Teaching on Cambly means live video chats with English learners worldwide for a fixed $10.20 an hour ($0.17 a minute), or $12 an hour on Cambly Kids, with no degree or TEFL certificate required to get started. It is one of the easiest online teaching jobs to land, but also one of the lowest-paying, so it works best as flexible side income rather than a full living.
I signed up for Cambly on a whim during a slow month of freelancing, expecting an easy way to pad my savings between other jobs. What I got was a strange, oddly addictive mix of small talk, accent coaching and the occasional student who just wanted someone to practice ordering coffee with. It is genuinely fun some days. It is also, if I am honest, not something I would ever plan a budget around.
| Program | Pay rate | Hourly equivalent | Payout schedule | Payment method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambly (adult conversation) | $0.17/minute | $10.20/hour | Weekly, every other week, or every 4 weeks (your choice) | PayPal, direct deposit/ACH, wire transfer, prepaid debit card |
| Cambly Kids | $0.20/minute | $12.00/hour | Same schedule options as above | Same payment methods as above |
| Peak/bonus hours (occasional, both programs) | Varies by promotion | Historically up to $15/hour during high-demand pushes | Paid alongside regular earnings | Same payment methods as above |
Source and methodology: figures taken directly from Cambly's official tutor page (cambly.com/english/tutors) and cross-checked against tutor payment FAQs, current as of 2026. Cambly does not let tutors negotiate rates; every tutor on a given program earns the same base rate regardless of experience or qualifications.
Key takeaways
- Cambly pays a flat $10.20/hour for adult chats and $12/hour for Cambly Kids, with no negotiation and no raises for experience.
- You only get paid for the minutes you are actually connected to a student, so slow hours can pay far less than the advertised rate.
- No degree or TEFL certificate is required for the adult platform; Cambly Kids does require a completed or in-progress college degree.
- Cambly jobs suit people who want zero-commitment, pick-up-and-put-down income, not teachers chasing a full-time online salary.
- Other online platforms, like Preply and iTalki, let tutors set their own rates and generally pay more for qualified, TEFL-certified teachers.
What teaching on Cambly actually looks like day to day
There is no lesson plan waiting for you, no curriculum, and usually no warning about who is about to call. You log in, mark yourself available, and wait for a student to connect for a casual conversation session that can run anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. Some days you get a steady string of chatty regulars. Other days you sit online for forty minutes without a single call, and that dead time is unpaid.
My first week, most of my "hours" were really twenty-minute bursts stitched together between long silent gaps, which is normal and worth planning around rather than being surprised by.
Cambly jobs: requirements to get started
Cambly jobs on the standard adult platform have almost no barrier to entry. You need to be at least 18, a native or fluent English speaker, and able to pass a basic internet-speed check. There is no live interview: applicants record a two-minute self-introduction video, and Cambly's team reviews it along with your profile before approving you.
Cambly Kids raises the bar slightly. You need to have completed, or currently be working toward, a college degree, since the platform markets itself to parents as more structured than the casual adult side. Neither program requires a TEFL certificate, though having one can help your profile stand out to students browsing tutor pages, and it will absolutely help you if you plan to move on to better-paying platforms later.
Cambly vs typical online teaching platforms
| Platform | Typical pay range | Degree needed | TEFL/certificate needed | Who sets the rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambly (adults) | $10.20/hour flat | No | No | Cambly (fixed for everyone) |
| Cambly Kids | $12.00/hour flat | Yes (in progress or completed) | No | Cambly (fixed for everyone) |
| Preply | Roughly $10 to $40+/hour | No, but helps | Recommended | Tutor sets own rate |
| iTalki | Roughly $8 to $40+/hour | No, but helps | Recommended | Tutor sets own rate |
The pattern is consistent: on marketplaces where you set your own price, a TEFL certificate and a clear teaching angle push your rate up over time. On Cambly, nothing you do moves the number. Your only lever is booking more Priority Hours and building a strong student rating, which unlocks access to more of those guaranteed-pay slots rather than a higher wage.
Realistic weekly earnings on Cambly jobs
| Weekly pattern | Estimated hours talking | Estimated weekly pay |
|---|---|---|
| Casual, filling small gaps | 5-7 hours | $50-$70 |
| Consistent part-time, priority hours booked | 15-20 hours | $150-$205 |
| Heavy, near full-time | 30-35 hours | $305-$355 |
These numbers assume you are actually connected with a student for most of your online time, which is the biggest variable. New tutors, tutors outside peak calling hours, and tutors without Priority Hours access typically earn less than this because they spend real minutes waiting with no one on the line.
