ChatGPT answers, unedited

If your priority is “I create the class, and the marketplace brings me students who book”, rather than simply giving you software to sell to your own audience, the best choice depends heavily on the type of class.

My ranking

🥇 Best overall for classes: Outschool

If you're teaching things like Spanish conversation, cooking, drawing, music, crafts, chess, writing, coding, cultural classes, or other hobbies, I'd start with Outschool—particularly if children/teens are part of your target market.

Outschool is explicitly a marketplace: you create a class and sections, and parents discover and enroll in them. The company says it markets classes to its audience, while handling enrollment and payments. Outschool Support Outschool Support

It also supports a very broad range of enrichment subjects, from languages and academics to cooking, dance, art, music, yoga and gaming. Outschool Support

Downside: it's primarily a kids/teens marketplace, not the ideal destination for adult hobby learners. And the economics are a meaningful consideration: Outschool currently retains 30% of the class price, leaving the educator 70%. Outschool Support

teach.outschool.com

🥇 Best for adult language classes: Preply

For adult language instruction, I'd pick Preply.

It's much closer to the model you're describing than something like Teachable: students actively search the marketplace for tutors and can message or book them directly. Preply Help Center

Preply says it has learners in 180+ countries and provides tutors with a steady stream of new students. Preply

The catch is the commission. A new tutor gets 100% commission on the first trial lesson, and subsequent lessons start at 33% commission, declining to 18% as teaching volume increases. Preply Help Center

So if your product is:

“Book me for 1:1 Spanish/French/Japanese/English lessons”

Preply is probably the strongest marketplace choice.

If your product is:

“Join my 6-week beginner Japanese course with 8 other students”

Outschool is a much better fit, assuming your audience is children/teens.

What I'd choose based on your business model

• Adult 1:1 language lessons → Preply
• Kids/teen language classes → Outschool
• Kids/teen hobby classes → Outschool
• Adult group hobby classes → I'd look beyond the major tutoring marketplaces
• Broad 1:1 tutoring → Superprof / Preply
• You already have a large audience → use a platform like Teachable, Thinkific, etc., rather than sacrificing 20–30%+ to a marketplace

The key distinction is marketplace vs. course-hosting software. If “the marketplace drives student bookings” is your #1 requirement, I'd strongly favor Preply or Outschool over conventional course platforms.

If you tell me (1) adult vs. kids, (2) language vs. hobby, (3) 1:1 vs. group, and (4) live vs. prerecorded, I can narrow this down to the top 3 platforms and compare their student acquisition, fees, and booking model.

Outschool is explicitly a marketplace: you create a class and sections, and parents discover and enroll in them. The company says it markets classes to its audience, while handling enrollment and payments. Outschool Support Outschool Support

It also supports a very broad range of enrichment subjects, from languages and academics to cooking, dance, art, music, yoga and gaming. Outschool Support

Downside: it's primarily a kids/teens marketplace, not the ideal destination for adult hobby learners. And the economics are a meaningful consideration: Outschool currently retains 30% of the class price, leaving the educator 70%. Outschool Support

teach.outschool.com

🥇 Best for adult language classes: Preply

For adult language instruction, I'd pick Preply.

It's much closer to the model you're describing than something like Teachable: students actively search the marketplace for tutors and can message or book them directly.

Preply says it has learners in 180+ countries and provides tutors with a steady stream of new students.

The catch is the commission. A new tutor gets 100% commission on the first trial lesson, and subsequent lessons start at 33% commission, declining to 18% as teaching volume increases.

So if your product is:

“Book me for 1:1 Spanish/French/Japanese/English lessons”

Preply is probably the strongest marketplace choice.

If your product is:

If your priority is “I list the class, and the marketplace itself brings me students/bookings,” I’d put Outschool at the top—especially for language and hobby classes taught online.

