My Honest Preply Review: Is It Worth It for Learning a Language?

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Preply, but everything shared in this post comes from my own experience and opinions as a real user of the platform. This post also contains affiliate links, which may earn me a small commission that supports my work, at no additional cost to you.

Looking to learn a new language and curious to know what Preply is actually like and whether it’s worth it? I got you! 

I’ve been taking one-on-one Portuguese lessons on Preply with a Portuguese tutor for about two months now. I love learning languages, and Portuguese is the language I’ve dreamed of speaking since childhood.🇵🇹

Now that there’s a toddler in the family, there’s some real urgency to learning the language. I’ve wondered for years whether I should take lessons, but often put this “quest” to the side as I assumed I wouldn’t find something that would fit my chaotic lifestyle, learning style, and budget.

Thankfully though, I learned about Preply! I’ve been taking lessons with them for 2 months now, and I’m so excited to share my opinions and thoughts as a learner, and to help you decide whether it’s the right platform for your language-learning goals. 

In this review I’ll share my firsthand experience, how I found my tutor, how the platform works, the pros and cons of Preply, what my classes are like, and my 2-month progress. At the end of this review I’ll share my honest verdict as to whether Preply is worth using, and who I think Preply is for, and who it isn’t for.

As I’m currently writing this, I have taken twelve 50-minute Portuguese lessons over approximately two months.

My short answer is that Preply has been worth it for me, and I plan to continue with my Portuguese lessons for as long as I need to. The personalized lessons, accountability, and regular speaking practice have helped me make important progress and build a strong foundation – something that basic language apps never helped me build.

What Is Preply?

Preply is a global online learning platform and app that connects learners with tutors for live, one-on-one lessons. According to information provided to me by Preply, the platform recently achieved the milestone of 150,000+ tutors teaching over 90 languages, as well as other subjects like math, coding, music, public speaking, and more.

What makes Preply different from a basic language app is that you learn directly from a tutor who can personalize your lessons, answer your questions, make you practice the language, and correct you in real time. 

Preply is much more than just the platform where you find tutors. It’s where you take and schedule your lessons, and can practice your new language with Preply’s tools, including their Whiteboard, Lesson Insights, and Daily Exercises.

It’s important to note that, although Preply provides the platform and learning tools, your personal experience will depend heavily on the Preply tutor you choose. That’s why it’s important to take your time and use Preply’s advanced filtering tools to find a tutor who matches your learning style and personality.

Why I Tested Preply 

I am a Third Culture Kid who was born and raised in Italy, and moved around a lot growing up. My childhood was evenly split between Italy and the United States, and my third culture comes from my mom, who is half-Portuguese.

With a Portuguese grandma, Vovó, and cousins, speaking Portuguese is a dream I’ve had since childhood. I vividly remember my 7-year-old self walking up to my grandma with a notebook and asking her to give me Portuguese lessons. It didn’t go very far.😅

So for the past 20 years, my cousins and I communicated using a mix of Portuguese, Italian, and English. It wasn’t always easy, but we made it work (and had a great time doing so).❤️ 

As someone who speaks Italian, Spanish, and English, I know firsthand just how important immersion is when learning a language. Immersion is how I learned English and Spanish, and speaking with real people taught me things I never could have learned by memorizing random words and phrases.

After testing several language-learning platforms, I began considering private or group lessons but quickly assumed they would be too complicated, expensive, or not flexible enough for my chaotic lifestyle. 

When I discovered Preply, it seemed like a good platform to test and potentially find a tutor who could help me learn Portuguese properly. 

The reason I’m finally learning Portuguese now, 20+ years later, is because my cousin and his wife had their first child, who’s now a toddler. I want to be able to speak Portuguese with her and simply connect more deeply with my Portuguese family, who I love so much.🥹

As of today, it’s been two months since I started taking Portuguese lessons on Preply, and I’m both happy and impressed with my progress and how enjoyable the lessons have been.

How Preply Works

Preply is a straightforward platform and app that offers a good user experience. 

When you first create your Preply account, you are asked a few different questions, including: 

• What are your goals?
• What is your timeline?
• Why are you learning a new language?
• What is your current level?

My goals are to learn Portuguese and be able to converse. I’m a beginner and learning for my Portuguese family, and my timeline is “as long as it takes”.

