Best online English teaching jobs in 2023

Top 4 ESL teaching companies

These are the companies I think are the best online English teaching jobs currently available in 2023. So many Chinese companies closed due to the new regulations that the options for only English teaching have really plummetted. There are still some companies going strong, though.

The companies below are my top picks for online English jobs in 2023 but they are only my own personal opinions. I also explain what factors make an ESL company the best to work for in my opinion, but the best online teaching company must be best for you.

Be sure to read reddit subs too:

r/onlineESLjobs is a place to find English teaching jobs and discuss and review different companies.

r/OnlineESLTeaching is a place to discuss the companies, practices and experience of teaching English as a Second Language to students online.

Also, check out this great list from ESLwild.com. It is from 2022 but lists some lesser known companies.

Online English Teaching Jobs 2022: Best TEFL jobs!

Best Online English Teaching Job: My Top Picks

Your ESL dream job, or the best online English teaching job for you, depends on who you are and what you are looking for. Find the remote teaching job that is the best fit by taking this easy quiz

Are you a native speaker?

Yes. Go to the next question.
No

Do I have a degree?

Do I want to teach adults or kids?

Do I want to work for a company or work for myself?

What time do I want to work?

Finding your ESL dream job is probably going to mean working for two companies or even more — It is possible to teach English online full time

Do I have an office space or do I want to travel?

I have a quiet, dedicated room with a home office set up (or a corner of a room, a closet, a stairwell, etc.) with an ethernet cable and high-speed internet
I have a backpack, my cell phone, and a lot of enthusiasm and energy! (Many people travel the globe while teaching English from Thailand, Vietnam, Columbia, and anywhere you can imagine.

If you want to teach English full time and make it a real career, your E.S.L Dream Job is most likely more than one company. You will need to juggle two companies, probably, to make this a full time job with a comfortable pay check. So, consider applying to a few companies rather than focusing on only one dream job. Teaching is more like a dream career.

Hope you found something helpful. As always, happy teaching.

Cambly for flexibility

Cambly lets you pop on and off whenever you want and you can teach by the minute. You can teach from wifi so you can travel with your laptop. Cambly gives you lesson plans but most students just want to chat and improve their speaking skills. You don’t need to commit to bookings if you don’t want to, but the option exists. Cambly is by far the easiest, low-stress tutoring employer but also pays the least at $10.20/hour. However, that goes pretty far if you’re an American in Thailand, let’s say!

Engoo for expats

As of August 2021, many Chinese tutoring companies have stopped hiring due to the new Chinese regulations regarding private tutoring. Please stay tuned for updates on this evolving situation. I removed Whales English, BlingABC, MagicEars and Palfish from this list because they simply stopped hiring or dropped their pay substantially. Instead, many people are now working for Engoo.

What’s it like to work for Engoo?

Working for Engoo is popular now. Engoo pays its teachers a rate of $10 to $20 per hour, depending on their experience, skills, and the program they are teaching.

Many teachers, especially expats, report loving working for Engoo. Check out this post:

Engoo / DMM – Reflections after 5 Months
by u/after_iftar_mints in OnlineESLTeaching

However, some people dislike working for Engoo because of the low pay, long hours, and demanding work schedule. Additionally, some teachers report being stressed and discouraged due to Engoo‘s student base. If you peruse reddit or online forums, it looks like many teachers report Engoo students to be impolite, demanding, or difficult to teach. Finally, the lack of job security and Engoo‘s heavy reliance on your rating can be off-putting to some people.

Comment
by u/narrative_device from discussion Review of Engoo? Is it the best option for new teachers?
in OnlineESLTeaching

iTutorGroup for non-natives

iTutorGroup is one of the few companies that hire non-native speakers regularly. Though a problematic term, ESL companies use the term non-native speaker to refer to a person who learned English as a second language. Be aware that iTutorGroup pays according to your location *at the moment you are teaching* and tie your pay to the hourly wage of your country. This means the pay can be high in Sweden but very, very low in Thailand. They track your location during your interview.

First Future for South Africans

First Future is a good ESL company for South African teachers because they hire both native and non-native English speaking teachers and pay them equally. There are more ESL companies that hire S.A teachers too. Please note that SayABC, a popular company for South African teachers to teach English online, is winding down operations.

Also, consider checking out the TEFL academy’s public jobs board with job placements posted from all over the world.

🌟Comparison Chart🌟

People that know me, know I teach English online and really enjoy it. So, I used to reply and write paragraphs upon paragraphs explaining some pros and cons of different companies and my personal experiences with them.

I would video chat with applicants and try to give them personalized advice since I had worked for so many companies, but it soon tired me out and no one ended up applying for any of the companies anyway.

What’s it like to work for Engoo?

Working for Engoo is popular now. Engoo pays its teachers a rate of $10 to $20 per hour, depending on their experience, skills, and the program they are teaching.

Many teachers, especially expats, report loving working for Engoo. Check out this post:

Engoo / DMM – Reflections after 5 Months
by u/after_iftar_mints in OnlineESLTeaching

Comment
by u/narrative_device from discussion Review of Engoo? Is it the best option for new teachers?
in OnlineESLTeaching

Best company to teach English online: my experiences

When asked, “What is the best online English teaching job?” by job seekers, I used to write paragraphs upon paragraphs. I would explain all the pros and cons of different companies and my personal experiences with them.

