subscription model works well for learners who want consistent weekly lessons.
However, the biggest downside is that Preply does not offer a true one-time lesson option after trials. You must subscribe to a monthly plan, which can be frustrating for people with irregular schedules or those who only want occasional classes.
Overall, this Preply review finds the platform excellent for committed learners who want structured progress, but less ideal for students who prefer booking single lessons on demand.
It’s an online tutoring platform and marketplace that lets you find and connect with over 100,000 tutors from 180+ countries for personalised one-on-one lessons.
It was founded in 2012 (launched in April 2013) in the US by Kirill Bigai (CEO), Dmytro Voloshyn (CTO) and Serge Lukyanov (no longer part of the active leadership).
Preply is widely known for language learning and currently offers 96 languages. The countries (with the most learners) that use Preply the most are the US, UK and Spain.
Currently, it has four global hubs: Kyiv, Barcelona, New York and London.
The top five most popular languages are;
Here’s the list of the 96 languages.
Other subjects that are equally popular are;
Here’s the list of all 77 subjects, grouped categorically.
It’s one of the leading platforms for a reason. Watch these learner stories and learning insights.
As of writing, it has;
Let’s talk about what’s on the dashboard one by one, starting from the top left, right and down.
This menu leads to the explore tutors page, where you have the options to filter out a few things to find your preferred tutors. More about this on the ‘How Does It Work’ section below.
It leads you to your dashboard.
There are 3 columns. The first is the list of all the people who message you, or vice versa. The second (middle) is the content of your messages. The third is the details of the person (teacher) and the Subscribe and Enter classroom buttons.
Here you’ll find your balance, upcoming lessons, past lessons, the calendar and tutors you’ve booked with.
If you’ve been taking lessons in multiple languages, you’ll see a dropdown under ‘Your subjects’, and the content will change depending on the language selected. There are 6 menus below it. Choose whichever one you want to start with.
Under Vocab, there are vocabulary, words and collections. Under Tests & quizzes, you can take the Placement test.
Under Library, there are lesson topics, grammar reference and general English and business English. As you can see, there’s a lot to keep me busy.
I’m not sure if the content will be the same for all English learners, though. When I click on the Grammar Practice – Upper-Intermediate [B2] – B2 Grammar Quiz 1, I have the option to either do self-study exercises or a live lesson, which involves booking a tutor to learn about the exact exercise.
You can connect to your Google Calendar if that’s vital to you. Double-check everything, especially these;
This menu lists all the tutors you have trials with and subscribe to.
Get your own referral link to invite your friends and earn that credit.
Change the language of the site to another language (only 16 languages available) and currency (BRL/ GBP/ EUR/ PLN/ UAH/ USD).
It will open your messages in a pop-up style.
It brings you to the Help page.
On the find tutors and an individual tutor’s page, there’s a heart icon where you can save a tutor(s) to your ‘Save to my list’. Those you liked will be saved here.
It’s where all your notifications are.
A list of some of Preply’s menus.
This brings you to Preply’s business language training page.
It features the latest tutor you had a trial with. Below is the Keep learning and Subscriptions section.
Clicking it will pop up the Help Center and Contact Us menu.
There are three simple steps. Let’s break them down. I’ll use Thai as an example.
Preply provides nine options (excluding the language) to filter and narrow down the results. Those options are;
The lowest is $3. The highest is $40.
I leave it by default (any country). Just because a Thai person was born outside of Thailand doesn’t mean he/she isn’t good.
Set your preferred times and days.
Those specialties are just scratching the surface. More details will be stated on each of the tutors’ pages.
Make sure your chosen tutor(s) also speak the language you’re speaking. For example, I want my Thai tutor to speak English.
Turn this on if you only want native speakers to be shown. In my experience (outside Preply), non-natives are great too.
I’ve never turned on either of these. I’ve tried a tutor that’s both professional and a super tutor, a tutor that isn’t a super but professional and a tutor that isn’t both.
In case you’re wondering what a super tutor is, read this.
You can’t select multiple options at once. I usually don’t bother with this.
If you know a tutor by name, use this. Though I’m pretty sure it won’t be easy because so many people have the same first and last name.
After all the filters are set, you’ll see something like the above image: the results. Three things I always do are watch the introductory video, read the profile and send a message.
By watching the video and reading their profile, you get to know what they are like, their teaching style, their expertise, etc. If, after doing that, you still have questions, don’t hesitate to message them.
TIP: Always message a tutor before booking. Ask whatever you want to avoid any inconvenience, so you know what to expect in the trial.
