Last Updated date 18th March, 2025
Inspired by the success of platforms like Preply, many entrepreneurs are planning to develop their own similar language-learning platforms. Moreover, the growth of the online language learning industry is forecasted to reach USD 41.63 billion by 2030, making it the right time for entrepreneurs to enter this lucrative business space. However, in the journey to build and launch a successful language-learning platform, the first challenge is to define the cost to build a platform like Preply.
This blog post will be helpful for those who want to know about building a language learning platform like Preply and get an idea of the overall development costs of building an online learning platform. But before proceeding with cost, let’s know a bit more about Preply.
Preply is a leading online language learning platform that connects language experts with learners worldwide. It was initially co-founded by three Ukrainian entrepreneurs: Kirill Bigai, Dmytro Voloshyn, and Serge Lukyanov. The company now operates in 180 countries teaching more than 50 languages to 800,000+ students that are assisted by over 32,000+ tutors. This platform offers one-on-one online lessons, personalized lesson plans, group lessons, corporate language training, and more.
The platform earned revenue of $50 Million in 2022, its revenue grew approximately 4X from the previous year. Currently, Preply’s estimated annual revenue is $1.6 Billion. The total valuation of Preply stands at $395 Million in 2022.
One of the reasons behind the success of Preply is its comprehensive suite of features that offer a tremendous user experience on the platform. Following are some of the popular features offered by Preply.
These are some of the popular features that make Preply stand out among its competitors. To achieve the same success and provide user satisfaction as Preply, you must consider incorporating these features on your platform.
After having a brief idea about the features, the next important step is to have a good understanding of the parameters that will define the cost to a build platform like Preply. Let’s know about them in detail.
The cost of building an online language learning platform like Preply depends on several factors and aspects. In this section, let’s touch upon those parameters in detail so that you can make a smart and informed decision.
No wonder UX/UI design is essential when determining the cost of building an online language learning platform. The complexity of your platform’s design is the most obvious factor affecting cost. A simple, minimal graphics and functionality would cost less as compared to a complex, visually appealing design with interactive features. Therefore, the complexity desired in the design directly correlates with the cost, time, and expertise required to build a platform.
The number of features you want to incorporate on your platform directly correlates to the cost of building an online language learning platform. The more advanced features you want to integrate on your platform the more time and resources will be needed to develop them, consequently, increasing the overall cost of development.
The required server space for hosting significantly impacts the cost of building and launching an online language learning platform. Numerous factors such as maintenance costs, security measures, upgrades, downtime, and more contribute to the overall cost of server management. Beyond this, you also have to bear miscellaneous costs associated with procuring, installing, and ongoing maintenance of the server space.
Domain registration and web hosting are also some of the most important expenses that you have to bear while launching an online language learning platform. The overall cost of obtaining a domain name is decided based on numerous factors such as the popularity, availability, length, and type, of the domain name. Depending on these factors the cost of the domain name may vary and you have to bear the expenses as per your needs.
Prioritizing the security of user’s data on your platform is very important to build trust and credibility. To protect your data and maintain the platform’s integrity in the long run you can obtain GDPR-compliance and must abide by other data protection laws as per your region. Implementing all these security measures may leads to additional investment. Moreover, additional expenses may be incurred for securing an SSL certificate for data encryption.
Content management is a necessary expense if you want to reach out to your target audience effectively. Curating, developing, and managing content involves costs related to content creation. For creating content including website content, webpage content, blogs, articles, and social media content, you need to invest in professional writing and pay the content curation team.
The choice of technologies, programming languages, and frameworks directly affects the development cost. Additionally, the success of an online tutoring platform depends on the tech stack used. To maintain the system’s performance, scalability, and security, advanced tech stack implementation is recommended. However, implementing advanced technologies would require a skilled development team eventually contributing to more investment.
To ensure that your platform is successfully built and launched, you need to hire a team of experts who will take the hassle for you. Experienced web developers and designers would implement your ideas and assist in launching your platform. The cost of platform development directly depends on the number of resources you need to hire to implement your business idea.
The geographical location of the development team also affects the overall cost of the platform. In general, platform development cost will be higher in the regions with higher labor costs, such as North America, as compared to regions with lower labor costs, such as Asia. Countries like India, China, the Philippines, and more generally have the lowest hourly rates for web developers and designers.
To enhance the functionality of your online platform and offer a seamless user experience you may need to integrate third-party APIs. Essential APIs for an eLearning platform include payment gateways, video conferencing systems, analytical tools, and more. These integrations come at an additional cost and require developmental efforts. You also have to incur costs related to licensing, customization, and more.
Another important aspect on which the cost to build a platform like Preply depends is the development approach you choose to build your platform. There are primarily two development methods: custom development, and readymade software.
This development approach involves building the language learning platform from scratch. A team of web developers and designers will implement your business idea and build the online tutoring platform. High financial investment is required for custom development. Moreover, the time of development may vary from a few months to years.
Cost of Custom Development: The approximate cost of custom development may vary from $25,000 to $500,000 depending on the enterprise size, feature requirements, and business needs.
It is an off-the-shelf software solution that comes pre-built with all the essential features, and functionalities. The software enables business owners to launch and build their online tutoring platform seamlessly. Unlike custom development, this option is extremely cost-effective and enables business owners to launch their platform in a quick time (within a few weeks).
