Preply vs. italki vs. Cambly: Which Is Best For You?

The world of online English teaching has exploded in the past decade. Whether you're a qualified teacher looking for flexibility, a backpacker hoping to earn while traveling, or someone exploring a career shift into remote education, there's never been a better time to get started.

With dozens of platforms out there, three names consistently stand out: Preply, italki, and Cambly. They’re among the most popular and accessible ways to start teaching English online—but they’re not all the same.

Each platform offers a different balance of freedom, structure, income potential, and student experience. Some are better for casual conversation, others for structured lessons. Some give you full control over pricing and content, others handle everything behind the scenes. That’s why choosing the right platform isn’t about finding “the best one”—it’s about finding the right fit for your lifestyle, teaching style, and goals.

Let’s break them down.

Platform at a Glance: Quick Comparison Table

Here’s a snapshot of how Preply, italki, and Cambly stack up across key factors:

Entry Requirements and Application Process

Each platform has a different barrier to entry, and how you get started can make or break your early momentum.

Cambly

Cambly is the most beginner-friendly of the three. No degree, teaching experience, or certification is needed. You just record a short intro video, fill out a brief profile, and if approved, you can start taking calls almost immediately. It's great for casual conversation-based work or getting your feet wet in online teaching.

italki

italki splits teachers into two categories: Community Tutors and Professional Teachers. Community Tutors need to be native or C2-level speakers but don’t need formal credentials. Professional Teachers must submit proof of a degree and a TEFL certificate, plus experience. The application process includes a short intro video, ID verification, and onboarding quizzes. It's more involved than Cambly, but the earning ceiling is much higher.

Preply

Preply lands somewhere in the middle. No degree or TEFL is strictly required, but they strongly recommend both. You’ll create a profile, upload documents, and pass approval—followed by teaching a mandatory unpaid trial class with every new student. The onboarding is relatively quick, but the trial class policy is a major point to consider.

Who’s it best for?

• Fastest access: Cambly (no experience needed)
• Best for certified teachers: italki Professional
• Best for mid-level tutors: Preply (if you’re comfortable doing unpaid trials)

Pay, Commission, and Earning Potential

Your income as an online English teacher depends heavily on the platform you choose, your teaching style, and how much you’re willing to hustle.

Cambly

• Pay Rate: $0.17/min ($10.20/hr) for adults; $0.20/min ($12/hr) for Cambly Kids
• Commission: None — you earn what’s listed
• Trial Lessons: No unpaid trials
• Notes: Steady weekly pay via PayPal. Great for filling spare hours, but not ideal for full-time income seekers.

italki

• Pay Range:
  • Community Tutors: $5–$25/hr
  • Professional Teachers: $8–$80+/hr
• Commission: Flat 15% on all lessons
• Trial Lessons: Optional and discounted (but paid)
• Notes: You keep control over your pricing and lesson packages, and no commission on trial classes is a big win. Experienced tutors can scale income significantly.

Preply

• Pay Range: Typically $10–$40/hr depending on profile strength and niche
• Commission:
  • 100% on trial lessons (you earn nothing for the first lesson with a new student)
  • 33% starting commission, which drops to 18% as you teach more
• Trial Lessons: Mandatory and unpaid
• Notes: The unpaid trials can be a major hurdle. However, tutors with strong profiles and good retention can build solid long-term income.

Bottom Line

• Best for quick, low-commitment income: Cambly
• Best for setting your own price and scaling up: italki
• Best for volume-based earnings with long-term students: Preply (if you can stomach the unpaid trials)

Lesson Style and Teacher Control

How much you enjoy teaching online will often come down to how much freedom you have — or want — in the lesson format.

italki

Gives you near-total autonomy. Whether you're doing IELTS prep, grammar drills, casual chat, or business English, you choose your niche and price. This makes italki ideal for tutors who enjoy crafting custom lessons or marketing their own teaching brand.

Preply

Blends tutor freedom with gentle nudges toward structure. You create your own lessons, but Preply offers suggested topics and templates — especially useful if you're new or want to save time. Some tutors use the classroom tools heavily; others ignore them completely.

Cambly

Completely free-form. For adult learners, it's mostly spontaneous conversation. You chat with students from around the world with little or no prep. Cambly Kids provides a set curriculum, but it’s still much lighter than traditional classroom plans.

Best fit by teaching style:

• Planners / Curriculum Creators: italki or Preply
• Conversational / Improvisers: Cambly

Student Demographics and Demand

Understanding who you’ll be teaching helps set expectations—and can make your experience more enjoyable.

Cambly

Cambly’s student base is largely made up of adults seeking to improve conversational fluency. You’ll speak with learners from the Middle East, Latin America, and East Asia. Many are professionals or university students practicing English for career growth or travel. Because Cambly allows drop-in lessons, student commitment varies—but it’s perfect for casual chats with interesting people around the world.

italki

As a truly global platform, italki attracts students from over 150 countries, studying over 100 languages. English learners range from casual speakers to highly motivated test-prep clients. You’ll find a wider age range here, from teens to retirees. The key difference is intent—many students on italki are serious about structured improvement and willing to invest long-term in their tutor relationships.

Preply

Preply is most popular in Europe, Latin America, and parts of Asia, especially among adult learners and teenagers preparing for exams or professional interviews. Expect students to be slightly more goal-oriented than on Cambly, often expecting grammar help, structured lessons, or test-specific strategies. It's a good fit if you're comfortable balancing conversation with light structure or academic focus.

