The Best Platforms for Selling Music Lessons Online in 2026

A teacher switching from scheduling students via text messages and Venmo payments to Bizzly saved 5 hours of admin work per week, eliminated missed payments entirely, and got a comment from a parent that the booking process "felt professional for the first time." She did not gain new skills. She just stopped spending half her admin time on manual coordination.

Platform choice is not just a software decision. It is a decision about how much time you spend on admin, whether payments arrive on schedule, and how your business looks to prospective students. The right platform is invisible. Students book, pay, attend, and leave. You teach.

This guide covers all the main platforms for selling music lessons online in 2026, with updated pricing, new platforms, a comparison table, and recommendations by teacher stage.

Quick Comparison Table

What You Will Learn

• The five categories of tools music teachers use
• How each major platform compares on features, pricing, and best use case
• Updated 2026 pricing for all platforms
• New 2026 platforms: Maven, Circle.so, Outschool
• YouTube and social media as teaching platforms
• Pricing strategy for private lessons, group lessons, and courses
• How to market your lessons: SEO, social media, referrals
• Equipment needed for online lessons
• Recommended setups for teachers at three different stages
• What to avoid when choosing your platform

Five Categories of Tools

Music teachers typically need tools across these five areas. Some platforms cover multiple categories. Others cover just one.

1. Live video: Where lessons actually happen. Zoom, Google Meet, RockOutLoud Live, Evercast, Wise.live.

2. Scheduling: How students book time with you. Calendly, Setmore, Acuity, built-in booking in My Music Staff or Bizzly.

3. Billing: How you collect payment. Stripe, PayPal, Wave, or billing integrated into your teaching platform.

4. Student management: Records, lesson notes, attendance, progress tracking. My Music Staff, TutorCruncher, or manual systems in Google Sheets.

5. Student acquisition: Where new students find you. Lessonface, Preply, Outschool, Superprof, or your own website and Google Business Profile.

The fewer separate tools you use, the less time you spend on integration and the lower your monthly overhead. Purpose-built music teacher platforms (My Music Staff, Bizzly, Wise) handle most of these in one place.

Platform-by-Platform Breakdown

My Music Staff

Best for: Established teachers with 15+ students who want purpose-built music lesson management.

My Music Staff is designed specifically for private music teachers. It handles scheduling, billing, lesson notes, attendance, student records, and a parent portal. The calendar view is intuitive. Recurring billing reduces the monthly payment-chasing that plagues teachers who invoice manually.

From $14.95/month for a single teacher. Worth it once you have 12+ students and admin time starts eating into your teaching hours. The software does not help you find students, but it makes running the business behind your existing students significantly smoother.

Key features:

• Recurring billing (monthly subscription model for students)
• Lesson notes attached to each session
• Integrated scheduling with automated reminders
• Parent portal for communication and attendance tracking
• Tax reports for end of year

Limitation: My Music Staff does not include video calling. You still need Zoom or Google Meet for the lessons themselves.

Bizzly

Best for: UK-based teachers starting or growing a lesson business who want a simple all-in-one setup.

Bizzly sets up a public booking page, handles subscription billing, sends automated reminders, and manages basic student records. Designed specifically for independent lesson teachers. Claims to get you live in 15 minutes, which is roughly accurate for the basic setup.

Monthly subscription pricing (check their site for current rates). No video calling included, but designed to work alongside Zoom.

Particularly strong for the subscription billing model: students pay monthly in advance, which improves your cash flow and reduces cancellation rates compared to per-lesson billing.

Limitation: Less established than My Music Staff. Fewer integrations. Better for starting out than for managing a large, complex studio.

Wise (Wise.live)

Best for: Individual online teachers who want automation without the complexity of a full business platform.

Wise is tutor management software with built-in low-latency video. It automates scheduling, payment collection, student reminders, and attendance. The built-in video means one fewer tool to manage compared to platforms that require Zoom separately.

The low-latency video is a genuine advantage for instrument teaching where audio quality and timing matters. Students do not need to install anything extra.

Limitation: Less widely known than Lessonface or Preply for student acquisition. Best used as a management tool for students you already have, not as a way to find new ones.

Lessonface

Best for: Teachers who want to find new online students without building their own marketing.

Lessonface is a marketplace for online music lessons. Students search by instrument, genre, skill level, and price, and book directly with teachers on the platform. As of 2026, Lessonface's commission structure is:

• Private lessons (platform-referred students): 15% commission. You keep 85%.
• Private lessons (your own referrals): 5% commission. You keep 95%.
• Group classes (platform-referred): 30% commission. You keep 70%.
• Group classes (your own referrals): 10% commission. You keep 90%.
• Self-paced courses and downloadables: 30% commission (platform-referred), 10% (your referrals).