Here are a few things to take note of in the tutor’s profile;
If you’re in the process of shortlisting tutors, click the Save to my list menu on the right side for future reference. If you like the teaching style of a particular tutor and want to share the link, click the Share tutor.
In some tutors' profiles, you’ll see other recommended tutors in the ‘you might also like’ section. I checked that out too. I eventually found my third tutor that way.
Look at your tutor’s schedule and choose your time slot. Then, it brings you to the checkout page. Double-check everything, especially the ‘checkout info’ at the bottom. There’s a 25-minute or 50-minute option with its own price. By default, it’s set to 50 minutes.
Next, select your payment method and click the ‘book lesson and pay’ button. On my end, it only shows debit/credit card, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Read here to know more about the others.
After booking and paying for the trial, you’ll be directed to a personalization page where you will answer a few questions (which will be shared with the tutor) so the tutor can tailor the lessons to your learning needs.
You can skip it, though. These are the questions.
You don’t have to wait for the actual day to enter the classroom. After you pay for the trial, there will be a link to the classroom on your dashboard. If you can’t find it, no worries. You’ll receive an email with the link.
You’ll also see the button to the classroom when you’re in chat mode with that tutor. Use the link to familiarize yourself with the Preply classroom. Test your microphone and camera while you’re at it.
After the actual study session ended, you’ll be prompted to rate and leave a review of your tutor and an option to subscribe to more lessons. If you have the session outside of Preply, for example, Google Meet, you’ll be asked to confirm if the session took place.
Preply isn’t free. It uses a monthly subscription model. Meaning, if you want to continue using the same tutor after the trial, you must subscribe to him/her. The price depends on what each tutor sets. You have five options to choose from, and they are flexible.
Your cards will be charged every 28 days to refill the lessons you chose, so you have to schedule/reschedule and do all the lessons. Otherwise, it will be lost. If you just want to pause and not cancel your subscription, you can do that too.
Sounds confusing? Check this out. Hopefully, it will clear things up.
Preply started incorporating AI in 2016 through their ‘machine-powered tutor–learner matcher’. And no, it’s not replacing the tutors. Those exercises in the Learn section are one of them. I imagine it’s only going to get better going forward with this $150 million in funding.
I asked one of Preply’s digital PRs regarding the AI tools. Here’s her reply
“In 2023, we expanded our use of AI specifically to support tutors, introducing tools and insights designed to help them better understand learner needs, personalize lessons, and improve retention and outcomes.
Building on this foundation, we continued integrating AI more directly into the learning experience, culminating in 2025 with the launch of a broader suite of AI-powered features, such as lesson insights, daily exercises, and scenario-based practice, designed to enhance personalization while keeping tutors at the center of the learning journey.”
If you’re currently an active university student, you can get a 15% discount on your first monthly subscription payment. The only thing you need is a valid university email address. Read here to know more.
If you’re learning English and want to know where your level is, at least grammar-wise, take this 20-minute test.
This is a fun activity to figure out how many words you know. Whatever score you got, take it with a grain of salt.
If you’re interested in being a teacher at Preply, this post describes the process and the things you need to know. In Preply, you don’t have to solely wait for students to come to you. Why not start by checking out this posting list?
I’m not sure how up-to-date it is because they don’t exactly show how long the job has been posted (the date) or the deadline, etc.
It has been lovely so far. Everything is smooth from booking the trials to attending the classes. All the trials I had done were 50 minutes.
However, during the lessons, even 50 minutes felt like 30. Next thing I knew, my tutor said time’s up 😂 How I wish we could have just skipped the ‘get to know you’ introduction.
Oh well.
Since I’m currently learning Thai and am a beginner, I told my tutors that I don’t mind learning from scratch. I also told them I wanted to learn the alphabet and a few common words. They tailored the trials to that (also included history about Thailand and the language), which I was grateful for. I got to practice all four skills.
TIP: A few tutors usually mention on their profiles what they will teach in the trials. In case they don’t, send them a message before booking.
I can see a clear contrast between my tutors. One is both a professional and a super tutor. The other is not.
The former didn’t want me to focus much on pronunciation and tones, but encouraged me to speak freely. The latter taught me the right pronunciation and tones. She even gave feedback while encouraging me to keep trying.
I prefer knowing the correct pronunciation and tone right off the bat because I know it will be challenging to fix them later. This is the beauty of the trials. You get to see their teaching styles.
Even though I’ve been learning Thai for 3 years, I've actually learned a lot in the classes. Those questions that have been bothering me for a while, they clarified them easily.
I wanted to book a single/one-time lesson for six consecutive days because that’s the only free time I have in a month, where I can spend at least an hour and a half to two hours a day attending an online class.
