I’ve been taking Preply lessons (for English) for about a month now, and it’s finally time to share my honest experience and review — the good, the bad, and whether I’d recommend it for 1-on-1 language learning.
Honestly, my experience has been mixed. Preply is undoubtedly one of the most affordable platforms for 1-on-1 speaking lessons I’ve tried… but it does have its flaws.
Stick around — I’ll walk you through everything so you can decide whether Preply is really worth your time and money.
Want to skip the details? Scroll down to my Final Thoughts.
What is Preply?
Preply is an online learning platform that connects students with private tutors for 1-on-1 live lessons in more than 50 languages — including English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and many more.
Unlike most language-learning apps that rely on pre-recorded lessons or quizzes, Preply focuses on real-time conversations with human tutors. You can choose your own teacher, schedule lessons based on your availability, and even filter tutors by price, accent, experience, or teaching style.
It’s especially popular among learners who want to improve their speaking skills, pronunciation, and confidence through regular interaction — not just grammar exercises.
In short, Preply is like having a personal language coach online — someone who tailors each session to your goals, whether that’s preparing for an exam, improving fluency for work, or simply practicing everyday conversation.
The Reason I Started Taking Preply Classes
Before I share my learning experience with Preply, let me explain why I decided to take their classes in the first place.
Well, I joined Preply mainly to practice my English speaking skills.
I’m fairly confident with writing in English, but when it comes to speaking, I tend to struggle a bit with pronunciation, sentence formation, fluency, and confidence. What I really needed was a 1-on-1 tutor who could help me identify my weak areas and guide me toward becoming a more confident and fluent speaker.
Affordability was another key factor. I’ve tried Cambly before for 1-on-1 classes with native speakers, but their plans are quite expensive, and you need a subscription to book lessons.
Preply, on the other hand, offers much more flexibility — you can pay for individual lessons, set your own budget, or switch to a subscription once you find a tutor you like.
All you need to do is choose the language, set filters for your price range, tutor’s country, availability, and a few other preferences — and just like that, you’ll find hundreds of tutors ready to help you learn.
My Preply Experience: From Trial Classes to Finding the Right Tutor
I also set the filters and decided to try a few trial classes with different tutors.
If you’re new to Preply, you can take your first lesson at 50% off, which is a great way to test how the platform works.
For example, if a tutor charges ₹880 (around $10) for a 50-minute class, you’ll only pay ₹440 ($5) for your first session.
On Preply, class prices in India generally range from ₹200 to ₹3,500 per lesson, so for me, it was easy to find tutors that fit my budget.
Now, you might assume that tutors who charge higher rates always offer better quality — and to some extent, that’s true. Experienced tutors with strong teaching skills, clear pronunciation, and positive reviews usually charge more.
However, that doesn’t mean affordable tutors can’t be great too — I found some reasonably priced tutors who were equally impressive.
How I Chose My Tutor
When I started, I was honestly a bit confused about which tutor to choose. I watched several intro videos — from low-priced to premium tutors, and from different countries including India, the UK, and the USA.
I had my budget clearly set — around ₹880 ($10) per 50-minute class. It felt like a sweet spot — not too high, not too low, and I was confident I’d find a good tutor at that rate. After all, I chose Preply mainly because it offers affordable yet quality 1-on-1 lessons.
After exploring several profiles, I finally found one tutor from India — Sonia. At that time, she had around 35 students and one featured review.
Her intro video was impressive, and her schedule matched mine, so I booked a 30-minute trial class for ₹292 (after the 50% discount).
During checkout, you can choose between a 30-minute or 50-minute class — naturally, the shorter one costs less.
My First Preply Class Experience
I joined the class a bit early, and my tutor joined right on time. Surprisingly, the 30 minutes flew by!
We started with a friendly introduction — my goals, background, hobbies, and reasons for learning English. She patiently answered all my questions and kept the session engaging.
About 10 minutes before the class ended, a pop-up appeared saying the class would end soon.
In the last few minutes, Sonia shared her feedback on my speaking — she pointed out issues with pronunciation, sentence formation, and my tendency to speak too fast. She encouraged me, saying that with consistent practice, I could easily overcome these challenges.
I really wanted to continue learning with her, but since the trial was short, I ended the class with one last question — whether she planned to continue teaching on Preply. I’d read that tutors don’t get paid for trial classes and that Preply takes around 30% commission until tutors complete a certain number of lessons.
Her response was:
“I really enjoy teaching on Preply. Yeah, the payment is a bit low at the start, but you get paid right away when a student books your lesson. The free trials can feel a little boring sometimes, but I still give my best so students feel confident to continue learning with me. What I love about Preply is how easy it is to use — you just set up your account, and Preply handles almost everything: showing your profile to students, managing schedules, payments, and even the video calls. It’s all super simple! So, I’m planning to keep teaching on Preply for as long as I can.”
After hearing her experience, I felt that Preply is a good platform for tutors too, which explains why there are hundreds of active teachers on it.
After taking her class, I gave her a 5-star rating and wrote feedback. I also decided to purchase her subscription for a month, two lessons per week for ₹7,042.
Trying Other Tutors
Before fully committing, I wanted to explore a few more tutors since Preply offers plenty of options. I decided to try:
- A native speaker (from the USA or UK)
- A budget-friendly tutor offering lessons at a very low rate
After scrolling through various profiles, I booked a few more trial classes. My experience with the USA and UK tutors was quite positive — they had distinct accents but made sure to speak slowly and clearly, which I really appreciated.
Here’s what I learned from those trial classes:
- If your budget is above $10 (around ₹1,000), go for native tutors from the UK, USA, or other countries. Most good native tutors charge around this rate or higher.
