Are you an online ESL teacher struggling to find students? If you’re tired of handling marketing, tech, and scheduling all on your own (but don’t want a company taking 40%+ of your earnings), a tutor marketplace platform could be a great option for you!
In this post, we’ll explore what tutor marketplaces are, their pros and cons, and help you choose the best platform to promote your classes in 2025. We’ve also carefully curated a list of recommended tutor marketplaces for online ESL teachers, so you can find the best one for you!
📌 Key take-home messages:
- Tutor marketplaces are websites where you can promote your online teaching services and set your own prices.
- Language-focused marketplaces have a large proportion of students interested in ESL classes, but may have higher competition resulting in lower average earnings.
- Subject-focused marketplaces offer potential to earn higher rates by targeting international students or offering subject-specific classes.
- Some marketplace platforms allow you to offer group classes or self-paced courses, to scale up your earnings.
- 20+ recommended platforms are listed and compared below!
🎁 Bonus: Want to keep even more of your hard-earned income? Scroll down further for a list of tutor directory sites (with 0% commission!) too…
💡What is a Tutor Marketplace?
Marketplace platforms such as Outschool or Preply (see lots more recommendations below!) are essentially websites where students can search for freelance teachers. As a teacher or online tutor, you simply create your profile, set your availability and pricing, and wait for students to sign up.
| Advantages of Tutor Marketplaces | Disadvantages of Tutor Marketplaces | |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Existing base of students to promote your classes to – no need to do your own marketing! | Can be competitive and difficult to stand out (resulting in a race-to-the-bottom on pricing). |
| Pricing | Set your own prices – charge what you’re worth! | Take a percentage commission, which can range up to 40%. |
| Teaching materials | Freedom to teach how you wish, without having to stick rigidly to a set curriculum. | Require you to plan your own lessons and teaching resources (don’t worry, the Abridge Academy curriculum can help!). |
| Tech | Provide the tech: tutor profile page, booking and payment system, messaging platform, virtual classroom, etc. | Limited potential to customise your tech setup, e.g. using your preferred teaching platform. |
| Customer support | Offer customer support, often including local agents who already speak your students’ language. | Customer support may side with the customer over you in refund situations. |
| Policies | Often more trusted by students than going to an independent teacher, as they know their payments are secure, there is a clear refund policy, all reviews are verified, etc. | Tutors are required to follow the marketplace’s policies, which may not align with your own preferences. |
| Hiring requirements | Tend to have lower hiring requirements for tutors than companies – e.g. accepting non-native speakers, teachers living abroad, tutors without a degree / TEFL certificate, etc. | Lower hiring requirements also means more competition from other tutors, who may be able to offer lower prices if they live in a lower cost of living country. |
Compared to working for a company, tutor marketplaces give you a lot more flexibility in terms of setting your own prices and teaching style, while still finding students for you and providing tech support. This makes it the perfect “middle ground” for online ESL teachers wanting to get started teaching independently but without setting up their own online teaching business.
Looking for teaching materials for your online classes?
One of the main fears many online ESL teachers have when going independent or teaching with a marketplace platform is having to make your own curriculum and teaching resources.
Don’t worry – the Abridge Academy curriculum is here to help! Save time lesson planning with our 500+ interactive, structured, and professional-looking lessons for teaching English online. Get started for FREE today →
Ready to explore your options? Keep reading for our list of the best tutor marketplaces for ESL teachers in 2025 – and find the platform that fits your goals best!
🌍 Language-Focused Online Teaching Websites
Some online tutor marketplaces such as Preply focus specifically on language learning, so have a high percentage of potential students interested in your classes and actively advertise in overseas markets. They often provide more support to students in their local language, may offer language learning community boards, and may accept tutors from a wider range of countries due to their international focus.