The built-in audience is the main value proposition. You do not need a website, a Google Business Profile, or a social media strategy to get students on Lessonface. You need a strong profile and good reviews.

Include a video introduction on your profile. Teachers with a 60-90 second intro video get significantly more inquiries than those without one. Ask your first Lessonface students for reviews immediately after successful sessions.

Limitation: Platform fees reduce your effective rate. A $70/hour lesson on Lessonface earns you $59.50 after the 15% commission for a platform-referred student. Use Lessonface to fill your calendar in the early stage, then shift students to direct booking once you have a referral base.

Preply

Best for: Teachers who want international student reach with a commission-based model.

Preply is primarily a language learning marketplace, but music teachers are a growing category on the platform. Preply's commission structure is unique: they take 100% of your first lesson with each new student (the trial lesson), then charge a sliding-scale commission that starts at 33% and decreases to 18% as you accumulate teaching hours.

The sliding scale rewards teachers who stay on the platform long-term. Your commission rate decreases as you teach more hours, making Preply more affordable over time.

Limitation: The 100% commission on the first lesson with each new student is a real cost. If you have high student turnover, you lose a significant portion of revenue to trial lessons. Preply also has lower typical rates for music lessons ($20-40/hour) compared to Lessonface ($40-60/hour).

Outschool

Best for: Teachers who want to teach music to kids and teens in a group format.

Outschool is a marketplace specifically for learners ages 3-18. It is not music-specific, but music classes are a popular category. You create group classes (typically 4-12 students), set your price per learner, and Outschool takes a 30% commission.

Outschool handles scheduling, payments, and the video classroom (powered by Zoom). Parents browse and book classes for their children, so the platform handles the parent-facing side of enrollment.

Group classes on Outschool typically price at $15-25 per learner for a 30-45 minute session. With 8 learners at $20 each, you earn $112 for the session before the 30% commission ($78.40 after commission). This can be more lucrative per hour than private lessons if you can fill the class.

Limitation: Outschool is limited to learners under 18. The 30% commission is higher than Lessonface's private lesson rate. Class cancellations if minimum enrollment is not met can disrupt your schedule.

Superprof

Best for: Teachers outside the US who want an international student audience.

Superprof operates in 40+ countries and covers music alongside other tutoring categories. Good option for teachers in the UK, France, Germany, Australia, and other markets where Lessonface and Preply have weaker presence.

Free listings available. Superprof charges a commission on lessons booked through the platform.

TakeLessons (Discontinued)

TakeLessons was one of the largest online lesson marketplaces in the US, acquired by Microsoft in 2021. Microsoft shut down TakeLessons in 2024, discontinuing the platform entirely. If you see older guides recommending TakeLessons, be aware that it no longer exists.

Teachers who were on TakeLessons have migrated to Lessonface, Preply, Wyzant, and direct booking through their own websites. Lessonface is the closest music-specific replacement.

Teachable

Best for: Teachers who want to sell recorded courses, not live lessons.

Teachable is a course creation and sales platform, not a live lesson tool. It handles video hosting, course pages, student management, and payment processing for recorded content. It does not support scheduling or live video.

2026 pricing:

• Starter: $39/month (billed monthly) or $29/month (billed annually). 7.5% transaction fee.
• Builder: $89/month (billed monthly) or $69/month (billed annually). 0% transaction fee.
• Growth: $189/month (billed monthly) or $139/month (billed annually). 0% transaction fee.

The Starter plan's 7.5% transaction fee is the highest among course platforms. If your course revenue exceeds approximately $500/month, the Builder plan at $69/month with 0% transaction fees is more cost-effective.

Use Teachable if you are building a library of recorded courses alongside or instead of private lessons. See our full comparison in How to Use Teachable or Kajabi to Sell Music Courses.

Thinkific

Best for: Teachers who want course hosting with 0% transaction fees at every plan tier.

Thinkific is a direct competitor to Teachable with a key advantage: 0% transaction fees on every plan. Thinkific removed its free plan in 2025, replacing it with a 30-day free trial.

2026 pricing:

• Basic: $54/month (billed monthly) or $40/month (billed annually). Unlimited courses, 0% fees.
• Start: $109/month (billed monthly) or $82/month (billed annually). Advanced pricing options, affiliate tools.
• Grow: $219/month (billed monthly) or $164/month (billed annually). Advanced commerce features.