- If your budget is below $10 (₹1,000), it’s better to choose tutors from your own country (India), as they’re more affordable and often understand local challenges better.
- Tutors charging below $5 often lack strong teaching or pronunciation skills, and some may cancel lessons without notice.
In short, if your budget is around ₹880 ($10), you can expect to find a solid tutor on Preply.
I found it better to stick with my Indian tutor, Sonia, as well as a few teachers from the USA and UK. They all provided engaging, structured, and helpful sessions — much better than many other tutors whose intro videos I’d watched.
Without a second thought, I continued with Sonia’s monthly subscription (two lessons per week). Once I improve my sentence formation and gain more confidence speaking, I plan to start lessons with native speakers next.
The Good and Bad of Preply: My Honest Take
Now that I’ve shared my experience, let’s look at the good and bad sides of Preply, especially compared to other language-learning platforms I’ve tried.
Hopefully, this helps you decide whether Preply is worth your time — or if you should consider some alternatives.
The Good
1. Easy to Get Started
I’ve tried several 1-on-1 learning platforms before, and honestly, getting started on Preply is incredibly simple.
You get a wide range of filters to help you find the right tutor, including:
- Language you want to learn
- Price per lesson (set your own range)
- Tutor’s country
- Availability (choose time slots that fit your schedule)
- Specialties like Conversational English, Business English, or Job Interview Preparation
- Other languages the tutor can speak
- Tutor type (Super Tutor or Professional Tutor with verified certificates)
Once you set your filters, Preply instantly shows you a list of matching tutors. You can check their schedule, read reviews, watch intro videos, and pay for a trial class — it’s that straightforward. You can even save tutors you like for future lessons.
2. Affordable and Flexible Payment Options
Unlike many platforms that force you to buy expensive subscriptions for 1-on-1 lessons, Preply lets you pay as you go.
You can start with a trial class for any tutor, and if you’re satisfied, you can either subscribe to their lessons or try someone else.
The price range is also impressive — from ₹200 to ₹3,500 per lesson, making it easy to find quality tutors no matter your budget. Plus, new users get 50% off their first trial class, which makes it even more affordable to try.
3. Helpful Learning Tools (Courses, Vocabulary, Tests & Quizzes)
Once you create your account, you’ll find a “Learn” section on your dashboard. It includes several tools to enhance your learning experience — from an extensive library of English lessons to vocabulary exercises, tests, and quizzes.
These are great for self-practice and add more structure to your lessons beyond live classes.
The Bad
1. It Takes Time to Find the Right Tutor
One major downside of Preply is that anyone can sign up to teach quite easily. The platform doesn’t deeply evaluate tutors’ teaching skills, experience, or language proficiency.
While this openness gives opportunities to many, it also means finding the right tutor can take time.
With thousands of profiles, you’ll need to watch intro videos, read reviews, and compare profiles before you find someone who fits your learning style.
Before booking my first trial with Sonia, I probably went through over 100 tutor profiles! It was definitely time-consuming (and honestly, a little boring).
If you’re searching in the lower price range, it becomes even harder to find a truly good tutor.
2. No Group Classes or Community
Preply focuses only on 1-on-1 private lessons, which is great for personal attention — but if you enjoy group learning or interactive sessions, you might find something missing.
For instance, on Italki, you can join group classes ranging from around $7 to $100+, covering various topics like conversation practice, debates, hobbies, reading clubs, and even business English.
If you enjoy learning through group discussions or debates, Italki is a better choice. Preply currently doesn’t offer that feature.
Also, unlike Italki, Preply doesn’t have an active learner community where you can chat with tutors, share learning experiences, or read user-generated tips. They do have a blog, but it’s not very interactive or community-driven.
3. Limited Learner Support
While I didn’t personally face major issues with customer support, I did notice a few gaps.
A couple of my tutors canceled lessons, but luckily, Preply offered free replacement credits, which worked fine. However, after reading user feedback on Reddit, I found that some learners experienced issues such as:
- Frequent tutor cancellations or no-shows
- Slow responses from Preply’s support team
- Complicated or unclear refund processes
Refunds often depend more on the tutor’s discretion than a transparent platform policy. In comparison, Italki handles refunds much better, offering a clearer and more reliable system for resolving such issues.
Final Thoughts: Is Preply Worth the Time and Money?
From my experience, Preply is easily one of the most effective ways to practice speaking — especially if you’re looking for affordable, flexible, and personalized 1-on-1 lessons.
You get to choose from hundreds of tutors across various languages and price ranges, making it easy to find someone who fits your needs.
And if you prefer learning by speaking and interacting in real time rather than just listening to lessons or using an app, Preply is perfect for that.
It’s all about personalized, real-world learning that adapts to your pace and goals.
That said, Preply isn’t without its flaws. You’ll likely need to spend some time browsing through profiles to find a tutor who truly fits your learning style.
The absence of group lessons or a community space might also feel limiting if you enjoy learning with others. And while customer support generally works fine, the process for refunds or cancellations could definitely be smoother.
Still, considering its affordability and flexibility, Preply is well worth a try — especially if you’re looking for:
- Budget-friendly 1-on-1 live speaking sessions
- Personalized lessons tailored to your goals
- The freedom to pick your own tutor and schedule
👉 My Verdict:
If you’re serious about improving your speaking skills (especially English), Preply is a fantastic place to start.
Take advantage of the 50% trial lesson, try a few tutors, and once you find someone who motivates you — stick with them. That’s where the real improvement begins.
Happy Learning 🙂
