How Much Does Outschool Take? Teacher Fees & Pay (2026)

Outschool takes 30% of every class enrollment. Teachers keep 70% of the listed price, paid via PayPal after the class begins. That's the full commission structure — there's no monthly listing fee, no subscription cost, and no other platform cut.

The straightforward fee is one of the things that makes Outschool easy to evaluate before you commit. You set your price, multiply it by your enrollment count, take 70%, and that's what you net from each session. The variables are yours to control: what you charge, how many students you accept, and how many classes you run per week.

How the 30% fee works in practice

Outschool charges a 30% service fee on every enrollment, and it's a simple pass-through: you list the price, students pay it, Outschool keeps 30%, and you get 70%. The fee covers Outschool's classroom platform (the video class infrastructure), scheduling and discovery, payment processing, and the marketing that brings learners to the platform.

There's no subscription to pay, no listing fee, and no minimum earnings threshold. Unlike platforms that charge a flat monthly fee regardless of whether you earn anything, Outschool only earns when you do. That's genuinely creator-friendly for teachers who are still testing whether a subject sells.

Here's how the math looks at different price points and class sizes:

Listed price	Students	Gross	You keep (70%)	Outschool keeps (30%)
$10/student	4	$40	$28	$12
$20/student	6	$120	$84	$36
$35/student	8	$280	$196	$84
$50/student	10	$500	$350	$150

The fee percentage is flat regardless of class size or price tier — Outschool doesn't offer a reduced rate for higher-volume teachers or premium pricing. The way teachers increase take-home is by optimizing the inputs they control: price per enrollment, class size cap, and frequency.

What teachers actually earn

Outschool states that its most popular teachers earn up to $550 per week. That's the platform's own published benchmark — it reflects teachers who have built a consistent schedule of well-attended classes at sustainable price points, not outliers doing single high-ticket sessions.

Working backward from that figure: $550/week at 70% means roughly $785/week in gross enrollment revenue. At $25/student with a 6-student cap, that's about 5 classes per week filling to capacity. Realistic for an established teacher with repeat families; ambitious for someone in the first few months.

For teachers just starting out, income is lower and more variable. First classes often run at smaller sizes while you build reviews and visibility on the platform. Outschool's search algorithm surfaces classes with more bookings and better ratings, so early traction compounds. A well-reviewed class that consistently fills earns more per hour of effort than a new listing competing for attention.

What you need to start teaching on Outschool

The entry bar is lower than traditional teaching platforms, but there are two non-negotiable requirements:

Criminal background check. Every Outschool teacher must pass a background check before their first class begins. Since you're teaching minors, this is a firm requirement — there's no path around it. Outschool runs this as part of the onboarding process; it's not something you arrange separately.

Residency in a supported country. Outschool currently accepts teachers from the United States, Mexico, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom. If you're not in one of those eight countries, the platform isn't open to you yet.

Beyond those two requirements, Outschool is genuinely open. There's no credential requirement, no minimum follower count, no prior teaching experience requirement. Plenty of Outschool teachers are subject enthusiasts, hobbyists, and working professionals in their field rather than licensed educators. If you have knowledge and can design a structured learning experience for learners up to age 18, you can apply.

The application is reviewed by Outschool's Tutor Success team within 5 business days. You'll provide basic personal information, a headshot, a description of your teaching strengths, and a short (up to 2 minutes) video introduction.

How Outschool compares to other education platforms

Outschool vs Skillshare: Skillshare pays a royalty based on watch minutes from paying Skillshare members, not per-enrollment. There's no per-student fee structure — you get a share of a pool based on engagement, not a 70% cut of listed price. Outschool's model is more transparent for teachers who want to know exactly what a class earns before they list it. How much do Skillshare teachers make breaks down the royalty pool in detail.

Outschool vs other tutoring platforms: Platforms like Preply use a declining commission structure where the platform takes a higher cut early on (including 100% of a trial lesson with a new student) and reduces the commission as you accumulate hours. Outschool's flat 30% is simpler and more predictable, though it doesn't reward longevity with a lower rate the way declining structures do.

Outschool vs self-hosting: Hosting your own courses through a platform like Teachable or Podia gives you control over pricing and keeps more revenue per student — most self-hosting platforms charge a flat monthly fee and take little or no revenue share. The trade-off is that you build your own audience rather than appearing in Outschool's existing search results. Outschool's discovery advantage is worth something; how much depends on how established your own audience already is.

Who Outschool works best for

Outschool is best suited for educators and subject experts who:

• Can design structured, live online classes for learners up to age 18
• Don't have a pre-existing audience to sell courses to directly
• Want to test whether a subject or format resonates before building infrastructure
• Can commit to running classes consistently (Outschool rewards established, well-reviewed teachers)
• Are comfortable with PayPal as a payout method

The 30% commission is standard for a marketplace that handles all the infrastructure — classroom, scheduling, discovery, payments, and trust/safety. If you're building a side income from teaching and don't want to manage your own platform, Outschool's structure is clean and predictable. If you're running enough volume that 30% is painful, that's also the point where building a direct-to-student offering starts making more economic sense.

For teachers who can't pass the background check, aren't in a supported country, or prefer self-paced over live formats, Skillshare and Maven's cohort-based course platform are the main alternatives worth evaluating in the education creator space.