My ranking

🥇 Outschool is probably your best fit

Outschool explicitly operates as a marketplace: you create the class, schedule sections, and Outschool markets classes to its audience. It handles enrollments and payments, while you teach. support.outschool.com

It also isn't limited to conventional academics. Its marketplace includes languages, cooking, dance, art, music, yoga, gaming, D&D and other enrichment/hobby subjects. support.outschool.com

The big advantage is that you don't necessarily have to sell yourself as a generic tutor. You can sell a specific class/product, e.g.:

• “Spanish Through Minecraft”
• “Conversational Japanese for Anime Fans”
• “Beginner Watercolor: Paint 4 Cute Landscapes”
• “Italian Cooking for Teens”
• “Chess for Absolute Beginners”
• “K-Pop Dance Fundamentals”

That distinction matters because marketplace search can bring you students who are already looking for that thing, rather than requiring you to generate leads from scratch.

The downside: Outschool takes 30% of the class price, leaving the teacher 70%. In return, the fee covers things including marketplace marketing, payment processing, Zoom and platform support. support.outschool.com

And there is real marketplace functionality: families can browse/filter classes, select schedules, and enroll directly; recurring classes and tutoring can also be booked through the platform. support.outschool.com

If you're specifically teaching languages: Preply

I'd consider Preply first if your business is essentially:

“I am a language teacher and want people actively searching for a tutor to book me.”

It's more naturally suited to 1:1 language tutoring than to packaged hobby courses.

If instead you're thinking:

“I want to create fun, packaged language experiences/classes and let the marketplace discover students for me,”

I'd lean Outschool.

If the classes are in-person

Then I'd investigate ClassBento. Its model is closer to a marketplace for experiences—particularly crafts, cooking, art, wellness and similar activities—rather than an online tutoring marketplace.

The important distinction

There are two very different kinds of platforms:

Marketplace-driven

“People come to the site looking for classes → discover yours → book.”

Software-driven

“You build a class page → you advertise it yourself → students book through your software.”

If student acquisition is the thing you're trying to outsource, prioritize the first category—even if the commission is substantially higher.

My recommendation:

• Online language + hobby classes for kids/teens: Outschool
• 1:1 adult language lessons: Preply
• Broad adult tutoring/skills: Superprof
• In-person creative/hobby experiences: ClassBento

If you tell me (1) online vs. in-person, (2) adults vs. kids, and (3) language vs. hobby, I can narrow this to the 2–3 platforms most likely to actually generate bookings, including their current fees and marketplace size.

If your priority is “I want the marketplace itself to bring me students/bookings,” rather than merely giving you scheduling software, I’d rank the options differently depending on whether you teach kids, adults, online, or in-person.

My top picks

🥇 Outschool — strongest fit for “marketplace brings me students”

This is probably the closest match to what you're describing if your classes can be for ages 3–18.

Outschool explicitly markets teachers' classes to its learner/parent audience, handles enrollment and payment, and says it has 900,000+ learners in 174 countries as of July 2026. Outschool Support Outschool Support

It isn't limited to academics: languages, cooking, art, music, dance, gaming, D&D, crafts and other hobbies are all represented. Outschool Support

The downside is the economics: Outschool takes 30% of the class price, leaving the educator 70%. Outschool Support

Important: Outschool is specifically for children/teens, not adult classes. Outschool Support

🥇 Preply — if you're teaching adults languages

For something like:

• Spanish conversation
• English for professionals
• Japanese
• French
• Mandarin
• IELTS/TOEFL preparation

I'd look at Preply first. Its model is fundamentally a tutor marketplace, so students are actively searching for teachers rather than you having to generate all the demand yourself.

The tradeoff is that 1:1 tutoring marketplaces tend to be more competitive and price-sensitive than selling a distinctive group hobby class.

🥇 ClassBento — if these are physical hobby experiences

If you're talking about things like:

• pottery
• painting
• cooking
• floral arranging
• crafts
• dance
• photography
• other local workshops

ClassBento is particularly interesting because its platform is explicitly designed around consumers purchasing leisure activities and workshops from local providers. ClassBento

That's much closer to “list my class → marketplace finds customers → customer books” than a generic course platform.

