Online teaching pay research 2026

What this covers

57 programmes in the Plain Chalk platform directory. Each entry links to the source we used. Pay figures come in different bases — they measure different things and are never averaged together:

• Checked by hand, not on a schedule. Figures are checked on the date shown; automatic updates are not running. Treat each date as the last time a person verified that number.
• Advertised rate — the hourly rate the platform itself publishes for the role (11 programmes).
• Asking rate — the hourly rate a tutor sets on a marketplace where the platform does not fix a wage (1 programme).
• Community-reported — a rate teachers reported in a named, dated third-party source; not published by the platform (1 programme).
• Estimated — earlier estimates from third-party sources (25 programmes). We withhold 25 figures that lack reliable supporting evidence.
• Other pay units — published rates per minute or lesson (3 programmes). We keep the original unit.
• Not published — the programme does not publish a pay range (16 programmes).

16 of 57 programmes have a usable pay figure. 41 programmes have no usable figure: 16 have no published range, 25 have unverified estimates withheld.

How the figures were gathered

Each pay range was checked on the programme's own tutor recruitment page, application page, or published terms. The source date is shown beside each figure. Figures are the publicly listed ranges only — actual offers may differ by region, nationality, experience and demand. Community-reported figures come from a named third-party source whose own date is recorded, and are shown in their own section, never mixed with published rates.

Advertised rates — 11 programmes

Programmes where the platform publishes an hourly pay range. Median: $18–$20/hr. Interquartile range: $15–$16 (low end), $22–$26 (high end).

Advertised non-hourly pay — 3 programmes

Programmes that publish pay per minute, per lesson or per month rather than per hour. Shown in the platform's own unit, with no hourly figure worked out from it. Not included in any hourly statistic on this page.

Asking rates — 1 programme

Marketplaces where tutors set their own price. These are asking prices, not wages — they do not account for platform commissions or booking rates.

Community-reported rates — 1 programme

Figures teachers reported in a named, dated third-party source. The platform itself does not publish them, so they are shown here separately and never averaged with advertised or asking rates.

Estimated rates — 25 programmes

These programmes previously carried estimates from third-party write-ups, recruitment forums or teacher reports. 25 estimates are withheld because the supporting evidence is insufficient. A blank figure does not mean the employer pays nothing.

Not published — 16 programmes

These programmes are recorded in the pay directory but do not publish a pay range in our sources. They are counted in the total of 57 but excluded from all rate statistics.

• AmazingTalker
• Novakid
• italki
• 51Talk
• LingoAce
• Brighterly
• Tutor.com
• LingoStar
• Twenix
• VIPTeacher
• Babbel Live
• Proximity Learning
• All Right
• CNK English
• ClassForThat
• eHello

Summary statistics

Medians and quartiles are computed only where at least five programmes share a basis. "—" means the basis has too few programmes or no published figures. All figures are USD per hour, unconverted.

Limitations

• Self-reported ranges. Advertised figures come from each platform's own recruitment pages and may represent a target range rather than actual payouts.
• Hours vary. A listed range says nothing about how many hours are available. A $30/hr rate with 4 booked hours per week earns less than a $14/hr rate with 20.
• Currency not converted. All figures are listed in the currency published by the platform. No currency conversion is performed; no cross-currency comparisons are made.
• Ended programmes shown as ended. Programmes marked "ended" (defunct) are included for completeness but should not be treated as active opportunities.
• Estimates excluded from published-rate comparisons. Estimated figures are Plain Chalk estimates, not operator-published rates, and are kept separate from advertised and asking statistics.
• Not a financial report. These are publicly listed figures, not audited payouts. Taxes, platform fees, no-show deductions and regional pay differences are not captured.

Download the data

The full dataset is available as a CSV file: one row per programme with slug, name, status, currency, pay low, pay high, basis, period, checked date, and source URL.

Download pay-aggregate.csv

57 rows. Derived entirely from data/jobs.json. No rows are invented and no figures are modified.

Salary report: your questions

How much do online English teachers make per hour?

Across the 57 platforms in this dataset, 11 publish advertised hourly rates and 1 use tutor-set asking rates. 1 carry figures teachers reported in a named, dated source, 3 publish rates in other units, 25 were classified from estimates (25 figures withheld), and 16 have no published range in our sources. Advertised median: $18–$20 per hour.

What is the difference between advertised and estimated rates?

An advertised rate is what the platform itself publishes for the role. An estimate is Plain Chalk's own range from third-party write-ups — not a published rate, and not what a teacher will necessarily receive. They are different bases and must not be averaged together.

Why are some programmes not included in the rate statistics?

16 of the 57 platforms do not publish a pay range. Their listings are counted in the total but excluded from rate statistics. No figures are invented where data is missing.