Preply is better if the lowest price comes first: you choose from thousands of independent tutors, with average rates of about $25 to $26 an hour. Speak Better Spanish is better if you want a plan, a small team of three coaches, a recording and notes after every session, and a 28-day refund, at $81 to $90 an hour. See all our comparisons, or read Speak Better Spanish vs italki.
Speak Better Spanish vs Preply at a glance
| Preply | Speak Better Spanish | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Tutors set their own rates. The Spanish tutors page lists an average of $26 an hour for native speakers and $25 for non-native speakers. | $90 for a 60-minute coaching session or $50 for 30 minutes. Packages of 12, 24 or 48 hours bring it down to $85.50, $83.25 or $81 an hour. |
| Format | A marketplace of independent tutors teaching one-to-one online lessons. Trial lessons run 25 or 50 minutes. | Live one-to-one coaching on Zoom: 60-minute coaching sessions or 30-minute Spanish-only conversation sessions. |
| Approach | Tutoring. You choose a tutor, and each tutor personalizes lessons their own way. | Coaching. A free Roadmap Session sets your plan before you pay, every session has a job, and the same three coaches get to know you. |
| Who teaches | More than 15,000 Spanish tutors listed. You choose one using reviews, star ratings and filters. | A small team of three coaches: Hannah (19+ years teaching), Arturo and Jacky. Package hours work with any of them. |
| Curriculum or plan | Each tutor personalizes lessons to your level and goals. | You start with a free Roadmap Session that maps your level and goals. Each session is built around your goals and a topic you choose, in real-life Mexican Spanish. |
| Notes and recordings | Up to your tutor. Not listed as a standard feature. | A recording, notes and practice after every session, plus email support between sessions. |
| Guarantee | If a trial lesson misses your expectations, you can get a free trial with a different tutor, up to 2 per account. | Full refund if you are not fully satisfied, as long as you tell us within 28 days. |
| Scheduling | Book from each tutor's calendar. Cancel more than 12 hours ahead and the lesson goes back to your balance. Later than that, it does not. | Pick a coach and a time in the booking calendar. Cancel or reschedule at least 24 hours ahead, with one free pass for emergencies. |
| Plan before you pay | A trial lesson with a tutor you pick. Any plan after that is up to the tutor. | Yes. A free Roadmap Session maps your goals, your level and what holds you back, and your written plan comes by email the same day. No payment info needed. |
| Same coaches who know you | Yes, if you stay with one tutor. Switching means starting over with someone new. | Yes. Hannah, Arturo and Jacky, so you hear more than one accent without starting over with a stranger. |
| Support between sessions | Up to your tutor. | Yes. Email a question or something you wrote, and we correct it. |
| Immersion trips | Not listed. | Yes. Small-group trips in Mexico hosted by Hannah, where you use Spanish in real situations every day. |
| Included with packages | Not listed. | The recording, your notes and your practice after every session, email support between sessions, certificates as your sessions add up, and a free workbook. 24-hour and 48-hour packages also get a free 30-minute session in your birthday month. The 48-hour package also gets 10% off immersion trips, group workshops and add-ons. |
| 30-minute conversation sessions | You can book 25-minute lessons with any tutor, and some teach conversation. Each tutor works on their own, and recordings and notes are up to them. | Yes. 30 minutes in Spanish with Hannah, Arturo or Jacky, and you get the recording and your notes after. Sessions use the same package hours as coaching. We have held more than 1,000 since 2017. |
| Best for | Learners on a tight budget who like to shop around and choose their own tutor. | Adults who want a plan, the same small team of coaches, and help between sessions. |
Preply details come from its own website, checked October 24, 2026: Preply Spanish tutors page; Preply help: free trial replacement; Preply help: student cancellation policy. Prices and policies can change, so check their site before you buy. Our prices are on the pricing page.
Is Preply cheaper than Speak Better Spanish?
Yes, for most people. Preply tutors set their own prices, and its Spanish tutors page lists averages of $25 to $26 an hour. Our coaching is $90 for a 60-minute session, or $81 to $85.50 an hour with a package. If price is the main thing you are comparing, Preply wins. What you pay for with us is the part around the hour: the plan, the follow-up and the help in between.
How the two feel week to week
On Preply you pick one tutor out of thousands and build the relationship yourself. That can work really well when you find the right person. With us you start with a free Roadmap Session, then work with Hannah, Arturo or Jacky. Your package hours work with any of them, so you can do coaching with one coach and conversation practice with another. Every session ends with a recording and notes, so nothing you learned gets lost.
Coaching vs tutoring
Preply sells lessons with independent tutors. A tutor usually works through material with you, or helps with whatever you bring that day. Coaching starts with a different question: what is stopping you from speaking, and what plan gets you past it?
What working with Speak Better Spanish looks like
- You book a free Roadmap Session on Zoom. There is no payment info and no commitment. We look at your goals, your level and what is holding you back.
- Your written plan comes by email the same day. It shows where you are, where you are going and the best next step. Some people take the plan and keep going on their own, and that is fine.
- If you go ahead, you pick a coach and a time: a 60-minute coaching session built around a topic you choose, or a 30-minute Spanish-only conversation session.
- Every session starts with something you are celebrating, and you speak from the first session. Your coach corrects you in the moment and tells you why.
- After every session you get the recording, your notes, the vocabulary from your own conversation and your practice for the week, by email.