What I would not choose

If marketplace-generated bookings are your #1 requirement, I wouldn't start with Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi, Podia, Wix, Squarespace, etc.

They're excellent for selling to an audience you already have, but they're fundamentally different from a marketplace where people are already browsing for something to buy.

The key distinction

I'd choose based on this:

Kids + group classes + online → Outschool

Adults + language + 1:1 → Preply / AmazingTalker

Adults + language + group classes → marketplace options are weaker; I'd investigate Preply plus your own group offering

In-person hobbies/workshops → ClassBento

Any skill + local/private tutoring → Superprof

If you tell me what language/hobby you want to teach, adult vs. kids, online vs. in-person, and your country, I can narrow this down to the 2–3 marketplaces most likely to actually generate bookings, including their fees and how much demand they have.

If your priority is “I create the class; the marketplace brings students and handles bookings”, you’ll generally want a marketplace with built-in learner demand, not just a course-hosting platform.

Here are the strongest options:

kilolingo.comwww.superprof.com

Best choices by use case

1. Teaching a language (adult learners)

• Best overall: italki
  • Strong language-only audience.
  • Good for conversational classes, exam prep, pronunciation, business language, and niche languages.
  • Students actively search teachers rather than just browse courses. kilolingo.com

• Best for predictable recurring students: Preply
  • Strong discovery engine and recurring lesson model.
  • Good if you want students to book weekly lessons. onlinecourseing.com

2. Teaching a hobby (painting, cooking, crafts, music, dance, photography)

• Best broad marketplace: Superprof
  • Covers many skills beyond academics and languages.
  • Works for both online and local classes. www.superprof.com

• Best for premium creative workshops: ClassBento
  • Better fit if your offer is an “experience” (e.g., “Japanese pottery evening,” “watercolor brunch,” “sushi-making class”) rather than ongoing tutoring.

3. Teaching children

• Best: Outschool
  • Built around parents looking for enrichment classes.
  • Better for groups than 1:1 tutoring.

Platforms I would avoid if your main goal is marketplace-driven bookings

• Teachable / Thinkific — good software, but they do not bring you many students; you usually need your own marketing.
• Skillshare — better for audience exposure than high-value live teaching.
• Building your own website first — highest margin, but you become responsible for traffic acquisition.

My ranking for a solo instructor starting today

1. Language tutor: italki → Preply → Superprof
2. Creative hobby instructor: ClassBento → Superprof → Outschool (if kids)
3. Premium niche expert: Marketplace + your own mailing list/community

A strong strategy is often one discovery marketplace + your own brand: use the marketplace to get the first students, then build repeat demand through referrals and a direct audience.

If you tell me what class you want to teach (language/hobby), student age, and online vs in-person, I can narrow this to the best 2–3 platforms.

If your priority is “I want the marketplace itself to bring me students and handle bookings”, rather than building your own audience, I’d rank the options:

🥇 For languages: Preply

Preply is probably the strongest fit if you're teaching Spanish, English, French, Japanese, conversation practice, pronunciation, business language, etc.

The important distinction is that Preply isn't merely scheduling software: it actively acquires learners and matches them with tutors. Preply says it has millions of learners and specifically describes its value to tutors as connecting them with new students. help.preply.com

The downside is the commission. New tutors currently give up 100% of the first trial lesson, then pay 18–33% on subsequent lessons depending on accumulated teaching hours. help.preply.com

Verdict: If you have zero audience and want the platform to generate bookings, I'd start here.