Thinkific is the better choice over Teachable if you want zero transaction fees at the entry level. The Basic plan at $40/month (annual) with 0% fees is cheaper than Teachable's Builder at $69/month once your course revenue exceeds approximately $370/month.

Podia

Best for: Teachers who want to sell both live sessions and recorded courses without Kajabi's price.

Podia handles courses, digital downloads, coaching sessions, webinars, and memberships. More affordable than Kajabi, less feature-rich, but covering the key bases for most education businesses.

2026 pricing:

• Mover: $42/month (billed monthly) or $33/month (billed annually). 5% transaction fee, 50 products, 500 videos.
• Shaker: $84/month (billed monthly) or $75/month (billed annually). 0% transaction fee, 150 products, 100 spaces.

Good middle ground between Teachable's simplicity and Kajabi's complexity. The 5% transaction fee on the Mover plan is lower than Teachable's 7.5% but higher than Thinkific's 0%.

Maven

Best for: Teachers who want to run high-ticket, cohort-based live courses.

Maven is a cohort-based learning platform where you run live, multi-session courses with a group of students who progress together. Unlike pre-recorded courses, Maven courses are live, interactive, and scheduled across multiple sessions.

Maven takes 10% of course revenue. You keep 90% minus Stripe processing fees. There are no monthly subscription fees or upfront costs. You only pay when a student enrolls.

Course prices on Maven range from $200 to $2,500, with most courses priced between $800 and $1,800. Maven reports that instructors earn an average of $20,000 per cohort.

For music teachers, Maven works well for intensive workshops: "Music Production Bootcamp" (6 live sessions, $800), "Jazz Improvisation Intensive" (8 live sessions, $1,200), or "Songwriting Masterclass" (10 live sessions, $1,500). These are premium offerings that go beyond what a standard recorded course or private lesson provides.

Limitation: Maven requires you to attract students for your cohort. There is no built-in marketplace traffic comparable to Lessonface. You need an existing audience or network to fill your cohort.

Circle.so

Best for: Teachers building a community-driven education business with courses, discussions, and memberships.

Circle.so is a community platform that combines discussion forums, course hosting, live events, and memberships in one place. It is ideal for teachers who want to build a recurring revenue community around their teaching.

2026 pricing:

• Professional: $89/month. 2% transaction fee. Core community features.
• Business: $199/month. 1% transaction fee. Advanced courses, live events, automations.

Circle.so works well for a model like: students pay a monthly membership ($19-49/month) for access to a community, weekly live Q&A sessions, course materials, and peer feedback. This creates recurring revenue rather than per-lesson or per-course income.

Limitation: The 2% transaction fee on the Professional plan and 1% on Business apply to all paid transactions. Circle.so is more expensive than Thinkific for pure course hosting, but the community features justify the cost if engagement and retention are your goals.

Kajabi

Best for: Teachers building a full online education business with courses, email, funnels, and memberships.

Kajabi is an all-in-one platform: courses, memberships, coaching programs, email marketing, landing pages, and sales funnels. It replaces 5-7 separate tools and has no transaction fees on any plan.

2026 pricing:

• Basic: $179/month (billed monthly) or $143/month (billed annually). 3 products, 1,000 contacts.
• Growth: $249/month (billed monthly) or $199/month (billed annually). 15 products, 10,000 contacts.
• Pro: $499/month (billed monthly) or $399/month (billed annually). 100 products, 25,000 contacts.

Kajabi removed its entry-level Kickstarter plan, making it more expensive to start with than in previous years. Justified when you have a course catalog, an email list, and a marketing system. Overkill for a teacher with 10 private lesson students.

Zoom

Best for: Live video for lessons. Not a business management tool.

Zoom is the most widely used video platform for online lessons because students already know how to use it. The Pro plan at $15.99/month removes the 40-minute limit on the free tier and adds cloud recording.

Zoom alone does not handle scheduling, billing, or student management. Pair it with Calendly for booking and Wave for invoicing if you are not using a purpose-built platform.

YouTube and Social Media as Teaching Platforms

YouTube

YouTube is not just a video hosting platform. It is a teaching platform with built-in monetization through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). Many music teachers build substantial audiences and income through YouTube without using any of the platforms listed above.

How it works: You create free educational content (tutorials, lessons, gear reviews, performance analyses) and upload to your YouTube channel. Once you meet YPP eligibility (1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past 12 months, or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days), you earn ad revenue from your videos.

Revenue: YouTube ad revenue varies widely by niche and audience geography. Music education content typically generates $2-8 per 1,000 views (RPM). A channel with 50,000 monthly views might earn $100-400/month in ad revenue alone.

