So, you’ve decided you want to be your own boss, choose your own hours and start teaching English online? Amazing choice. But where do you start, which employers are the best and what are the requirements? We’re here to help! We’ve created with this handy list of all the best online English teaching jobs out there and to make it even easier for you, we’ve separated them by ones who require a degree and one’s who don’t – you’re welcome.
Online employers that don’t require a degree
1. Cambly
Hours: No minimum number of hours required/flexible
Salary: $10.20 per hour
Pros: Cambly have the lowest requirements for online TEFL teachers. If you want to teach online for them you don’t need any experience or a degree. They’re also a well-established online English teaching platform so they’ve perfected their systems so that they’re easy for both students and teachers to use!
Cons: Due to the low entry requirements for TEFL teachers, Cambly have a really low hourly rate and no options for promotions or pay rises.
2. PalFish
Hours: No minimum number of hours required/flexible
Salary: Up to $30+ per hour (average $15-$20)
Pros: PalFish has one of the fastest interview processes in the world of online TEFL. Plus, they’re super flexible in terms of hours and you can set your own rates of pay anywhere up to $30 – wow! You don’t need any experience to work for PalFish and they’re not strict on nationalities either.
Cons: Although any nationality can work for PalFish, they do often prefer to hire native English speakers over non-native.
3. iTalki
Hours: No minimum number of hours required/flexible
Salary: Up to $30+ per hour (average $15-$20)
Pros: iTalki offer more than just English lessons, so if you’re bilingual you’ll have more options as you’ll be able to teach all languages you know – winner! iTalki, like PalFish also let you set your own rates of pay, although they do advise to start off at $15.
Cons: iTalki states that you must be a native speaker, but if you’re not a native English speaker, you can apply as a native speaker of your language!
4. Twenix
Hours: No minimum number of hours required/flexible
Salary: Up to $16 per hour
Pros: Twenix provides great flexibility for teachers, so you can work as much or as little as you choose. You simply open slots in your schedule, and the system matches you with students. No setup or self-marketing is needed – once hired, you can start earning immediately. What’s more, Twenix supplies all lesson materials, requiring minimal preparation and no homework grading. It’s ideal for both full-time and part-time work.
Cons: With Twenix, you’re restricted to a certain type of lesson and student. This being one-to-one conversation classes with adult students based in Spain and Italy.
5. Freelance
Hours: Completely flexible to you
Salary: Set your own rate
Pros: By freelancing you’re giving yourself the most freedom and flexibility possible. You’ll be able to choose your own students, decide your own hours, set your own rates of pay and truly be your own boss – sounds dreamy! Plus, there are no requirements as you’re working for yourself.
Cons: Starting up as a freelancer can be slow, you’ll need to find your own students which is harder than signing up to an agency. But, once you have 1 student under your belt, word-of-mouth will spread and soon you’ll have students coming to you.
Online employers that require a degree
1. SayABC
Hours: No minimum number of hours required/flexible
Salary: Up to $25.50 per hour
Pros: SayABC offer full support for all of their tutors, they boast the best technical and support available across all online TEFL agencies – big claim! They also hire tutors from all over the world, so you don’t need to have a certain passport, be a certain nationality or live in a certain location to work for them.
Cons: You’ll need to have a degree in a relevant field or a degree in any field and a TEFL certificate to work for SayABC. They also offer a lot of weekend classes, so you’ll have to be flexible with your schedule and may have to work weekends.
2. DaDa
Hours: 3-20 hours per week
Salary: $14-$23 per hour
Pros: Founded in 2013, DaDa describe themselves as “the leading online English education platform based in China”. They really want to look after their tutors and will give all new tutors a base salary for the first two months to help them get started. Plus, just like SayABC, they hire tutors from all over the world.
Cons: You must have a degree to work for DaDa.
3. BlingABC
Hours: No minimum number of hours required/flexible
Salary: $24-3$8 per hour
Pros: BlingABC are the largest private education group in China – wow! They’ve been operating since 1993, so they really know what they’re doing.
Cons: BlingABC state that you must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, a TEFL certificate, be a native English speaker with a neutral accent and TEFL teaching experience.
4. Zebra English
Hours: No minimum number of hours required/flexible
Salary: $16-$24 per hour
Pros: Zebra English reaches 450,000 students in China and employs over 5,000 teachers worldwide. They use a really advanced teaching app and AI-based technology, plus they offer lots of teaching tools and materials to help teach grammar, phonics, vocabulary and sentence structures – yes please!
Cons: To work for Zebra English you must have a degree, a TEFL certificate, online teaching experience and legally be able to work in the US or Canada.
5. iTutorGroup
Hours: Minimum of 10 hours per week
Salary: $18-$24 per hour
Pros: iTutorGroup offer a good base salary, plus the opportunity to earn bonuses and promotions throughout your career with them.
Cons: iTutorGroup require you to hold a degree, a TEFL certificate and at least 1 year of teaching experience. Along with this they also want you to commit to 10 peak hours a week, with at least 4 of these being on a weekend. Peak hours during the week are between 19:30-20:30 BJT.
6. My Tutor
Hours: No minimum number of hours required/flexible
Salary: $32.56 per hour
Pros: My Tutor hire current university students as well as those who have graduated, so you can start earning extra income as an online tutor during your studies. They’re also based in the UK so, if you’re a UK citizen you won’t need to set up new bank accounts and you’ll often get to work “normal” hours.
Cons: You need to have a degree or be studying towards a degree to work for My Tutor and you must be able to legally live and work in the UK.
