Head to head
Preply vs italki: two tutor marketplaces compared
Both are marketplaces: you pick a tutor, pay per lesson, and the platform takes its cut. The comparison is about terms, not features. Preply publishes a price filter for its listings; italki publishes no platform-wide range at all, only each teacher's own rate. That difference decides how the two show up in every table on this site.
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Side by side
| As published | Preply | italki |
|---|---|---|
| CEFR levels stated | not stated | not stated |
| What it is | Tutor marketplace: Marketplace of private tutors, booked and paid per lesson | Tutor marketplace: Marketplace of professional and community tutors, priced per lesson |
| Per month at annual billing | sold per lesson | sold per lesson |
| Monthly plan | sold per lesson | sold per lesson |
| Lifetime plan | none | none |
| Per lesson | $3 to $50 per lesson | not published per lesson |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Languages offered | 90 | 104 |
| Speech recognition | Not stated | Not stated |
| Live tutoring | Preply (the whole product is 1-to-1 tutoring) | italki (the whole product is 1-on-1 lessons; Group Class also sold) |
| Offline mode | Not stated | Not stated |
| Placement test | Not stated | Yes |
| Refund or trial | Paid trial lesson; up to 2 free trial replacements per account if the trial did not meet expectations or the tutor did not attend | Discounted trial lesson with a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee: up to two credit refunds on trial lessons if the teacher did not show up or did not meet expectations, requested within 48 hours |
| Platforms | iOS, Android, Web | iOS, Android, Web |
| Company | Preply Inc., United States | italki HK Limited, Hong Kong |
Which one, for whom
You want to know the price range before you look
Preply
Preply's English tutor listing showed a price filter of $3 to $50+ per lesson on the read date, with the top open-ended, and individual tutor cards state a rate per 50-minute lesson. italki publishes no range; its teacher cards state figures such as "Lessons start from USD 10.00" per teacher. This site therefore records italki's price as not published, not because it is expensive but because the vendor gives no platform-wide number.
You want a placement test and a trial you can walk away from
italki
italki states a placement test and a discounted trial lesson with a satisfaction guarantee: up to two credit refunds on trial lessons if the teacher did not show up or the lesson did not meet expectations. Preply's entry point is a paid trial lesson with up to two free replacements if the trial did not meet expectations or the tutor did not attend. Both protect the first lesson; italki adds the placement test.
You are learning a language most apps do not carry
Either, and check the listing
Preply states 90 languages; italki's about page gives two different floors for its count, so this site records it as not published. Marketplaces reach further than course apps because a single tutor is enough to list a language, so for a less-taught language, search both listings before deciding.
You want a budget you can predict
Neither, unless you buy a package
Per-lesson pricing means the monthly cost is whatever you book. Two lessons a week at a mid-range rate costs more per month than any subscription app in this dataset; one lesson a week at the low end costs about the same as a course app's monthly plan. Decide the lesson count first, then compare the total against the subscription apps, not the other way round.
Every published plan
Preply
| Plan | Billing | Price | Per month | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price per lesson (English tutors)This is the price filter range Preply publishes on its English tutor listing today; the top of the range is open-ended ("$50+") so $50 is a floor for the high end, not a cap. Individual tutor cards on the same page state a rate per 50-minute lesson, e.g. "$42 / 50-min lesson". Ranges differ by language; only the English listing was read. | Per lesson | $3 to $50 | per lesson | one tutor, one lesson |
italki
| Plan | Billing | Price | Per month | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per lesson (teacher sets the price)italki publishes no platform-wide price range. It publishes a per-teacher figure instead: the homepage teacher cards read "Lessons start from USD 10.00", "USD 12.00", "USD 15.00", "USD 5.00", "USD 8.00" and "USD 7.00"; the English tutor listing shows per-teacher trial prices such as "USD 5.00/trial" and "USD 18.00/trial". These are individual teachers' rates read today, not a published range. | Per lesson | not published | per lesson | one teacher, one lessonNo price range is published: the teacher-search price control is a collapsed filter with no visible bounds, and every figure on the site is attached to one named teacher |
Questions people ask
Is Preply cheaper than italki?
It cannot be said from what the vendors publish. Preply's English listing shows a $3 to $50+ per-lesson filter; italki publishes no platform-wide range, only per-teacher rates. Compare the tutors you would actually book.
Do Preply and italki have free trials?
Neither has a free tier. Preply's entry is a paid trial lesson with up to two free replacements; italki's is a discounted trial lesson with a satisfaction guarantee covering up to two credit refunds.
Which has more languages?
Preply states 90. italki's own about page gives more than one figure, so no count is recorded for it here. Both list far more languages than any course app because one tutor is enough to list a language.