Due to the COVID-19 pandemic Teaching English online is growing.
When in search for online income as a teacher, you might come across Cambly tutor app.
That one seems to have fewer requirements as other platforms and therefore, joining should be easier.
In my review, I will show you if it is worth to join Cambly tutor, how much does it pay, and some alternatives.
If you want to get in-depth review, you landed on the right blog post.
Shall we start?
URL: https://cambly.com
Founder: Sameer Shariff
Earning Potential: 10/10
Price: FREE to join
Overall Rating: 8/10
Recommended: YES
What is Cambly tutor?
First things first. So, I will start with what is Cambly tutor about in first place.
It is one of the giants in English as Second Language (ESL) platforms.
With their unique approach, when students pick up their most suitable tutor, they really do stand out in the industry.
Additionally, no needing a degree, teaching experience, not TEFL certificate, it offers extra reasons to join the app.
Below video to get you an idea, how such a conversation on Cambly tutor can look like.
Who is Cambly tutor for?
For people searching for options to earn money as an English Teacher.
Inside Cambly
First and foremost, you will have to register on the site for FREE. This includes filling in some forms. The procedure here is pretty straight forward and compare to other sites, it is shorter with fewer questions to be asked.
Afterwards, you will do short equipment check. It includes internet speed check, internal and external camera, headset functions and your lightning.
Again, nothing what can’t be done within couple of minutes.
Further on, you want to create a 2-minute introductory video to introduce yourself.
While not everyone feels great in front of the camera, there are some tips you can use to get more natural, spontaneous and in the end more confident.
Moreover, look on this video as your “selling” tool. What students would you like to be teaching? Younger around teenage years? Then you might want to choose more slang and “cool” approach.
Or do you prefer to be teaching educated people in their 30s or 40s? Then you might want to choose more sophisticated approach and talking about your accomplishments to show that you are the most suitable one.
Lastly, you are ready to be hired! And get paid obviously!
Congrats to You!
How does it work?
Here comes the funny part. Explanation on how the app works and why is it different to any other site.
Assigning classes at Cambly tutor is much more flexible than on other (ESL) sites.
In a nutshell, it works in the way that students will browse the teachers (tutors) and pick the most suitable one. Therefore, special attention should be put on when creating the short 2-minutes introductory video.
In addition to students’ freedom of choice of their tutors, they are able to choose:
- Length of the session (15,10 or 60 minutes)
- Different subcategory (Preparing for exam, Preparing for Job interview, Business English, Basic Conversation)
Important to note is, that you as a tutor don’t have a fixed working hours.
For some it might be disappointing, but for others on the other hand it brings a huge amount of flexibility.
You can just log in whenever you have spare time, and you can get on with your lesson and earn money.
How much can you earn with Cambly?
Following the information on how does it work and what you have to accomplish before being hired, subsequently, you want to know how much you can earn.
The average pay here at Cambly tutor is $10/hour or $12/hour when using Cambly Kids.
What are PROS of Cambly tutor?
Low Requirements Upon Joining
Previously, I mentioned that already.
Upon joining in, you don’t have to have:
- a university degree like bachelor for instance,
- TEFL diploma
- teaching experience
Honestly, I don’t know any other platform, that has such a low requirements.
High Flexibility
No fixed working hours are great news for people searching for that cutting edge. As many ESL platforms will ask you work during after-work hours or in the weekends.
That is not always what you will be happy be doing. On the other hand with Cambly, you log in whenever you have that extra spare time.
Especially, if you search part-time income, this can be very valuable.
What are CONS of Cambly Tutor?
Just For Native Speakers
Contrary to its PROS , there are some CONS. One of the biggest one is, that the platform offers tutoring jobs, just for native speakers.
Well, if you are one of them, then you obviously don’t have to worry about it.
But when you were born in the Netherlands or Sweden for instance, you are just unlucky and won’t be able to leverage on the advantages.
Low Payments
Indeed, $10/hour is not only industry low, but it is considered as low, when comparing to other jobs.
Considering average pay $15 as industry standard. And $12/hour as a standard in “low scale” jobs like Waiter or Front Desk Agent, it is safe to describe it, as insufficient.
Competition
When you see how easy it can be to join Cambly tutor platform, it won’t come as a surprise, that there is higher competition.
Not only, several tutors would offer/search the same as you, but you have to see also the time issue.
When living in one of the native speaking country, and having full-time job, chances are high that you will be in the same time online as hundreds of others.
Is Cambly tutor worth of joining?
