Could You Earn $10K Per Month With an Online Teaching Side Hustle?

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If you want to make money online with a side hustle, and you have great communication skills or prior teaching experience, online teaching could be a great way to start a small business . There are people all over the world who use online teaching platforms to learn new languages, gain new professional skills, and even explore new hobbies like video games or role playing games.

You don't always need formal academic teaching credentials or school teaching experience to make money online from teaching. Some sites make it possible to teach career skills, business expertise, your own native language, or non-traditional subjects -- and pad your bank account in the process.

Let's look at some of the best online teaching side hustles, and how much money you can make by teaching online.

Outschool: Online teaching

Outschool is an online teaching platform for kids ages 3 and up, from preschool through high school. If you have a passion for teaching, you can sign up on Outschool to teach classes or offer private tutoring in almost any subject you're passionate about. Its classes range from flute lessons to French, from algebra to ADHD coaching. Some Outschool teachers even teach "fun" subjects like Dungeons & Dragons!

Outschool says that some of the site's best-paid teachers earn $10,000 per month or more. Those kinds of high earnings don't happen overnight for every side hustle, but it's an encouraging sign of just how much money you can make with online teaching. Outschool charges a 30% service fee from your students' enrollment, so be sure to set your prices at a level that's affordable for your students and profitable for you.

Preply: Online tutoring

My first job out of college was teaching English in Japan, and it was a marvelous adventure. I saw firsthand just how many people all over the world are trying to learn English -- and they're willing to spend money for extra English tutoring.

Native English speakers have a nice advantage in life, because they grow up speaking the language of international business. But you don't have to travel to other countries to make money teaching English. Online teaching sites like Preply offer online gigs where you can make money as an English tutor, and Preply says that most of its English tutors charge an average of $15-$25 per hour.

Those are decent wages, especially if you can work from home on a flexible schedule. Preply lets you teach anytime, anywhere, just a few hours per week or as many hours as you choose (based on demand from tutoring students).

Udemy: Online corporate training and career skills coaching

Udemy offers online courses in career skills and business expertise, like technology certifications, web development, communications, data science, and leadership. If you have relevant corporate experience or technical expertise, you can make money by creating (and selling) online teaching content on Udemy.

Udemy has a two-tiered system for sharing revenue with online teachers, based on how students sign up for each course. You can keep 97% of the enrollment revenue if a student signs up for your Udemy course through your personal instructor referral links or coupons. But if a student signs up through other channels, like browsing courses in the Udemy marketplace, you will only get to keep 37% of the revenue from those enrollments.

One good benefit is that Udemy does not own your course content -- you retain all rights to your content, and you can sell access to your online teaching courses on other platforms, too.

Bottom line

These are just a few examples of how you can make money online as a teacher. Preply makes it easy to earn $15 to $25 per month as an English tutor, while Outschool might help you earn big money by teaching classes to kids online. Corporate training sites like Udemy can help you make money by sharing your knowledge to help people learn career skills.

The world is full of people who are trying to learn English or coding, and those who are trying to gain higher-value skills to get through high school or improve their earning power in their careers. Sharing your knowledge with others by teaching online can make things better for your students -- and for your bank account.

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