Are you interested in learning Spanish? If so, you’ll find this guide quite useful — we’ve tried out the most popular online Spanish tutoring services available to find out which options offer the most value. Whether you want to travel to another country, need to know Spanish for work, or have some other reason for learning the language, you’ll be able to find a service that can help you out in this guide.
How to Pick an Online Spanish Tutoring Service
It’s important to consider why you want to learn Spanish in the first place, as the best tutoring service for one person isn’t necessarily the best for another. By taking your specific needs into account, you’ll know which features you should be looking for when comparing different Spanish tutoring providers.
Learning a new language for travel
If you are interested in learning Spanish so that you can travel to a particular country, we recommend taking lessons from a native speaker who’s from that country. That way, you can learn about regional pronunciations and slang words. You’ll also get a chance to learn about the country’s culture.
Some tutoring services don’t provide much selection in terms of nationality, but then there are also options like Live Lingua that have Spanish tutors from all over the world.
Learning Spanish for work
Those who are learning Spanish for work will need to take more advanced classes than a tourist who’s just looking to get around Barcelona for a couple weeks. After all, you don’t want to accidentally offend a client, misunderstand the terms of a contract you’re signing, or make any other major mistakes at work that could result from a small miscommunication.
Verbal Planet stands out as the best provider if you need to learn Spanish for work, as they can help you reach the highest proficiency level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale.
Help with studying Spanish for school
While intermediate Spanish classes are the best fit for travel and advanced Spanish classes make the most sense for work, you should probably take beginner classes if you need help with studying Spanish for school. Check out Homeschool Spanish Academy if this is why you want to learn Spanish — their instructors have a lot of experience teaching at the K-12 level.
How We Picked the Best Online Spanish Tutoring Services
To decide on which online Spanish tutors are the best, we gathered a list of available options based on Reddit recommendations, “best of” lists published online, and the almighty Google search. We then narrowed down our list by focusing on providers that had the most impressive recommendations and reviews. Finally, we narrowed it down even further to just ten options by only selecting providers that offered a unique advantage over their competitors, such as particularly affordable pricing, advanced learning technology, etc.
The 10 Best Online Spanish Tutors
The following ten online Spanish tutors stand out as the absolute best options available. Again, the right choice for you will depend on your specific needs, but you should be able to find at least one or two options that will work well for you here.
Homeschool Spanish Academy
HSA is an excellent option for children, as the team has a lot of experience teaching Spanish at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. To create your Homeschool Spanish Academy (HSA) account, you’ll need to first choose your class duration (25 or 50 minutes) and class type (one-on-one sessions or paired sessions with another student). Then, you can purchase a suitable package, view teacher availability, and select your class times through their website. We found that this interface makes it easy to set up your tutoring lessons.
You should be aware that all HSA instructors are based in Guatemala — if you were hoping to learn about the culture of some other Spanish-speaking country through your tutoring lessons, you’d have better luck on a platform that offers more variety with their instructor options, such as Live Lingua.
It should also be noted that the reviews for HSA on Trustpilot are somewhat mixed. There are positive reviews, with one user mentioning that “the best part is they teach you how to actually USE Spanish in everyday life.” However, there are also complaints about poor connection quality and other technical difficulties.
| Price | 15 classes: Starts at $164 30 classes: Starts at $279 60 classes: Starts at $459 |
| Free trial | One free class |
| Device | Desktop, mobile device |
| Format | Google Meet |
| Certificate of completion | Yes |
| Knowledge level | Preschool to Adult |
Spanish55
What really sets this provider apart is that, unlike most of your other online tutoring options, Spanish55 has invested in a physical location where all of their virtual classes are conducted from. This helps ensure that your tutor will show up on time and conduct each lesson in a professional manner.
The first step to using Spanish55 is scheduling a consultation with one of their expert tutors. In this initial session, you’ll get a chance to share your goals for learning Spanish and ask any questions that you may have about the service. You’ll then be able to pick one of Spanish55’s monthly subscription plans and access their student portal, which allows you to schedule, reschedule, and cancel lessons with your tutor. Spanish55 also provides a certificate of completion and keeps its class logs indefinitely in case you ever need to provide proof of completion to an employer.
