Preply: Language Learning App Reviews

by Gloria3009

We’ve had a terrible experience. We started with an amazing tutor that within a few weeks told us he was going to another app because this app does not treat their tutors well or supply enough students for them. My son was very disappointed but we were told to get another tutor which we did then he quit as well and went to another app and then a third tutor. Each of the tutors was wonderful but didn’t want to stay on this app.I have politely asked numerous times to have a refund since this is not acceptable that we’ve had to change 3 tutors within two months. My son was excited to take Spanish but now after having to be bumped around so many times he has lost interest. Now I’m still stuck with this app having my money and not giving me a refund. They kept advertising us to buy one of their packages which I bought their best and biggest package spending a lot of money. We started with another language app called a italkie and we’ve had the same tutor for the past month and he’s wonderful and told us that many of the tutors he knows don’t work with this app because they don’t provide students for their tutors and don’t have a good system for the tutors. It’s frustrating because it’s not our fault so we should get a refund stay away from Preply. They sucked me in by enticing me with a price deal if I bought a big package which I did and now I’m stuck with them having my money.

by QC KCCO

My first tutor changed the time of two scheduled sessions and this app doesn’t give an option for the student to review the new time and accept the adjustment. The sessions were changed to a time that I could not meet, and both new times were scheduled within 4 hours of the new lesson time, so I wasn’t able to cancel them without being charged for the session. Seems like the tutor may have figured out a way to scam the system/student. I was able to report the first one because the tutor didn’t show up and avoided losing credit/payment. I’ve requested a refund via the bot chat for the second one. I loaded up about $50 to my account for lessons and I am not trying to figure out how to get it all credited back.

Great concept. Poor execution.

by Kwills2x

I initially started using this app in the summer of 2020. Found a great tutor. I got a new phone and for some reason this app couldn’t assist in helping me reset the password for the account actually told me I never had an account. I had to give them My cc info for them to find that what I had been saying was true. I then signed up again with my Apple ID added $50 with the tutor whom I like. After a class I went to register more classes and the system is saying again that it doesn’t recognize my info. Which means I don’t have access to my money. Julia had been in contact but there has been no follow up since Friday when I initially reached out. Very frustrating bc I don’t want to lose my money that I added nor do I want to lose my connection with the tutor. Still waiting to hear from them. Very poor system if every time I’m done with a class I’ll Never be able to access it again from my phone- the same place I signed up for the service through an app. I’m
Just not sure what’s going on but I know I have money in their system and can’t access it and I want my money back. Apparently their platform isn’t gonna work for me. NEED SOMEONE TO RECTIFY THIS ASAP!
-thanks

by LoGKtheClutch

Every user should be made aware of this. If you don’t use the site or schedule a lesson for 180 days they will inactive your account and any funds you have in your account will be simply lost! I stepped away from the platform but had several hours remaining balance left to use and they deleted my account! This is unacceptable as this is my money that I used to buy hours and they should not delete your account simply because you haven’t used the platform for a while.

I was ready to return and use my hours but unfortunately found out they deleted my account along with my hours!!! For this reason I will never use this platform again and I would really advise anyone considering this platform to try another platform that does not steal your money and hours you’ve bought to use on the platform.

Prepply you should not delete accounts that have hours/ money on them just because they haven’t used the account for a while unless you refund them back the money that is on that account!

by Osssuu

It was my first trial lesson. The tutor canceled on us. My card was still charged. I reported the issue but being sent to talk to a bot. One day later a person jump in without apology sending me a long text from their website and ask me which option I chose. Then he disappeared without solving the problem. Next they got another message from another employee asking which tutor I want to transfer money to. The problem was if I book lesson with another tutor I have to put my card for prepaying the lesson. Who want to be charged another time when your previous transaction was still a mess? Terrible services. You pay money but there is no way to talk directly with their employees when there is a problem.