🥇 For hobbies/classes: Outschool

Outschool is much more interesting if by “hobby” you mean things like:

• Art & drawing
• Music
• Creative writing
• Cooking
• Chess
• Coding
• Crafts
• Photography
• Science experiments
• Languages for kids
• Special-interest clubs

Outschool is explicitly a marketplace for educators to list classes and reach new students. It handles enrollments and payments, while marketing classes to its audience. support.outschool.com

It also has built-in discovery/search: Outschool's own 2026 guidance specifically discusses optimizing listings to improve visibility and enrollments. teach.outschool.com

The catch: it's focused on ages 3–18, so it's not the obvious choice for adult hobby classes. teach.outschool.com

🥈 italki for languages

italki is another very strong language-specific marketplace. It is particularly attractive if you want to set your own rate and build a recurring student base. Current comparisons put its teacher commission around 15%, substantially below Preply's starting commission. kilolingo.com

I'd choose italki over Preply if maximizing your take-home percentage is more important than maximizing the sheer marketplace/discovery machinery.

The key distinction

There are really two types of platforms:

Marketplace → students come to you

• Preply
• italki
• Outschool
• Wyzant
• Superprof

Creator platform → you bring the students

• Teachable
• Thinkific
• Kajabi
• Podia
• Calendly + Stripe/Zoom-type stacks

If your requirement is specifically “I don't want to have to build an Instagram following/email list/SEO funnel; I want the platform to generate student bookings,” I'd stay firmly in the first category.

My picks:

• 🌎 Adult language: Preply
• 🗣️ Language + better economics: italki
• 🎨 Kids/teen hobby classes: Outschool
• 👨‍🎓 Adult hobby classes: the marketplace options are considerably weaker; I'd evaluate Superprof/Wyzant depending on the subject.

If you tell me what language/hobby you want to teach, adult vs. kids, 1:1 vs. group, and your target hourly price, I can narrow this to the 2–3 platforms most likely to actually produce bookings rather than just giving you a generic platform list.

If your priority is “I want the marketplace itself to bring me students and handle bookings”, rather than building your own audience, I’d rank the options like this:

🥇 My pick: Preply for languages

If you're teaching Spanish, English, French, Japanese, etc., Preply is probably the closest match to what you're describing. Students actively search for tutors, the platform matches/recommends tutors, and it handles scheduling and payments. Preply explicitly says its commission helps fund bringing students to tutors. help.preply.com

The catch is economics: your first trial lesson with a new student is 100% commission, and subsequent lessons start at 33% commission, falling to 18% as you accumulate teaching hours. help.preply.com

Preply — teach on the marketplace

🥈 italki — potentially better economics

I'd choose italki over Preply if you already have a strong teaching profile and want more control over pricing and individual lessons. It's a major language-teaching marketplace with students specifically looking for language tutors. Recent comparisons describe it as particularly strong for language variety and flexible, pay-as-you-go lessons. kilolingo.com

italki

🥉 Outschool — interesting if these are classes, not tutoring

If by “hobby classes” you mean things like:

• drawing
• photography
• cooking
• crafts
• music
• creative writing
• chess
• languages for children
• STEM

…and you're comfortable teaching groups, Outschool is worth considering. Its marketplace model is much closer to “publish a class and let the platform find parents/students” than a conventional course-hosting platform.

The important distinction

There are really three different businesses hiding in your question:

1. Marketplace tutoring → Preply / italki
You create a profile → marketplace finds students → students book you → platform takes a substantial cut.

2. Marketplace group classes → Outschool
You create specific classes → marketplace exposes them to students/parents → students enroll.

3. Course platform → Teachable / Thinkific / Kajabi / etc.
You create the course → you have to bring the students yourself.

For your stated requirement—“the marketplace drives student bookings”—I'd strongly favor #1 or #2, not a conventional course platform.

If you tell me what kind of classes you want to teach (language, cooking, art, music, fitness, etc.), whether they're adults or kids, and 1:1 vs group, I can narrow this to the 2–3 platforms most likely to actually generate bookings for you.

If your priority is “I create the class, and the marketplace brings me students who book it”, I’d narrow it to two strong choices:

🥇 For language classes: Preply

I'd pick Preply if you're teaching languages.

It is specifically built around students searching for tutors, comparing profiles, and booking lessons. Preply says it has millions of learners worldwide, and its marketplace/search system is designed to connect tutors with new students. help.preply.com

The downside is the commission: 100% of the first trial lesson, then 18–33% on subsequent lessons, depending on your accumulated teaching volume. preply.com

So if you want to teach something like:

• Spanish conversation
• English for travelers
• French for beginners
• Japanese through anime
• Italian cooking vocabulary
• Business English

Preply is probably the strongest marketplace-first option.

