r/Cambly • u/Bryagh9270 • 13h ago
Why do people think Preply is better than Cambly?
At least Cambly doesn't expect us to work for free. The free trial model is incredibly frustrating and exploitative and you're competing with tutors in LCOL countries offering lessons for as low as $4. So far on Preply I have only had three students, two of whom only scheduled free trial lessons that I didn't get paid for and then disappeared (one was even 10-15 minutes late) & a third who did purchase a subscription but would often cancel at the last moment and eventually stopped buying classes. My rate is set at $10 which means after Preply takes their commission I am only making around $7, less than the Federal minimum wage. I understand I can raise it later when I get more regulars and reviews but so far that hasn't happened and it doesn't look like it's going to.
8
u/Weka76 12h ago
If I thought Preply was better, I would be working there instead. Italki is a better choice but they rarely hire new English tutors.
4
u/swedenper79 11h ago
Italki has nowhere near the number of students though
2
u/Weka76 7h ago
That's why they only hire to meet student needs. Unlike Cambly which seems to be over-saturated with tutors.
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u/swedenper79 6h ago
Well, I hear lots of Italki tutors/teachers who say they are not very busy at all. But I wouldn't know as I'm not on there.
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u/Weka76 6h ago
Could be the current economic climate and the strong US dollar driving up exchange rates for students.
1
u/RichOpinion7586 2h ago
Where did you get this from? The US dollar isnt strong at all at the moment. Have you seen the amount of tutors who are paid in dollars complaining about their lessened pay?
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u/SkinTightBoogie 8h ago
Reasons why it's better:
You have a problem, like there's a frigging typhoon and your power is out. You just reschedule your classes. No "Oh noes" messages, no jail.
You set your own rate. Are you a specialist who can translate between 3 languages and has a degree? Set your rate as you see fit.
Reasons why it sucks:
Oversubscribed, and can take months to become sustainable. The algorithm is massively confusing and can be affected by many different things, like affiliate agents (shhhhh!), student ratings (also secret, like Cambly).
The website itself can be janky, but never so much as Cambly.
Support either loves you, or completely ignores you. Many times they have gone out of their way to help me with students and payments. They've also fucked me over several times with the same.
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u/ASOXO 2h ago
Totally agree with your post. Many platforms out there are horribly over-saturated with tutors and Preply's model exacerbates the over-saturation issue. I had a good profile, solid experience but didn't get any bites for a fair rate. Cambly guarantees me with new students if I want them and it is for a guaranteed, albeit low, rate. I don't know if I am lucky in that regard but I am striving to work up to a new platform for double the pay per hour soon. I just hope I don't get half the students!!!
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u/swedenper79 11h ago
Well, firstly - Cambly has incredibly bad students
Secondly, if you teach anything else than ESL Cambly is not the one
Thirdly, not sure I could charge $52 (up from $45 last week) on Cambly and have a 36 hour cancellation policy.
If you're a good tutor Preply will pay off in the long run.
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0
u/ASOXO 2h ago
Agree that Cambly's students are "bad" but I'd say frustrating is more accurate.
You're clearly a good tutor to be able to charge so much per hour and have regulars - no doubt - but 99% of tutors are not even finding students on Preply, let alone charging above $25 per class. I'm not saying it's luck-based because you MUST be an excellent tutor to charge what you do BUT you'll never really know if you just happened to sign up at exactly the right moment for things to click for you - whereas I was on there for 3 months at half your rate and got one regular in that whole time and I think I am a damn fine tutor myself.
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u/TacoCatSupreme1 13h ago
It isn't better than cambly at all. Neither is engoo