Cost of Readymade Software: The cost of readymade software starts from $2,000 and reaches up to $25,000 or more depending on your customization needs, and feature requirements.
Overall, the total cost to build a platform like Preply depends on many things. We have provided an approximate estimate, and these expenses may increase or decrease depending on your business idea and goals.
If you want to optimize your expenses and want to go for a cost-effective option, ready-made software seems like an ideal choice. Ready-made software is the best alternative to custom development, allowing you to launch your online language learning platform without hassle.
However, before considering the suitability of the ready-made software solution for your business goals, you must understand how to choose the right software solution that aligns with your business needs. Let’s read about that in the next section.
Embarking on a new entrepreneurial journey can be exciting but intimidating at the same time. Choosing the right readymade software is no easy task. It may get overwhelming to choose one among many readymade software options out there and feel uncertain about what to finalize to get the job done.
Therefore, to help you out, we have compiled a list of things that you should consider while finalizing the readymade software to build a platform like Preply.
Consider the above-mentioned aspects carefully and choose the best software as per your business goals and requirements. Get a clear and in-depth understanding of the software before making a decision and then determine if it is the right fit for your business.
One such popular ready-made software that stands tall on all the criteria mentioned above is Yo!Coach. Let’s know more about it.
Yo!Coach offers industry-specific features and can cater to the needs of online learning businesses effectively. It is built on proven technology, hence, eliminating the chances of any error or issues after the launch. Ready-made software solutions like Yo!Coach offers a plethora of benefits as compared to custom development.
Yo!Coach is an ideal choice for entrepreneurs looking to enter the industry in less time and cost-effectively. It is a cutting-edge software that has already helped several entrepreneurs establish their online language learning platforms across the world.
Moreover, Yo!Coach comes pre-integrated with several essential APIs that are required for seamlessly running an online language-learning business. Yo!Coach’s comprehensive suite of features enables an intuitive experience for users on your platform.
Other benefits offered by this software include:
Considering the tremendous growth potential of the online language learning industry, investing in a well-designed and feature-rich online language learning platform can prove to be highly lucrative and can lead to significant returns in the long run. By considering the information mentioned in this blog you must have got a fair idea about the cost to build a platforms like Preply. Remember, not to feel overwhelmed by the costs and expenses mentioned in this blog as these are just the estimated costs and may vary depending on your business needs, and goals.
Q 1: What are the steps to build a website like Preply?
Ans: Steps to build a website like Preply:
Q 2: How long would it take to build an online language-learning platform?
Ans : Well, the time to build an online language learning platform depends on several factors such as development approach, design complexities, feature integration, customizations, and more. However, custom development takes more time(months or years) to complete, whereas, ready-made software allows you to launch your platform within a few days.
Q 3: How Preply generates revenue?
Ans: Preply primarily generates revenue by charging a commission fee from the tutor’s earnings. The commission charge varies from 18% to 33% depending on the number of hours tutors have taught on the platform.
However, other revenue streams can be leveraged to earn more profits including–
Q 4: What kind of online learning platforms Yo!Coach can build?
Ans : Yo!Coach has been in the industry for a long time and has helped numerous entrepreneurs launch their online learning platforms in 15+niches. Yo!Coach with its capabilities can cater to diverse business models and can turn any elearning business idea into a successful business venture.
To name a few this software can launch platforms offering individual/group learning, course-based learning, live courses, enterprise eLearning and more. Also, this software can support diverse business models in different niches such as language learning, consultation, mentoring, tutoring, and more.
Q 5: Why choose Yo!Coach to build your online language-learning platform?
Ans : Yo!Coach offers numerous industry-specific features and functionalities that can cater to all requirements of the online language learning business. Other capabilities of Yo!Coach include:
Q 6: Any platforms build by Yo!Coach similar to Preply?
Ans : Yo!Coach has served global clientele around the world and helped numerous entrepreneurs successfully kick-start their online language learning businesses. Some of the popular online language learning platforms build by Yo!Coach include Language Explorer, Convrld, Weyakyak, That English Accent, Amalingua, Language Center of Congo, Langoli, Valingo, and many others.
Q 7: What are the best alternatives to Preply? Can you build similar platforms?
Ans : Some of the best alternatives to Preply are Cambly, Verbling, italki, and more. Certainly, Yo!Coach can build all these platforms with its cutting-edge capabilities.
Q 8: How Yo!Coach can help you in moving one step ahead of your competitors like Preply?
Ans : There are numerous features and specifications in Yo!Coach that can help you in staying ahead of the competition in the industry. Let’s have a look at them.
Q 9: Can I customize the platform as per my business needs?
Ans : Surely, Yo!Coach offers customizations and helps you transform your business idea into reality. Our team understands your requirements and further implements those customizations without causing you any hassle.
Q 10: Does Yo!Coach offer any ready-made mobile applications?
Ans : Yes, Yo!Coach offers a very intuitive and user-friendly mobile application for learners. This feature-rich app provides a personalized learning environment to learners and provides convenience. The mobile application is engaging, user-friendly, and very intuitive making it easy for learners to book, schedule, and attend their sessions via this app.
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Sapna Sharma is a Content Writer at FATbit Technologies. Through her blogs, she brings insightful information to help entrepreneurs and startup owners know about recent market trends and developments in the eCommerce industry. In her spare time, she likes to paint and read books.