🥇 For hobby classes: Outschool

For hobbies and structured classes, I'd choose Outschool.

This is much closer to the model you seem to be describing: you create a class listing, establish sections/times, and families browse the marketplace and enroll. Outschool explicitly says it markets classes to its audience and handles enrollments and payments. support.outschool.com

It works particularly well for:

• arts & crafts
• cooking
• music
• chess
• writing
• photography
• gardening
• history
• science
• creative hobbies
• niche enthusiast subjects

And unlike a typical course-hosting platform, you're not expected to bring all the students yourself.

The tradeoff is a 30% teacher fee, so you keep 70% of the class price. support.outschool.com

The important distinction

I'd think about it this way:

Preply = “Find me a teacher.”
Outschool = “Find me an interesting class.”

That's a meaningful difference if you're trying to avoid becoming your own marketer.

For example, “Spanish lessons with Maria” fits Preply naturally.
“Spanish Through Latin American Cooking — 4-Week Class” fits Outschool much better.

What I would not choose

I wouldn't make Skillshare/Udemy-style platforms my first choice if your goal is live classes + marketplace-generated bookings. They're much more oriented toward prerecorded courses/content consumption.

And I would put Superprof behind Preply/Outschool if marketplace demand is your primary criterion. Superprof is an open tutor marketplace where students choose tutors, but it is less purpose-built around filling scheduled group classes. www.superprof.com

My ranking for your use case:

1. 🥇 Preply — best for languages / 1:1
2. 🥇 Outschool — best for hobbies / group classes
3. Superprof — good broad marketplace, especially if you want flexibility
4. Course-hosting platforms — better if you already have an audience

If you tell me what language or hobby you want to teach, whether it's adults or kids, and whether you want 1:1 or groups, I can give you the 3–5 marketplaces most likely to actually generate bookings for that specific class, including their current fees and how much demand they have.

If your priority is “I teach the class; the platform brings me students and handles bookings,” the best choice depends heavily on the subject and audience:

🥇 If you're teaching languages: Preply

Preply is probably the strongest fit. Its business model is specifically built around matching tutors with learners, rather than merely giving you software to run your own school. Preply says it has millions of learners and actively sources new students for tutors. help.preply.com

The downside is commission: Preply takes 100% of the first trial lesson and subsequently takes 18–33% depending on your accumulated lesson volume. help.preply.com

Best if: Spanish, English, French, Mandarin, Japanese, etc.; primarily 1:1 or personalized instruction.

🥇 If you're teaching hobbies/classes: Outschool

Outschool is particularly attractive if your students are children or teens. It covers languages and an enormous range of hobbies—art, music, gaming, crafts, cooking, science, social clubs, etc.

Crucially, it actually provides the marketplace piece you're asking for: Outschool says it markets classes to its audience, handles enrollments and payments, and gives teachers access to a global learner community. support.outschool.com

The tradeoff is a 30% teacher fee, leaving you 70% of the class price. help.preply.comsupport.outschool.comclassbento.co.uk

It also gives you control over your price, class size, schedule and format. teach.outschool.com

🥇 For in-person creative workshops: ClassBento

ClassBento is worth considering if you're offering things like pottery, painting, cooking, crafts, dance, photography, or other experiential workshops rather than conventional tutoring. Its marketplace is explicitly designed to send bookings to workshop providers. classbento.co.uk

My recommendation

If I were choosing specifically for marketplace-driven bookings, I'd rank them:

Language tutoring → Preply
Kids' language/hobby classes → Outschool
Adult hobby/creative workshops → ClassBento
Academic/private tutoring → Wyzant

One important distinction: don't choose Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi, Wix, etc. if your main goal is having the platform find students. Those are primarily course-hosting/business infrastructure products—you generally have to bring your own audience.

