Online English tutor in Saudi Arabia: one-to-one lessons with the same Arabic-speaking teacher
Last updated: 29 September 2026
Yalla English gives live one-to-one English lessons online to learners anywhere in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh included, with the same Arabic-speaking teacher every lesson. You get 5 lessons a week, 20 a month: 249 SAR a month for 25-minute lessons or 499 SAR for 50-minute lessons, VAT included. There is no free trial; a full refund applies within 7 days of your first actual lesson.
If you searched for an online English tutor in Saudi Arabia, you probably want three things: a teacher who actually knows your level, a price you can see before you pay, and lessons that fit around work or school. This page is the English summary of how Yalla English works, with every number we publish, a dated comparison with the options people in Saudi Arabia usually weigh up, and a plain list of the cases where we are not the right choice. The rest of our site, the signup page and our WhatsApp support are in Arabic, because Yalla English is built for Arabic speakers learning English.
The plans in numbers
| Basic | Premium | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | 249 SAR, VAT included | 499 SAR, VAT included |
| Lessons | 5 a week, 20 a month | 5 a week, 20 a month |
| Lesson length | 25 minutes | 50 minutes |
| Cost per lesson | about 12 SAR | about 25 SAR |
| Cost per hour of one-to-one teaching | about 30 SAR | about 30 SAR |
| Format | Live one-to-one video call on the free Zoom or Google Meet app; camera optional; no recordings to re-watch | |
| Teacher | The same Arabic-speaking teacher for every lesson; you choose a male or a female teacher | |
| Lesson times | Agreed directly with your teacher in Saudi time, usually Sunday to Thursday | |
| Refund | Full refund within 7 days of the first actual lesson, first subscription only | |
| Renewal | No auto-renewal; renewal is at the price you joined at | |
The full breakdown, including what you pay per lesson and per hour, is on our plans and prices page (in Arabic).
How the options in Saudi Arabia compare
People looking for an English tutor in Saudi Arabia usually end up comparing four kinds of offer: a local online academy with fixed packages, a tutor marketplace where each tutor sets a price, a large institution such as the British Council, and a monthly subscription like ours. We read each provider's own page on 29 September 2026 and copied only what was published there. Offers change, so check the provider's page before you decide.
| Provider | What it is | Lessons and schedule | Published price (read 29 Sep 2026) | Before you pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yalla English | One-to-one live lessons on Zoom or Google Meet with the same Arabic-speaking teacher | 5 a week, 25 or 50 minutes; times agreed with your teacher, usually Sunday to Thursday | 249 SAR a month for 25-minute lessons or 499 SAR for 50-minute lessons, VAT included; about 30 SAR per hour; monthly, no auto-renewal | No free trial; a free level test; full refund within 7 days of the first actual lesson |
| Salwa Academy | One-to-one live lessons on Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet | 30 minutes each; paid lessons run on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at a fixed weekly time agreed at enrolment | Base monthly price 600; prepaid packages from 3 to 12 months, usually 1,620 for 40 lessons (3 months) up to 3,960 for 160 lessons (12 months), VAT included; a National Day offer makes the first month 96 for the first 96 new students | A 30-minute demo lesson at no cost, with a level assessment; cancellation within 7 calendar days of purchase, refundable only if no paid lesson has been used |
| TUTOROO (Riyadh page) | A marketplace: the page listed 9 English tutors in Riyadh, in person or online, and you contact a tutor directly | Set with each tutor | The page title says from 130 an hour; the listings we read ranged from 100 to 200 an hour | Set by each tutor |
| British Council English Online | Small group classes or 1-1 private lessons online, with your own timetable and themes; IELTS Coach with 1:1 and group classes, available 24/7; EnglishScore Tutors, one-to-one tutoring for ages 13 to 17 | You choose your own timetable | Not shown on the page we read; each course links to its own site | Not stated on the page we read |
| Preply | A global tutor marketplace where each tutor sets their own rate | Booked with each tutor | Preply's own blog lists average rates of $15 an hour for beginners, $16 for intermediate and $17 for advanced learners | Set by each tutor |
Sources, all read on 29 September 2026: salwa.academy (plans and FAQ), tutoroo.co/english-tutor/riyadh, saudiarabia.britishcouncil.org/en/english/online, and the Preply blog article on online English tutoring websites. Competitor prices are in Saudi riyals as each site publishes them, except Preply's, which are US dollars as its blog states them. We did not copy any number we did not find published.
