How much can you earn teaching dance online?
Search this question and you'll find two kinds of answers: dreamy ("six figures from your living room!") and useless ("it depends"). Here's the third kind — the actual arithmetic, using Lean Sporty's real rates, so you can put your own numbers in and see what's realistic for you.
What one seat actually pays you
On Lean Sporty you set one price per class or program, students pay it VAT-included, and you keep 80% of the price after VAT (featured instructors 85%). "After VAT" matters: for an EU sale, roughly a fifth of the sticker price is tax that belongs to the tax office, and the platform pays it for you. Per seat:
| Seat price (student pays) | You receive | 20 attendees pay you |
|---|---|---|
| €5 (minimum) | €3.25 | €65 |
| €10 | €6.50 | €130 |
| €15 | €9.76 | €195 |
| €25 | €16.26 | €325 |
EU rates shown (VAT backed out at the standard rate). Sales to buyers outside EU VAT — a US student, say — carry no EU VAT, so your 80% applies to more of the price and your share is higher.
The €500-a-month math
Working backwards from a goal makes the effort concrete. €500 a month is roughly: 52 seats at €15 (about 13 attendees a week — one healthy weekly class, or two smaller ones), or 16 sales of a €49 program, or any mix — say, 8 attendees a week live plus 6 program sales a month. Double the audience and the same effort is €1,000; that's the difference between selling hours and selling seats.
A recorded program deserves special mention in this math: a live class earns once per teaching hour, but a program is taught once and sold indefinitely — every additional sale costs you nothing. That's why the instructors who grow fastest treat every live class as future program material.
How the cut compares
For calibration, the shares the big creator platforms leave their creators: YouTube pays about 55% of ad revenue, app stores historically left 70%, OnlyFans leaves 80% of gross. Lean Sporty leaves 80% of the after-VAT price — in the OnlyFans band — and the platform's 20% covers what you'd otherwise buy separately: payment processing, EU VAT handling as the seller of record, video hosting and streaming, and monthly payouts with statements. If you compare platforms, always ask the same question: eighty percent of what — gross before tax and fees, or the money that actually exists after them.
When the money arrives
Earnings accrue per sale and are paid out monthly to your bank — through your own free Stripe account in the EU/EEA, UK, Switzerland, US, and Canada, or by manual bank transfer elsewhere. Balances under €20 roll into the next month rather than triggering micro-transfers, and every payout produces a statement listing each sale, like the statements YouTube or OnlyFans creators download.
The honest variables
Everything above is arithmetic; these are the unknowns that decide your actual number. Audience size — your first online students come from people who already know you, so a teacher with an active Instagram or a full studio roster starts faster than one without. Consistency — a weekly class that always happens outsells a brilliant class that happens sometimes. And price confidence — beginners routinely undercharge; €10–15 a seat is a normal price for a live class from a real instructor, and charging €5 doesn't double your attendance, it just halves your income.
Teach on Lean Sporty
Keep 80% of every sale after VAT (featured instructors 85%), paid to your bank once a month. You teach and keep your audience — we handle checkout, VAT, streaming, and hosting. Free to join.
See how teaching worksCommon questions
- How much do online dance instructors make per class?
- It depends on seats sold, not on a wage. Per seat on Lean Sporty: a €10 seat pays you €6.50, a €15 seat €9.76, a €25 seat €16.26 (80% of the price after VAT). So one live class with 20 attendees at €15 pays about €195 — and unlike a studio fee, thirty attendees would pay half again more, because there's no room limit.
- How many students do I need to earn €500 a month?
- At €15 a seat: about 52 sold seats a month — roughly 13 attendees a week across your online classes. With a €49 recorded program instead: about 16 sales a month. Mixing both is how most instructors get there: live classes bring the regulars, the program catches everyone who can't make the time slot.
- What percentage do platforms take from instructors?
- Ranges vary widely across the creator economy — YouTube keeps about 45% of ad revenue, app stores historically took 30%, OnlyFans keeps 20%. Lean Sporty keeps 20% of the after-VAT price (15% for featured instructors). The number to watch when comparing platforms is whether the advertised percentage is taken before or after VAT and payment costs — an '80%' of gross that still owes VAT is much less than 80% of net.
- When and how do online teaching earnings get paid out?
- On Lean Sporty: monthly, straight to your bank — via your own free Stripe account in the EU/EEA, UK, Switzerland, US, and Canada, or by manual bank transfer elsewhere. Balances under €20 roll into the next month, and every payout comes with a downloadable statement listing each sale.
- Is teaching dance online profitable for a beginner instructor?
- If you already have students, yes — modestly at first. Your first online month typically mirrors the size of your existing audience: a teacher with 15 loyal studio students might sell 10–20 online seats. What makes it compound is that the work is reusable: the class you taught in March can still be selling as a recording in August. What makes it fail is expecting a platform, any platform, to supply the audience for you.