What happened to GoGoKid?
GoGoKid paired English teachers, many of them in the U.S., with kids in China for one-on-one English lessons over video. It was owned by ByteDance, the same company that owns TikTok.
Then China changed the rules.
In July 2021 the government banned tutoring companies from hiring teachers based outside the country to teach kids in China (Sixth Tone covered the new rules). For a company whose whole pitch was foreign teachers, that was the end.
On Aug. 5, 2021, GoGoKid emailed its teachers that it would “suspend the curriculum offered to all Chinese students.” Classes already on the schedule disappeared, with no warning. EdSurge talked to teachers who got that email.
That’s it. There’s no comeback and no rebrand you can sign up for.
If you go looking, the old teacher site, teacher.gogokid.com, doesn’t load at all, and neither does gogokid.com.
Where to teach kids English online now
If you liked GoGoKid because of the kids, here’s what’s left that works the same way.
One pays about like GoGoKid did. The other pays less, but you don’t need a degree to get in. VIPKid is the one with the degree rule, so check what VIPKid asks for before you apply.
VIPKid
The closest thing to GoGoKid that still exists
- What it is
- VIPKid was the other big kids English school from the China boom. It survived and now teaches kids in places like South Korea and Saudi Arabia.
- What you do
- Teach one-on-one video classes with lesson plans VIPKid gives you. Pick your own hours.
- How much it pays
- $14 to $22 an hour in base pay, $15.60 to $28.40 with incentives. Paid per class, to your bank or PayPal.
- The catch
- Same kind of bar GoGoKid had: a bachelor’s degree, a TEFL or similar certificate and the right to work in the U.S. or Canada. Bookings aren’t guaranteed.
Worth it? Only if you already have the degree and the certificate. If you taught on GoGoKid, you probably do.
Cambly Kids
Best for: no degree, just want to talk
- What it is
- Cambly is an app where people book you to practice English over video. Cambly Kids is the version for children.
- What you do
- Log on when you want and chat with students from around the world. No minimum hours, ever.
- How much it pays
- $0.20 a minute on Cambly Kids, which is $12 an hour. Regular Cambly pays $0.17 a minute, or $10.20 an hour. Paid weekly by direct deposit.
- The catch
- Cambly says it’s temporarily limiting how many new tutors it lets in, so your profile could sit in review for a while. And $12 an hour is low.
Worth it? Only if you don’t have a degree or a certificate. Cambly doesn’t ask for either, and that’s the whole appeal.
Want to set your own rate instead of taking whatever the platform pays? Preply, Wyzant and Outschool all let you, and they’re in the alternatives section of our VIPKid review.
The lesson from GoGoKid
A gig that depends on one company in one country can vanish in a week.
GoGoKid teachers found that out the hard way, and you don’t have to.
Don’t put all your hours in one app. Pair a teaching gig with something you control, like the weekend jobs that don’t hang on one country’s rules, or a couple of the side gigs that pay fast. More teaching and freelance work lives in the freelancers section.
GoGoKid FAQ
Is GoGoKid still hiring?
No. GoGoKid suspended its classes for Chinese students in August 2021 and its teacher site doesn’t load anymore. Any job post still using the name is old.
Who owned GoGoKid?
ByteDance, the Beijing company behind TikTok. GoGoKid was its kids English tutoring product.
Did VIPKid shut down too?
No. VIPKid lost its China classes in the same crackdown but kept going with students in other countries. Our VIPKid review covers what it pays and who it hires now.
Next step
Need money while you sort out a teaching gig? Here’s what’s paying right now.
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