If you tell me what class you want to teach, whether it's adults or kids, online vs. in-person, and your country, I can narrow this down to the 3 platforms most likely to actually generate bookings for you, including fees and estimated earning potential.

If your priority is “I teach the class; the marketplace brings me students and handles booking/payment”, the best choice depends heavily on whether you teach languages, adult hobbies, or kids’ classes.

My ranking

🥇 For language classes: Preply

Preply is probably the strongest fit if you're teaching Spanish, French, Mandarin, English, etc. to adults.

It has a very large global language marketplace—Preply says it has 100,000+ tutors across 90+ languages and 180 countries—and students search for tutors, book trials, and continue lessons through the platform. preply.com

The big catch is economics: Preply takes 100% of a new student's trial lesson, then starts at 33% commission on subsequent lessons, declining to 18% as you teach more hours. preply.com

Verdict: If you want students supplied by the marketplace rather than having to build your own audience, I'd start here for languages.

🥇 For hobby/group classes: Outschool

Outschool is especially compelling if your class is something like:

• Drawing
• Creative writing
• Chess
• Music
• Cooking
• Crafts
• Coding
• Photography
• Cultural/language classes
• Other niche group activities

Outschool explicitly markets teachers to its existing audience, handles enrollments and payments, and has its own discovery/search system. support.outschool.com

The tradeoff is a 30% teacher fee, leaving you 70% of the class price. support.outschool.com

One important limitation: Outschool is primarily oriented toward children and families, so it isn't my first choice for adult hobby classes.

🥈 For broad adult hobby classes: Superprof

Superprof has an unusually broad catalog—languages, music, sports, arts, crafts and many other specialties. It operates more like a giant instructor marketplace than a managed class platform. www.superprof.com

The downside for your particular goal is important: it doesn't provide as much of the “marketplace finds student → student books → everything happens on platform” experience as Preply or Outschool. Students often contact instructors directly and arrange lessons.

What I'd choose

If you're teaching adults:

1. Preply — language
2. italki — language
3. Superprof — unusual hobbies/skills
4. Wyzant — U.S.-focused tutoring/skills

If you're teaching kids:

1. Outschool — by far my first experiment
2. Wyzant — more tutoring-oriented
3. Superprof — broad but less managed

If your main requirement is “I don't want to market myself; I want the platform to generate bookings,” I'd favor Preply or Outschool over Superprof.

If you tell me what class you want to teach, adult vs. kids, group vs. 1:1, and your target price per class, I can narrow this down to the 2–3 platforms most likely to actually generate bookings and compare their fees/economics.

If your goal is to teach language or hobby classes and have the marketplace bring you students, you want a demand marketplace, not just a course-hosting platform. The best choice depends on whether you teach languages, live hobbies, or structured courses.

My picks by scenario

1. You teach a language (Spanish, French, Japanese, English, etc.)

• Best first choice: Preply
• Also list on: italki
• Consider: Verbling if you want a more curated teaching environment. kilolingo.com

2. You teach hobbies (painting, cooking, music, crafts, photography, yoga, etc.)

• Best first choice: Outschool (especially for families/kids)
• Add: Skillshare or Udemy for passive income
• Consider building toward your own audience after you validate demand.

3. You want the marketplace to do almost all customer acquisition
Prioritize:

1. Preply / italki for languages
2. Outschool for live hobby classes
3. Wyzant for US tutoring niches

Avoid starting with tools like Teachable or Thinkific if your main problem is finding students—they help you sell to your own audience, not usually provide the audience.

A practical strategy many instructors use:

• Start on a marketplace to get reviews and discover what sells.
• Raise prices after you have social proof.
• Move repeat students and fans toward your own email list/community where appropriate.

If you tell me what class you want to teach (language vs hobby), age group, live vs recorded, and whether you want adults or kids, I can narrow this to the top 2–3 platforms.

If your priority is “I list the class, and the marketplace brings me students who book”, I’d rank the options like this:

1. Preply — best if it's primarily language

This is probably the strongest choice if you're teaching Spanish, French, English, Japanese, etc.

