How Online Tutoring Platform Fees & Commission Work
Tutoring platforms make money in very different ways — commission, subscriptions, lead fees, or per-minute pay. Here is what each model means for students and tutors.
Before you join a tutoring platform, it helps to understand how it makes money, because that shapes what you pay or keep.
Commission on each lesson
The most common model: the tutor sets a rate and the platform takes a percentage.
- Preply: a tiered 18-33%, plus 100% of a new student’s first (trial) lesson.
- Wyzant: 25% of the lesson price.
- italki and Lessonface: around 15%.
- Classgap and Tuteria: tiered, falling as the tutor teaches more.
Subscriptions
Some platforms charge a recurring fee instead of, or alongside, commission.
- Superprof: tutors list free, but students pay a monthly Student Pass to contact them.
- GoStudent and Lingoda: students buy multi-month or monthly lesson plans.
Per-minute pay
On-demand conversation apps like Cambly and Engoo set the price and pay tutors a fixed per-minute rate (around $0.17 a minute on Cambly), rather than letting tutors price lessons.
Lead and coin fees
On lead-based marketplaces like TeacherOn and UrbanPro, students post a request and tutors pay (often with credits or coins) to contact them. There is no commission on the lesson itself.
Free and institution-funded
Nonprofits like Schoolhouse.world are free, and services like Brainfuse and Studiosity are paid for by libraries and universities so students use them at no cost.
What it means for you
- As a student, watch for subscription auto-renewal and whether a trial is truly free.
- As a tutor, compare the real take-home after commission — a higher headline rate with a big cut can pay less than a lower rate with a small one.