| Marketplace | Requirements | Commission | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AmazingTalker Language-focused marketplace for adults or kids, targeting students in Taiwan and Hong Kong. | 👍 Fluent in English 👍 1+ years teaching or tutoring experience | 8% – 38% | ✅ Strong tutor community and mentor system. ✅ Commission rate reduces by 1% per $100 earned. ✅ Specialise in niches such as business English, IELTS, kids, etc. | ❌ High commission rate initially. ❌ Difficult to stand out unless you charge low prices. |
| Classgap A European marketplace focusing mostly on language classes for adults and kids. | 👍 Fluent in English | 16% – 32% | ✅ Relatively quick to reach lower commission rates. ✅ Built-in custom virtual classroom platform. ✅ Recurring subscriptions system boosts student retention. | ❌ Take an additional 50% – 100% of your first class for students they find for you. |
| CafeTalk This Japanese company provides a platform primarily for adult language classes to students in Asia. | 👍 Age 20+ 👍 Native or near-native level of English 👍 TEFL or other teaching certificate | 15% – 40% | ✅ Internal marketing features, e.g. offer coupons or write blog posts. | ❌ High commission rate initially. ❌ Payments in Japanese yen, which currently offers a bad exchange rate. |
| italki One of the most well-known language marketplaces, italki has students and teachers worldwide. | Community tutor: 👍 Native or near-native level of English Professional tutor: 👍 TEFL or other teaching certificate 👍 Degree 👍 Teaching experience | 15% | ✅ Low commission. ✅ italki community for networking with language learners. ✅ 1:1 and group classes. | ❌ Rarely open applications for ESL teachers to join. ❌ Lots of competition, quite saturated marketplace. |
| Preply A popular online tutoring marketplace with adult and child learners worldwide, primarily focused on English classes. | 👍 Fluent in English | 18% – 33% | ✅ Recurring subscriptions system boosts student retention. ✅ Wide range of payout methods: PayPal, Payoneer, Skrill and Wise. ✅ Relatively high student numbers. | ❌ Trial lessons are unpaid (Preply takes 100% fee). |
| Skimatalk Focusing solely on English language classes for adults in Japan and Korea, Skimatalk is competitive to get hired but has potential for more experienced teachers. | 👍 Native English speaker | 20% | ✅ Minimum $16 / hour class price avoids race-to-the-bottom on pricing. ✅ 5% teacher acceptance rate ensures high teacher quality. | ❌ Your first three classes are unpaid. ❌ Stricter policies on teacher no-shows, cancellations or poor reviews. |
| VerbalPlanet VerbalPlanet is a less well-known language marketplaces focusing primarily on European students. | 👍 Fluent in English | 20% booking fee (added to your set price) | ✅ Request payouts anytime (minimum $10). | ❌ Teachers are strongly encouraged to offer free trials and discounts. ❌ 30 day payout delay. |
| Verbling A popular online language learning marketplace for teens and adults. | 👍 Native or near-native level of English 👍 Previous teaching / tutoring experience (with proof) 👍TEFL or other teaching certificate | 15% commission (plus 8% customer support fee) | ✅ Built-in classroom with excellent features. ✅ Flashcard system for students to review vocabulary outside of class. ✅ Internal marketing features: coupons, community forum. ✅ Weekly payouts. | ❌ Hiring periodically frozen. ❌ More complicated teacher onboarding process, including lengthy background checks. |
📚 General Tutoring Marketplaces (Subject-Focused)
Looking to offer subject-specific classes rather than general ESL, or tap into the lucrative international school market? Marketplaces such as MyTutor or Outschool are focused on a broader range of academic subjects or fun skill-based classes, allowing you to charge higher prices and stand out.
| Marketplace | Requirements | Commission | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LearnMate An Australian marketplace platform focusing on school subjects, skills coaching, and hobbies. | 👍 Qualified teacher / tutor / coach OR 👍 1+ year teaching experience | 23% – 30% plus Stripe fees | ✅ Payouts 3-5 days after lesson completion. ✅ High quality training courses. | ❌ Relatively small platform (less competition, but fewer students). |
| LessonPal (create an account first, then apply to teach) A very new, low-cost platform for online tutoring. | 👍 US resident | 10% | ✅ New and growing platform. ✅ Low fees. | ❌ Relatively small platform (less competition, but fewer students). |
| MyTutor One of the largest UK subject tutoring agencies, focusing on school subject classes and exam prep for teens. | 👍 UK resident 👍 Current university student or recent graduate 👍 Grade A in A level Maths, English or Science | 40% – 49% | ✅ Good numbers of students due to strong marketing campaigns. ✅ Select your own pay band. ✅ Schools tutoring side is very low-pressure. | ❌ New tutors usually start on their school’s program, and must be invited to the private tutoring side. ❌ High commission rates. ❌ Police background check fees deducted from tutors’ pay. |
| Outschool A group-class focused marketplace for kids and teens, with learners worldwide. | 👍 Resident of US / UK / Mexico / Canada / Australia / New Zealand / South Korea / Spain | 30% | ✅ Offer 1:1 sessions, group classes, or self-paced courses. ✅ High earning potential. ✅ Recurring subscription model boosts student retention. ✅ Support a wide range of subjects, hobby-based classes, ESL classes, etc. | ❌ Student numbers have fallen in recent years. ❌ Quite restrictive in terms of the resources you can use. |
| Tutorful A popular UK subject tutoring platform focusing primarily on school exam prep. | 👍 UK resident 👍 2+ years experience 👍 DBS (police record) check | 20% – 37.5% | ✅ App for managing lessons. ✅ 7-day payouts via Stripe. | ❌ Advertise “no commission” but actually add a booking fee on top of your set price. ❌ Very few ESL students. |
| TutorOcean A smaller Canadian platform with learners worldwide. | 👍 High school graduate | 10% – 20% | ✅ Low commission fee if you bring your own leads. ✅ Students from 100+ countries, including many with English as a second language. | ❌ Rather clunky platform. ❌ Very few students unless you do your own marketing. |
| Wyzant An American tutoring marketplace supporting a wide range of subjects for students worldwide. | 👍 US resident | 9% – 34% | ✅ Tends to have higher paying students. ✅ Job board system where you can directly reach out to students. | ❌ Complicated approval process for each subject you want to tutor. ❌ More focused on in-person classes, with few students looking for online. ❌ High commission unless you bring your own students. ❌ Tutors report many tech issues. |
Abridge Academy offers subject-related lesson materials too!