by Bjm229

These people have very dishonest and deceitful business practices. First they signed me up for automatic refills without ever notifying me. After getting automatically charged I finally found a way to turn that off. Next, I signed up for additional hours and I was sent an email saying I had not completed the transaction. I went back and repurchased the additional hours and then they charged me twice! I was not able to get this fixed because you can’t call them and they don’t respond to electronic communications. Now my tutor has quit this app but they still charge me for a weekly lesson which obviously doesn’t happen because there is no tutor. Once again they won’t accept calls and they won’t respond to my issues through their app. Now I’m going to have to go through my credit card company to fight these charges. What a hassle! Don’t use Preply.

by PastaCheeseButter

I have multiple language tutors on this app. I am a software developer. I know the UI well, and i am very deliberate in Unselecting the “auto-refill” when i purchase 6 or 12 hours. Yet, the platform still auto refills me when i’m down to 1 hour remaining with that tutor. I have to then go into settings -> Payment Methods and unselect the auto-refill AGAIN to turn it off (for each tutor!). I consider that unauthorized refill to be an unauthorized transaction on my credit card and it has very much soured my experience with Preply. Fix your billing please! Very Stressful to see the charge on my card when i was so intentional in unselecting the auto-refill on initial purchase!! Perfect example of a “bug” that generates recurring revenue. Fine, have your short term rev growth but watch your NPS crash hard - shame on you this app.

by Sunfloweralpaca

Okay. Back to one star because it has just hidden my profile again for a fourth time.. LOL, SURE! not a problem.

I'm a language teacher from this app, which gave me plenty of opportunities to find students and earn decently. BUT that was what I thought until today.
My profile was hidden due to certain reasons, of which I had no idea. However, with my profile hidden, new studnets won't be able to find me on the platform anymore, so I wrote to the support team to ask them what happened.
A representative told me I was reported absent from more than one lesson, which had already happened to me twice. Now the third time, and we all know it was nonsense. After he told me he had to check with their tutor success team or something, he used bold letters and exclamation point to tell me that they work from MONDAY to FRIDAY(in bold) and Thanks for my patience!
No! What if I am not patient? This is the third time it happened to me! So unreasonable and unfair! Now you told me to be patient?
You could say I am a bit too sensitive but I actually felt bad when facing a representative harboring such a POLITE and WARM attitude!
Other staff are helpful and friendly, and I do appreciate their help. I'd give five stars to them but none to this guy.

by NellBelle-0kay

Preply and website often have buttons that don’t work and particularly with Preply it is really ridiculously hard to filter for the language you want to be tutored in. You would think a company whose job is to connect people with tutors would make them easier to find. In addition the tutor quality is weak and so it makes it hard to find qualified tutors. Sure anyone who is a native speaker can have conversations in their language but having a bare minimum certification requirement would greatly increase the credibility in their tutoring pool. If this app wants to just take its clients money without concern about their education then I get it, but if they actually care about clients learning then they should do better. Additionally it’s clear the company does not do tutor development as the quality among tutors varies immensely and there’s no standards for post session reports or even in their lessons. These are very simple but impactful systems that are lacking. All in all, this app is like Craigslist for tutors.

by Hjm730318

It would’ve been nice if my lesson could’ve connected to my calendar or used AM/PM designations. I could’ve sworn I chose a 4 pm time slot but my instructor read 4 am. I couldn’t go back to see what I’d selected but my reminder in Preply only referred to 4:00. I don’t want to risk more mistakes and waste money or not get the time I booked (I had no indication that I’d not been booked for 4 pm).

Also, it’s unnecessarily unclear how the session will take place. I’d expected to get some clear prompting about where to “show up” for the session, but that was left to my instructor to give me the details, so it wasn’t seamless.

If this is a booking app only, that’s cool. But without the calendar connection function and any automated direction, it didn’t really make much easier.

by Old Man Dancing

I like the this app service very much, but they’re a little behind the curve on the tech end of things, on Preply and on the website. They were having problems with uploading new profile photos. They got that fixed but now they’re having issues with Google Calendar synchronization. From the time I started using Preply several months ago, there have been issues with notification bubbles that you can’t get rid of without turning off notifications altogether.

