June 26, 2023
Editor
Kari is a writer for SideHustles.com. She previously managed a website in the privacy and digital compliance industry and earned money on the side by working as a pet sitter for 7 years.
Work from home. Travel the world. Set your own schedule. Mold the minds of eager students. These are just a few of the perks of becoming an online English teacher.
If this is a side hustle (or a new career) that you want to explore, keep reading to find out how you can start your journey as a virtual English teacher and where to find jobs.
Make sure you meet the basic requirements to start a career as an online English teacher
1. Be fluent in EnglishTo teach English online, you need to be fluent in the language.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be a native English speaker. Some companies do require native fluency, but others don’t, so there are plenty of opportunities out there for you if you weren’t raised speaking the English language.
This isn’t a requirement, but it’s strongly recommended. Most online teaching platforms require their educators to hold a bachelor’s degree or an international equivalent to join the team.
If you don’t have a degree, you can still find work. However, your job opportunities will be limited, and your pay will likely be lower.
As with a degree, getting a special teaching certificate isn’t a hard-and-fast requirement, but it’s usually a very good idea. There are several certificates for teaching English online:
Both of these are large umbrellas that encompass many different courses and qualifications—there’s no single organization that awards TEFL or TESOL certificates.
In general, both types of certificates are fairly easy and inexpensive to get online, and both open the door to tons of online English teaching opportunities, although you should do your due diligence to make sure that the course you picked is legitimate.
You might also have heard of the Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA), which is offered by the University of Cambridge. This is one of the most respected English teaching certificates out there, but it involves more difficult coursework than TEFL and TESOL, and it’s arguably overkill for most online teaching jobs. It’s also specific to teaching adult learners, which isn’t ideal, since many virtual teaching platforms target younger learners.
Before jumping into your new side hustle as an online English teacher, consider gaining relevant experience (if you don’t already have it).
For example, you can pick up a few hours of work each week with a tutoring side hustle while you’re completing your TEFL certification. You can also look for a nonprofit, charity, or church in your area that offers free language lessons to recent immigrants and needs volunteers.
Teaching experience will help you land better jobs with higher rates. Some companies even require you to have it to work on their platforms.
To teach English online, you’ll need to be outfitted with the right equipment:
Having a working computer, a webcam, and a decent microphone is absolutely required for online teaching. The other items usually aren’t strictly necessary, but they’ll make your working life a lot easier.
The platform you pick might require you to have other equipment as well. Check their website to be sure.
Lastly, you need to find work. To find jobs teaching English online, check out the top companies currently hiring and set your sights on ones that meet your needs. To help you get started, we’ve put together a list of popular platforms.
Simplify your job search by choosing from a verified list of popular online English teaching platforms
Here are our picks for the 10 best online English teaching platforms:
| Company | Average hourly rate | Degree required | Certification required | Minimum working hours per week | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open English | $11–$13 | Yes | No | 10 | - Must be a native English speaker |
| Cambly | $10–$12 | No | No | None | - Must be a native English speaker |
| iTalki | Set by you | No | No (for community tutors) | None | - Must be a native English speaker |
| Teachable | Set by you | No | No | None | None |
| Preply | Set by you | No | No | None | None |
| Lingoda | $8–$13 | Yes | Yes | None | - Must have a minimum C2 level of English - Must have 2 years of teaching experience |
| QKids | $12–$16 | Yes | Yes | 6 | - Must be based in the US or Canada |
| Englishunt | $16+ | Yes | Yes | 10 | - Must be a native English speaker - Must be a US citizen - Must have teaching experience |
| SkimaTalk | Set by you | No | No | None | - Must be a native English speaker |
| Verbling | Set by you | No | No | None | - Must have a minimum C2 level of English |
We’ll break down these platforms in more detail below.
Open English (which is the parent company of English Ninjas) is an online English teaching company with a focus on teaching Spanish-speaking teens and adults.
This is a great option for people who aren’t keen on teaching young children. The platform also provides lesson plans, so new teachers are spared the time and effort of creating their own.
Having a conversational level of Spanish will give you a huge leg up when it comes to landing work on Open English.
Cambly is a big name in online English teaching, boasting tons of students and job opportunities to match. Notably, Cambly has one of the best payment schedules we’ve seen—you get paid on a weekly basis rather than biweekly or monthly like most of the other platforms on this list.
Like many of its competitors, Cambly pays by the minute. Their rate is $0.17/min ($10.20/hour) on the primary platform and $0.20/min ($12.00/hour) on Cambly Kids.
