The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of surfactant on the onset of Marangoni convection adapting a non-linear surface equation of state. The surface tension gradient with respect to the absorbate concentration, ${gamma}$, is linearly related to the surface concentration of a surfactant with a coeffcient $x_{A}$. The numerical results show that the role of the initial surfactant concentration to Marangoni instability changes from the stabilizer to the destabilizer depending on the change of the sign of $x_{A}$ from negative to positive. It is concluded that for $x_{A}$>0 there is a critical modified Marangoni number of surfactant $M_{Ac}$ $^{*}$ above which liquid layer is always unstable against long wave disturbances.rbances.