None of these things are deal killers, even when taken together. And, in their defense, I will add that tech support is very responsive and eager to help, where they can.

by Italy Amore

Learning with my tutor through this app has made me into an increasingly intermediate Italian speaker. You can find the private tutor that fits your style and needs, watching posted tutor videos and reading profiles. My tutor and I send messages and files through Preply . However, we use Zoom for meetings as the quality is better than meeting through this app. There are lesson reminders, notifications of any cancelled or changed lessons, and indication of the amount of hours purchased and those remaining. Preply is available in 4-5 languages (more please!) and I love to be able to use it (listing new words learned) in Italian.

by FoxFromMars

Its a great idea to make a platform where its possible to find a teacher from the other part of the world, but Preply don’t have that important stuff as website does.

The most annoying fact that I can not go to the classroom through Preply, so all the time when I want to check my homework I have to open a website. So why do I need Preply if I can only reschedule lessons there?

I wish in next update they will change this stuff so I’ll be able to study just with my phone, because right now its impossible.

by AJP 2014

This has been a perfect way to get my child into learning multiple languages. We have her on Spanish and Russian and has been performing amazingly. The instructor is calm and persistent with the workload.

It takes a lot of energy and effort to get kids to do anything - this app has made it easy. We schedule and let our 7 year old take over. We are very happy to be working with instructors from all over the world to help my daughter communicate with a diverse group of people.

Thank you

by AutumnJBreeeze

I started using this app a few weeks ago and have had an amazing experience.

My instructor is amazing! His name is Guillermo “Guille”. He lives in Germany and speaks 4 languages. He’s very patient, professional, attentive and knowledgeable. He speaks perfect English and Spanish so he is able to provide a lot of insight to cultures, vocabulary, sarcasm, proper use of grammar and conjugations and a lot more. The lessons are fantastic because he is well prepared for his classes with a plan, and happily adjusts if I have questions about a topic. There’s optional videos, homework and documents he has to learn more on free time. I’d recommend Guille to anyone looking to learn Spanish, English, German or French. I already feel more confident in my Spanish.

The this app app is very user friendly and easy to use. Features like the messaging app, placement testing, video gallery, easy transfer of hours, and more make it appealing. I’ve used a few other platforms but this app is the best I’ve ran across.

by Capt Vijish

There’s a bunch of customer support who do not want to understand the issue raised and keep responding the same thing over and over again. I booked a two hour session with my tutor, on my tutor’s dashboard it showed one hour so my class was for one hour. There are clear system dashboard that clarified but no - the so called customer care says that I should fix a session outside Preply by talking to my tutor. If it shows only one hour for my tutor, why should he do that. These folks have zero empathy and logic.

by AVTS1

My daughter speaks English, Spanish and Portuguese. She has always wanted to learn French and now she is in a French/English program for middle school. With C-19 closing schools we wanted her French to progress. We selected 3 different tutors including Fred to see which one would help her the most. I observed a huge lesson and then asked my daughter whom she thought would help her improve her French. She said Fred because he is very organized, makes the lesson applicable to daily life and used videos for fun. We are now working with Fred 2x a week for the next 12 weeks. I will provide updated reviews as we progress.

by Grandma Amanda

Katrina Z speaks Russian beautifully. She started by carefully considering my goals and tastes and every lesson takes me further in direction O want to go. She incorporates challenging grammatical content, fascinating cultural notes and through it all encourages encourages me by seeming genuinely excited to be turning on so many lights for me.
On the one hand she ambitious like me, but at the same time she makes grammar drills, reading and listening assignments fit my needs and my sense or fun. She corrects me without ever being condescending treats my errors opportunities to improve. I’m sure she’s decades younger than I, but in our lessons I feel like I have a kind attentive (not to mention drop dead gorgeous) Mamochka. I woke up this morning for my lesson and told myself «Мне очень повезло», (“I’m very lucky”) with such a teacher.