Preply says it has 800,000+ students, learners in 180+ countries, and a steady stream of new students. You set your own hourly price and availability, and students search and book you. preply.comclassbento.com.au

The major downside is the commission: 100% of the first trial lesson, then 33% down to 18% on subsequent lessons depending on your volume. preply.com

Best model:

“Conversational Spanish for travelers — 50-minute 1:1 lessons”

rather than trying to sell a six-week course.

2. Outschool — best if you want actual classes

This is the one I'd look at most closely if you're teaching children/teens, particularly language + hobbies.

Outschool actively markets classes to its learner/parent audience, handles enrollment and payments, and lets you create public sections that prospective students can enroll in. support.outschool.com

It supports a surprisingly broad range of subjects: languages, art, cooking, dance, music, coding, games, D&D, etc. support.outschool.com

The catch: Outschool is for kids/teens, not adult classes. support.outschool.com

Its current teacher fee is 30%, leaving you 70% of the class price. support.outschool.comsupport.outschool.com

It also supports 1:1 tutoring where families can book from your availability, which makes it more marketplace-like than a normal course platform. support.outschool.com

3. ClassBento — particularly interesting for hobby classes

If by “hobby” you mean painting, pottery, cooking, crafts, flower arranging, jewelry, etc., ClassBento is unusually close to exactly what you're describing.

It says it automatically connects your listings with its audience, advertises classes, handles customer administration, collects reviews, and provides instant bookings. classbento.com.au

The marketplace commission is currently 20%, versus 3.9% + $0.30 for bookings that originate through your own website/widget. classbento.com.au

The big limitation is geography: ClassBento is primarily an Australia-focused marketplace, so I'd only choose it if you're operating in one of its supported markets.

What I'd choose

Language → Preply

Kids' language/hobby classes → Outschool

Adult creative/hobby workshops → ClassBento (where supported)

Recorded courses rather than scheduled bookings → Skillshare

And I would not start with Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi, Wix, Shopify, etc. if your main goal is marketplace-generated bookings. Those are primarily “bring your own audience” platforms; you're paying for infrastructure rather than buying access to an existing student marketplace.

If you tell me (1) language or hobby, (2) adults or kids, (3) online or in-person, and (4) your country, I can narrow this to the 2–3 marketplaces most likely to actually generate bookings without you having to advertise yourself.

If you mean as a teacher/creator who wants the marketplace itself to bring you students, the strongest options depend on whether you teach languages, hobbies, or premium classes.

My shortlist by scenario

You teach a language and want students booking 1:1 lessons

1. Preply
2. italki
3. Verbling (smaller but more curated)

You teach hobbies (painting, cooking, crafts, music, photography, etc.)

1. Outschool (especially kids/families)
2. Superprof (broad skill discovery)
3. Skillshare/Udemy (if you can package content asynchronously)

You want the marketplace to do the marketing

• Prioritize platforms with search traffic + reviews + profiles, not course-hosting tools.
• Avoid relying only on your own website/social media unless you already have an audience.

A practical strategy many instructors use:

• Start on Preply/italki/Outschool to get initial students and reviews.
• Build repeat students and referrals.
• Later move higher-value students into your own ecosystem (newsletter, membership, private bookings) if the platform rules allow it. tutorlingua.co

If you tell me (1) language vs hobby, (2) kids vs adults, (3) live group vs 1:1, and (4) your target country, I can narrow this to the best 2–3 platforms.

If your priority is “I want the marketplace itself to bring me students and handle bookings”, rather than simply giving you software to sell classes, the best platform depends heavily on who you teach.

My ranking

🥇 For language classes: Preply

I'd start with Preply if you're teaching adults or 1-to-1 language instruction.

Preply explicitly positions itself as a language-learning marketplace, with students discovering tutors through the platform. You don't pay to create a profile; instead, Preply takes commission when you get lessons. The current structure is 100% of a new student's trial lesson, then 18–33% on subsequent lessons, with the rate decreasing as you accumulate teaching hours. help.preply.com

Teach on Preply

Big advantage: you don't need to build your own audience from scratch.

