Italki review: How do you teach languages online with italki?

Whether you see yourself as a professional teacher or have language skills you'd like to explore as a new revenue stream, teaching online has never been easier. 

With plenty of apps and language platforms to choose from, it's all about finding the right space for your teaching goals. But how does italki perform in the world of language learning?

In this italki review, we'll cover everything you need to know before setting yourself up as an italki teacher, including fees, features, and more. Ready to get started? 

What is italki? 

Italki is an online platform where students can learn languages through lessons with language teachers. It prides itself on providing a global language learning community to professional teachers and language learners around the world. With options for 1-1 learning and group classes, language teachers can work to their own hours and rates. 

Originally launched as a social network for language exchange in 2006, italki has pivoted its positioning since, turning itself into a space that connects students with both professional teachers and community tutors. 

What's the difference between a professional teacher and a community tutor? 

One of the greatest things about italki is that you don't have to be a qualified teacher to join the platform. This global language learning community also has space for what they call community tutors. 

These are essentially native speakers and language experts who may not have a language education background. 

What languages can you teach on italki? 

Italki has over 150 languages available to teach, including many niche languages taught often by native speakers. As a teacher joining the platform, you will have to check beforehand if your language is open for application. 

When you choose to sign up as an italki teacher, you will need to specify the language you intend to teach. If you were to choose two languages—say English and Portuguese—if English was closed, you'd only be able to teach Portuguese. As you go through the application process, you'll quickly see if applications are closed for your chosen language/s. 

This list is updated every Monday, so it's worth checking back if you don't get in right away. It's also worth noting that applications being open/closed can differ between professional teachers and community tutors. 

What italki's offers for teachers

Let's take a closer look at what features italki offers its teachers. 

Set your own hours 

If italki is a side hustle to make you some extra bucks, you'll be pleased to hear that it's easy to set your own availability. This means you can work as often or as little as you like. Even as a new teacher, you don't need to offer set hours or availability, so you can work when you want to. 

Instant lessons 

Looking to grab the attention of late-night browsers? Teachers can offer 'Instant Lessons' on italki, which means students can start a lesson with you right away. This is great if your availability is flexible. 

See who viewed your profile 

One helpful feature italki has is the ability to see who has viewed your profile. 

If a user isn't quite sure about booking, take this opportunity to reach out and offer some words of encouragement. Simply being friendly and offering some words of advice can go a long way for new teachers. Keep getting views but no bookings? You might want to revisit your bio, teaching style, or material options. 

Italki Pro 

Although currently in beta testing, italki Pro is a relatively new feature that is designed to enhance learning for italki students and give teachers new opportunities. 

For teachers who choose to participate in the new feature, you'll receive an "italki Pro" label and receive preferential visibility in italki search results. As well as this, you'll enjoy exclusive recommendations to italki Pro users, helping you to attract more students. 

Want to learn more about italki from a student perspective? Check out our full review of italki for language learners.

What are the fees to teach on italki? 

When you sign up to the italki platform, getting started is completely free. However, when a lesson or package is completed, italki will then charge a 15% commission fee. 

italki won't charge this commission for teachers offering trial lessons. 

Alongside the hefty 15% commission fee, it's important to note that italki's payment methods will charge a fee when you try to withdraw funds. 

Here are the following methods and their fees: 

• PayPal: 2% (rates differ between countries) 
• Hyperwallet: 1.5% (rates differ between countries) 
• Payoneer: $3 flat fee for each transfer 
• Bank transfer via Payoneer: $1.50 flat fee for USD transfers to banks in the USA. Other fees apply via Payoneer for USD transfers to other countries. 

Did you know... When you choose to sell your language lessons and digital products with Whop, we only take a small cut of the action! When members buy directly from your whop link, you'll only pay a 3% fee + payment processing fees. It's a no-brainer if you ask us... 

How to sign up as a teacher on italki 

Getting started with italki is pretty straightforward. At the very start of your application, you'll be met with the above screen nudging you to check whether your chosen language is available before applying. 

This is a little annoying if you've decided italki is the best option for you only to find that your chosen language isn't available. If your target language is available, you're good to go with learning more about preparing a video introduction. 

Once you've established if you're a community tutor or professional teacher (more on that later), you'll also be made aware of whether you need to upload teaching certificates. 

1. Setting up your teacher profile 

It's important to the italki community to showcase what you can do as a teacher and your approach to teaching. If you're not so keen on getting in front of the camera, italki might not be for you, since the platform requires a video introduction on your profile. 

It's fair to say that italki thrives on video learning, so if you're feeling camera shy you may want to opt for another language-learning platform. 

Or, you could look for new ways to monetize online language teaching through digital products—like creating and selling ebooks, courses, memberships, and more with Whop. 

2. Crafting your teacher introduction 

As an italki teacher looking to stand out in the crowd, your written introduction matters. This is your time to shine and capture the attention of language learners. 

