Top 10 Best Companies To Work For Online English Teaching

Published in

OETJobs

6 min readOct 2, 2018

Online English teaching is one of the fastest growing online careers. There’s a huge demand for ESL and English language learning in Asia, particularly in China. According to the consultancy firm iResearch, the market for online English lessons for China in 2016 was worth 4.5 billion dollars. That number is only growing. 51Talk, a Chinese-based online ESL company, is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange. They have over 100,000 quarterly active students.

Online ESL teaching is an excellent part-time remote job where the working hour is flexible. The hourly pay is good, $15 to $35 per hour on average depending on your teaching qualification and subject to be taught.

How to find the best online English teaching company?

So, with all these new online ESL companies to cropping up, how can you find the best online English and ESL learning platform to work for? It’s difficult to cut through the noise and find the best English teaching companies, but luckily, we’ve made this list to help.

Our Top 10 Best Online ESL Companies are in no particular order, based on reviews from teachers from our Facebook Group, Online ESL Reviews. If you’ve had a great experience teaching online with a different company, please head on over to the Facebook group and post about your experience.

1. Whales English

Whales English (formally Sprout). They are currently seeking teachers from the US, Canada, and the UK with a neutral accent. You must have a bachelor’s degree or above. Although it is not required, a TEFL, TESOL, or other teaching certificate is preferred.

You will be teaching during typically Chinese peak hours of 6–9 PM Beijing time along with hours during the day and night on the weekends. Classes are group lessons of 2–3 students aged 5–15. There are consistent hours for regular teachers. Each lesson is 50 minutes long with an above-average pay rate of $18-$25 per session. Some well qualified and advanced teachers reach $30+ per hour.

Read job details or comprehensive application Guide for Whales English

2. Preply

Preply is a European company now headquartered in the US and Spain. Preply is a create your own tutor profile learning platform where you can teach various subjects beyond English language teaching. You’ll have to have your own lessons and be prepared to teach students of various age ranges.

They are a large company and have a lot of students but also a lot of tutors. You will set your own rates and then be contacted by students interested in taking lessons with you. Most popular tutors on Preply earn up to $550 weekly.

Learn more about teaching online with Preply

3. iTutorGroup

iTutorGroup, also know as TutorABC and VIPABC, is from Taiwan, which has been around since 1998. The base pay rate is significantly more favorable to teachers from the US/UK/Canada.
If you are with them for long enough and live in certain countries, you can make over $20 an hour, but the rest are relatively low pay, which can be $8–11 per hour. In the past, teachers have made up to $30 per hour, but that does not seem to be as common as it used to be. The class size range from one-on-one to small groups, up to six students. They provide extremely easy to use materials. You can teach children and/or adult business professionals. iTutorGroup has branches like iTutor, TutorABC, VIPJr, VIPABC, TutorJr, TutorMing (teach Chinese).
Note: in our group, some love iTutorGroup, and those absolutely hate them — very mixed reviews. The pay gap between Native and Non-native is quite significant. The pay rate also varies depending on your current location.

Learn more about teaching online with iTutorGroup here

4. PalFish

PalFish is an app that allows teachers to set their own hourly rates, which many teachers find quite flexible.

Learn more about teaching English with PalFish and a comprehensive application guide for Palfish.

5. Alo7

Teachers who work for Alo7 mention an excellent support team. Teachers also mention having great training with Alo7, which includes a demonstration lesson for each type of class that’s available.

Learn more about teaching English with Alo7 and comprehensive application Guide for ALO7

6. Magic Ears

Teachers mention that the Magic Ears community is very non-competitive and friendly. Since Magic Ears books the classes for you, you don’t compete with other teachers. Additionally, Magic Ears doesn’t have minimum hour requirements, which gives greater flexibility to teachers.

Learn more about teaching English Online with Magic Ears and the comprehensive application guide of Magic Ears.

7. BlingABC

Bling ABC, as part of the New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE: EDU), is focusing on providing quality online education to small groups for Chinese kids from 3–15 years old. BlingABC offers long term courses throughout different school semesters. They are only looking for candidates with consistent availability for the long term.

There are various bonuses available for teachers based on attendance, substitution, weekend classes, and more. With the bonus, the hourly pay ranges from $29–38 per hour.

Learn more about teaching English Online with BlingABC

8. VIPKID

Teachers who teach English online with VIPKID consistently mention that you have a flexible schedule, and great materials to work with, which are continually upgraded. However, many teachers also complain about not having enough class to teach.

Learn more about teaching English online with VIPKID

9. Zebra English

Founded in 2017, 🦓 Zebra English is a rapidly growing online ESL company developed by Yuanfudao (one of the largest EdTech Unicorn in China).

You will be teaching during peak Chinese hours from 6 to 9 pm Beijing time and on the weekends between 9 am to 10 pm. You get to choose your own hours. All lessons are one-on-one.

Learn more about teaching English online with Zebra English

10. Xueersi

Xueersi Online School 1-on-1, an online education platform by TAL, offers Cambridge primary path and Reach textbook to Chinese students aged 4–12 years old.

This particular program is based on a simpler process, one-on-one teaching, and less lesson preparation work on your part. Hourly rate $14–25 per hour. Teaching to regular students in 12 week semester, meaning you are getting the same stable and recurring students for the entire 3 months.

Off the List

Some companies are not performing well this year and now are off the list for various reasons. Neither teachers have enough classes to teach, the hourly rate dropped significantly, etc.

DaDa

Teachers cite that teaching online English with Dada includes a very fast onboarding process, which means you can start teaching quite quickly. Teachers also mention that they love DaDa’s platform.

Landi

Landi is another great company for teaching English online to students in China. Teachers note that Landi pays on time and has an online chat for notifications, plus a help desk team for troubleshooting or computer-related issues. Teachers for Landi also have mentioned that the hiring process is rather quick.

Learn more about teaching English online for Landi.

Where are you going to apply to teach English online?

Again, these reviews were taken from the Online ESL Reviews Facebook page. We hope that you’ll join the group and post your own review of any Online ESL companies that you’ve worked for — whether good or bad.