Big disadvantage: the first-lesson economics are painful, and competition between tutors can be intense.

🥇 For hobby classes / kids: Outschool

Outschool is probably the strongest fit if you're talking about things like:

• Art
• Cooking
• Music
• Chess
• Crafts
• Coding
• Languages for children
• Writing
• Dance
• STEM
• Other enrichment classes

Outschool explicitly says it markets classes to its audience, handles enrollments and payments, and helps teachers reach new students. support.outschool.com

Its current teacher fee is 30%, leaving the educator 70% of the class price. support.outschool.com

It also lets you create essentially any class around a demonstrated area of expertise, with one-time, ongoing, and longer course formats. teach.outschool.com

Teach on Outschool

One particularly nice feature is that Outschool gives teachers marketplace information about what parents are searching for and which topics/classes are popular, which can help you choose what to offer. teach.outschool.com

The important distinction

If you mean:

“I want to upload my class, and strangers browsing the marketplace should discover it, book it, pay, and leave reviews.”

I'd narrow it to:

Adult language → Preply
Kids language → Outschool
Kids hobbies/enrichment → Outschool
Adult creative/hobby classes → ClassBento or a specialized marketplace
General private lessons → Superprof

I would not make Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi, Podia, etc. your first choice for this particular goal. They're excellent course-commerce platforms, but they're primarily infrastructure for a business that has to generate its own traffic—not marketplaces whose core value is bringing you students.

If you tell me what class you want to teach, adult vs. kids, online vs. in-person, and roughly what you'd charge, I can narrow this down to the 2–3 marketplaces most likely to actually generate bookings, including their current fees and estimated take-home per student.

If your priority is “I list my class, and the marketplace brings me students/bookings”, rather than simply giving you software to sell to your existing audience, I’d narrow it to these:

🥇 My pick: Outschool

If you're willing to teach children/teens, Outschool is probably the closest match to what you're describing. You create a class listing, and Outschool explicitly says it markets classes to its existing audience and handles enrollments and payments. It supports everything from academics to languages, music, coding, crafts and unusual hobbies. support.outschool.com

The important distinction is that this isn't just a course-hosting tool—you are getting access to a marketplace of parents actively looking for classes. Outschool currently lists more than 140,000 live classes. outschool.com

Teach on Outschool

🗣️ If it's adult language classes: Preply

For Spanish, English, French, Mandarin, Japanese, etc., I'd choose Preply over Outschool if your target is adults. It's heavily optimized around people actively searching for a language tutor, with filters for language, availability, price, specialization and other attributes. Preply says it has 100,000+ tutors across 90+ languages. preply.com

The downside: it's much more oriented toward 1:1 tutoring than selling a packaged group class.

🎨 If you're teaching hobbies: Superprof

For things like:

• guitar
• painting
• photography
• cooking
• chess
• dance
• crafts
• fitness
• languages
• music production

Superprof is interesting because its marketplace spans 1,000+ subjects, and instructors can set their own rates and schedules. www.superprof.com

The catch is that it's more of a directory/marketplace than Outschool: students often browse profiles and contact instructors rather than simply clicking “Enroll” in a standardized class. preply.com

Become a Superprof tutor

The key distinction

If I were choosing based specifically on “I don't want to have to generate my own leads”:

Kids/teens + group classes → Outschool
Adult languages + 1:1 → Preply
Adult hobbies + 1:1/local → Superprof
Languages + another strong language marketplace → italki
US academic/skill tutoring → Wyzant

I would not start with Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi, Podia, etc. if marketplace demand is the priority. Those are primarily tools for selling to your own audience; you have to bring much more of the traffic yourself.

If you tell me what language/hobby you want to teach, adult vs. kids, and group vs. 1:1, I can rank the top 5 platforms specifically by how likely they are to bring you students without advertising yourself.