What happened to VIPKid?
China pulled the rug out. In July 2021 the government’s new tutoring rules banned companies from hiring teachers based outside China to teach kids there, and that was VIPKid’s whole model (Sixth Tone has the details).
VIPKid stopped selling new classes with teachers abroad in August 2021. Then on Oct. 15 it told teachers the flagship program was done. The last day parents could book was Oct. 19, and from Nov. 5 kids in mainland China couldn’t take classes with foreign teachers living outside China. EdSurge covered the shutdown, including the fact that VIPKid had as many as 100,000 teachers at its peak.
So if you’re reading an old VIPKid review that talks about hundreds of thousands of Chinese students and full schedules, that’s history. Skip it.
What VIPKid looks like now
VIPKid didn’t shut down. Its own sites now sell one-on-one English classes to kids in South Korea and Saudi Arabia, and both say the teachers come from the U.S. and Canada. The Saudi site says its students are 4 to 15.
The teacher side looks a lot like it always did. Same pay range, same contract, same “teach when you want” pitch. A few of its help pages still describe the students as kids in China, which tells you how often those pages get touched.
VIPKid
Best for: certified teachers who want a flexible extra
- What it is
- An online English school for kids. You teach one-on-one video classes from home with lesson plans VIPKid gives you.
- What you do
- Open time slots, get booked, teach the class. No lesson planning, no grading, and no minimum hours.
- How much it pays
- $14 to $22 an hour in base pay, or $15.60 to $28.40 an hour once incentives are counted. Your base rate depends on your experience, your demo lesson and your qualifications. You get paid per class, weekly, every two weeks or monthly, to your bank account or PayPal. You’re a contractor, so nothing is taken out for taxes.
- The catch
- You need a bachelor’s degree in any major, a TEFL or TESOL type certificate and the legal right to work in the U.S. or Canada. The application page also asks for at least two years of teaching experience. And there’s no way to see how many bookings are out there until you’re through the whole process.
Worth it? Only if you already have the degree and the certificate and want a flexible side gig. Don’t plan your rent around it.
Getting in takes a while. You create an account, record a short demo lesson, teach a mock class with a mentor, then sign a 6-month contract and pass a background check. VIPKid doesn’t charge for the background check. Most people take 2 to 3 weeks from sign-up to contract, and you still need students to book you after that. Not sure you qualify? Here’s the full list of VIPKid requirements, one by one.
Where to teach online if VIPKid doesn’t work out
If you don’t have the degree, don’t have a TEFL, or just don’t want to wait around for bookings, these are open now. Each one works differently, so read the catch before you sign up.
Preply
Best for: no degree, no certificate
- What it is
- A tutoring marketplace where students book you for one-on-one video lessons.
- What you do
- Build a profile, pick your hourly rate, teach the lessons people book in Preply’s classroom. Approval can take as little as three days.
- How much it pays
- You set the rate and can change it whenever. English tutors there charge $15 to $25 an hour on average. Preply keeps 100% of your first trial lesson with each new student. After that its cut starts at 33% and drops to 18% the more hours you teach.
- The catch
- That trial lesson pays you nothing, every single time you land a new student. And at a 33% cut, a $20 lesson puts about $13.40 in your pocket while you’re new.
Worth it? Yes if VIPKid won’t take you. No certification or teaching experience is required.
Wyzant
Best for: people who know a school subject cold
- What it is
- A U.S. tutoring marketplace for school subjects, test prep and more. It’s part of IXL Learning.
- What you do
- Pick the subjects you want to tutor, take Wyzant’s quizzes for them, write up your experience and set your rate. Then teach online or in person.
- How much it pays
- You set your hourly rate and keep 75% of it. Wyzant keeps the other 25%.
- The catch
- Every application gets read by a person, and Wyzant only lists tutors who meet its bar. Profile reviews take 3 to 10 business days.
Worth it? Yes if you can teach a subject or a test that parents pay for. You pick the price, which VIPKid never let anyone do.
Outschool
Best for: teachers who like building their own lessons
- What it is
- A marketplace for live online classes for kids ages 3 to 18.
- What you do
- Design your own class, set the price and the class size, then teach small groups live on video.
- How much it pays
- You keep 70% of the class price for every kid enrolled. A $15 class with 6 kids pays you $63. Payouts go out through PayPal in U.S. dollars.
- The catch
- You build the class and you have to fill it. Nobody hands you a schedule full of students the way VIPKid used to.
Worth it? Only if you enjoy making lessons. When the seats fill, the group math beats one-on-one.
There’s also Cambly, which pays a flat rate per minute and doesn’t need a degree. The catch is it’s limiting new tutors right now. We break it down in our look at what happened to GoGoKid, the other big China tutoring app that disappeared.
Which one should you try first?
Got a degree and a TEFL? Apply to VIPKid and Preply the same week and see which one actually fills your calendar.
No degree? Go straight to Preply.
Know a school subject or a test better than most people? Wyzant, because you set the price instead of living inside VIPKid’s range.
Love planning lessons? Outschool. It’s the most work up front and the only one where one class can pay you for six kids at once.
And be honest about the money. Even at the top of VIPKid’s range this is a $15 to $28 an hour gig, part time, with no guaranteed hours. That’s fine as a side gig. If you need more than that, our list of jobs that pay $20 an hour with no degree has steadier options, and our weekend jobs guide covers gigs you can stack on Saturday and Sunday. More teaching and freelance gigs live in the freelancers section.
VIPKid FAQ
Is VIPKid still hiring teachers?
Its teacher site still takes sign-ups and still lists $14 to $22 an hour. You need a bachelor’s degree, a TEFL or similar certificate and the right to work in the U.S. or Canada. What nobody outside VIPKid can tell you is how many students are booking.
Is VIPKid legit or a scam?
It’s a real company that has paid teachers for years. The problem was never that it was a scam. The problem is that the China program, which was most of its business, ended in 2021, so it’s a much smaller gig than the old reviews make it sound.
Can you teach for VIPKid without a degree?
No. VIPKid requires at least a bachelor’s degree, in any major. If you don’t have one, Preply is the better place to start.
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