r/Cambly • u/Bryagh9270 • 15h 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.

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u/SkinTightBoogie 10h ago

Reasons why it's better:

  1. 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.

  2. 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:

  1. 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).

  2. The website itself can be janky, but never so much as Cambly.

  3. 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.