An Italki alternative for language teachers

Italki works really well for one specific thing: putting you inside an international marketplace so you can attract students abroad who are searching for a Portuguese or English teacher. If that is what you use it for, you reap the reward and keep using it. The problem shows up when two operations that should not live in the same place get mixed together: the international student who found you through the marketplace, and your own student, the one you brought in through Instagram, referrals, or personal brand work.

This post is about that second group. For the students you bring in yourself, the ones you currently teach over Zoom or Google Meet, you can deliver an experience much closer to a private school without ever building a school.

Your own students need a different experience

The student who found you on Italki walked in expecting the Italki interface. The student you brought in on your own, the one who pays you directly, expects something that feels like yours. When that student joins a generic corporate meeting room, the whole thing feels casual. The lesson itself might be excellent, but the package around it sends the opposite message.

Noladi covers exactly that gap. The student joins at an address that carries your brand, finds the lesson in their own dashboard, and afterward can review everything that was covered. No installs, all in the browser.

An interface built for your context

An international platform speaks to students all over the world, and that shows up in every product decision. Notifications, the payment screen, the cancellation policy, student support: everything is designed for a global average. When your student is local, context is always missing.

Noladi's interface leads with your audience's language and uses the logic and naming that make sense for them. Your student understands without having to guess, and you do not end up translating the product for them.

Billing on your terms and a clear view of who paid

You still handle your own billing, the same way you do today, whatever method you use. What changes is the control.

Inside Noladi you set up the plans you offer your students, record who is on which plan, see how many lessons are left in each student's package, and mark who has already paid for the month. Today this lives in a spreadsheet, in your head, or lost somewhere in a chat thread. Bringing it all into one place cuts down on mistakes and gives you a real view of who is up to date.

Noladi does not process your student's payment, and that is a deliberate choice. You stay in charge of the financial relationship and you do not pay a percentage on what your student pays you. Noladi's monthly subscription is only for using the platform.

A classroom with your brand and a post-class review

Noladi's live class has a collaborative whiteboard, direct import of Canva slides, PDFs you can drag straight onto the board, and everything you would expect from a well-prepared lesson. But the real differentiator is what comes after.

A short while after the class ends, the student finds in their dashboard:

• The full class to rewatch whenever they want;
• The transcription, speaker by speaker, with timestamps;
• The vocabulary covered, grouped by word type;
• Pedagogical suggestions generated with AI from what was actually said.

What used to be an hour of video becomes searchable material. A student who sees their own progress measured and organized renews without needing to be convinced.

A schedule tied to lesson packages

The biggest pain for anyone working with their own students outside a platform is tying three things together: the schedule of what is coming up, the package each student bought, and the record of what has already been taught. When those three pieces sit in different tools, one of them is always out of sync.

In Noladi the schedule is a single thing. You book the lesson, the credit from the student's package is consumed automatically, and the finished lesson turns into material in their dashboard. The whole flow runs through one place.

The two models can coexist

There is no reason to choose between Italki and Noladi. You can keep picking up international students through the Italki storefront and serve the ones who come through your personal brand on Noladi. These are operations with different origins, and they benefit from different tools.

If your own students are currently taught over Zoom or Meet, it is worth getting to know Noladi and using your first hour of live class on the house to feel what changes in the student's experience.