“Can you teach online part time?”
If you want to teach online part-time, then teaching English online is a great option. It is a great stay-at-home job that is flexible and you can work it around your schedule.
Also, you can earn a liveable wage teaching English online. When working part-time, you can expect to earn roughly $1000 or more monthly. (I usually work part-time and earn about $2000 monthly.) You will earn the most if you are a native speaker with a BA and higher certification (TEFL/CELTA/TOEFL)
How to teach English online part time
Here are the best paying companies for teaching English part-time. If you want to work full-time, instead, read here.
Working part-time is ideal because most ESL company’s have waves of demand during some months and then ebbs and flows at other times of the year or even times of the day.
Best Jobs: Top Picks
*NOTE: As of August 2021, Chinese tutoring companies Whales and Palfish have stopped hiring due to the new Chinese regulations regarding private tutoring. Please stay tuned for updates on this evolving situation.
Whales English English Teacher hourly pay is approximately $23.25. This is 17% above the national average.
Note that also Bling ABC has a great pay rate of $21 USD – $27 USD per hour, but teachers have reported inconsistent bookings to me. If pay trumps consistency for you, then consider applying to BlingABC where each class pays quite well.
VIPKid is the most popular and well-known ESL company and they have huge communities of teachers and support for you. They host meetups across the country and share rewards and prizes for students (and for you!) VIPKid Teachers earn $14-18 per hour plus incentives.
Palfish lets you teach from your phone or tablet with wifi anywhere around the world. Also, the pay isn’t too shabby! Palfish OKC teachers earn approximately $17- $19 an hour depending on how many classes they teach a month.
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!
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.
How to Earn a Living Wage Teaching ESL Part Time Online
Living wages depend on where you live. Working full time on Cambly or Itutorgroup might be enough money for someone residing in Eastern Europe or Thailand, but not enough for someone in the USA. If you are working in the US, you will likely need to work for companies that pay $18 and up hourly.
Bottom Line: You can teach English online full time and earn a good wage if you do this: work for two or more companies, stagger the company peak hours, and work companies that pay a living wage for your location.
