Preply Commission Explained: What Tutors Actually Pay in 2026

The Real Cost of Teaching on Preply in 2026

Preply's commission structure isn't complicated — but it is expensive. And the way it's designed means new tutors (the ones who can least afford it) pay the highest rates.

If you're already on Preply, thinking about joining, or weighing it against other platforms, this article gives you the exact numbers. No spin, no vague language — just the maths.

Preply's Commission Tiers

Preply uses a sliding commission scale based on total hours taught on the platform:

Hours Taught	Commission Rate	Your Take on a $35 Lesson	Annual Loss (80 lessons/mo)
0-49 hours	33%	$23.45	$11,088
50-199 hours	25%	$26.25	$8,400
200-399 hours	22%	$27.30	$7,392
400+ hours	18%	$28.70	$6,048

Key point: These are per-lesson commissions. Every single lesson, including recurring sessions with long-term students you've been teaching for months, is subject to this commission.

What This Looks Like Over Time

Let's follow a tutor charging $35/hour who teaches 20 hours per week (roughly 80 lessons per month):

Months 1-2 (33% tier):

• Gross earnings: $2,800/month
• Preply's cut: $924/month
• Your take-home: $1,876/month

Months 3-4 (25% tier):

• Gross earnings: $2,800/month
• Preply's cut: $700/month
• Your take-home: $2,100/month

Months 5-6 (22% tier):

• Gross earnings: $2,800/month
• Preply's cut: $616/month
• Your take-home: $2,184/month

Month 7+ (18% tier):

• Gross earnings: $2,800/month
• Preply's cut: $504/month
• Your take-home: $2,296/month

Total commission paid in Year 1: Approximately $8,200 — and that's assuming you hit the lowest tier as fast as mathematically possible.

The Trial Lesson Policy: 100% Commission

This is the part that catches new tutors off guard.

Preply takes 100% of your first lesson with every new student. Not 33%. Not 50%. One hundred percent.

If a student pays $35 for a trial lesson, you receive $0.

Preply frames this as covering their "student acquisition cost" — they spent money on Google Ads and social media to bring that student to the platform, and your trial lesson is how they recoup that investment.

The Maths on Trial Lessons

If you get 4 new trial students per month (common for active Preply tutors):

• Revenue from trials: $140 (4 × $35)
• Your earnings from trials: $0
• Lost income per year from trials: $1,680

Add this to your regular commission, and a first-year tutor at $35/hour is paying $9,000-$10,000 to Preply annually.

When Trial Lessons Hurt Most

The trial policy disproportionately hurts tutors who:

• Teach specialised subjects (exam prep, business language) where the trial lesson is their best showcase
• Have high conversion rates — the better you are at converting trials, the more free lessons you give Preply
• Charge high hourly rates — a $60 trial lesson is $60 of free work, not $35

There's a second-order effect worth noticing: every student who churns has to be replaced through another $0 trial lesson. High churn doesn't just cost you the student — it resets the acquisition tax. Retention quietly determines how expensive Preply really is for you.

Hidden Costs You Don't See in the Commission Rate

Payment Processing Delays

Preply doesn't pay tutors immediately after a lesson. Here's the timeline:

1. Student pays Preply → Preply holds the money
2. Lesson completed → Preply starts a waiting period
3. 5-day withdrawal window → You can request a payout
4. Payment processing → 1-3 additional business days

From lesson to bank account: typically 7-10 days. If you're used to next-day payments, this delay means your cash flow is always a week behind your work.

Minimum Withdrawal Threshold

Preply requires a $30 minimum balance before you can withdraw. For part-time tutors doing a few lessons per week, this can mean waiting weeks to access your money.

Currency Conversion Fees

If you set prices in USD but your bank account is in GBP or EUR, you'll face currency conversion fees during withdrawal. Preply uses PayPal, Payoneer, or Skrill for payouts — each with their own conversion rates, which are typically 2-4% worse than the mid-market rate.

Additional cost on a $1,000 withdrawal for a UK-based tutor:

• PayPal conversion fee: ~$25-40
• Payoneer conversion fee: ~$20-30

This doesn't show up in the "commission rate" but it's money you're losing.

The Algorithm Tax

This isn't a financial cost, but it's real: Preply's search algorithm determines how many students see your profile. Factors include:

• Response time (you're penalised for slow replies)
• Acceptance rate (declining students hurts your ranking)
• Online availability (more "Priority Hours" = better visibility)
• Review ratings
• Lesson completion rate

If your ranking drops, your student flow drops. You end up optimising for the algorithm rather than for your teaching quality — and that's a cost measured in stress and autonomy.