- Between sessions you can email a question or something you wrote, and we correct it.
- You keep working with the same three coaches, and every session is recorded and written up, so nobody starts from zero and nothing you learn gets lost.
- If it is not right for you, tell us within 28 days for a full refund.
Hannah founded Speak Better Spanish, and she is not a native speaker. She learned Spanish herself, first in school and then by living in Spain and Mexico, so she has been where you are. In her words: “I’m a non-native Spanish speaker who started from scratch.” (Hannah, on our YouTube channel)
Our 30-minute conversation sessions
Most intermediate adults understand more Spanish than they can say. Our 30-minute conversation sessions are for that gap. You talk with Hannah, Arturo or Jacky in Spanish about your own life: your week, a trip, your work, your family. Your coach keeps you talking, helps when you get stuck and corrects the mistakes that matter, without turning it into a grammar class. You get the recording and your notes afterward. Sessions use the same package hours as 60-minute coaching, so many students take a coaching hour one week and a conversation session the next. We have held more than 1,000 of these sessions since 2017. A session is $50 on its own, and less with a package. See how conversation sessions work.
What you only get at Speak Better Spanish
- Three ways to practice with the same coaches: 60-minute coaching, 30-minute Spanish-only conversation sessions (free-flowing or themed, with one small thing to practice and nothing to hand in), and small group conversation classes on Zoom with at most 8 students. Each series has one topic, Mexican culture is part of every class, and every class is recorded.
- Coaches based in Mexico who teach the Spanish people there speak every day. The whole team is bilingual: Hannah, Arturo and Jacky all speak English and Spanish, so beginners can ask questions in English.
- Immersion trips in Mexico hosted by Hannah, like the La Paz trip, where you use your Spanish in real situations every day.
- A free library for the days between sessions, made by the same team: our blog, YouTube channel, podcast and free Spanish Starter Pack.
- Research from our own lessons. Our study of 1,896 one-to-one lessons found that the first class decides most of it: 13.4% of adults never took a second class, and 77.1% of those who reached a fifth went on to ten or more.
Why the cheaper option can cost more
A lower hourly rate is real savings, and some tutors are excellent. The risk is in what the rate leaves out. Hours can go to chats with no plan, to explaining your level again each time you try someone new, and to forgetting what came up because nothing was written down. If an hour does not help you speak better, a low rate does not make it a good deal.
What our students say
“I’m making steady progress without the frustration I’ve had with other tutors.”
Donna Templeton, Google review
“…she was quick to draft a plan to address what I want to accomplish as a Spanish learner.”
Jeanne Chutuape, Google review
Who should choose Preply
- You want the lowest price per hour and are happy to try a few tutors to find a good fit.
- You want a tutor from a specific country, or for a niche goal like an exam.
- You already know what you need to work on and mainly want someone to talk with.
Who should choose Speak Better Spanish
- You have tried tutors before and still freeze when a real conversation starts.
- You want a plan before you pay, from a free Roadmap Session.
- You want a recording, notes and practice after every session, and someone to email between sessions.
- You want to hear more than one accent without starting over with a stranger each time.
See how our coaching works, read what students say (19+ years teaching, founded in 2014, 3,300+ live sessions coached, 5.0 on Google), or read Spanish tutor vs Spanish coach if you are still deciding what kind of help you need.
Frequently asked questions
Is Speak Better Spanish a tutor marketplace like Preply?
No. Preply connects you with independent tutors who set their own prices and methods. Speak Better Spanish is a small coaching team of three coaches, Hannah, Arturo and Jacky, who all work the same way: a plan first, then sessions built around your goals, with a recording and notes after each one.
How much does Preply cost for Spanish compared with Speak Better Spanish?
Preply's Spanish tutors page lists average rates of $26 an hour for native speakers and $25 for non-native speakers, and each tutor sets their own price. Speak Better Spanish costs $90 for a 60-minute coaching session or $50 for 30 minutes, and packages bring the hourly rate down to between $81 and $85.50.
What happens if I do not like my first session?
On Preply, if a trial lesson misses your expectations, you can ask for a free trial with a different tutor, up to two per account. At Speak Better Spanish the first step is a free Roadmap Session. If you buy coaching and are not fully satisfied, tell us within 28 days for a full refund.
Can I switch teachers?
On Preply you can book a different tutor at any time. At Speak Better Spanish your hours work with all three coaches, so switching or mixing coaches does not mean starting over.
Which is better for a nervous adult beginner?
It depends on the tutor you find on Preply. Our coaching is built for adults who feel nervous speaking: mistakes are expected, nobody puts you on the spot, and the Roadmap Session sets a plan before you spend anything. Some of our reviews come from students who had tried several tutors before.
Is Speak Better Spanish coaching or tutoring?
Coaching. A tutor usually works through material with you. A coach looks at what is stopping you from speaking, builds a plan around your goals and guides real conversation practice. You start with a free Roadmap Session, every session has a job, and you get the recording, notes and practice afterward, plus email support between sessions.
Start with a free Roadmap Session
If your goal is to speak Spanish, this is the place to start. Book a free Roadmap Session. In one Zoom call we look at your goals, your level and what is holding you back, and your written plan comes by email the same day. It is free, with no commitment and no payment info. You leave with a plan, even if that plan is to use Preply.
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