Once you finish this initial survey, Preply gives you a list of potential tutors. You can then narrow down the results using the filters available: availability, other languages spoken, country of birth, price per lesson, and tutor specialties.

I personally filtered for a native speaker born in Portugal who also speaks English. With my family being Portuguese, I wanted to learn from a tutor who was born and raised in Portugal and from whom I could learn more than just the language. I also wanted to understand and learn Portuguese expressions, humor, ways of communicating, and simply connect.

Having a tutor who speaks English was important to me too. Although I want to practice Portuguese as much as possible, sharing a common language helps when something needs a more detailed explanation.

I chose my tutor because she had a great introduction/bio, excellent reviews, compatible availability, and her teaching style matched my learning style. She also lives in Porto, which is one of my favorite cities and where my cousins live.😍

One of my biggest pieces of advice is to look beyond a tutor’s rating. Watch their introduction video, read their bio and student reviews, and consider whether their teaching style matches what you’re looking for. I also recommend choosing someone who shares a language with you in case you need a more detailed explanation.

After you’ve narrowed down your search and found a tutor you’d like to move forward with, you’ll book a paid trial lesson with them. During this lesson, you’ll get to know each other, ask questions to see if you’re a good match, and even potentially take your first mini-lesson if you opt for the 50-minute option.

Preply trial lessons can be either 25 or 50 minutes. I chose the 50-minute option because I wanted enough time to get to know my tutor, experience her teaching style, and begin learning some Portuguese.

If you’re happy with your tutor, you’ll then select a subscription plan that renews every 28 days. I personally opted for two lessons per week, meaning I have a subscription of eight lessons every 28 days with my tutor.

What My Portuguese Lessons Are Actually Like

A Quick Overview of My Lessons

• Reviewing homework
• Learning the lesson of the day
• Completing exercises that apply what I learned
• Each class involves reading, writing, listening, and speaking

I have two 50-minute lessons a week and they usually follow the same structure. 

Note: This is how my individual tutor structures our classes, so another tutor’s lessons may be different.

When I first enter the video classroom, my tutor and I review the homework from the previous class. I read everything out loud, and if I make a mistake in the homework or in my pronunciation, my tutor quickly points it out and corrects me.

This is very important to me because it helps prevent mistakes from becoming habits, and the corrections stick in my brain much more easily when they happen during a real conversation.

If I struggle with something in particular, my tutor will check in and ask if I want to do extra exercises or talk something through.📝

After reviewing the homework, we move on to the lesson of the day. She has an incredible PowerPoint from which she selects the slides we’ll focus on. 

During class, she’ll introduce me to the lesson of the day, any important rules to know, and then we jump straight into reading and applying what I learned. She’ll have me repeat words and sentences after her to learn proper pronunciation, and complete exercises directly on the Whiteboard.

If you’d like to hear more about my experience and see what learning Portuguese on Preply has been like, you can watch my full video review below.👇

For me personally, Preply has many more pros than cons.

The cons are worth considering, especially when it comes to the subscription and scheduling policies, but they certainly do not outweigh the value I’m getting from my Portuguese lessons.

As a trilingual who’s on the road to becoming a polyglot, I couldn’t be happier with the personalized one-on-one lessons or the fact that I found a tutor from Portugal who not only is an expert but also someone I genuinely get along with. 

When you have a tutor who matches your personality, you’re able to enjoy your classes even more. I feel more at ease and encouraged to think out loud, which leaves less room for embarrassment or fear of making a mistake. 

In my life, I learned that the best way to learn a language is through practice, speaking with locals, and making mistakes. That’s exactly what I’ve found through Preply.

These lessons are highly interactive and aligned with my goals and skills, so there’s never a dull moment. I’m consistently using different language “muscles,” including thinking, writing, listening, and speaking.🇵🇹

But the most important thing that made the biggest difference? 

Being trilingual and fluent in Italian and Spanish, I always thought I could just skip over the basics and fundamentals. Skip over the “boring” parts and jump straight into action. 

I’ve actually come close to telling my tutor we could skip over the pronunciation of the vowels or alphabet… and thank the skies above I kept my mouth shut.😂

By trusting my tutor, and her not being fazed by me being trilingual, I’ve been building a strong foundation – something that would have never happened for me personally with gamified language apps. I have a brain that loves to go and learn fast, and am far too comfortable with educated guesses.