Are you teaching school subjects such as middle school science, early reading skills, or phonics?
The Abridge Academy curriculum isn’t just for ESL teachers! We also offer a growing range of subject-specific lessons too. Get started for FREE today →
🎁BONUS: Tutor Directory Websites
Don’t want a middle man taking a percentage of your earnings? Tutor directory websites could be a good alternative to a traditional marketplace for you!
Essentially, a directory site is simply a website where students can search for tutors, find your contact details, and then communicate with you directly to schedule and pay for classes. Because they do not provide so much tech support or payment processing services, these platforms do not take commission (instead earning money by charging parents a fee to access your details, or offering paid “premium profile” services). Consider creating a free profile on one (or all!) of these sites:
| Directory | Requirements | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Craigslist A massive international directory site for all kinds of services. List in each region separately under services -> lessons & tutoring. | 👍 None | ✅ Huge global platform. | ❌ Mostly for in-person services. ❌ Lots of competition. |
| FirstTutors A relatively basic but large scale tutor directory site focusing primarily on English-speaking markets. | 👍 Resident in the US / UK / Australia / Canada / Ireland / New Zealand / South Africa 👍 2 references | ✅ Well-known platform. ✅ Can offer online and in-person classes. | ❌ Lots of competition for online classes. |
| Gumtree A well-known directory website for all kinds of local services, including tutoring. | 👍 None | ✅ Huge global platform. | ❌ Mostly for in-person services. ❌ Lots of competition. |
| SuperProf A worldwide online tutoring platform for languages, academic subjects, hobbies, skills, and more. | 👍 Aged 18+ 👍 Live in one of their 56 supported countries | ✅ Huge global platform. ✅ Can offer online and in-person classes. ✅ Optional payment processing and virtual classroom integration (10% commission). | ❌ Must offer the first session for free. ❌ Lots of competition for online classes. |
| Upwork A popular freelancing site where you can offer services, including tutoring and coaching. | 👍 None | ✅ Huge global platform, popular with tech and business professionals. | ❌ Less interest in tutoring services specifically. ❌ 10% service fee. |
🛠️ Which Platform is Right for You?
Ok, that’s a LOT of platforms to consider. So, which one is best for you… Here are some quick suggestions for common online teaching scenarios:
And to add a final recommendation: Don’t rely on just one platform! It is best to set up a profile on 3-5 different websites (and keep expanding beyond that if you need) to maximise your chances of getting bookings and test out which work best for you.
📌 Final Thoughts
Wow, that’s a lot of options to consider! Whether you are a new online ESL teacher or a more experienced tutor, hopefully this has given you some helpful suggestions.
Do bear in mind that it can take time to get results on a marketplace platform, but once you start building up a steady base of students and getting those 5* reviews you’re sure to start bringing in some good income. Make sure to list up a profile on several different sites and be persistent – it pays off!
And if all those lessons are resulting in an overwhelming amount of lesson prep, don’t fear – the Abridge Academy curriculum is here to help! Our library of 500+ pre-made lessons, all with interactive slides, downloadable worksheets, games, flashcards, and more (for less than the earnings from a single lesson) means you can just turn up and teach. Get started for FREE today →
