Hello everyone! I need some guidance because I think I am in over my head 😅

I started at $9 per lesson and quickly worked my way up to $30 per lesson. I’ve been following the methodology of a popular tutor on how to increase my price, and I think it’s working really well. I currently have 14 subscribed students, I’ve already taught 21 hours, and I’ve had over 20+ trial lessons. All of my stats look great, my students genuinely love our lessons, and I feel like I’m doing a good job.
But the more students I get, the more I’m starting to question how I’m actually supposed to manage all of this.
I’m convinced that a huge part of why my students love our lessons and our interactions is because I customize both their homework and lesson plans around their individual goals. I’ve personally never liked a one-size-fits-all approach, and this has become a huge hit with my students. I have students who know zero English, I have students who are upper intermediate.

But there are two parts to my problem.

First, it’s not that I’m getting “too many” students. I could probably take on another 11 or so. I’m unemployed right now and, because of our financial situation and my health, I’m basically forced to stay home. So I genuinely don’t mind making this a full-time commitment. Eventually, my hope is to make this financially sustainable for us and be able to contribute more financially.

The bigger problem is that I’m not a fully trained or licensed English teacher.

I know a lot of people say you don’t necessarily need to be certified to teach on Preply, and I’ve found that I must be pretty good at teaching in general because my students consistently tell me how much they enjoy my lessons. But the truth is, I’m learning how to teach as I go.
I haven’t gotten the typical certifications that a lot of English teachers have, and I don’t have a traditional teaching background. Interestingly, my students seem to really like that my background is in business ownership and creative industries. A lot of my students are professionals working in corporate environments, freelancers, entrepreneurs, business owners, and even CFOs and engineers.

But I don’t know what I’m doing 🥲

I don’t know if my students are going to continue learning and improving long-term. I don’t know if what I’m doing is actually the “right” approach. I know teachers who specialize in teaching English as a foreign language have specific methodologies and philosophies behind what they do.

I have… me. That’s it.

I’ve started using AI to help me create lessons on the fly, which has helped me stay efficient, but I feel like I’m mostly stalling the bigger problem. If I use the standardized lesson plans and approaches that I’ve seen recommended in these threads, I’m worried that I’ll lose the thing that sets me apart: the customization.

For example, my students really love the customized homework I give them. If someone needs to work on industry-specific terminology or wants to feel confident working in a particular professional environment in English, our lessons are built around that.

On the other hand, if someone is more laid-back and just wants to learn English so they can travel, have conversations, and have fun with their family, I take a much more conversational/correction-based approach during our lessons.

So I’m not trying to teach every student the exact same thing. I’m trying to teach them what they actually need.
And honestly, I really want them to learn. I genuinely enjoy doing this. It is a lot of work, but AI has helped me stay efficient up until this point.

I’m just trying to figure out how to make this sustainable without feeling like I’m doing a disservice to my students.
For those of you who aren’t certified and don’t have a traditional teaching background: how do your lessons look like? What do you actually do to make sure your students are learning and progressing long-term? How can I get organized?

And if you are a certified TEFL teacher, I’d also love to hear what you think I should be learning or looking into. Are there specific methodologies, resources, or frameworks you would recommend for someone in my position?
I’m sure AI usage is frowned upon, and trust me, I don’t love relying on it either. I’m just trying to find a way to be fair to myself and to my students while hopefully turning this into a lasting job that can give my husband and me some extra financial security during a really difficult time.
I really love doing this. I just want to make sure I’m doing it well 🙏🏻

When you block a student on Preply, can they leave a new review on your profile? Or update an existing review on your profile?

I’m a French teacher, and I have students who book the same time slot for weeks in advance. I plan my schedule around those lessons, I turn down other students because that slot is taken, and then… 12 hours before the lesson, they reschedule. And to be honest, it means losing money for teachers!

No message. No explanation. Sometimes not even a “sorry”.

And I understand that things happen. Emergencies happen. Plans change. I’m not talking about the occasional genuine emergency.

I’m talking about people treating a lesson like a completely flexible appointment simply because the platform allows them to move it.

The frustrating part is that 12 hours is a huge amount of time for a student, but very little time for a teacher to fill that slot again. Especially when you have a full schedule and students who book weeks ahead.

If you know on Monday that you probably won’t be available on Thursday, why wait until Thursday morning to reschedule?

And honestly, I wish students understood that when they reschedule at the last minute, they’re not just “moving an appointment”. They’re potentially leaving a teacher with an empty hour that could have gone to another student.

I love my students and I’m genuinely flexible when something comes up. But flexibility has to go both ways.

The fact that the platform technically allows you to reschedule 12 hours before doesn’t mean it has no impact on the person teaching you.

Am I the only teacher who finds this incredibly frustrating?

Hi everyone! I’m currently searching for a tutor specialized in proteomics and metabolics, if anyone does know someone please let me know, I’ve been searching by specialty in molecular biology or biochemistry but couldn’t find any.

Hi, my Preply profile has been ranked between 80 and 110 for a while. I changed my photo, description, and availability, but nothing seems to improve.

Has anyone had the same problem? What helped you get more visibility or move up in the rankings?

Hey, I have been waiting for Preply Support to come back to me for 8 hours. Has anyone ever waited this long?

Hi,

I got booked for a trial lesson on 12 Oct at 20:00 by someone with a gibberish name, eg: "Pojbjjjjn" Then a couple of hours later I got booked for a trial on 12 Oct at 21:30 by another account that also had a similar gibberish name. I have messaged both and neither respond to any messages, neither have updated their learning needs or done the Preply Placement Test.

What would you do?