One drawback to Spanish55 is that, as commenters on the r/Spanish subreddit have pointed out, their pricing is on the higher end. According to co-founder Abraham Arechiga, most of Spanish55’s students are learning Spanish for personal reasons and have high-paying occupations, which may account for the higher price point. If you’re concerned about your budget, you should check out providers such as Italki and Verbling instead.
| Price | One lesson per week: $140 per month Two lessons per week: $264 per month Three lessons per week: $372 per month |
| Free trial | One free lesson |
| Device | Desktop, mobile device |
| Format | Skype, Zoom |
| Certificate of completion: | Yes |
| Knowledge level | Beginner to advanced |
Spanish Skype
After signing up for Spanish Skype, you’ll be contacted over email in order to arrange your first free lesson. You would then need to purchase one of their packages through PayPal to access additional lessons. This platform isn’t as sophisticated as HSA or Spanish55 — they don’t offer any sort of learning portal for keeping track of your progress, viewing instructor schedules, etc.
Spanish Skype’s tutors are all native speakers with years of experience teaching Spanish. We found that the informal nature of this service allows you to develop a personal relationship with your instructor, and learning how to engage in casual conversations can be one of the most effective ways to become fluent. This provider is also especially flexible with meeting times, which makes them a great option for anyone who is trying to fit Spanish lessons into an already-busy schedule.
| Price | One to four lessons: $20 per lesson Five to nine lessons: $18 per lesson 10 to 19 lessons: $16 per lesson 20 to 30 lessons: $15 per lesson 50 lessons: $12 per lesson |
| Free trial | Free 55-minute lesson |
| Device | Desktop, mobile device |
| Format | Skype |
| Certificate of completion | No |
| Knowledge level | Beginner to advanced |
Learn more about Spanish Skype.
Live Lingua
Live Lingua takes a highly personalized approach to teaching Spanish. They’ll ask you about your learning style, current fluency level with Spanish, and goals for learning the language. Then, they can pair you with whichever one of their tutors is the best match for your needs. You can also choose your own instructor if you prefer.
If you’d like to learn about the culture of a particular Spanish-speaking country, you should certainly be able to do so with Live Lingua. They offer a selection of tutors from all around the world, including Mexico, Costa Rica, Argentina, and Spain. The certificate of study you receive includes personal comments from teachers that provide insight specific to your language learning progress. You also receive regular progress reports every 20 hours of study.
This provider also deserves some recognition for their strong customer ratings. Over 100 users have reviewed Live Lingua on Trustpilot, and they’ve maintained an average rating of 4.8 out of 5. “I feel like in the last few months my Spanish has improved more than it has in the last few years,” wrote one student.
| Price | $19.99 to $25 per hour |
| Free trial | 30-minute free trial |
| Device | Desktop, mobile device |
| Format | Zoom, Skype |
| Certificate of completion | Yes |
| Knowledge level | Beginner to advanced |
Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone is well-known for their language learning software — did you know that they offer live tutoring as well? In addition to on-demand language lessons, you can also connect with highly qualified online tutors through Rosetta Stone. This allows you to practice everything you’ve learned and get instant feedback on your grammar and pronunciation from a native Spanish speaker.
While many other providers allow you to access lessons on mobile devices through third-party apps such as Skype and Zoom, Rosetta Stone is one of the few online tutoring services to offer their own custom mobile app. This app has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to learn Spanish when you’re away from your laptop or home computer.
Rosetta Stone’s reputation among former students is good, but could be better. They have an average rating of 4.1 out of 5 on Trustpilot.
| Price | Three months: $35.97 12 months: $143.88 Lifetime: $299 |
| Free trial | Free trial available |
| Device | Desktop, mobile device |
| Format | Custom app |
| Certificate of completion | Yes |
| Knowledge level | Beginner to advanced |
Learn more about Rosetta Stone.
Lingoda
One thing we really like about Lingoda is that they offer a placement test for determining which course level is the best match for your current skill set. On the CEFR scale, they offer A1 (absolute beginner), A2 (beginner), B1 (intermediate), and B2 (upper intermediate) classes.
This is certainly one of the best providers featured in this guide in terms of availability. They offer over 500,000 classes per year, which means you’ll likely be able to find multiple Spanish classes open at the start of any hour on any day. Users on r/LearnSpanish found that the group classes are the best deal, as they’re more affordable than the one-on-one classes yet small enough for you to still get a lot of personal attention from your instructor.
| Price | 4 classes a month: Starts at €52 12 classes a month: Starts at €132 20 classes a month: Starts at €189 40 classes a month: Starts at €359 |
| Free trial | Free seven-day trial |
| Device | Desktop, mobile device |
| Format | Zoom |
| Certificate of completion | Yes |
| Knowledge level | Beginner to advanced |
Italki
Italki allows you to choose exactly which tutor you would like to use — as of this writing, there are over 3,000 freelance Spanish instructors available on this platform. Each instructor profile on Italki displays the average rating that they’ve received from previous students, which is quite helpful when deciding on who you will choose.