Those six free days aren’t fixed. It could be at the beginning of a month, in the middle or at the end.
To my surprise, Preply doesn’t have such an option because of its subscription-based nature. I don’t mind having to book and pay for each day separately, though.
When I asked the support, they told me I could subscribe and pause. The problem is, say I choose one lesson per week. I can only do one out of four weeks. What should I do for the remaining weeks?
Here are the answers from the Digital PR Specialist, along with other questions.
If I keep rescheduling them, it’s a never-ending cycle unless I cancel. Heck, even I’ll lose count and confuse which is which. So, it’s not ideal for me.
Anyway, I can’t say much about the trials’ outcome because the real deal happens during the second class onwards. For now, I’m going to keep doing the trials until I find a tutor that matches my learning style. Hopefully, by then, Preply will add the single-lesson option.
Wishful thinking, I know.
Honestly, I feel bad having to explain to every tutor that I won’t be able to subscribe because of my situation. They are going to think I’m not serious or gaming the trials.
The number of tutors on Preply is huge, especially for popular languages. If you’re not a language learner, there are other subjects as well.
Providing an option of professional and non-professional tutors isn’t necessarily bad. Students can choose based on their budget. The price is very affordable.
When I browse for tutors, sometimes I get messages from a few of them. Some include my name, and some don’t. Those who don’t, I guess it’s an automatic message they set up prior. Either way, it feels nice. I see it as an initiative to reach out first and a friendly gesture. And yes, I’m planning to have trials with a few.
Whatever your goal, your tutor can create a personalized lesson tailored to your needs. If you’re looking for a more curriculum-based approach, Preply isn’t the place.
Preply has its own easy-to-use built-in classroom. You don’t have to use Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, etc. However, if you or your tutor wants to use it, you can. Just don’t forget to confirm it so your tutor will get the payment.
We can enter the classroom days before the class. It saves time, so we don’t have to learn about how to use it during the actual day, like finding where certain buttons are and whatnot.
If you’re not satisfied with a tutor after a trial, you can try another for free.
After the trial, your tutor will share the next steps. If they don’t, you can request. This is a great feature. As a ‘Judging (J)’ type myself, having a structured and detailed plan is perfect.
The subscription plan is great for people who like having weekly lessons to stay accountable and make progress at their own pace.
The schedule is flexible. You can change the duration, change the tutor, pause, resume and cancel. When you change a tutor midway, your remaining balance will be transferred to the new tutor and will be deducted based on that tutor’s price.
You aren’t limited to using just the web. They also have an app.
Under My lessons – Schedule lesson, there’s an option for single lessons.
It actually directs you to the monthly subscription.
Later on, I found out that such an option isn’t available. What’s up with that? It’s misleading.
It’s frustrating how you can’t book a single lesson. You’re stuck with the subscription. Though it’s easy to manage, it can be a hassle. Preply should have an option for people who can’t commit to a weekly lesson.
With this option, those on a tight budget or schedule can pay for the lesson they can only do instead of paying all up front.
I don’t know why Preply removed the 25-minute and 50-minute options on a tutor’s calendar. I like it there because that was literally the first thing I clicked, even before looking at the time slot.
Of course, you can still see it in the checkout info, but I feel like the steps should be in this order: select the length, pick the time slot, double-check and pay. You may find it petty for me to complain about it, but I favor an easy User Experience (UX).
I was shocked to find out that tutors don’t get paid for the trials. They only get paid from the second class and beyond, and even that has its own commission level.
Here’s an article outlining the commission model.
I asked my tutors for their views on that. They are okay because Preply has done the heavy lifting of bringing students to them, and they don’t have to do marketing.
Most of the reviews and forums I read, students typically don’t have problems with tutors, but dislike the system and support. Some people say the Trustpilot reviews are rigged. Feel free to check its Reddit to see the real insights into the platform, both from students' and teachers’ perspectives.
When I asked for help from support, I was directed to an AI agent first. It only asked if I wanted to be connected to a human agent when it couldn’t find the solution.
Such a waste of time.
My question was a simple yes or no, but we went round in circles. I even had to correct it because it gave me wrong info. I mean, how did you train your agent?
Preply is a decent platform for learners to find an online language tutor for a customized lesson at a reasonable price with a flexible schedule. If only they offered a single lesson option, I could see myself using it for a long time.
What I realized from the one-on-one lesson versus self-study is that I genuinely think I could make fast and significant progress if I’m consistent. Not that I’m in a hurry, but if you are, I recommend you give it a try.
Get 70% discount on your first trial by clicking the button below.
Have any of you experienced using Preply? If so, how did it go? Share with us in the comments below.