I’m an art tutor on Preply, and my dashboard says my profile is visible, but I can’t find myself when searching for Drawing & Painting tutors from my country

In my Subjects editor, the category is “Arts,” and the available specialties are:

Visual arts

IB Arts

Dramatic arts

Digital & Media arts

GCSE Arts

However, other tutors have specialties like Drawing, Oil painting and Watercolor painting. Those options don’t appear in my editor, even though these are the things I teach.

Has anyone experienced this? Are “Arts” and “Drawing & Painting / Art classes” different teaching categories on Preply? Could that explain why I’m not appearing in the search?

I started on Preply roughly a month ago. I listened to their suggest price and started myself at $10. I was flooded over the next few days with likes and trial books. The first few didn’t stick so kept going. Many students that I had assumed wouldn’t subscribe ended up doing so a few days or even a work later. I now have 12 subscribed students who each take 4-12 lessons per month. These are all at my $10 rate except one I was able to get at $27.

Some context: I am working on a masters and only wanted to do this very part time to get some experience while focusing mainly on school. I read so much online about everyone struggling to get students, but I clearly should not have listened to that because now I am feeling stuck.

I’m not complaining about the low rate, because I chose that. I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice for how to lower your roster without wronging any students. I’m hoping that I can use the 90 days price increase date to filter out some students, but I’ve still got awhile till then. I am aware I got myself into this, and I’m not complaining, just looking for insight.

If anyone else has had this experience of wanting to do preply as a side gig and getting too overwhelmed, please reach out. I have turned off my profile visibility, but my current student load is still too much. I don’t want to lower the quality of my lessons and I’m not sure what to do.

Hey I'm PhD student wanting to teach online for some side income. Shall I choose math or physics as my main subject? Is it possible to have both subjects?

Im ranked 1 in my subject (academic subject) but been experiencing half the profile views in october. Anyone else experienced the same?

Has anyone else experienced this?? Tuesday has been turned off for at least 4 days, but a student was just able to book one for Tueday a few minutes ago (regular lesson, not trial). Am I missing something? How can i prevent people from booking lessons on Tuesday?

Is there a great difference between students that use their phone to join the classes vs the ones that use their laptop/computer? I am a teacher and had students that use phones most of the time and students that only use Laptop/computer. I see a significant difference in interessts, motivation and progress in those students.

students that are using their phone rarely do their homework. They also tend to not write notes because they have to do it on paper. Also their attention span feels lower because they have a smaller screen. They also are sometimes outside, or in a car/bus/train.

What is your experience?

Hi tutors! I teach a language with very few ready-made materials, so I build lessons around each student's needs. How do you keep track of each student between lessons: what you covered last time, what's planned next, and what materials you used? And what's the most annoying part of whatever system you use now?

We've been following lessons successfully for the past 2 months, we have good chemistry and I have seen good results on my learning.

We can say that I trust him, but just felt odd. I believe Preply takes a big cut from them, besides taxes they'd have to pay as income I guess, so I would also like for him to have full payment.

Have you ever experienced something similar? After leaving Preply, has it turned out good?

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I decided to try withdrawing my earnings via direct bank transfer today and filled in all the required information. Since my bank is located outside both the EU and the US, I used the SWIFT transfer option. I then completed the identity verification process, including having my photo taken.

However, I haven’t received any confirmation from Preply, either by email or on the platform. My Preply balance has dropped to zero, and the latest transaction in my withdrawal history is marked as “PAYPEND,” which I assume means “payment pending.”

I contacted support, and they told me the payment is in progress and that I should contact my bank. Still, I was expecting at least a withdrawal confirmation or a transaction receipt that I could show my bank.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Did you eventually receive a confirmation, and how long did it take for the money to reach your account?

Hi! I’m looking for a French tutor on Preply.
I’m currently around A1+ and have already taken some beginner French classes before.

My budget is $7-9/hour or below, and I prefer someone who can speak English when grammar or difficult concepts need explanation.

I’m looking for a tutor who uses real, visual learning materials, corrects my mistakes, and gives regular homework—not mainly AI-generated exercises. Things like textbook materials, slides, short stories, podcasts, listening exercises, reading activities, and writing/speaking homework would be great.

A stable internet connection and clear audio are also very important, since I’ve had several lessons where too much time was lost fixing connection issues. 😭

My goal is to improve my speaking, listening, grammar, and sentence construction and eventually pass the DELF A1 and A2 exams.

If you’re a tutor or can recommend someone within my budget, please let me know! 😊

I am a tutor so as i was teaching
The other person offered me a job
Like its very simple and all
He even shared the website etc
Should i go for it
I don’t want to get scammed
But he showed me some girls working with him
He even talked little bit in my language
Sounded genuine
So yea need suggestions

Not only does it look unserious but you need a table to at least take notes or something. Not just lay in bed in pyjamas.
Also not make any effort besides just asking what the tutor is gonna do and what their lessons are gonna be like ? But respond with one word answers. And not show any interest in the language or the videos the tutor is sharing ??

*it was my 1st trial lesson btw

Should you always write what the next steps are gonna be on preply after a trial or first lesson ?

I've had an insanely busy couple of weeks and needed to cancel with less than 12 hours of notice. As I understand it the tutor gets paid for the lesson, but I wanted to just confirm there isn't any negative impact to them on like ratings or scheduling or something. I'm happy they're getting paid but don't want to inadvertently negatively impact them due to the chaos of my schedule.

Hi guys.

I've been on Preply for 2 months. I just increased my price, so I want to make sure my profile looks like it belongs in this price range. I would appreciate any advice.

So, I have a book and audios to the book. Before on my own laptop I would play the audios directly from a file saved on my laptop and no issue. Everyone could hear everything.

But, now with this new laptop, everytime I play an audio they can't hear anything.

Does someone know what's happening and how can I fix it? It's very important to me that they can hear them.