Do referral codes affect which ESL companies are promoted by teachers?

Each company I worked for offered a referral code, but only if the person was hired and actually taught.

This means the teacher has to actually pass the requirements and also stick with it once hired. So, I tried to be honest and give lots of opinions about the benefits and disadvantages of each company. I had personal experience working with about six in the past and knew many teachers who worked for others so I could further recommend people to talk to these teachers for more information.

It was exhausting.

One day, I sat down and wrote this website instead. Now, I just send them a link here. Same information. Much easier for me. 🙃

My Personal Preference for ESL Teaching Companies

high pay
scheduling flexibility
no stress of losing my jobs

Personally, I value being paid highly.

If you feel the same, you might want to compare ESL companies by pay.

In addition, I also want flexibility.

This means I want to take days off, have autonomy when teaching, and I don’t want to worry that a disgruntled student could get me fired or tank my rating. I also really like being able to travel and teach on-the-go. That’s why I like working for Palfish. Other ESL Companies, including VIPKID and SayABC, paid me more, but Palfish let me teach from my phone using just a data plan. This has saved me many times when I only had a wifi connection.

Finally, I don’t want to worry about getting fired.

I want to feel secure and safe in my employment.

I don’t want a long bout of the flu to get me fired. Since almost all online ESL companies have strict cancelation and no-show policies, I create this buffer by always working for more than one. It is surprising how easy it is to get a Teacher No-Show. You don’t realize how many of the responsibilities (read: all responsibilities) the company has offloaded on you by making you a freelance contractor until you are doing it and something goes wrong. For example, internet/noise/utilities can cause a disruption any time and the burden will always fall on you. Some companies forgive emergencies with notes, but the situations will still cause massive anxiety for you.

Here are some things that happened to me while online teaching these past few years that nearly caused me to lose my job:

I had a home break-in in Romania and the thief stole my laptop, which I didn’t see until the moment I woke up right before my first class of the day.

I got bronchitis and lost my voice for over a week.

I had an electrical outage.

I locked myself out of my apartment one day and didn’t have a way to cancel classes in time.

Life happens. Keep a plan B in your pocket at all times.

Best Online English Teaching Job: Juggle two or three

It took me a few years and working for 6 different companies before I found a really good fit for me. Eventually, I settled on working for 3 companies that fit me best.

During my first years teaching English online, I juggled these three companies:

VPKID, SayABC, Itutorgroup
VIPKid, SayABC, Cambly
VIPKid , Palfish, Cambly

Download your VIPKid Classes — After 5 years, I still found VIPKid to be the best fit for me and my primary company, but the regulations in 2021 made them drop their pay and it wasn’t worth it anymore.

Before the new Chinese regulations, VIPkid had always been my backbone.

It didn’t have the highest pay or the most flexibility or the best lesson plans, but they did all of those things reasonably well.

If you are trying to make online teaching a full-time job, then there is a good chance a combination of two or three companies will be best for you, too.

This is because each company might offer you something different. In my case, one pays highly, one is easy, and one has extremely flexible tech requirements while traveling.

Can you work for more than one online ESL company?

Yes, you are allowed to work for more than one online ESL company

ESL teachers who teach online are usually classified as independent contractors. Unless you are hired full time and given a W2, you do not have to feel tethered to one online ESL company. You are allowed to work for multiple companies. There should be nothing in your contract that says it’s not allowed to teach for other online ESL companies. If there is, this is illegal.

So the key is to just jump in and begin by starting at one and then trying out a second, too.

To find your ideal ESL teaching job, think about the following questions:

How much do I want to earn?
Do I want to teach adults or kids?
What is my availability during the day (what hours do I want to work daily)?
How is my availability weekly (what minimum hours can I work)?

Once you have an answer to these questions, filter through a comparison chart of companies.

Comparison Chart

You can rank the employers and choose the most flexible online E.S.L job, or the highest paid online English tutoring position, or the least demanding online tutoring gig, and so on.

The Best Online English Teaching Job for Good Bookings

Do you want the company to match you with students ASAP and guarantee a full schedule?

Another aspect to consider is how quickly you want a full schedule. In other words, do you want an online teaching job that matches you with students right away?

Some online English companies approve you immediately and match you with students. These companies have stringent requirements, such as limited days off or inflexible schedules, but the benefit is that you are guaranteed payment.

Which ESL company pays the most?

Some tutoring sites require lots of time to build a student base (which is why you see so many videos of current veteran teachers giving tips to build a solid student base). These sites offer you more flexibility and allow you to work for yourself.

Some companies offer a bit of both. They give you a completely flexible schedule, but they also direct students to you right away. A good example is Cambly. You just chat and go and get paid per minute. The trade-off is that the pay is comparatively low for online tutoring positions ($10.25/hr). Cambly pays you weekly and is a great way to make some extra cash or dip your toes in the water of English teaching online if you need a job for an inexperienced English teacher.

Sometimes, friends of friends who are looking for a new job will email me and ask, “What is the best online English teaching job?” Some variation of this question also shows up multiple times a week on my Reddit or Facebook feeds.

To make a long story short: the best online teaching company must be one (or many) best for you.

However, I hope my top picks of ESL companies to work for helped you.

Bottom Line: First, decide what is most important to you: pay, flexibility, tech requirements. Then, diversify, so all your eggs are not in one basket. As independent contractors, online ESL teachers are allowed to work for multiple companies.

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