Craig Lockley says:
Great review. I’ve been teaching English on Preply since May 2016 and have met many lovely , dedicated students.
If Skype is a problem, I recommend Hangouts or Zoom, both can an effective alternative.
Meina says:
Hey Craig. It’s good to know. Could you give me the link to your Preply profile? Hangout can be a bit slow sometimes. I’ve never heard of Zoom. I’m definitely going to check that one out. Thanks for the recommendation.
Craig Lockley says:
Sorry I never saw this! My Preply profile is https://preply.com/en/tutor/23518/
I see you found my blog as you were kind enough to comment.
I find Hangouts video to be slow at times too, though I use it as text chat in lessons if I’m teaching in Skype, and a way to connect all my students in one group outside of class. Zoom is pretty awesome as it’s stable, has good screen sharing options and can record sessions, ideal for students wanting to go back and listen to the class.
Meina says:
I just reciprocated what you did 🙂 I like your blog and the way you explain the grammar is so easy to understand. I might refer to it sometime.
Based on the video testimonials, so far, I found Zoom to be the best alternative for Skype and it’s free too.
Craig Lockley says:
Thanks Meina, that’s very kind. If you haven’t already, why not sign up to my newsletter too?
I give a rundown of new blog posts and sometimes additional tips. I’m also working on a top secret course (shhh, don’t tell anyone ;)) so you can get updates on that too!
Meina says:
Ooh that sounds good. Will think about it 🙂
Psusennes says:
Currently going through it with preply.
1. I find the platform is a little saturated on instructors and in economic times like these where people want to work from home only, alot of instructors are hungry to take up all opportunities. So in for instance there is a portion at the top that says “Find Students”. In this portion you can find students who have posted on the board that they want a certain type of instructor etc. This seems like it would be great, but there’s only 1 problem – it’s not active! Meaning that whether the post was made 2 years ago or made just yesterday, it stays there. You have no idea if it’s active unless you actually reply to it and then get a notification that all further replies have been paused in submission. So it’s a habitual false advertisement on their end trying to make the platform look as if it has more opportunities than it does… (i could comment that this is an eastern European craftiness…. but let’s not go there)
2. The way that Preply takes it’s cut. ALL 1st lessons are pocketed by them, no matter what you are charging. Ok cool, the company has to make it’s money, but then after this all future lessons have a sliding scale that decreases over time from 33% to 16% and they say this is for member loyalty. This business model who be all well and good if 2 factors were in seamless play – 1. Students on the platform wanted to pay for a decently priced class and 2. The percentage shrunk faster. IT takes 400 classes before you get to 16% and So the larger the percentage is the less money you are making, then the Student ends up paying more because you want to make a profit after teaching for 1 hour. So in for instance when i have taught classes for $10 per hour, i get the 33% taken back until i teach more and dwindle it down by teaching more classes. Which if i want to break even and not teach a whole hour tutoring english remotely for $6.37 an hour, i have to raise my rates. Which of course will get my LESS students.
& 3. THE REAL Dilemma********
I was recently “HIDDEN from Searches” for missing a classes. This was due to the fact that I decided to test something and it worked a bit 2 well. I told myself, if this percentage won’t go down until i teach more classes, then i will just drop my rates to get more students and thus get to the 400 class quota for 16%. So i dropped my classes from $15 to $5. HOWEVER i completely forgot that my advanced notice from class booking was set to 6hours instead of 12. Within less than 2 days my vacant requests box that was scarce in populating but every 1 response every week and a half. Suddenly i got 11 replies of those 6 had already booked classes via insta booking. This was great, but then of course I do have a normal life and also would have to teach at least 1 class per student free with Preply pocketing, so if they didn’t rebook this it was only a partial benefit to me for knocking off the quota. So of course i started to do the classes that were scheduled, but then I noticed that I had missed attendance on 2 class that had booked in advance that I didn’t know about!. I wrote and apologized to the students then attempted to reschedule classes. 1 was successful and 2 had no response.
** Now Just yesterday 11/24/17**
I receive a notice that my account is being HIDDEN from search results by a “manager” Birgit. Making my plea and informing her of what happened, she stated that my account is being monitored to see about future sessions of not attending. Of course this is all well and good, because there should be consequences for not attending, however all my previous classes I was on time for which totals over about 13 (6 of those of course were free!) and received no complaints. So 1 hour later looking for answers with Chat support and being consistently FORWARDED to Birgit as the Authority over my CASE. (>_< ??????! ). I receive a reply from Birgit who had ignored my chat responses for 30 minutes after calling the company out and demanding evidence of all incidents and company policy. She states that the issue was for non attendance from classes, So i explained again in even further detail this misunderstanding on my part. So she said she would monitor it and watch my attendance rate. So then I requested the # of sessions or the time length that would have to pass before The block from search results was done. She pretty much said it will be very soon after we monitor it, which means WHEN we feel like it. WHAT the fuck are we DATING? Do you want roses? What kind of unprofessional response is that!