by Pan Bak

Carlo has been my instructor on this app for the past several months. He is an excellent instructor. He is patient and kind. He is able to adroitly shift from basic questions about vocabulary and useful phrases, to complex grammar, to topics such as Italian history and literature. I have progressed, thanks to Carlo, from almost no competence in Italian to regular conversations with him in Italian. While in Italy this fall, Carlo was extremely helpful, giving travel advice and continued help with my spoken Italian. He is very well-organized and prepares interesting lessons on day-to- day users of Italian. His English is excellent, so that if you know little or no Italian, there is no problem whatsoever with communication in English. I highly recommend Carlo and would be happy to answer questions about the lessons I have had thus far.

by PaymentsNerd

Regarding app functionality, I have not had any technical issues with Preply . It has a very simple interface and has worked well so far with my video and/or audio sessions. It’s easy to search for tutors, book sessions and communicate within Preply .

Regarding the tutors, all of my tutors have been great but I’m sure everyone’s experience may vary slightly due to the subjectivity and personal nature of tutoring.

Readers, please note that this app takes a sizable commission from the tutors, so the price you pay is not the actual pay that they receive. Please be kind to the tutors and mindful of their time.

One thing I would like to see is tipping functionality. As they don’t currently have this in place, I would recommend tipping your tutors by scheduling an extra session.

Overall, I have and will continue to recommend this to others.

by Popcornhk

I took a class yesterday morning. The teacher didn’t show up. The system automatically confirms you took the class even if you click the button that says there was a problem. Then contacted customer support and it’s been crickets ever since. No a single reply. Careful this is either a scam or a company where the customer service is a disaster. But I don’t like them taking money and not getting the class.

by Fix It123455

Application scheduling time zones doesn’t communicate well with the website times zones . If you are scheduling for a different time zone then where your reside, even when the setting are set to the time zone you want to schedule in . It will schedule in the time zone you reside in while the website schedules in the time zone you want to schedule, however it will be like 7 hours ahead of the time you actually want your lesson.

by Awright9512

Just had my first lesson and really enjoyed learning from my teacher. Highly recommend! However I can’t seem to find the notes section for the lesson on Preply . And it’s also a little hard to find the notes on the website. Another thing is the WiFi. There was a slight lag which was a little annoying.

by KrisMcC88

Preply gives you full control over your learning. You can find tutors, schedule lessons, reschedule/cancel as needed, and join lessons all from your phone, no computer needed. It is perfect. The audio and video quality are good, too. This has helped me tremendously. I highly recommend!

by Omsid56

Preply is helping make my school year so easy. I’m an incoming freshman to high school and I’m using Preply to help prepare me. I would strongly recommend you to use Preply to prepare for exams, courses, or schoolwork. You can also learn fun things on here on the side such as business and computer science. Awesome app!

by Rhooooooooooo

I had so much learning Tagalog with Ma Concepcion! She was really nice and understanding. There were some slight problems with the audio and screen sharing for parts of our lesson but she was very nice and patient! I love Preply just because you can learn one on one with just about anyone with whatever language you're trying to learn. Although it costs money, I think that Preply is really worth the download! One thing that I MUST suggest is that you will need to take notes with pen and paper. It is such a convenient thing to do so that way you can practice any time and anywhere in case you’re one of those people that enjoy jotting everything down by hand instead of typing. Anyways, I hope that this helps those who wish to download Preply!

by Lacripto

I have literally tried all the other apps to help me learn a language and Preply is by far the BEST it’s also much more expensive but in comparison to in person tutoring it’s VERY affordable. I HIGHLY recommend you try Preply if you want AFFORDABLE private tutoring to learn a new language.

by Eggs&Fradoodles

I shifted through 50 pages of tutors, tried a sample lesson with my Mandarin teacher, and, now I’m hooked. Preply itself is sleep and easy to use. However, the tutors on here make the experience even better. Bing bung.

by Alex Alexzander

This being an iOS app it really should have integration with the Apple calendar. Connecting facebook or google seems like you just ported a google app to iOS.

Preply does let you find teachers for one on one lessons but you could use that income to make an app that at least integrates with our calendar so we see appointments in our calendar or reminders.