How to Become a Preply Tutor: Requirements and Pay

Figuring out how to become a Preply tutor is fairly straightforward. Deciding whether the platform is worth your time takes a closer look.

Preply gives tutors access to a student marketplace, booking tools, and payment processing, but it also takes a share of lesson earnings. Trial lessons, regular commission, preparation time, and withdrawal costs all affect how much you actually keep.

Before you apply, it is worth checking whether you meet the requirements, how the application works, and whether Preply’s payment structure fits the amount of time you can realistically give it.

What Is Preply and How Does Tutoring Work?

Preply is an online tutoring marketplace where students search for tutors by subject, specialty, language, availability, and lesson price. After your profile is approved, students can view it, message you, or book a trial lesson.

You choose your listed rate and available teaching times. Preply handles the booking, payment, and online lesson systems, then adds eligible lesson earnings to your Preply balance after the lesson is completed and confirmed.

By handling bookings, payments, and lesson tools, Preply offers one way to use online tutoring as a side hustle without managing every part of the arrangement independently.

Creating a profile gives you access to the marketplace, but it does not guarantee approval or regular bookings. Students still decide which tutor to choose, and demand varies by subject and availability.

Preply Tutor Requirements: Do You Need a Degree or Experience?

You must be at least 18 years old to apply as a Preply tutor. You also need a computer, reliable internet connection, webcam, and microphone suitable for online lessons.

Preply currently says you do not need a specific teaching certificate or previous teaching experience to apply. Formal education and relevant credentials can still help demonstrate your background.

That does not mean subject knowledge is optional. You still need to teach accurately, explain ideas clearly, and describe your experience honestly. Education, certifications, or teaching experience can strengthen your profile, but they do not guarantee approval.

Preply reviews each application individually, so meeting the basic requirements is only the starting point.

How to Apply to Become a Preply Tutor

Preply’s application is also the profile students will see if you are approved. Tutor registration currently needs to be completed through the desktop website rather than the mobile app.

1. Create Your Account

Sign up and add the basic information Preply requests.

2. Upload a Profile Photo

Use a clear, recent photo that follows Preply’s current image guidelines.

3. Add Your Education and Certifications

Include any relevant degrees, teaching certificates, or subject qualifications you can verify. These are not required for every tutor, but they can help explain your background.

4. Write Your Profile Description

State what you teach, the level you work with, and the kind of support you provide.

For example, “I help intermediate English students prepare for workplace conversations” is more useful than “I am a passionate English teacher.”

5. Record Your Introduction Video

The video gives students an early sense of how you communicate. Keep it focused, easy to understand, and consistent with your written profile.

6. Set Your Availability, Time Zone, and Rate

Add teaching hours you can maintain, confirm your time zone, and choose the lesson rate shown on your profile. Remember that the listed rate is before Preply’s commission.

7. Submit the Application

Check that the profile is complete and accurate, then submit it for review. Preply currently says applications are usually reviewed within five business days, with the decision sent by email.

Why a Preply Tutor Application Can Be Rejected

Submitting a complete profile does not guarantee approval.

Preply says an application may be declined when:

• The profile does not follow its current requirements
• There is limited student demand for the subject
• The applicant is based in a location where tutor registrations are restricted
• The applicant does not meet the minimum age requirement

Some problems, such as a missing detail or a profile that does not follow the guidelines, may be avoidable. Others, including subject demand and location restrictions, are outside the applicant’s control.

A rejection therefore does not always mean you lack the knowledge to tutor. It may simply mean Preply is not currently accepting that subject or location.

How Preply Trial Lessons and Commission Work

Preply does not charge tutors to create a profile, but it takes a commission from lessons booked through the platform.

Trial Lessons

The first lesson with each new student is a trial. The student pays for it, but Preply currently keeps 100% of the lesson price, so the tutor receives no earnings from that session.

You still spend time meeting the student, discussing their goals, and planning what future lessons could cover. The trial only starts producing financial value for you if the student decides to continue.