What the table shows in practice: working from the figures above, Salwa Academy's 3-month package comes to about 41 per 30-minute lesson, about 81 an hour, and its 12-month package to about 25 a lesson, about 50 an hour, paid up front; a Riyadh tutor from a marketplace listing costs 100 to 200 an hour; our lessons cost about 30 SAR per hour of one-to-one teaching, paid one month at a time. The trade-off is also real in the other direction: Salwa Academy offers a demo lesson before you pay and we do not, and a marketplace lets you meet a tutor in person, which we never do.
Private English lessons in Riyadh, online
Many people search for private English lessons in Riyadh because they assume a tutor has to be local. With online one-to-one lessons, the city does not change anything. Our lessons run online across all Saudi cities, so a student in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Makkah or Abha has the same teachers, the same five lessons a week and the same 249 SAR a month. A phone with internet is enough; no laptop is required.
What online changes for a Riyadh student is the commute: there is no driving across the city for a 25-minute lesson, which is what makes five short lessons a week realistic next to work, university or school. Lesson times are set in Saudi time, morning or evening, so you do not have to convert time zones. If you specifically want a tutor to come to your home, a marketplace such as the one in the table lists tutors who offer in-person lessons; every Yalla English lesson is a video call.
How lessons work, week by week
- Take the free level test: 10 questions, under two minutes, no sign-up, with an instant indicative level from A1 to C1.
- Subscribe on the signup page and choose a male or a female teacher. Payment is by mada, Visa or Mastercard, Apple Pay, or Tamara in 4 interest-free instalments.
- You and your teacher agree your five weekly lesson times directly, in Saudi time. Lessons usually run Sunday to Thursday, and Friday and Saturday are normally off.
- Each lesson is a live one-to-one call on Zoom or Google Meet. The lesson is held in English, and your teacher explains in Arabic when you get stuck, then goes back to English.
- If something comes up, cancel at least 4 hours ahead and a replacement lesson is booked the same week and is not counted.
Support is in Arabic on WhatsApp, Sunday to Thursday, 9am to 9pm Saudi time.
The teachers
Every teacher speaks Arabic. That matters most at beginner and lower intermediate levels, where a grammar point or a word can block a whole lesson: the teacher explains it in Arabic, and the lesson carries on in English instead of stalling. The same teacher stays with you for every lesson, so you never re-explain your level to a new face each week.
We have both male and female teachers, and the signup form asks which you prefer. Teachers are experienced and most hold a TEFL or TESOL certificate; two certificates are published in full on our About page. There is no Saudi teacher at present; our teachers come from Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Indonesia and elsewhere. If you want a female teacher, our female teacher page (in Arabic) explains how the match works.
Refund and trial, stated exactly
There is no free trial lesson before paying. The free thing before paying is the graded level test. The first lesson is effectively the trial, because the guarantee starts from it: you get a full money-back guarantee within 7 days, with no questions and no conditions, and the 7 days run from the first actual lesson, not from the payment date. The refund goes back to the same payment method within 3 to 7 days. It applies to a first subscription only, not to renewals.
Nothing renews on its own. Nothing is charged without your own action, and an unrenewed subscription simply pauses. When you renew, it is at the same price you joined at, with no increase.
Exams and children
IELTS, TOEFL and STEP. We prepare for all three inside the same weekly private lessons, so you do not need a separate course for each test. STEP is the Saudi English proficiency test from the Education and Training Evaluation Commission, and we have a STEP preparation page in Arabic. No score is guaranteed and no certificate is issued. A confirmation letter stating the study period, hours, teacher and level can be prepared on request; it is not an accredited certificate.
Children. We teach all ages, with no minimum age; the youngest current students are 7. A child is matched to a teacher who specialises in their age group, and 25-minute lessons suit a young child's attention span. Parents handle everything on WhatsApp. More on our English for kids page (in Arabic).
How to choose an online English tutor in Saudi Arabia
Whichever provider you pick, these are the questions worth asking before you pay, and our own answers:
- Is the price fixed and published, VAT included? Ours is 249 or 499 SAR a month, and that is what checkout charges.