Providing important information here can help you to stand out on the italki platform. If you're new to teaching, think about your potential teaching style. 

You also have the option to tick multiple options for your teaching materials too. If you're prepared to create more content for your students, this could be a great way to showcase what you can do. Plus, with different ways of learning, you'll no doubt appeal to more students. 

Creating these teaching materials also gives you more opportunities to monetize language teaching with templates and workbooks —but sadly, this isn't possible on italki itself. 

Setting up a whop, however, can help you create a new revenue stream. Whop allows you to build your own community and sell ebooks, guides to learning a new language, online courses, and much more. You can get paid for every digital product you offer.

If you're struggling to know what to write, why not take a look around italki for some inspiration? Have a look at fellow italki teachers and examine their bios, 'Me as a teacher' sections, and the lessons and teaching styles they offer. Here you can also see the types of teaching materials available. 

3. Adding relevant background experience 

As you sign up to italki, one of the first steps is to upload any relevant documents (if needed) and provide educational experience. If you have teaching experience, great, but this is optional if not. 

Take advantage of your written introduction to explain to students how you're entering the world of language teaching. Don't be afraid of showing your personality here and highlighting what interests you about teaching, your approach, and your overall experience. 

Whether you're a native English speaker teaching other languages or marketing yourself to English learners, this is the section to do so. 

4. Setting your teacher preferences 

As well as uploading documents and giving students a taste of your teaching style, you can also add your top interests to italki. This will not only help to match you with new students on the platform but also give them an idea of topics they can use for conversational learning. 

The pros and cons of teaching on italki 

Now that we've covered this global language learning community as a whole, let's take a look at how well italki really delivers and its potential drawbacks. 

Advantages of italki

italki certainly does some things really well—let's take a look at some of the perks of the platform. 

Easy to get started 
Signing up a teacher on italki is very easy. Although it takes a little more information than signing up as a student, the steps are still quite short. 

After all, students need to know how you can help them, why they should choose you, and what your teaching style is. 

Different package options 
When it comes to language learning, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. After all, some students are simply brushing up on their skills while others are learning from scratch. One of the best things about italki is the opportunity to offer a variety of language lessons. 

When you first apply, you can also highlight whether you can help with something specific, such as working with kids looking to learn a language. 

This is also your opportunity to highlight other foreign language skills, such as accent tutoring or conversation practice. 

Work on your schedule 
If teaching a foreign language is your side gig, the chances are your availability is going to be limited. Thankfully, italki offers you full flexibility to choose your own hours. This is then displayed on your tutor profile, so you'll never receive a language lesson booking when you're unavailable. 

Opportunities for students to book lessons in bulk 
If you choose to do so, you can offer options for students to save money by booking a lesson package. 

This will not only help to fill your calendar but also earn you more money in the long run. Offering a discount on italki lessons can help to create consistent income on the platform. 

Convenient booking system 
If you don't have your own website or another means to offer language lessons, italki can offer fluent language speakers an environment to thrive. The italki platform pretty much handles everything for you, since students pay in italki credits. This means you can focus on your teaching, withdrawing funds as you go. 

Promotion as a 'new teacher' 
When you first join italki, the platform helps to promote you to budding language students. You'll see that a 'new teacher' badge is added to your profile and you'll soon appear close to the top of searches. 

This is great for showing up on the italki platform and gaining interest from students right away. 

Promote yourself via Instant Lessons 
If you're flexible with your schedule, one of the best features of italki is the opportunity to offer Instant Lessons. For students looking to get started right away, this feature shows teachers who are available immediately. This can be a great way to capture the attention of students browsing italki and gain new income due to flexible availability. 

Gain students via the italki community 
You can showcase what you do best via the italki community. Very much a forum-style section of the italki website, students and teachers can post questions, quizzes, and more. 

As a tutor on italki, make the most of this space to engage students and give a little taste of what you can do for them. 

Disadvantages of italki 

Here are some issues to consider before signing up with italki.

Certain language markets can be saturated 
If there's one thing we've noticed, it's that italki has a lot of English teachers. This is great for language learning, but for tutors trying to stand out on the platform, it isn't so easy. 

When so many tutors are covering the same languages, standing out from the crowd is tough work. 

Straight away when you apply, you may be met with a notification to tell you that your chosen language is currently closed. This is a huge hurdle to getting started with the italki community. Are tutors going to frequently check back each week to see if applications have opened up? Likely not. 

Low pay 
Although you set your own rates on italki, it feels a little like a dog-eat-dog world. This means that tutors need to be competitive with their pricing, which can result in low fees. 

You may need to charge less as you build a reputation and gain reviews on italki in order to attract new students. As you become more experienced and have more lessons under your belt, you'll quickly build a reputation though. 

