The median French tutor in Preply's search results lists $26 an hour, and the middle half charge $19 to $39. That comes from the 976 French tutors TutorDNA read in Preply's search results on 26 September 2026.
To see where specialists sit, we grouped tutors by what their headline says they teach, matching whole words in English or French, and compared each group with the rest. A tutor can belong to several groups, and any group with fewer than 30 tutors is left out.
The short answer
- "Native" lists highest. Tutors whose headline says they are native speakers list at a median $30, against $25 for the others.
- Exam preparation lists at or below the median, and four exams give four prices: DELF $28, DALF $25, TEF $22 and TCF $20.50.
- Yet exam-prep tutors are booked more often. 25% to 29% of them carry Preply's "Booked N times recently" mark, against 13% of all French tutors.
- Teaching children lists lowest, at a median $20.
Every French specialty we could measure
| Headline mentions | Tutors | Median price | Middle half | Median lessons taught | Booked recently |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native, natif or langue maternelle | 182 | $30 | $22 to $40 | 1,282 | 10% |
| FLE | 44 | $28.50 | $19.50 to $36 | 1,578 | 20% |
| DELF | 174 | $28 | $18 to $39 | 1,884 | 25% |
| Certified or certifié | 247 | $26 | $18 to $39 | 1,888 | 18% |
| DALF | 108 | $25 | $17.75 to $35.75 | 1,766 | 28% |
| Business or affaires | 53 | $25 | $15 to $39 | 1,384 | 28% |
| Conversation | 151 | $25 | $18 to $35 | 1,138 | 16% |
| Grammar or grammaire | 31 | $25 | $17.50 to $36.50 | 1,138 | 23% |
| Beginners or débutants | 62 | $24.50 | $18 to $35 | 1,126 | 13% |
| Quebec or Canada | 35 | $24 | $18 to $31.50 | 1,819 | 29% |
| TEF | 131 | $22 | $15.50 to $35 | 2,182 | 29% |
| TCF | 158 | $20.50 | $15 to $33.75 | 1,563 | 28% |
| Kids or enfants | 45 | $20 | $13 to $35 | 1,365 | 20% |
| All French tutors | 976 | $26 | $19 to $39 | 1,317 | 13% |
Too few to compare: examiners (23 tutors), pronunciation or accent (22) and Paris (12).
What the numbers suggest
Exam prep: lower prices, more bookings. Tutors who mention DELF, DALF, TCF or TEF list at or below the median, yet they are about twice as likely as the average French tutor to carry the "Booked N times recently" mark. They also have more lessons behind them: TEF tutors a median 2,182. Exam preparation looks like a busy, price-competitive corner of the French market rather than a premium one.
TCF and TEF list lowest of the four exams. About one French tutor in six mentions TCF, and those tutors list at $20.50, $5.50 below the median.
"Native" goes with a higher price; a certificate doesn't. Native-speaker headlines list $5 above the rest, while tutors who mention a certification list at the $26 median, despite having more lessons behind them.
One caution. These are the listed prices of tutors who chose those words. They don't show that adding a word to your headline raises your price, and long-time students may pay less than a tutor lists.
If you teach French on Preply
- Know your corner of the market. If you prepare students for DELF, DALF, TCF or TEF, you're in its busiest and most price-competitive part: those tutors list at or below the median but are booked more often.
- Check where your rate sits. The French rates page places any rate against the whole French market, and its "What stands out" section compares Super Tutors and exam mentions with live figures.
- The Super Tutor badge goes furthest in French. Among tutors with similar experience, French Super Tutors list $2 to $9 more. The Super Tutor guide compares all four subjects.
- Know what you keep. Preply's commission takes 18% to 33% of each lesson, plus every trial. The commission calculator shows what a rate leaves you.
For the same comparison in other subjects, see the English, Spanish and Math tutor niches.
How we measured
TutorDNA reads the tutor listings in Preply's public search results every week. This page uses the 976 French tutors listed on 26 September 2026. A listed price is the hourly rate a new student sees, before Preply's commission. Medians and the middle half (the 25th to 75th percentile) are taken over the tutors in each group. "Booked recently" is the share of tutors whose card showed Preply's "Booked N times recently" mark that day. More in the methodology.
The figures are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0, with a credit to TutorDNA and a link to this page.