- Will I keep the same teacher? Yes, the same teacher continues for every lesson.
- Who sets the lesson times? You and your teacher, directly, in Saudi time.
- What happens if I cancel a lesson? Cancel at least 4 hours ahead and the lesson is replaced the same week.
- When does the refund window start? From your first actual lesson, not from the payment date.
- Do I have to prepay several months? No, one month at a time, with no auto-renewal.
- Is the lesson live or recorded? Live and one-to-one. There are no recordings to re-watch; some lessons are recorded for internal quality review only, and you can say no.
- Can the teacher explain in Arabic? Yes, every teacher speaks Arabic.
Our Arabic private English tutor page has the longer 11-question checklist, and the FAQ answers 78 questions people ask before choosing.
When we are not the right choice
We would rather say this before you pay. If you want a tutor to come to your home, choose a marketplace with in-person tutors; all our lessons are online. If you want to try a lesson before paying anything, we do not offer that, and Salwa Academy's demo lesson fits better. If you want a recorded video course to watch whenever you like, we have no library of recordings. If you want a teacher who never uses Arabic, or support in English, a global marketplace is a better fit, because our support is in Arabic. And if you need a guaranteed exam score, nobody honest can promise one. If what stops you is that you understand more than you can say, and you need someone who notices your mistakes five times a week, that is exactly what these lessons are built for.
Questions people ask before choosing
The Basic plan is 249 SAR a month for 5 live one-to-one lessons a week of 25 minutes each, which is 20 lessons a month, about 12 SAR per lesson and about 30 SAR per hour of one-to-one teaching. The Premium plan is 499 SAR a month for the same 5 lessons a week at 50 minutes each, about 25 SAR per lesson and still about 30 SAR per hour. Both prices include VAT, so the published price is what you pay at checkout, and renewal stays at the price you joined at.
Yes, online. Every lesson is a live video call on the free Zoom or Google Meet app, so a student in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam or any other Saudi city gets the same lessons, the same teachers and the same price. We do not send a teacher to your home. A phone with internet is enough; you do not need a laptop. Lesson times are set in Saudi time, morning or evening.
No. There is no free trial lesson before paying. The free thing before paying is the graded level test. Instead of a trial, you get a full money-back guarantee within 7 days, with no questions and no conditions, and the 7 days run from your first actual lesson, not from the payment date. The refund goes back to the same payment method within 3 to 7 days. It applies to a first subscription only, not to renewals.
Both male and female teachers, and the signup form asks which you prefer. Every teacher speaks Arabic: lessons are held in English and the teacher explains in Arabic when you get stuck. The same teacher continues for every lesson. Teachers are experienced and most hold a TEFL or TESOL certificate; two certificates are published in full on the About page. There is no Saudi teacher at present; teachers come from Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Indonesia and elsewhere.
You agree your five weekly lesson times directly with your teacher, in Saudi time, morning or evening. Lessons usually run Sunday to Thursday, and Friday and Saturday are normally off. You do not pick slots from an open calendar. If something comes up, cancel at least 4 hours ahead and a replacement lesson is booked the same week and is not counted.
Yes, inside the same weekly private lessons: you tell your teacher the test and the date, and the lessons are steered toward it. STEP is the Saudi English proficiency test from the Education and Training Evaluation Commission. No score is guaranteed and no certificate is issued; your score comes from your own performance on the day.
Yes, all ages, with no minimum age; the youngest current students are 7. A child is matched to a teacher who specialises in their age group, and 25-minute lessons suit a young child's attention span. All parent communication happens on WhatsApp.
Lessons are live, so this is not a video course you watch later, and there are no recordings for you to re-watch. Some lessons are recorded for internal quality review only; they are never shared or posted and are deleted after review. If you prefer not to be recorded, tell your teacher and that lesson is not recorded; a no is final and changes nothing about your lessons. The camera is optional and audio only is fine. You can join from any phone, tablet or laptop.
No. Nothing is charged without your own action, and a subscription you do not renew simply pauses. You can pay with mada, Visa or Mastercard, Apple Pay, or Tamara, which splits the amount into 4 interest-free instalments. Tabby is not available, and we never ask for a bank transfer to a personal account.
Yalla English, unified national number 7054367235. WhatsApp: +966 54 286 9136.