It’s also worth noting that this provider has a great reputation. In a recent r/Spanish thread titled “What is the best way to practice speaking Spanish?”, the most popular answer was Italki.
| Price | $4 to $80 per hour |
| Free trial | 30-minute free trial |
| Device | Desktop, mobile device |
| Format | Skype, Facetime, Zoom, WeChat |
| Certificate of completion | No |
| Knowledge level | Beginner to advanced |
Preply
Like Italki, Preply allows you to choose from thousands of different freelance tutors for your Spanish lessons.
One aspect of Preply that stood out to us was the high number of specialized courses that they offer, such as Spanish Literature and Spanish for Dyslexic Students. They also offer corporate training solutions that are perfect for businesses that need to teach Spanish to large groups of employees at the same time.
| Price | $1 to $40 per hour |
| Free trial | Free trial lesson |
| Device | Desktop, mobile device |
| Format | Video chat and messenger |
| Certificate of completion | Yes |
| Knowledge level | Intermediate to proficient |
Verbal Planet
The instructor profiles on Verbal Planet will show you each tutor’s location, the number of sessions they’ve conducted, reviews from previous students, and additional information that’s helpful for making your decision.
Our favorite feature of Verbal Planet is their highly detailed analytics, which allow you to fully understand your progress over the course of your Spanish lessons. They keep track of your speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills separately, which are rated based on the CEFR scale of A1 (most basic) to C2 (most advanced).
| Price | Average rate of $22 per 40-minute lesson |
| Free trial | Free trial available |
| Device | Desktop, mobile device |
| Format | Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams |
| Certificate of completion | Not listed |
| Knowledge level | Beginner to advanced |
Learn more about Verbal Planet.
Verbling
Like many other providers on our list, Verbling maintains a marketplace of freelance tutors and allows you to choose whoever you would like to use for your Spanish lessons.
Verbling has a badge system that can help you find a reliable tutor on their platform. We recommend that you only consider instructors who have both the badge that indicates their identity has been verified and the badge that confirms they have passed a background check conducted by Verbling.
Their reputation is mostly positive (Verbling has over 600 reviews and an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 on Trustpilot), though some users have complained about technical issues.
| Price | Average rate of $20 per hour |
| Free trial | Free 30-minute trial session |
| Device | Desktop, mobile device |
| Format | Custom teleconferencing software |
| Certificate of completion | Yes |
| Knowledge level | Beginner to advanced |
Other Spanish Tutoring Services to Consider
The services listed above are dedicated exclusively to language learning, but there are also other options that you may want to consider. For example, Coursera offers some useful lessons such as “Spanish for Successful Communication in Healthcare Settings” and “Spanish Vocabulary: Sports, Travel, and the Home”. Lonet Academy and TakeLessons are also worth checking out.
What to Expect When Using An Online Spanish Tutoring Service
Most online Spanish tutoring services involve meeting with your tutor over video chat in order to receive instruction in real-time. Depending on the provider, you may also need to complete homework assignments and quizzes outside of these meetings.
Some providers have a dedicated online portal that you can use to schedule lessons, virtually meet with your instructor, and review your progress. Other services are less formal — you may just be given your instructor’s contact information after paying for your lessons, which you can then use to arrange meetings over third-party teleconferencing software such as Skype or Zoom.
What You Need to Learn Spanish Using an Online Tutor
To get the most out of your online tutoring lessons, you should make sure that you have a reliable high-speed internet connection. Learning a new language is hard enough without distorted audio, delayed video feeds, and other technical issues. Also, if you don’t already have a home office, you should set up a study area in one of the quietest rooms of your house so that you can avoid distractions and stay focused.
Free vs. Paid Online Spanish Tutors: What’s the Difference?
There are some providers that offer Spanish lessons for free, but these courses are usually based on pre-recorded videos or written study material. While such resources can be helpful, they’re not the best way to learn a new language — meeting with a tutor in real-time allows you to receive instant feedback on your performance and practice having actual conversations in Spanish. And if you want to learn Spanish through live tutoring, you’ll likely need to pay for it.