Regular-Lesson Commission

For lessons after the trial, Preply currently deducts between 18% and 33% of the listed rate. New tutors begin at 33%, and the percentage decreases as they complete more teaching hours on the platform.

For example:

This means the rate shown on your profile is not the amount you receive. That difference becomes important when you calculate the return from all the time spent teaching, preparing, and communicating with students.

How to Estimate Your Real Preply Earnings

The amount shown on your profile is only the starting point. What matters is how much remains after Preply’s commission and how much total time the work takes.

Start with the earnings from regular lessons:

Then subtract any direct costs connected to receiving or delivering the work:

Suppose you complete four regular one-hour lessons at a listed rate of $15 while paying the 33% new-tutor commission:

• Listed lesson payments: $60
• Preply commission: $19.80
• Lesson earnings before other costs: $40.20

The four paid lessons do not tell the whole story. If you also spend one hour on a trial lesson that produces no tutor earnings and another hour preparing or answering student messages, the work has taken six hours in total.

This is only an illustration. Your result will depend on your listed rate, commission tier, number of trial lessons, preparation time, bookings, and withdrawal method.

Tracking those figures gives you a more useful picture than judging the opportunity by the lesson price alone.

How Preply Tutor Payouts Work

After an eligible lesson is completed and confirmed, the earnings move into your Preply balance. From there, you choose one of the withdrawal methods available in your account.

Preply currently supports bank transfer through Wise, Wise, PayPal, Payoneer, and Skrill. The options, fees, withdrawal limits, and currency-conversion costs can vary by location and method.

You also need to complete identity verification before withdrawing earnings for the first time.

The best option is not always the fastest transfer. A fixed fee can take a noticeable share of a small withdrawal, while exchange rates and percentage-based charges matter more in other cases.

Check the current methods, fees, and limits in your account before deciding how often to withdraw.

How Scheduling and Cancellations Work on Preply

You choose the times students can book through your Preply calendar, so the availability you publish needs to match hours you can realistically protect.

Preply lets tutors set booking-notice periods and control how far ahead lessons can be reserved. Keep those settings realistic enough to leave time for preparation.

If you need to cancel, Preply currently requires tutors to do so more than 12 hours before the lesson begins. Once fewer than 12 hours remain, cancellation is no longer available from the tutor side, although the lesson can still be rescheduled when you and the student agree on another time.

Block time off as soon as your plans change so students do not reserve a lesson you can no longer teach.

How Students Find Tutors on Preply

Students can search for tutors by subject, specialty, language, availability, and lesson price. From the results, they can open a profile, send a message, or book a trial lesson.

Your profile needs to answer a simple question quickly: “Is this tutor a good match for what I need?”

A student should be able to understand:

• What you teach
• Which level or goal you focus on
• What kind of help you provide
• When you are available
• What the lesson costs

Specific wording helps. “Business English for interviews and workplace conversations” tells a student more than “Friendly and experienced English tutor.”

Reviews and completed lessons can give students more context, but no profile change guarantees bookings. Demand, competition, price, timing, and student preference all play a part.

Is Preply Worth It for Tutors?

Preply may be worth trying when you want access to an existing student marketplace and prefer having bookings, payments, and lesson tools in one place.

The financial side matters just as much as the convenience. The platform is more likely to work for you when the amount left after trial lessons, commission, preparation, and withdrawal costs still supports the income you are aiming for.

It may be a weaker option when you need predictable bookings, want to keep the full lesson price, or prefer setting your own policies outside a marketplace.

Before committing a large part of your schedule, estimate the return from a realistic number of lessons and trial sessions. The listed rate alone does not show whether the arrangement will be worthwhile.

Frequently Asked Questions

PennyRoute Editorial

PennyRoute Editorial creates beginner-friendly guides on budgeting, saving, and everyday money habits. Our goal is to make personal finance easier to understand with clear explanations, realistic examples, and practical steps.