For teachers in India
Teach NRI kids. On your terms.
Set your own rate. Keep every dollar of it. Teach from home, to families who want exactly what you teach. US kids are free after school, which is 5–9am IST.
Twenty minutes to publish. Free to list. No interview.
What a week can look like
About ₹1,11,150 at ₹95/$ (September 2026; rates move). Apna takes no commission on your session fee. This is the arithmetic, not a promise: how many sessions you get depends on demand for your subject.
The rate
You set it.
From $5 an hour — your rate, your call.
The match
Direct.
Parents browse, message, and book you. No dispatcher queue.
The window
5–9am IST.
US kids after school. Early morning India, evening US.
Why this exists
A small platform, for a specific kind of teaching.
Apna Tutor was built by one NRI parent who couldn't find a good tutor in India for his own kids. Not a dispatcher. Not a content mill. A marketplace where parents browse, and where the teacher shows up as a person — bio, subjects, rates, and a short demo video.
We don't teach you a curriculum. You list what you already teach well — Hindi reading, Devanagari, early math, phonics, homework help, whatever fits. Parents who need that find you.
Why teachers stay.
You set the price
Charge $10 or $25. Raise it when you are full. No one approves it for you.
Paid in USD, directly
Zelle, Wise or UPI, settled between you and the parent. Apna does not hold your money and takes no commission.
Your own hours
US mornings are your evenings. Mark the slots you want on your calendar and nothing else gets booked.
Your own words
Your profile is what you write — bio, subjects, rate, a short video. Not a form the platform fills in for you.
Getting started
From “tell me more” to your first paid session.
Your profile is live the moment you publish. No interview, no waiting weeks. Edit it any time.
Write your profile.
Subjects, grades, languages, your rate, a photo, a short demo video. Twenty minutes, and you’re searchable the moment you publish.
Parents message you.
Parents browse, message you about their child, and book a slot from your calendar. You choose who to take on and when to teach.
Teach and get paid.
Zoom, Meet or WhatsApp video. After each session the parent pays you directly — Zelle, Wise or UPI. Apna takes no commission.
Self-serve. No interview, no waiting on us — your profile is your pitch. We do retroactively de-list profiles that get parent complaints, so the platform stays clean for everyone.
Ready when you are.
What we ask of you.
- ✓Two or more years teaching or tutoring children
- ✓Comfortable English, plus the language you teach in
- ✓Reliable broadband, a quiet room and a working camera
- ✓At least three slots a week in US family hours (early morning IST), kept consistently
- ✓A short recap to the parent after each session
A few things worth knowing first.
Demand varies by subject. If you teach a slower category, you may have weeks with no bookings. That's real. We tell every tutor up front so nobody's surprised.
The hours are tight. US school ends around 3–7pm their time, which is 12:30–4:30am IST on the east coast and 3:30–7:30am IST on the west coast (an hour later from November to March). Most of our working window is 5–9am IST. If early mornings don't fit your life, this isn't the right platform yet.
Payment is direct today. Every session settles directly between you and the parent — Zelle, Wise personal, bank transfer, whatever you agree on. Platform-handled card payment is on the roadmap; when it ships you'll see the fee breakdown before it applies to any session.
You’re live the moment you publish. No upfront interview, no review queue. We do retroactively de-list profiles that draw complaints — so the platform stays clean for the tutors and parents who care about their reputations.
Getting paid.
Parents settle with you directly after each session. Apna does not hold your money and takes no commission on the session fee. At about ₹95/$ (September 2026), a $20 session lands at about ₹1,900 in your account — before you've touched your rate.
What if a parent cancels late or doesn't pay? See the FAQ below. ₹95/$ (September 2026) used for illustrative conversions; rates move, and what you receive depends on your bank or transfer provider.
Questions teachers ask us.
How much do Apna tutors actually earn?
You set your own rate — anything from $5 an hour. Rates published on Indian tutoring platforms in 2026 sit around ₹250–400/hr; on Apna, parents pay in USD, so at about ₹95/$ (September 2026; rates move) even a modest $10 session lands at roughly ₹950 in your account. Whatever rate you name is what you earn, minus any bank or transfer fee if a parent pays via card. Three sessions a week, ten a week, whatever rate — do the math for your own life. We don’t publish averages because we don’t have enough data yet.
I went live but no parent has messaged me in two weeks. Did I do something wrong?
Probably not. Demand varies by subject — supply sometimes runs ahead for a given category. If you’re in a slower one (say, fifth-grade math when most parents are looking for Hindi reading), you’ll wait. We tell every tutor this up front. If a month goes by with zero messages, we’ll personally reach out and help — either with profile tweaks or by flagging your listing to new parents.
Do I have to work 5–9am IST? Can I do evenings India time?
The families Apna is built for are in the US, mostly Pacific and Eastern time zones, and their after-school hours are 5–9am IST. Evening IST slots are US mornings — before school on the west coast, weekend mornings on the east coast — so they are rarer. If mornings don’t work for your household for three or more sessions a week, we’ll probably ask you to come back when we’ve grown into more time zones. We’d rather say that than waste your time.
I already teach on Vedantu / UrbanPro / Preply. Can I also be on Apna?
Yes. Apna is non-exclusive, and plenty of tutors list on several platforms. We only ask that when you’re teaching an Apna parent’s kid, your availability is real — don’t double-book a slot you promised us. The aim is for Apna to replace one or two low-paying platforms for you over time, not all of them.
How do I actually get paid, and in what currency?
Today, every session settles directly — you and the parent agree on a method (Zelle, Wise personal, bank transfer, UPI if the parent’s routing through one, whatever works). Platform-handled card payment is on the roadmap; when it ships, you’ll see the exact fee breakdown before it applies to any session.
What if a parent cancels, or doesn’t pay?
For offline sessions, our cancellation norm is 24 hours notice — parents can reschedule freely, but last-minute cancels should be paid at half rate. We make this clear to parents at booking. For no-shows and non-payers: report it through your dashboard and we’ll investigate by hand. Because we’re small, these cases are handled by a human within 24 hours, not a ticket queue. No arbitration forms.
Do I need my own Zoom account?
Sessions run on your own Zoom, Google Meet or WhatsApp video — whichever you list on your profile; you send the link once you confirm a booking. A free Zoom account caps every meeting at 40 minutes, so for 45- or 60-minute sessions use Google Meet (free, no limit on a one-to-one call) or WhatsApp video, or a paid Zoom plan.
Am I responsible for my own taxes in India?
Yes. You teach as an independent tutor, not as an Apna employee. What parents pay you is your income to declare in India; Apna does not withhold tax, issue payslips or file anything on your behalf. If you are unsure how to declare foreign-currency income, a chartered accountant can sort it in one sitting.
We're always looking for great tutors.
Twenty minutes to publish. You're searchable as soon as you save.