Online Chinese tutors: italki vs Preply vs AI tutors, compared (video)
We read 783 italki Chinese tutors' prices and both help centres: what italki, Preply, schools and AI tutors cost, and how trials, refunds and cancelling work.
Chapters
- 0:00Start
- 0:24The short answer
- 0:47italki or Preply
- 1:33What an hour costs
- 2:02Your speaking time
- 2:43italki and Preply up close
- 3:50Other sites and schools
- 4:35The better ear
- 5:01Where SayMei fits
- 5:30Level and budget
- 6:07What to do next
Transcript
Start
An hour-long Chinese group class for $14 sounds like a bargain. But in a full class of five, each minute you actually speak costs about $2.85. That's the most of every option we priced. So what should you pay for? From SayMei Guides, by Mei Lin: online Chinese tutors compared. italki, Preply, and tutor apps.
The short answer
The short answer: each is best for one goal. italki is the flexible one: you pay lesson by lesson, and try teachers cheaply. Preply suits a weekly habit with one tutor, because you subscribe, and lessons you don't book expire. A tutor app costs far less per minute you speak. But none has shown it hears tones as well as a trained teacher.
italki or Preply
So how do the two biggest marketplaces differ? We read both help centres on 11 October 2026. italki lets you pay per lesson, or buy a package. Preply is a subscription to one tutor, charged every 28 days. Trials? italki discounts up to three, each with a different teacher. Preply charges for each trial, but replaces a bad one free, up to twice. Cancelling is free until 24 hours before on italki, and 12 on Preply. On Preply, lessons you don't book expire when the next 28 days start. And money back? italki refunds into your italki wallet, never as cash. Preply refunds your card only if you used none of that cycle.
What an hour costs
So what does an hour cost? Here's what the companies publish. AmazingTalker says most of its Mandarin tutors charge $10 to $30. Preply's averages by the tutor's country run from $13 to $29. Verbling's Mandarin teachers average $35.98, and Wyzant's Chinese tutors $35 to $59. Schools cost more again, because you buy a course as well as a teacher.
Your speaking time
But the hourly price hides how little of the hour is yours. In a large study of online maths tutoring, students did 44% of the talking. In a model class for eight beginners of Chinese, all the students together spoke for 41%. That's about 5% each. So divide the price by the minutes you'd actually speak. Preply's average native speaker comes to about 87 cents a minute. A full Flexi class, $2.85. SayMei Premium, with all 200 minutes used, about 7 cents, if you talk as much as with a tutor. Nobody has measured that. Even at a quarter of the time, it's about 12 cents.
italki and Preply up close
Now italki, up close. Each teacher sets their own price, and its directory lists 973 Chinese teachers. Professional teachers have shown proof of training, such as the CTCSOL certificate. Community tutors offer conversation practice, and needn't show credentials. If a trial goes badly, italki returns the credits for up to two, if you ask within 48 hours. The fine print? A package lasts six months. Quit one early, and the lessons you took are charged at the single-lesson price. italki Plus adds study tools for $5.99 a month, or $4.99 a month paid yearly. You may not need it: the basic lesson summary already works for Chinese. Preply lists 8,956 Chinese tutors. Each offers one paid trial, of 25 or 50 minutes. Then you choose how many lessons a week. The minimum is four per cycle, and Preply won't sell a single lesson. You can pause once per cycle, for up to 20 days. And cycles of 28 days mean thirteen charges a year, instead of twelve.
Other sites and schools
And the smaller sites? AmazingTalker returns refunds as site credit. Verbling has the only free trial lesson among these marketplaces, half an hour long. Wyzant suits lessons in person in the US. And two big names don't teach Chinese at all: Cambly and Lingoda. Schools sell you a course as well as a teacher, and all three we checked offer a free first class. GoEast's 16-week online group course costs $1,248 plus materials. LTL's private lessons start at $697 for 25 hours. That's Mandarin charges from 199 yuan for a 45-minute class. Choose a school for structure and homework. Speaking time is cheaper elsewhere.
The better ear
So when is a person worth it? When you need a trained ear. Across 33 studies, correcting learners' errors had a medium, lasting effect. Machines still mishear. In a Hacking Chinese test, ChatGPT scored the same native speaker anywhere from 6.5 to 8.5 out of ten. And we found no published accuracy test of any tutor app's tone feedback, SayMei's included.
Where SayMei fits
So where does SayMei fit? You have spoken Mandarin lessons with Mei Lin, SayMei's teacher, for HSK 1 to 6. Premium is $5.99 a month for 200 minutes, about thirty short lessons, with nothing to book. Where it loses: there's no trained human ear, no one waiting for you on Tuesday, and the minutes are capped. ChatGPT Go and Gemini Live cost less for open conversation, though neither plans lessons.
Level and budget
What you need changes with your level. New to Chinese? A professional teacher for pinyin and tones. At HSK 3 and 4, a community tutor for conversation. Before an exam, a teacher who lists test preparation. Why now? HSK 3.0 starts on 13 December 2026, and makes speaking compulsory from HSK 3. And if budget matters, mix both. By our sums, one tutor hour a week plus daily practice costs about half as much as two lessons a week, for nearly the same speaking time. And a human ear still checks your tones every week.
What to do next
So, what next? Book two or three cheap trials before you subscribe anywhere. Book weekly only if you'll keep the slot. Ask how much you'll speak. Use your tutor for diagnosis. And practise speaking daily between lessons. You can practise speaking with Mei Lin, SayMei's teacher, in a short spoken lesson at your level. The full guide, with every source and check date, is on the page at saymei dot app.