Matching Your Teaching Style

• Casual, travel-friendly vibe? Cambly.
• Niche teaching or test prep? Preply or italki.
• Long-term student growth? italki leads the pack.

Teaching Experience and Long-Term Growth

If you’re thinking beyond short-term income, each platform offers a different path to grow and evolve as an online educator.

italki

This is the most dynamic platform for teachers who want to build a brand and grow a loyal student base. With customizable lesson types, strong review visibility, and the ability to promote specialties, italki is great for long-term income. You can also raise your prices over time, making it viable as a serious freelance teaching career.

Preply

Growth on Preply is tied to student satisfaction and response time. The more 5-star reviews and completed hours you log, the more your profile is shown to new students. There’s no built-in pay raise system, but you can adjust your rate at any time. Tutors who stay active, respond quickly, and deliver good lessons tend to see steady calendar growth.

Cambly

While Cambly is fantastic for beginners or side gigs, there’s limited room for career progression. Rates are fixed, and while you can gain regular students, there’s no bonus system or path to raise earnings significantly. That said, many teachers use Cambly alongside other platforms or while traveling to keep income flowing without stress.

Career Takeaway

• Serious about growing a full-time online teaching brand? italki.
• Want steady volume with some growth? Preply.
• Just dipping your toes in or need flexibility? Cambly.

Flexibility, Scheduling, and Lifestyle Fit

One of the biggest draws of teaching online is the freedom it gives you over your time. Whether you’re balancing travel, another job, or simply want to work on your own terms, how each platform handles scheduling can make a big difference.

italki

You set your own availability and students book in advance. There are no minimum hours or shifts, which makes it ideal for long-term travelers, freelancers, or part-timers. You can pause your profile when needed and reopen it later—great for digital nomads or teachers with irregular schedules.

Preply

Preply also gives you full control of your calendar, but it places more emphasis on quick response times and reliability. Canceling or rescheduling too often can affect your visibility and ranking. This is perfect for people with a semi-stable routine or those who treat online teaching like a proper freelance job.

Cambly

Cambly stands out with its standby system—you log in and receive instant calls from students around the world. There’s no need to pre-schedule anything, which is amazing for spontaneous teaching or people who can only work in small windows. Cambly Kids requires scheduled bookings, but the adult platform is as flexible as it gets.

Best Fit by Lifestyle

• Always on the move? Cambly wins for drop-in sessions.
• Part-time freelancer or structured remote worker? Preply or italki offer more control.
• Juggling other commitments? All three can work—just choose the level of prep and structure that fits you.

Platform Tools, Support, and Resources

Behind the scenes, each platform provides different tools to help you teach effectively and manage your students. Some go deep with analytics and lesson planning—others keep it bare-bones so you can just show up and chat.

italki

italki offers solid tools for independent teachers. You get:

• A whiteboard, text chat, and file sharing
• Lesson tags to highlight your specialties
• Custom lesson types and packages
• In-platform messaging and student tracking These features make it ideal for tutors who want to build a system around their teaching.

Preply

Preply leans into support with:

• Pre-made lesson plans for English tutors
• Student progress tracking
• A CRM-like dashboard to help with messages and follow-ups
• A mobile app for easier schedule management This is helpful if you're newer to teaching or want structured materials without building everything from scratch.

Cambly

Cambly keeps things simple:

• No lesson plans or formal tracking
• A minimal dashboard for logging in and taking calls
• Recordings of past sessions for quality review It’s great if you don’t want to fuss with tech or admin—just log on, talk, and get paid.

Tech Needs vs. Simplicity

• Need teaching aids and growth tools? italki and Preply have the edge.
• Prefer quick-start, no-frills teaching? Cambly keeps it minimal and easy.

Pros and Cons Breakdown (Side-by-Side Table)

Choosing the Right Fit: Use-Case Scenarios

There’s no one-size-fits-all, but here’s how each platform might suit different types of teachers:

• New TEFL grad with no experience?
  Cambly gives you a fast start. You can build confidence in casual conversation classes while earning right away—no degree, TEFL, or interviews required.

• Professional teacher wanting control and higher pay?
  italki lets you price your lessons based on experience and customize everything, from structure to student type. It's ideal for long-term growth and brand-building.

• Digital nomad needing part-time work while traveling?
  Cambly’s drop-in, work-anytime model is the easiest to fit into a changing schedule. Just log on when you can and take calls.

• Career changer looking to build an online presence?
  Preply provides tools, student feedback, and visibility algorithms to help you grow fast. You’ll learn to market yourself while developing teaching skills.

• Non-native teacher with C2 fluency and TEFL?
  italki and Preply both welcome strong non-native teachers. If you’re ready to hustle and compete, they offer real potential. Cambly is limited to native speakers only.

Final Thoughts

No single platform is perfect for everyone. Your teaching style, background, and lifestyle will shape what “best” looks like for you.

Want structure and tools? Try Preply.
Crave autonomy and global reach? italki might be your match.
Prefer something casual and instant? Cambly is as easy as it gets.

Many teachers test a few platforms before settling in. Start with the one that fits your current lifestyle—and grow from there.

👉 Explore our in-depth guides:

• Teach English Online with Cambly
• Teach English Online with italki
• Teach English Online with Preply
• Full Guide to Teaching English Online