Limited teaching possibilities 
While italki has different language packages available, your options are somewhat limited. This means you're pretty restricted in what you can offer since italki is designed to deliver only 1-1 and group lessons. 

Unfortunately, italki doesn't offer a way to directly monetize anything extra you provide your students—be it PDFs, quizzes, or homework assignments. 

With platforms such as Whop, on the other hand, you can build your own community of language learners, with endless opportunities to monetize your language lessons. From ebooks to digital downloads and paid video content, you can go above and beyond with your language skills. 

No real control over marketing 
While users online talk highly of italki and how easy it is to get set up, many highlight the saturation of teachers and lack of control over the platform's algorithm. 

With no real opportunities to market yourself on italki—minus nailing your bio—your marketing efforts will have to be focused elsewhere. This means that you'll have little control over your work on the platform, and likely rely on your reviews to capture the attention of new students. 

italki alternatives 

Still feeling unsure that italki is the right choice? Don't worry, there are plenty of others out there. We've done a little shopping around to save you time and have come up with the list below. 

🏆 Whop  

Whop is an all-in-one social commerce platform that goes above and beyond 1-1 and group language teaching lessons. With so many monetization opportunities, why not turn your teaching sessions into a full downloadable course? Or take your learning materials and convert them into paid guides, ebooks, or digital learning resources? 

Similarly to italki, there are no sign-up fees or subscription costs associated with creating your whop, with fees taken as you earn. 

Need a little inspiration for digital products you can sell? Take a moment to browse Whop and find similar language-learning communities and digital products on offer.  

Preply 

Another strong alternative to italki, Preply is an interesting platform for language teachers. 

However, compared to italki, you might be surprised at their fees. Preply takes 100% commission of a student's first trial lesson, and for all subsequent lessons, they charge a varying fee of 18 to 33% of your hourly price. 

Despite the hefty fees, Preply does have a handy selection of courses on getting students and optimizing your profile. 

Wiingy 

Although Wiingy has a pretty intense assessment process to become a tutor, the platform does have some great value to give. As well as the ability to offer language learning, Wiingy also has opportunities to teach much more, including coding, math, or science. 

As Wiingy goes beyond offering online language lessons, one of the main drawbacks is the number of language options. These are limited to English, ESL, French, Spanish, Chinese, and Hindi. 

What's great about Wiingy, though, are the many opportunities to teach various topics.

Skooli 

Much like italki, you'll need to apply to join the Skooli platform. However, the application process is a little more intensive, with the Skooli team vetting teachers beforehand. This includes a call to discuss your qualifications, questions, and next steps. 

Unlike italki, there is no option to become a community tutor. To join Skooli, you will need a bachelor's degree or higher in a related field, as well as a government-issued teaching license and specialized instructor qualifications. 

So, if you're thinking of using your skills in a foreign language to become an online language tutor, Skooli might not be your overnight option. Nevertheless, Skooli seems pretty cool for the more serious teachers. 

Should you become a teacher on italki? 

If you're looking to build a side hustle online, teaching others on italki could be a great option. Where italki excels is in its easy-to-use booking system, with opportunities to set your own hours. 

This means that if teaching on italki is a part-time gig, you can work your hours around your other ventures. If you're looking for italki to be your main income, you can gradually increase your availability as you become better established on the platform. 

Whether you're fluent in another language or a native English speaker, there are plenty of opportunities on italki to showcase your skills and teach other users. 

But why not take your expertise one step further? With Whop, you can go above and beyond offering your standard language lessons. Whop allows you to create your own storefront to monetize digital downloads such as language ebooks, guides, videos, and community memberships. 

Teach languages and more with Whop 

Sure, italki has some great features for selling your language lessons, but there are a few limitations to the platform, including its fees and lack of monetization options. 

Whether you're a professional teacher or simply looking to start a side hustle of language lessons, Whop can help you tap into a growing community of language learners online. Teach a language (or anything else!) online with Whop.

From packaging language lessons into a downloadable course to creating ebooks or digital downloads, Whop can help you manage it all from your own whop. Take payments with ease, build an exclusive community, and manage customers as you grow your language teaching from side hustle to full-time gig—all from one platform. 

So if you're looking to level up your income as a professional teacher, sign up to Whop today and start building your own community.

italki FAQs 

Not sure if italki is the right platform for you to become an online language tutor? Here are some popular questions and answers to help you decide. 

Do I have to pay to sign up as an italki tutor? 

You don't have to pay to join italki, but there are fees associated with using the platform. italki takes a 15% commission on your language lessons, plus you will face fees for withdrawing money. 

Do I have to teach kids on italki too? 

No, you don't have to. Not all tutors on italki offer language learning for kids, so it's totally up to you. 

Am I guaranteed students on italki? 

Unfortunately not. Like any platform, you will need to market yourself. This might be through social media or other channels. On italki, optimizing your profile and gaining reviews from students is the best way to get noticed.