Courses & learning · review
italki
italki is a marketplace, not a course app: you pick a human tutor and pay that tutor’s own per-lesson rate out of a prepaid credit balance. There is no fixed course fee and no single subscription price, which makes it flexible and means the honest answer to "what does it cost" is always "depends who you book."
Last reviewed 24 August 2026 · scored 4.1/5 by our editors
- Founded
- 2007
- Headquarters
- Hong Kong
- Pricing model
- Pay-per-lesson, no plan
- Payment
- Prepaid wallet credits
About italki
italki launched in 2007 as an online language-exchange community and is headquartered in Hong Kong. It has grown into a marketplace connecting learners with a large pool of independent teachers, reportedly well over 20,000 of them spread across roughly 190 countries, covering dozens of languages, including many that mainstream subscription apps do not bother building a course for. There is no italki curriculum of its own; the platform is the booking and payment layer between you and whichever teacher you choose.
Every teacher sets their own per-lesson price, and italki splits them into two tiers: Community Tutors, who are native or fluent speakers without formal teaching credentials and are priced for conversation practice, and Professional Teachers, who hold teaching qualifications or a relevant degree and charge more for structured, curriculum-based lessons. A discounted trial lesson with any teacher is the standard way to test fit before booking a full course of lessons.
Money moves through an italki Wallet: you buy credits, pegged to your currency, and spend them booking lessons with whichever teacher you pick. Credit-return rules on a cancelled lesson are set by each teacher’s own cancellation window rather than one platform-wide policy, so it pays to read a specific teacher’s terms before booking. Unused credits can also expire if the account sits inactive for a long stretch — worth knowing if you tend to study in bursts rather than continuously.
How lesson pricing works
Trial lesson
discounted, teacher-set
A short introductory lesson, often around 30 minutes, priced below that teacher’s normal rate so you can test their style first.
Community Tutor lessons
roughly $4–20 per lesson
Native or fluent speakers without formal teaching credentials. Priced for conversation practice, not a structured curriculum.
Professional Teacher lessons
roughly $10–40 per lesson
Credentialed teachers running structured, curriculum-based lessons. Higher price, better suited to exam prep or learning from scratch.
italki Wallet credits
bought upfront, spent per booking
Credits are pegged to your currency and topped up before you book. Balances can expire after prolonged account inactivity.
There is no fixed course price. Every figure below is a typical range — the actual cost is whatever the individual teacher you book has set.
What works
You choose exactly who and what you pay for
No platform-wide markup or fixed tier — prices for the same language vary teacher to teacher, so budget-conscious learners can genuinely shop around rather than accept one set price.
Cheap way to test a teacher before committing
A discounted trial lesson costs little and tells you more about fit than any profile description could, before you commit to a full course of paid lessons.
Reaches languages other apps skip
Because any qualified teacher can list themselves, the catalogue extends well beyond the handful of major languages that subscription course apps default to.
A clear, named split between tiers
Community Tutor and Professional Teacher are distinct, defined categories rather than a vague single teacher pool, so you know roughly what kind of lesson you are paying for before you book.
What doesn’t
Quality is entirely teacher-dependent
italki checks credentials for the Professional Teacher label but does not deliver lessons itself. A bad match means finding a different teacher, not a platform-wide fix or guarantee.
Video calls can be unreliable
Lessons run over video tools inside italki’s own interface, and users report calls dropping or lagging when a teacher’s own connection or setup is weak — worth testing in a trial lesson first.
Wallet credits can expire on you
Credits sit in a prepaid balance that can lapse after an extended period of inactivity, so learners who study in irregular bursts risk losing money they have already paid in.
How it scores elsewhere
Aggregate public scores, with the source named. We do not publish individual testimonials — we have no way to verify them.
App Store (iOS)
9.7k+ ratings
4.8ReviewKong editorial score
flexible and wide-reaching, marked down for variable call quality and wallet expiry
4.1
Buy it if
- Learners who want a native speaker for conversation practice at a low per-lesson cost
- Anyone studying a language too niche for subscription apps’ built-in course libraries
- Learners preparing for a specific exam who want a structured, credentialed teacher
- People who want to try several teaching styles cheaply before settling on one
Skip it if
- Anyone who wants one predictable monthly bill rather than variable per-lesson spending
- Complete beginners who want an app-guided curriculum instead of choosing their own teacher
- Infrequent learners likely to let a purchased credit balance sit long enough to expire
italki: common questions
Do I need a subscription to use italki?
No. The core lesson marketplace is pay-as-you-go: buy credits and spend them booking whichever teacher you choose. A separate, optional add-on subscription for extra study tools exists but does not gate lesson booking itself.
What is the difference between a Community Tutor and a Professional Teacher?
Community Tutors are fluent or native speakers without formal teaching credentials, priced lower and best for conversation practice. Professional Teachers hold a teaching qualification or relevant degree, cost more, and run structured, curriculum-based lessons.
What happens if I cancel a lesson?
Refund and credit-return rules are set by each teacher’s own cancellation window, commonly requiring notice around 24 hours ahead — check the specific teacher’s stated policy before booking, since it is not one uniform platform rule.
Do italki credits expire?
Yes, if the account is inactive for an extended period. If you study in irregular bursts rather than continuously, check your balance before a long pause so you do not lose money you have already paid in.
Ready to try italki?
Verified credential checks behind the Professional Teacher label · Per-teacher cancellation windows with credit return · Discounted trial lessons before any full booking commitment