In case you are born in one of the native English Speaking countries, for clarity, the list is below, and you don’t have any diploma related to teaching, then you might find Cambly as a nice way of earning couple of hundreds extra.
Countries, considered Native for English:
- USA
- Canada
- UK
- Ireland
- Australia
- New Zealand
- South Africa
Its easy registration and relatively low requirements are making it very attractive for complete beginners as well.
(You don’t need any teaching experience prior to join)
On the other hand, you should be prepared to face some competition, as well as the fact, that there is not always student available in the same time as you.
How do I earn money online?
Not only due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the earning money online became almost a new normal.
To fiind someone without any (online) side hustle is pretty hard.
Although, there are several ways, and teaching English online is one of them, not always are legit and profitable. It is also different when you search income of $50 and when you want full-time income let’s say $5000.
While to fulfill the first need, something like online surveys could work, for the second one, there is almost sure, an online business that will accomplish that.
I will show you such a business below.
You see, I am a huge fan of Affliliate Marketing, it is the best business model I can think of. More in detail about it, you can read here.
Like with everything, there are good or bad ways to do it. There is good food and bad food, good sex and bad sex, good friends and bad friends.
The same is accurate for affiliate marketing.
There are two ways of earning money with affiliate marketing. Below is short description. You can decide whichever is fitting you better.
1. Paid one- Investment coming from your own pocket. Often times is short living and oftentimes you don’t earn what you initially invested. So you are in search for new shiny objects on and on. The only one who earns in that case is the owner of the course/program.
2. Free on- No(or very low) investment. Need of building your website and audience. Even, it can be time-consuming at the beginning. Sustainable profit on long term.
If you are clever, you’d choose the second option.
Not only will cost you much less to start with, but it will bring you success over longer period. When done correctly, and with right guidance, you can achieve results like guys below:
- 6.2k in passive income from 21 Year Old College Dropout
- Single Mum, Earned over 100k in 4 Years Passive Income
- What about this guy? $1 million over 10 years in passive income
The decision is yours. You can go ahead and buy 12 minute affiliate, or similar get-rich-quick schemes and hope for the best, or you can choose the FREE and more sustainable way. In case, you go for the second way:
I am a retired teacher who taught English and math to learning disabled children. I always wondered about teaching English on line. This was an informative post, however, I would not want to work for $10 an hour. I am also involved with affiliate marketing through a blog. I began in February of this year and so far have not profited by it. I am in the process of building my blog and hopefully will see a profit soon.
Thanks for the review. It is something I may look into but not with Cambly.
Nina
Thank you for stopping by and leaving your comment. Indeed, the pay is very low at Cambly. Seen, your experience, you would expect just better pay and that’s fair. On the other hand, it is fair to say that Cambly prefers the conversational part of the teaching, that is a bit easier than the standard form. Anyway, when you started your blogging business, you have higher chances to create the income you’d desire. I created small guide for starting bloggers, you can read it here. It will definitely give you some tips and help. Cheers
Hey Julius,
Great review here, so much helpful information about Cambly, especially since you highlighted its pros and con.
I love how flexible Cambly is for teachers looking for a side hustle. I mean, that’s what it really is for, since the pay is too small as a main income.
I didn’t even know about such a platform until now. You don’t need to have a university degree, TEFL diploma or even a teaching experience!
Affiliate marketers with a niche for teaching could benefit from this review a whole lot.
It’s such a bummer that the pay is so low!
Keep up the good job letting people know of opportunities on how they can earn cool cash through affiliate marketing. Lots of people could benefit from this. It’s a fascinating read.
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, indeed, for people born in one of the countries, where English is native language is that definitely a great way of earning some additional income. Since it has low requirements and it is quite easy to follow.
Hi Julius,
Thanks a lot for sharing Cambly Tutor with me to make money online by teaching English. I love how simple it is to become an Online English Tutor. Although it's easy to complete the registration, there are still some drawbacks. For example, only the native speakers could join, low payout rate, and you need to work anytime and anywhere. So, this is probably not my top pick when it comes to making money online. I am interested in the 2nd option you mentioned in the last paragraph, so that I will check it out very soon.
Thanks for sharing today.
Matt
Hey Matt. Thank you for leaving your comment. Indeed, they requirements to join are super low. Plus, they Cambly tutor app is super easy to use. For teachers enjoying working with kids, there is even Cambly Kids, they pays slightly more. But, the cons are enough for me, and some other online income seekers born elsewhere to look for other options. The second option you mentioned is affiliate marketing and it is so far the best option how to create (passive) online income.