Beyond ad revenue: YouTube drives traffic to your paid offerings. Link to your private lessons, courses, or membership in video descriptions and pinned comments. Many teachers use YouTube as a free top-of-funnel content platform and convert viewers into paying students through their own website or course platform.

Equipment needed: A decent camera (your phone is fine to start), a USB or XLR microphone for clear audio (critical for music lessons), and basic editing software (DaVinci Resolve is free, iMovie works for Mac users).

Instagram and Social Media Lessons

Instagram, TikTok, and other social platforms are not direct teaching platforms, but they are powerful student acquisition channels. Music teachers use short-form video to demonstrate skills, share practice tips, and showcase student progress.

Strategy: Post 3-5 short-form videos per week showing teaching moments, quick tips, or before-and-after student progress. Link to your booking page in your bio. Respond to comments and DMs from potential students.

Instagram Live and Reels: Use Instagram Live for free mini-lessons or Q&A sessions. These build trust and demonstrate your teaching style. Reels can reach non-followers and drive new student inquiries.

Limitation: Social media alone does not handle scheduling, billing, or video calls for actual lessons. You need a separate platform (Calendly + Zoom, or My Music Staff) for the business side.

Pricing Strategy for Music Lessons

Private lessons

• Beginner teachers: $30-50/hour
• Intermediate teachers (2-5 years experience): $50-80/hour
• Advanced teachers (5+ years, specialized skills): $80-120+/hour
• Niche instruments or specialties: $80-150+/hour

Most online music lessons fall in the $40-70/hour range. Lessonface reports that teachers with a 60-90 second intro video and 5+ reviews can charge at the higher end of their instrument's range.

Group lessons

• Small groups (3-6 students): $20-40 per student per session
• Medium groups (7-15 students): $15-25 per student per session
• Large workshops (15+ students): $10-20 per student per session

Group lessons can be more lucrative per hour than private lessons. A 6-student group at $25 each earns $150 for a 1-hour session, compared to $60-70 for a single private lesson.

Recorded courses

• Short course (1-3 hours of content): $19-49
• Comprehensive course (5-15 hours): $99-299
• Premium course with community access: $199-499
• Cohort-based live course (Maven): $800-2,500

Price recorded courses based on the outcome you deliver, not the hours of content. A course that teaches a student to play their first song is worth more than 10 hours of generic music theory.

Marketing Your Lessons

SEO and your own website

A simple one-page website with your teaching offerings, rates, and a booking link is the most cost-effective marketing investment. Optimize for local search terms: "guitar lessons [your city]" or "online piano teacher." A Google Business Profile is free and appears in local search results.

Use your website to collect email addresses. Offer a free resource (a practice checklist, a beginner's guide) in exchange for the email. Then nurture those leads with occasional updates and lesson promotions.

Social media

Post consistently on one or two platforms where your target students spend time. For adult learners, YouTube and Instagram. For younger students (or their parents), TikTok and Instagram. Share teaching moments, student wins, and quick tips. Link to your booking page in every bio.

Referrals

Referrals are the highest-converting and lowest-cost student acquisition channel. Ask every satisfied student for a referral after their third lesson. Offer a discount (one free lesson or 10% off) for both the referring student and the new student. A simple referral program can generate 30-50% of new students for an established teacher.

Platform marketplaces

Use Lessonface, Preply, or Outschool to find your first 5-10 students and collect reviews. Then build your own booking system and shift students to direct booking at a 10-15% lower rate (since you save on commission). After 3-6 months, aim for 50% platform / 50% direct booking.

Equipment Needed for Online Lessons

You do not need expensive gear to start, but audio quality matters more for music lessons than for most other online teaching.

Essential:

• Computer or tablet with stable internet (10 Mbps upload minimum)
• Zoom Pro or equivalent ($15.99/month)
• USB microphone ($50-100, such as Blue Yeti or Audio-Technica ATR2100)
• Headphones (to prevent echo)
• Good lighting (a ring light or natural window light)

Recommended for instrument teachers:

• External camera for instrument close-ups ($100-200, such as a webcam on a flexible arm)
• Audio interface for high-quality instrument capture ($100-200, such as Focusrite Scarlett Solo)
• Dedicated microphone for the instrument (condenser mic for piano, dynamic mic for guitar amp)

For advanced teachers:

• Multiple camera angles (overhead for piano, fretboard close-up for guitar)
• OBS Studio (free) for multi-camera mixing
• Treated room or portable acoustic panels

Recommended Setups by Stage

Just Starting Out (0-10 students)

• Video: Zoom Pro ($15.99/month)
• Scheduling: Calendly free tier
• Billing: Wave (free) or PayPal
• Student acquisition: Lessonface or Preply
• Marketing: Google Business Profile (free) + 2 social media posts per week

Total cost: $15.99/month. Simple, low commitment, easy to change as you grow.

