Private lessons online: how to teach, price and manage

The short answer: to teach private lessons online you need three things: basic equipment that works (a camera, headphones, a stable internet connection and a shared board), a lesson structure that suits a screen, and a clear payment arrangement in advance, because there is no moment when the student "hands over the money". Whoever arranges all three can teach students from all over the country, and not only from the neighbourhood.

The equipment: what you really need

You do not need a studio. You need the student to hear you well, see what you write, and the call not to drop.

• Headphones with a microphone. This is the most significant improvement. A laptop speaker creates echo and noise.
• A stable connection. If possible, a network cable. If not, sit close to the router.
• A shared board. A virtual board that the student can write on too. In math, physics and chemistry, a tablet with a pen saves a lot of frustration. A cheap alternative: a second camera or a phone pointed at a sheet.
• Video call software. Pay attention to the limits of the free plans. According to Zoom's help centre, almost all meetings of a user on a free Basic account are limited to 40 minutes. According to Google Meet's help centre, a free personal account allows a call of two participants for up to 24 hours, and a meeting of 3 participants and more for up to 60 minutes. If you teach groups, that matters. (As of October 2026. The limits change from time to time, so check before you choose.)

A lesson structure that works on a screen

An online lesson tires faster than an in-person lesson. A few rules that help:

1. A short opening with a goal. "Today we finish the equations with two unknowns." A student who knows where you are going stays focused.
2. The student writes, not only listens. Every few minutes let them solve on the shared board. A long silence in front of a screen is a sign that you lost them.
3. Camera on. It is easier to see a confused look than to hear it.
4. A written summary. At the end of the lesson send a photo of the board or three sentences about what you learned and what the practice is for next time.
5. Plan B. When the connection drops, moving to a phone call and a photo of the sheet saves the lesson.

What suits online and what suits less

This is not a rule, it is a starting point. Many tutors combine: in person for students from the area, and online for distant students or review lessons. On choosing between the ways when starting: how to become a private tutor.

The first lesson online: a checklist

The first lesson decides whether the parent will believe that online works. A few things to arrange in advance:

• Send a permanent link to the lesson the day before, with a short explanation of how to connect.
• Ask the student to connect 5 minutes before, to check sound and camera without wasting lesson time.
• Make sure the student has a notebook, a pen and the material from class. If they need to write on the shared board, practise it in the first minute.
• With a young student, ask that a parent be around in the first lesson.
• Sum up in a word with the parent at the end: what you did, and how the child managed with the screen.

If you are considering recording lessons so that the student can go over them, ask for the parents' agreement in advance, and write what you do with the recording and when it is deleted.

Pricing: should online be cheaper

There is no single answer. Some tutors charge less for online, and some charge the same price because the lesson itself is the same. It is worth thinking about three considerations:

• Time saved. Without travel you can fit more lessons into the same hours.
• Value to the student. A high school student preparing for the matriculation exams gets the same value. A young child perhaps less.
• Who you compete with. Online, a parent can choose a tutor from all over the country, so your price is compared to the prices of distant tutors.

An example (the numbers are for illustration only): a tutor who goes to students' homes manages 4 lessons in an evening, because between lessons there is travel. Online she manages 5. Even if you charge 10% less for online, the income from the evening goes up. How to calculate the rate itself: how much a private lesson costs.

Collecting when you don't meet

In an in-person lesson the parent sometimes pays at the end of the lesson. Online there is no such moment, and debts tend to build up quietly. Three ways to arrange it:

1. Payment in advance. A package of several lessons paid for before you start. Details: lesson packages.
2. Monthly payment with a breakdown. At the end of every month you send the parent a list of the lessons and the amount.
3. A written cancellation policy. Is a student who did not connect on time a late cancellation or not? Write it before it happens.

How Teaching helps with this: every lesson you record enters the student's open debt. In the "Collection" screen you see a card for each student with a debt, and a tap on "WhatsApp" opens a ready message to the parent with the student's name, the list of lessons and the amount. The message is not sent automatically: you see it and press "send" yourself. The payment itself goes directly between you and the parent, and you mark "Paid".

If you turned on the Studio module, each student has a personal link where they see the upcoming lessons, cancel according to the rules you set, book a make-up lesson at a time you opened, and see how much is left to pay. It suits online especially, when there is no chat in the corridor. More on this: booking online lessons.

Appearing to students outside the area too

The big advantage of online is that your area no longer limits you. But a parent from Be'er Sheva will not search for a tutor in Haifa, unless they know the lesson is remote.

In Teaching's student portal, in your profile you tick "online lessons" under "How you teach". A parent searching for a tutor turns on the option "Also show online lessons", and then they see, after the tutors in their own area, tutors who teach online and are far away. If no tutor is found in the area, the portal itself offers to turn this option on.

A few things that help an online profile:

• Write it in the headline. For example "English for high school, Zoom lessons from all over the country".
• Tell what a lesson looks like. A shared board? A written summary after every lesson? That is what reassures a parent who has never tried.
• Share a permanent link. Every profile has a page with a permanent link, which can be sent in groups and messages.

More channels for getting students: how to find private students.

Written by the Teaching team · Updated on 14 October 2026. The time limits of Zoom and Google Meet were checked against their help centres in October 2026.