Another major plus for this platform is the low barrier to entry. Cambly doesn’t require a degree or certificate of any kind.
italki is a language-learning platform that isn’t limited to English. Whatever your native tongue is, you can (theoretically) teach it on italki. Just check their list of languages to see what options are currently available.
On italki, you can become a professional teacher, which requires certification, or become a “community tutor,” which doesn’t.
Teachable is a unique option because it’s not purely a teaching platform. In addition to teaching, you can also sell your own content. You can create a course, and then Teachable will host it for you, market your content, and process your payments.
This is a great option for savvy teachers who want to be more in control of their online careers. However, we wouldn’t recommend it to those just starting out in the education field because it lacks the built-in resources that other sites offer.
Preply is another teaching platform that connects thousands of students with teachers of all subjects, including English. It provides teaching resources, including an interactive virtual classroom and a smart calendar. You have the freedom to set your own rates on Preply.
A Preply account is free, but the platform will take a cut of what you charge for lessons. You’ll need to start out by giving a free demo lesson to a student, and Preply will take a 100% commission. After that, Preply will take 18%–33% commissions, depending on how many hours you’ve spent teaching on the platform.
Lingoda is a good option for more seasoned teachers who are ready to move their work online. It’s not a good option for new teachers, though, since the platform requires 2–3 years of previous teaching experience.
One of the big appeals of Lingoda is that it offers a structured curriculum with lesson plans, so you don’t need to spend unpaid hours creating your own.
Lingoda teachers all work on a freelance basis, with an average workload of 5–20 teaching hours per week, meaning the site is more frequently used for side gigs than as a platform to launch full-time jobs. 1
QKids is an English teaching platform specifically for Chinese students. It has a more rigid structure than the others on this list, with set schedules, lesson plans, and rates.
While the site claims to offer flexible scheduling, that flexibility only goes so far since classes are only taught within designated time slots set by the company. On the plus side, the established parameters make this a good option for novice English teachers because you don’t need to set your own rates, schedule, or curriculum.
Englishunt is a Korean company that currently serves South Korea, Japan, and China. They exclusively hire US citizens to teach English online. The company has a lot to offer, including a high rate of pay, lesson plans, and tons of teaching resources.
However, you’ll first need to land a job with them to enjoy these perks. Unfortunately, this one isn’t beginner friendly. You need 4 years of previous teaching experience or a substitute teaching certification to qualify.
SkimaTalk is a Japan-based English teaching platform that caters to students all around the world. It has a marketplace structure, meaning it connects students with teachers, who are largely in control of their own profiles and classes.
This control means you set your own lessons, schedule, and teaching rates. But be warned that the platform will take a commission of 20% for each 25-minute lesson you teach.
Verbling is another online language marketplace that connects students with teachers for one-on-one English lessons. Since it has a marketplace model, Verbling allows teachers a lot of flexibility at the expense of a built-in structure. For example, you’ll set your own schedule and rates and won’t have any guaranteed hours.
While Verbling does require previous teaching experience, a teaching certificate isn’t required (although it is preferred), and nonnative English speakers are welcome. Note that Verbling will take a 15% commission from what you charge for each lesson. 2
Remember that these platforms aren’t mutually exclusive. You can test out multiple sites and apps and stick with the ones you like.
You can even consider building your own client base and moving off these platforms once you gain a little experience; this will mean more work, but it’s the logical next step if you decide you want to convert your online English teaching side hustle into a full-time career.
Understand the good, bad, and ugly of teaching English online before embarking on a new career
If you’re considering becoming a virtual English teacher, you’re probably wondering how much you’ll make, what your students will be like, and whether there’s anything else important that you need to know about this side hustle.
Online English teachers make an average of around $10–$15 per hour. Your rate will probably fall somewhere in that range if you teach through a major online platform.
However, some websites allow you to set your own rate, and if you teach independently and build up a roster of clients on your own, you can charge whatever you can convince them to pay.
When you teach English virtually, your students may be of various ages and backgrounds, but you’ll primarily be teaching people who are learning English as a second language.
If you’d rather not provide second-language instruction, it’s possible to teach or tutor English to native speakers as an academic subject, but it’ll be a lot harder to find work. The market is smaller—after all, there are hundreds of millions of people worldwide who want to learn English as a foreign language but far fewer native speakers who need help with it in school.
Before you dive in, consider the pros and cons of virtual teaching to assess how it will fit your lifestyle:
