Everything Verbal Planet Reviews Don’t Say & You Need to Know

How Does Verbal Planet Work?

If you’re familiar with language tutoring platforms—like Preply, Verbling, or italki—there won’t be many surprises for you on Verbalplanet. It’s pretty much the same. To start using the service, all you need to do is register (or simply log in using your Google or Facebook account) and browse Verbalplanet’s tutors until you find someone who matches what you’re looking for.

Based on Verbalplanet reviews on Trustpilot—as well as our experience with the platform—most tutors are competent and responsible, so you won’t have to browse for long. You can also message the tutors you’re considering to ask any questions that could help you decide if they’re a good fit. Feel free to use filters, too. Some of them are very helpful: for example, you can filter tutors by whether or not they have a free (or heavily discounted, like 90% off) trial lesson.

Once you pick a tutor, you can book a trial lesson with them. Verbalplanet has an easy-to-navigate interface for bookings: you see the tutor’s calendar with available slots, and the time is adjusted to your time zone, not the tutor’s. Once you book a lesson, wait for a confirmation, and you’re good to go.

Verbalplanet Support & Communication Methods

Now, let’s talk about where Verbalplanet could be much better. The number one thing on that list is customer support. Most language tutoring platforms we’ve had a chance to test and review have a live chat or at least a phone number you can call—normally, both—when you need help ASAP. For some reason, Verbalplanet has none; you can neither text the support team to get an instant response nor call them. The only option you have is the Contact Us page.

Don’t get your hopes up, though. When we messaged Verbalplanet’s support using the form on the Contact Us page and provided our email, we didn’t expect an instant response—we’re well aware such forms don’t work like that. But we didn’t expect not to get a response at all, either. After two days of waiting for an email from Verbalplanet, we got nothing.

So, if you decide to use Verbalplanet, don’t expect much from its customer support team. The only evidence they even exist is their replies to negative reviews on Trustpilot.

Are Verbalplanet Tutors Competent, Friendly, and Responsible?

The goal of our Verbal Planet review isn’t to bash the platform, so we’re happy to give credit where it’s due—the tutors. Most positive comments about Verbalplanet mention how competent and easy to talk to its tutors are. And that’s what matters the most in a language learning platform, which is why we feel comfortable recommending Verbalplanet to our readers, albeit tentatively.

Our experience with a Verbalplanet tutor was also great. Our French tutor, Maria, was friendly, accommodating, and clearly skilled. The 50-minute lesson we had with her felt much shorter because of how engaging and genuinely enthusiastic Maria was. If we were rating Maria and not Verbalplanet as a whole, it would be an easy 5/5.

By the way, based on our research, all tutors on Verbalplanet seem to be native speakers, which is great—and not always the case on other language tutoring platforms.

Verbalplanet Prices, Discounts, and Trial Lessons

Verbalplanet cost isn’t the lowest compared to other language tutoring platforms, but it is still affordable and perfectly fair. According to the Pricing page, the average price for a 50-minute lesson is $22 before discounts.

However, based on our research, the prices can vary significantly depending on the language. For example, the lowest price for a French lesson is $20.63, and the highest is $121.75. In contrast, if you’re looking to learn Indonesian, the lowest rate available is $18.71, and the highest is still only $22.07.

We booked a lesson with a popular and experienced French tutor, and the full price would’ve been $29.17, which is quite affordable, considering Maria’s credentials. But we only paid 40% (a little over $8), thanks to a 60% discount on trial lessons. By the way, a lot of Verbalplanet tutors offer free trial lessons, so you can check if you vibe with a tutor you’re considering before spending any money.

In addition to free or heavily discounted trials, Verbalplanet offers loyalty discounts. They start at 5% off (for lessons 5-9) and go up to 15% off after lesson 55.

Free Resources

The goal of our Verbalplanet review is to give you all the information you might need to decide if it’s the right platform for you—that’s why we’re completely transparent about both the flaws and benefits. The latter includes free language learning resources. You don’t even need to book any lessons to access those; all you need to do is register or log into your Google or Facebook account and go to the Resources page.

If you’re learning a language to be able to speak it and, therefore, don’t really care about the language history and other theories, we recommend you focus on Digital resources. You can filter them by the language, topic—Weather, Moods and Emotions, Travel and Directions, etc.—, file format, and "privileges" (meaning whether or not you can access the resources if they’re not from your tutor).

We checked openly available French resources and were impressed with the selection. There are helpful vocabulary sheets, polite expressions, and other things that a language learner, especially a beginner, can really benefit from. That being said, the selection depends on how popular the language is; for example, if you’re learning Tagalog, your only option is Tagalog greetings for beginners.

Does Verbalplanet’s Lesson Booking System Work?

Verbalplanet’s booking system works well. Once we clicked on the Book Trial button in the tutor’s profile, we were directed to a calendar where we saw all the slots available. We picked the one that worked for us, selected Meets as the platform (the other option is Zoom), and paid. Then, we received a confirmation with a link.

Also, when selecting the platform, you can write a message to your tutor. It’s optional, but we recommend you use it to tell them about your language learning journey, preferences, and expectations. It will help the tutor prepare for your trial lesson.

However, we’ve seen a few reviews on Trustpilot from learners complaining that the tutor didn’t show up for the lesson (even though the users were charged for it). This is concerning, and we recommend you select a popular and active tutor to avoid finding yourself in the same situation.

Alternatives to Verbalplanet

If you’re unsure whether or not Verbalplanet is what you’re looking for, you could also look into one of the alternatives. Here are a few options:
- Preply. Some of Preply’s tutors charge much less than the average on Verbalplanet. Based on the reviews, though, this tends to affect the quality.
- Verbling. Verbling’s tutors are all certified and have proof of their credentials—neither Verbalplanet nor Preply can say the same. It’s a great option if you value accountability and are willing to pay a little extra for it.
- italki. italki has a solid reputation, and it’s particularly great if you’re looking to practice your speaking rather than learning grammar more traditionally.
- Accent Advisor. Accent Advisor is different from the rest: it’s a perfect option if you’re learning English and want to focus on reducing your accent. It won’t work for beginners.

Verbalplanet.com Most Important Pros & Cons

As you can probably see by now, Verbalplanet offers a mix of great benefits and serious flaws. It’s up to you to decide which are more critical. In our experience, the platform’s main pro is a wide selection of competent tutors for almost any language, while the biggest con is its basically non-existent customer support.

Pros:

✅ Fair prices that ensure that lessons are affordable for an average learner, yet tutors are compensated adequately ✅ A wide selection of competent tutors for almost any language ✅ Free resources you can use without even booking lessons

Cons:

❌ There’s no on-site customer support or even a phone number; you can wait for days to get an email reply ❌ The website is dated, and the interface could use some work ❌ Some customers complain that tutors don’t show up to lessons that were booked and paid for ❌ Not all tutors offer a free trial lesson