italki
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy it if you're a self-motivated learner wanting cheap 1-on-1 conversation practice, especially in less-common languages.
Comparison
italki vs Preply
italki and Preply both land on Depends.
Preply
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy as a learner: affordable 1:1 lessons with huge tutor choice and flexible scheduling.
| Compare | italki | Preply |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Conversational practice with native speakers | Budget language learners |
| Who it's not for | Learners wanting structured, curriculum-driven courses | Tutors needing reliable income |
| Privacy | User forums discuss a past data breach; shows no public security page.⁸ | No public CVEs found; user reports include tutor account hacks and phishing scams targeting tutors. |
| Support quality | Repeated complaints about service and policies | Tutors report disputes and weak resolutions |
| Public sentiment | Long-term learners credit italki with real speaking progress; complaints center on refunds, expiring credits, and support. | Learners mostly praise affordability and tutor choice, while tutors complain about commissions, visibility algorithms, support, and account security.13 |
| Biggest gotcha | Community posts discuss a data breach; be careful what personal data you share⁸ | Tutors face phishing via fake student messages; avoid off-platform links. |
Pick italki when
- Conversational practice with native speakers
- Rare or niche languages
- Budget learners
- Self-directed learners
When italki is not a fit
- Learners wanting structured, curriculum-driven courses
- Anyone expecting painless refunds or responsive support
- Casual dabblers . free apps cover that
- Unsupervised kids; italki itself advises parental oversight
Pick Preply when
- Budget language learners
- Flexible 1:1 scheduling
- Trying multiple tutors cheaply
- Teams doing language training (Preply Business)
When Preply is not a fit
- Tutors needing reliable income
- Anyone wanting free learning
- Learners wanting accredited, structured curriculum
- Tutors relying on one platform
Sources
- Is italki worth it? : r/languagelearningreddit.comreview
review
- italki Reviews on G2g2.comreview
- italki Reviews on Trustpilottrustpilot.comreview
- italki Review: Pricing, Pros & Cons (pinetreepoet)pinetreepoet.comreview
review
- italki - Data breach! What to do?italki.comsecurity
- Italki is unsafe : r/languagelearningreddit.comsecurity
- italki Security page scanitalki.comsecurity
- Italki - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgnews
- italki - Crunchbase Company Profile & Fundingcrunchbase.comnews
- Read Customer Service Reviews of preply.comtrustpilot.comreview
- Preply Review: great for student, not for teachermultilingualmastery.comreview
review
- Preply review: G2 3.5/5whop.comreview