In other words, Preply takes accountability to another level for different reasons, and I am so thankful for it.

Is Preply Actually Worth It? 

As a quick, personal answer: yes! Preply has been worth it for me.

The longer answer is that it depends on your personal goals. If you’re someone like me, who genuinely wants to learn a new language and become comfortable speaking it, Preply can be a great choice.

Personally, I couldn’t be happier with my experience so far. My twice-a-week Portuguese lessons are one of the highlights of my week, and I’m thrilled with my progress in just two months. 

A week ago, just before reaching the two-month mark, my tutor had me speak entirely in Portuguese for roughly 40 minutes. She asked me basic questions, and I was able to respond to most of the questions. We were both really happy with my progress, and naturally, I spent the rest of the day showing off to my mom and making her proud.❤️

I’m obviously nowhere near fluent, and I don’t want to exaggerate what can realistically happen in two months. However, I can already form basic sentences, read aloud with more confidence, and understand more when my tutor speaks or writes to me in Portuguese.

Seeing my progress in just two months, I’m extra excited to see where I’ll be in four months or next year. Hopefully in Portugal, surprising my cousins!😉 

Preply might have introduced me to the platform and invited me to test out its lessons, but because of how much I’ve enjoyed the experience and the progress I’ve made, I plan to continue learning with my tutor after this partnership.

Who is Preply Best for?

Based on my experience, Preply is best for people who genuinely want to learn a new language, especially those who want a personalized plan, regular lessons and language practice, and direct feedback from a tutor.

Preply may be a particularly good fit if you: 

• Are a beginner who wants structure, guidance, and corrections
• Already know the basics but want to improve your speaking confidence, fluency, and pronunciation
• Are learning a language for work, a move abroad, family, or exams
• Benefit from accountability and need scheduling flexibility while still taking lessons consistently

Whether you’re moving abroad, have international family members you want to speak with, or need to prepare for an exam or long trip, there’s a good chance you’ll find a tutor on Preply who fits your preferences, including availability, budget, and teaching style.

On the other hand, if you’re only looking to learn a few simple sentences or greetings for an upcoming trip, Preply might not be what you’re looking for. A basic language app or another self-guided resource may be enough, although an independent study did find that 9 times as many learners said Preply was more motivating than a self-learning language app.

While Preply allows for flexibility with lesson scheduling, it requires a recurring subscription if you want to continue after the trial.

For me, this payment system adds another layer of accountability because it encourages me to take classes consistently, which is crucial when learning a new language.

Unscheduled lessons expire at the end of the 28-day billing cycle. Lessons you have already scheduled are protected, even if they take place after your renewal date. 

Because of this policy, I do believe that Preply is best for someone who can commit to scheduling lessons consistently. If you want to study only occasionally or cannot reliably schedule your lessons before each renewal, the subscription may not be the right fit.

Preply FAQs

Is the Preply Trial Lesson Free?

No. Preply trial lessons are paid, and you can choose between a 25-minute or 50-minute lesson.

However, if you’re a new student, you can use my referral link to receive 50% off your first trial lesson!

How Much Does Preply Cost?

Creating a Preply account and browsing tutor profiles is free, but lessons are paid.

Preply tutors set their own prices, so the cost depends on the tutor you choose. My tutor charges €28 ($31) per 50-minute lesson, making my eight-lesson subscription approximately $250 every 28 days.

Do Unused Preply Lessons Roll Over?

Unfortunately, unscheduled lessons expire at the end of the 28-day billing cycle. However, lessons scheduled before your renewal date are protected, even if they take place afterward.

I personally have mixed feelings about this policy. I understand how it encourages learners to plan their lessons and remain consistent, and you can protect your remaining lessons by scheduling them for future dates before your subscription renews. However, it does require you to monitor your renewal date and plan ahead rather than assume unused lessons will remain in your balance.

If your schedule and your tutor’s availability do not align for a week or two, you can book the lessons for a later date, as long as you schedule them before your renewal.

Ready to Take Your First Lesson? 

If you’re ready to take your first lesson, you can use my referral link for 50% off your trial lesson!🥳

What language are you looking to learn, and what’s your reason behind it? Comment below because I’d love to know!😍👇