How did Socrates differ from the professional Sophists?

While Socrates was often grouped with the Sophists by his contemporaries, he differed from them in several fundamental ways:

• Fees and Professionalism: Unlike the Sophists, who were professional teachers that traveled from city to city charging fees for instruction, Socrates did not teach for money and did not consider himself a professional educator.123
• Aims and Methods: The Sophists primarily offered training in rhetoric and argument to help pupils achieve political success. In contrast, Socrates professed not to teach anything at all. Instead, he engaged in public conversations to seek answers to urgent human questions, such as the nature of virtue and justice.435
• Devotion to Truth: While critics accused Sophists of using eristic (argument for the sake of victory) and antilogic to win debates regardless of the truth, Socrates’ life was defined by a sincere, relentless pursuit of wisdom and truth. He used his questioning method to expose inconsistencies in the opinions of others, aiming to help them "care for the soul" rather than gain social or political advantage.561