*** SO my decision temporarily***
1. I informed them of my future actions of what I would do if they didn't remove the block on my account since they didn't want to give me an actual TIME frame or number of classes.
2. I taught a total of 9 more scheduled classes within the last 2 days (which of course they pocketed all the money for, and was on time to them all.
3. I wrote back on my attendance and they have yet to respond with anything.
This did however definitely show me that of course most people who don't have the money to take english classes in person are going to Preply and sites like these. This is a great opportunity, but we are still in a capitalist world, where of course the people at the top still want to make more money and don't consider the situations of their customers, just the SIZE of the #'s coming into their accounts.
I am giving them till Sunday evening then, I am afraid at this RANDOM manager's decision, I will definietly be creating a video with my dissatisfaction as an instructor on the platform. OF course the 2 things that REALLY are bothering me, I won't bring into account are :
1. no one on the chat support are American / 2. I am African American and no one on chat support is a person of African descent /
Funny to have a platform that allows english speakers to teach english remotely abroad that isn't even owned by native english speakers. I am FAR from biased, well traveled over seas and have friends from all over living here in NYC. So I don't mean to lump up everyone one together, however poor responsiveness when mentioning my plea to multiple parties, all parties involved must take the fault. Your employees are the life and FACE of your company, the policies that are not in place will determine the actions that they legitimize, especially in crucial moments.
Sad story, especially with such a decent platform. I just wish you could actually contact upper management. When needed.
Meina says:
Hey Psusennes, so sorry to hear that.
I think I did come across the Find Students section (no date was shown) before when I was writing the review. When I check again today, you can actually see the date of when the post is posted, though not sure about the status. I’ll have to ask the support for that just to confirm it (will come back with the answer later).
Agree with the employees (the support team) being the face of the company. If a company is great but the support sucks then it sucks. That’s just how some people look at it.
Thanks for sharing your experience from a teacher’s point of view since I only wrote it from a student’s view.
Kevin says:
I found some great tutors from Preply, but their system prompts you to confirm that lessons occurred, when you have ALREADY told them it didn’t. If you don’t confirm, they keep sending you alerts until you confirm by mistake. A dishonest company I will never do business with again. Other companies, such as Spanishforgood.com are better choices
Meina says:
When you reached out to them about the error what did they say?
Adrian says:
Hello Meina! I´m Adrian, your online tutor. It was really fun and helpful to read your review. I will take into account your recommendations. I promise that since that time the quality and content of the lesson has improved 🙂 Regards
Meina says:
Hello, Adrian!
Very nice to see you here. Thank you for reading 🙂 I’d love to continue the lesson but time isn’t permitting. Hopefully, I get to see the improved lesson someday. Looking forward to that.
Adrian says:
You´re welcome! Great, I´m looking forward to it too. See you soon, Meina 🙂
Stefano Lodola says:
I teach on Preply. Their margins are outrageous. Italki is much better.
Meina says:
Hey, Stefano. I can’t say much about the teaching aspect because I’m only using it as a learner. But, I appreciate you leaving your feedback. This might help those who want to use it as their teaching platform. By the way, what language are you teaching?
Stefano Lodola says:
I also use Italki as a student. I prefer it to Preply also as a student because on Italki you can also find language exchange partners to teach each other for free. You can even post your homework on Italki and native speakers will correct it in a few hours for free.
I speak a few languages but I only teach my native language – Italian. I believe that languages should be learned from native speakers from day one.
Meina says:
I’ve heard about Italki many times but haven’t actually given it a try. I probably will when time permits. Few languages? That’s awesome! I just started learning Italian a week ago.
I agree with you to a certain extent. Learning directly from native speakers has its own pros and cons.
Mikita says:
preply – are scammers who say you can get a refund for unused classes and in fact they don’t. This service should be shut down.
Meina says:
Hi, Mikita.
I’m sorry to hear that. There has to be an explanation for this. What did the support say?
Rachel C says:
They double charge a lot of people! I thought it was only me, but I have some friends who were using the service (they have stopped now) and apparently they did this to them too! I guess they were hoping people wouldn’t notice so they can keep that money. That is disgusting!
Meina says:
I’m sorry to hear that, Rachel. I haven’t used Preply in a while so I’m not aware. Thank you for sharing with us. I appreciate it.