Growing Studio (10-25 students)

• All-in-one: My Music Staff ($14.95/month) for scheduling, billing, and student records
• Video: Zoom Pro ($15.99/month)
• Student acquisition: Google Business Profile (free) + referrals + YouTube channel
• Marketing: Weekly YouTube video + Instagram posts

Total cost: $30.94/month. Admin handled, focus on teaching and retention.

Established Teacher Building an Education Business

• Platform: Kajabi ($143-199/month annual) or Thinkific ($40-82/month annual) for courses, email, memberships
• Live lessons: Wise.live or Zoom for individual sessions
• Community: Circle.so ($89-199/month) if building a membership community
• Student acquisition: YouTube channel + email list + referrals
• Cohort courses: Maven (10% commission) for high-ticket live intensives

Total cost: $165-400/month depending on platform choices. Justified when course and membership revenue exceeds $1,000/month.

What to Avoid

Scheduling students via text or email: Takes 10-15 minutes per booking, leads to double-bookings, and looks unprofessional to parents. A basic booking tool solves this entirely.

Collecting payment at the lesson: Cash or immediate PayPal requests create friction and occasional awkward conversations. Pre-payment at booking removes this. Students who have already paid show up.

Using too many separate tools: Five separate tools (Calendly + Zoom + Wave + Google Sheets + Gmail) are harder to manage than one purpose-built platform. Consolidate when the admin overhead becomes noticeable.

Staying on a marketplace indefinitely: Platform fees of 15-30% are appropriate when you need the audience. Once you have a referral network and a Google Business Profile generating direct inquiries, those fees are a tax on established relationships. Move students to direct booking as your business matures.

Relying on TakeLessons: TakeLessons shut down in 2024. If you are following older guides that recommend it, switch to Lessonface or Preply instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I use Zoom for free to teach music lessons? A: The free tier limits sessions to 40 minutes for 3+ participants. For 1:1 lessons (teacher + student), the 40-minute limit does not apply. Many teachers use the free tier for private lessons without issue. The Pro plan is needed if you run group sessions or masterclasses longer than 40 minutes.

Q: Do I need a website to teach online? A: Not immediately. Lessonface, Preply, and Google Business Profile can handle student discovery without a personal website. A simple one-page website becomes valuable once you have testimonials and want direct bookings, typically after 6-12 months of teaching.

Q: Which platform is best for teaching children's lessons? A: My Music Staff is the strongest for studios with many child students because of its parent portal, which lets parents view scheduling, billing, and lesson notes without contacting you directly. Outschool is the best marketplace for finding new child students. For finding new child students locally, school partnerships and community groups outperform online marketplaces.

Q: Can I use Teachable to host live lessons? A: Teachable does not support live video calling. It is for pre-recorded course content. Use Zoom or Wise.live for live lessons. You can embed a Zoom link in a Teachable course page as a "live session" product, but it is not a native integration.

Q: What is the most affordable setup that still looks professional? A: Zoom Pro ($15.99/month) + Calendly free tier + Wave (free invoicing) + Google Business Profile (free) covers everything at $15.99/month total. Upgrade to My Music Staff when admin time exceeds 3 hours per week.

Q: Is Maven worth it for music teachers? A: Maven is worth it if you can run a high-ticket cohort course ($800+) and fill it with students from your existing audience. The 10% commission is lower than most marketplace fees, and the average cohort earns $20,000. But Maven does not provide marketplace traffic, so you need your own audience or network to fill the cohort.

Q: How much should I charge for online music lessons? A: Most online music lessons range from $30-80/hour for private lessons. Beginner teachers should start at $30-40/hour, intermediate teachers at $50-70/hour, and advanced teachers at $80-120+/hour. Group lessons typically run $15-40 per student. See our full guide on how to set your rate as a music teacher.

---

Audit your current admin setup this week. How many hours per week do you spend on scheduling, invoicing, and chasing payments? If it is more than 2 hours, switching to a purpose-built platform pays for itself immediately.

Start with one platform from the comparison table that matches your stage. Get your first 5 students, collect reviews, and build from there. The platform matters less than the consistency of your teaching and the quality of your student relationships.

For a full guide to pricing your lessons correctly once you have the platform in place, see How to Set Your Rate as a Music Teacher.