Your Actual Hourly Rate After Commission

This is the number that matters. When someone asks "how much do you make on Preply?" — this is the honest answer.

Listed Rate	Tier 1 (33%)	Tier 2 (25%)	Tier 3 (22%)	Tier 4 (18%)
$20/hr	$13.40	$15.00	$15.60	$16.40
$30/hr	$20.10	$22.50	$23.40	$24.60
$35/hr	$23.45	$26.25	$27.30	$28.70
$40/hr	$26.80	$30.00	$31.20	$32.80
$50/hr	$33.50	$37.50	$39.00	$41.00
$60/hr	$40.20	$45.00	$46.80	$49.20

A new tutor listing at $35/hour actually earns $23.45/hour. That's the reality.

And remember — this doesn't include trial lessons ($0/hour), payment processing delays, or currency conversion. The effective rate is even lower.

Commission Comparison: Preply vs. Other Platforms

Platform	Commission	Trial/Intro Policy	Payment Speed	Min. Withdrawal
Preply	18-33%	100% first lesson	5+ days	$30
italki	15% flat	No trial fee	2-3 days	$30
Verbling	15% flat	No special policy	Weekly	$20
Cambly	Fixed rate (~$10.20/hr)	N/A (platform sets rate)	Weekly	$20
Wyzant	25% flat	No trial fee	Weekly	$25
Superprof	€0-29/month subscription	No commission per lesson	Direct payment	None

For a fuller breakdown of each option, see our comparison of Preply and italki alternatives.

When Preply Commission Is Worth It

Let's be fair: Preply does provide genuine value in specific situations.

Worth the commission:

• You're brand new with zero students and no online presence. Preply's student traffic gives you a starting point.
• You teach a rare language where organic discovery is difficult. Preply's search function surfaces niche tutors.
• You want to test tutoring before committing to it as a career. Low stakes, instant access to students.

Worth re-examining:

• You have 10+ regular students and a full schedule. The commission is now buying you acquisition you may not need.
• You get referrals or organic enquiries. Students finding you through Instagram, Google, or word of mouth signal you could grow a direct channel alongside the marketplace.
• You've been teaching for years with a stable roster. Recheck what the percentage is actually buying.

The Break-Even Question

How many new students per month does Preply bring you that you couldn't find independently?

If the answer is more than 2-3 and they become long-term students, the commission is doing its job as a customer-acquisition cost. If Preply is mostly maintaining students you'd keep anyway, you're paying a steep rate for a booking system — and it's worth running the numbers on the alternatives, or on independent booking tools (Cal.com or Calendly plus Stripe runs roughly 3% in payment fees).

One caution if you do diversify: build your direct pipeline with new students, not Preply's. Soliciting students you met on Preply to book outside the platform violates its terms of service and risks your account. The sustainable route is separate channels growing in parallel.

The Cheaper Lever Nobody Talks About: Churn

Here's the calculation that changes how the commission feels.

A regular student at $35/week is worth about $1,800 a year. Lose them at the intermediate plateau — the point where progress stops feeling visible and motivation dips — and replacing them costs you another $0 trial lesson, weeks of schedule gaps, and the new-student conversion lottery.

Against that, the difference between Preply's 25% and 18% tiers on the same student is about $250 a year. Retention moves your income more than commission tiers do.

That's the problem TutorLingua works on. It's not a Preply alternative — it runs alongside whatever platform you teach on. You set focused homework for your existing students in about two minutes; they practise through short games between lessons; both of you see exactly what moved this week. Students who can see their progress are students who keep booking — which, on Preply's economics, also means fewer $0 trials just to stand still.

Bottom Line

Preply's commission is one of the highest in the tutoring industry: 18-33% on regular lessons and 100% on trial lessons. A tutor earning $35/hour takes home as little as $23.45 — before payment delays and currency conversion.

For new tutors with zero students, it's a legitimate starting point: the commission is a customer-acquisition cost, and Preply genuinely delivers customers. For established tutors, the honest move is to recheck the trade every six months: what is the percentage buying you now?

And whichever way that calculation lands, the bigger lever on your income is the one inside your control: keep the students you already have.

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Teaching on Preply? See how TutorLingua homework games help your students stick past the plateau →