Preply Review: The Tutor Pricing, US Dollar Billing, Subscription and Refund Rules Hong Kong Learners Should Know

Preply is operated by Preply, Inc., a company registered in Delaware with its principal place of business in Brookline, Massachusetts. Its terms state that the platform is a technology services provider and intermediary, not a language school: tutors teach independently and set their own prices, lessons take place in Preply's built-in video classroom, and the platform handles search, booking and payment, charging the tutor a commission.

The page opened by our link lists more than 33,000 English tutors, more than 10,000 Spanish tutors and more than 5,000 Chinese tutors, out of more than 100,000 tutors across over 120 subjects. The platform operates overseas and is not a financial product regulated in Hong Kong; a learner's principal protection lies in Preply's own refund rules, set out below.

Each tutor sets the price of a 50-minute lesson. Preply's English tutors page gives average hourly rates of US$28 (about HK$220) for native speakers, US$26 (about HK$204) for UK tutors and US$22 (about HK$173) for non-native speakers. Every purchase also carries a processing fee and any tax applicable where the learner lives, shown together as Taxes & Fees on the checkout page before payment; the platform does not publish a fixed rate.

Preply accepts payment only in US dollars, euros or pounds sterling. Prices displayed in Hong Kong dollars or other currencies are indicative, and payment is taken in US dollars. Paying with a Hong Kong dollar credit card may therefore incur a foreign currency transaction fee, and the statement amount may differ slightly from the checkout page. Accepted methods include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal, which is always charged in US dollars.

A trial is a paid lesson of 25 or 50 minutes, and each tutor offers each learner one; the length is chosen at booking and cannot be changed afterwards. A trial cancelled 12 hours or more before the start returns to the account and may be rebooked; with less than 12 hours' notice, it is treated as taken. If a tutor declines the booking, the trial remains in the account and may be used with another tutor.

If a trial has taken place and the tutor proves unsuitable, a learner may ask support for a free replacement trial with another tutor, up to two per account, provided the learner has not subscribed to that tutor. The fee for a tutor's first trial with a new learner is retained in full by Preply, and the tutor earns only once the learner subscribes; learners should therefore expect an invitation to subscribe at the end of the trial.

Our Preply link is a partner link. It opens Preply's ordinary homepage, and the prices, trial rules and subscription terms are those offered to every new learner, with no code to enter. Having opened Preply through our link, registered an account and set the time zone, a learner may book a trial from a tutor's profile.

Before payment, it is advisable to check three items on the checkout page: the trial length, which cannot be changed once booked, the tutor's price and the Taxes & Fees line. If you leave Preply before registering, return through our link.

Taking the US$28 average for native English-speaking tutors, at the European Central Bank reference rate of 23 October 2026 (US$1 is about HK$7.84), a 50-minute trial costs about HK$220, before the processing fee, any applicable tax and any foreign currency transaction fee; a 25-minute trial costs less. At average rates, a 50-minute lesson costs about HK$173 to HK$220, depending on whether the tutor is a native English speaker.

The principal cost lies in the subscription that follows. The smallest plan is four lessons every 28 days, which with the same tutor is US$112, about HK$878, per cycle, or US$1,456, about HK$11,420, over 13 cycles a year. The trial costs a quarter of a single cycle and should be regarded as a paid interview: choose a tutor one intends to keep, and schedule it at the time intended for regular lessons.

A learner who decides to continue must subscribe to that tutor, receiving a fixed number of lessons every 28 days, with a minimum of four, renewed automatically; Preply does not sell single lessons or lesson packs, including through support. Because 28 days is not a month, the billing date moves earlier each cycle. Each tutor is a separate subscription, and lessons may be split into 25-minute sessions for the same total time.

Unscheduled plan lessons expire at each renewal, while lessons booked before the renewal date are kept. A subscription may be paused once a cycle to defer the renewal date by up to 20 days; extra lessons may be bought up to 12 at a time and twice a cycle, carry over and expire only after two full billing cycles unused; cancellation must be made at least one day before the billing date, with no cancellation fee. A tutor's price increase applies to an existing plan only with the learner's approval.

Tutors come from more than 180 nationalities and work across many time zones. At 8pm in Hong Kong, for example, it is noon in the United Kingdom and 7am on the US East Coast in winter; the evening hours of European and American tutors generally fall in the middle of the Hong Kong night. It is advisable to filter tutors by available time slots first, to ensure that weekly lessons can be sustained.

Some tutors require a longer notice period, so slots in the near future may not be bookable; if a tutor declines a booking, the trial remains in the account and may be used with another tutor. Ideally, the trial should be scheduled at the time intended for regular lessons, so that the timing can be tested as well.

Payments are in principle non-refundable. On a monthly plan, Preply may issue a refund if no lessons have been used in that cycle and the request is made within 28 days of the charge; cancelling a subscription does not by itself result in a refund. Requests may be made through the chat on the website or app, or by email to [email protected]. Approved refunds are returned to the original payment method within about 30 days, at the US dollar exchange rate on the date of the refund.

If a trial does not take place, a learner may request a free trial with another tutor or a refund within 90 days of payment. Preply may offer credit in place of a refund, which the learner may decline. Further points to note: a chargeback raised through a bank may lead to the account being suspended; an account not logged into for 180 consecutive days is suspended and its balance expires; and deleting an account also causes the balance to expire.

As at 26 October 2026, the Preply app had about 1,500 ratings on the Hong Kong App Store, averaging 4.8, and 65,200 reviews on Google Play, averaging 4.7, with more than five million downloads. The ratings cover the platform as a whole, and positive reviews mostly concern individual tutors.

Negative reviews centre on charging arrangements: tutors raising prices after the trial, refunds reduced by processing fees or refused after 28 days, slow handling of refunds by support, lessons lost at renewal, tutors cancelling at short notice and faults in the classroom system. Most of these arise from the subscription rules, which should be read carefully before subscribing.

Suitable for Hong Kong residents who wish to take regular one-to-one lessons, are prepared to take at least four lessons every 28 days with the same tutor and can accommodate the tutor's time slots. A 50-minute trial with a tutor one intends to keep, at the time intended for regular lessons, is advisable.

Unsuitable for those who want occasional lessons without a subscription, or who prefer fixed-price courses or classroom teaching.