The honest downsides of Cambly jobs
The pay is the obvious one. At $10.20 an hour before tax, Cambly sits well below what a TEFL-certified teacher can earn running structured lessons on Preply or iTalki, and far below classroom teaching jobs abroad that often include housing or flights on top of salary. There is also no ladder: a tutor with three years and thousands of five-star sessions earns the exact same base rate as someone who joined last week.
Demand fluctuates hard by time zone and season. If your available hours do not line up with when students in Cambly's biggest markets are awake and looking to chat, you can log in and get nothing. A friend of mine tried Cambly for a month while traveling through a time zone that never overlapped with peak demand, and pulled in barely $40 for the whole stretch before giving up on it.
There is also zero lesson structure to fall back on if a conversation runs dry, which some tutors find freeing and others find exhausting after the fiftieth "so, tell me about your hobbies" of the week.
Why people still choose Cambly jobs anyway
Weekly pay, a fast approval process, and genuinely zero commitment are the draw. You are not locked into a schedule, you do not owe anyone a lesson plan, and you can log off for a month without consequences. For students juggling another job, for retirees who want light income, or for new TEFL grads earning while they apply to better-paying platforms or classroom jobs, Cambly fills a real gap.
It is worth pairing with something more structured rather than treating it as your whole plan. If you are serious about online teaching as a career rather than pocket money, building an actual qualification changes what is available to you, and a TEFL certification is usually the first step people take once they realize Cambly's ceiling.
If you want to see how Cambly stacks up against every other major platform side by side, our guide to the best platforms to teach English online breaks down pay, hours, and requirements across the board, and our teach online hub is a good starting point if you are weighing up which route fits your life right now.
Here is a quick look at what online teaching looks like once you get past the sign-up stage:
Getting a TEFL certificate before you start
You do not technically need one to start teaching on Cambly, but skipping it can box you in. A certificate is the difference between "chatting for $10.20 an hour indefinitely" and "using Cambly as a stepping stone while you build toward $20-plus-an-hour platforms or a paid teaching job abroad." If you are unsure whether the math works out for your situation, our salary calculator is a fast way to compare what different routes could realistically pay.
Plenty of people also start entirely without formal qualifications and figure out the certificate question later. If that is you, our piece on teaching English online without a degree covers which platforms and routes are realistically open to you at that stage.
If you end up loving the teaching side of things more than the chatting side, it is worth knowing you are not on your own figuring out next steps. Plenty of new online teachers compare notes inside TEFL Unpacked, our community for people building a teaching career, on everything from which platforms are worth the switch to how to write a demo video that actually gets approved.
Frequently asked questions
How much do you get paid teaching on Cambly?
Cambly pays a fixed $0.17 per minute for adult conversation lessons, which works out to $10.20 an hour, and $0.20 per minute ($12/hour) for Cambly Kids. The rate is set by the platform and does not change based on your experience, ratings, or qualifications.
Do you need a degree to get Cambly jobs?
No degree is required for the standard adult Cambly platform, just a native or fluent level of English and a passing internet-speed check. Cambly Kids is the exception: it requires tutors to have completed or be actively working toward a college degree.
Do you need a TEFL certificate to teach on Cambly?
No, Cambly does not require a TEFL, TESOL, or CELTA certificate for either program. A certificate will not raise your Cambly pay rate, but it can make your profile more appealing to students and matters if you plan to move to platforms that let tutors set their own price.
How often does Cambly pay tutors?
You can choose to be paid weekly, every other week, or every four weeks, with all payments processed on the same day each cycle. Options include PayPal, direct deposit or ACH, wire transfer, and prepaid debit cards, and payouts require a minimum account balance of $20.
Is Cambly worth it long term?
It depends on your goal. For flexible, no-commitment pocket money with same-week payouts, it is genuinely useful. For anyone wanting a real income from online teaching, the flat, capped rate makes Cambly a weaker choice than certified, rate-setting platforms or paid teaching jobs abroad.
Can Cambly Kids pay more than regular Cambly?
Yes. Cambly Kids pays $12 an hour compared to $10.20 an hour on the standard adult platform, but it requires a separate application and a college degree, and you cannot switch between the two programs mid-session.
Curious what your realistic earnings could look like beyond Cambly? Try our salary calculator to compare online teaching against paid classroom jobs abroad before you decide where to spend your hours.
