Tutoring platform fees and commissions: a UK tutor's guide (2026)

Why do tutoring platforms charge a fee?

Platforms charge a fee to cover the cost of finding students and running the tutoring. That can include marketing and search visibility, booking and scheduling tools, payment processing, an online classroom, tutor checks and moderation, customer support, safeguarding, and enforcing a shared set of terms.

What you get in return varies a lot. Some platforms are little more than a directory: they list your profile, connect you with a student, and leave you to handle lessons, payment and admin. Others are full-service: they provide the classroom, take the payment and stay involved for the whole relationship.

Understanding what a fee buys is just as important as the number itself. A higher fee can be worth it if it meaningfully reduces your admin or brings you regular students — but only if those services match the way you want to tutor.

The main types of tutoring platform fees

UK platforms use a handful of fee models. The one that matters most for your take-home pay is who pays the fee and when.

1. Commission per lesson (the tutor pays)

The platform takes a percentage of each lesson, usually deducted from what you earn or built into the price the parent sees. This is the most common model, and it is the one that most affects your take-home pay.

• MyTutor publishes a Platform Fee capped at a maximum of 49% of the amount paid, plus a per-transaction fee of £0.50 or 1.75% up to £2.50. Tutor-reported figures sit around 40% including VAT.
• Tutor Hunt embeds its fee in the displayed rate: the parent pays one price that "includes our fees", and the percentage is not stated publicly. Tutor-reported figures sit around 32%.
• Sherpa is reported at around 28% plus a payment processing fee of 2.7% + £0.20 per transaction.
• PMT Education states a commission of 18% on its own site.

2. A service fee added to the parent's bill (the student pays)

Some platforms do not deduct from your earnings at all. Instead they add a service fee on top of your hourly rate, which the student pays. You receive the amount you set, but your displayed price is higher once the fee is added, which can affect how competitive your profile looks.

• Tutorful says using it is free for tutors and that it does not take commission from tutor earnings; a service fee is added on top and paid by the student. Tutorful does not publish the percentage; reported estimates sit around 35%.

3. Finder's fee or introduction fee

A directory-style platform charges a one-off fee to connect a student with a tutor. After the introduction, lessons and payment are handled directly, and the platform takes no commission on the lessons.

• TutorDex charges a one-off finder's fee of £9.99–£39.99 to release a tutor's contact details, scaled to the tutor's hourly rate, with no per-lesson commission.
• First Tutors (now closed) historically charged a finder's fee of around £9.99–£34.99.

4. Subscription (the student pays)

Some platforms charge a recurring fee to contact tutors, separate from the lesson fee.

• Superprof charges UK students a Student Pass of £39/month. Tutors keep 100% of lesson fees when they collect payment directly; a 10% processing fee applies if payments are routed through Superprof.

5. Managed or agency models

Managed services match students to tutors, handle scheduling, payment and sometimes conduct. The family usually pays the provider, and the tutor is paid under the provider's arrangements. The fee is often bundled into the hourly rate rather than shown separately.

Platform fees comparison table

Published figures are taken from each platform's own pages. Figures marked as reported are estimates from tutors and industry guides and are not confirmed by the platform. Always check the current terms before joining.

How to calculate your actual earnings after platform fees

The advertised rate is not what you take home on a commission platform. The quick calculation is: take-home = hourly rate × (1 − commission %).

On a £30/hour lesson:

• An 18% commission leaves about £24.60 per hour.
• A 32% commission leaves about £20.40 per hour.
• A 40% commission leaves about £18 per hour before any VAT is factored in.

On a service-fee platform, the maths works differently. If you set £30/hour and the student pays a 35% service fee, you still receive £30, but the student sees about £40.50 — and a higher student-facing price can affect your booking volume.

On a finder's-fee platform, your take-home is your full rate on every lesson, minus the one-off fee. A £9.99–£39.99 introduction fee is fixed, so across a term of weekly lessons it does not grow with the number of lessons. On a subscription platform, the student pays a recurring contact fee and you keep the full rate when you collect payment directly.

Run these numbers before you join. A higher advertised rate does not always mean higher take-home pay once commission, VAT and transaction fees are included.

What to check before you join a platform

• What the fee actually funds: marketing and leads, scheduling, payment protection, classroom technology, checks, support and safeguarding.
• Exactly what is deducted: the headline percentage, VAT, and any per-transaction or processing fees.
• Who pays: whether the fee comes out of your earnings or is added to the parent's bill.
• When you are paid: the payment timing and any hold or settlement period.
• Notice and exit: the notice you must give and what happens to your profile and reviews if you leave.
• Ranking and paid placement: whether tutors can pay for higher visibility, so you know what your fee does and does not buy.

Can you avoid platform fees by going independent?

Yes. Tutoring independently means no commission, so you keep 100% of what you earn. The trade-off is that you take on everything the platform was doing for you:

• Finding students yourself, through ads, word of mouth, social media or your own site.
• Managing bookings and your timetable.
• Paying for your own software, such as an online whiteboard.
• Chasing late or missed payments.
• Setting and enforcing your own cancellation policy.
• Absorbing the risk of no-shows and non-payment.

For tutors with an established client base, that control can be worthwhile. For others, the time spent on admin and marketing can outweigh the fees saved.

Where TutorDex fits

TutorDex uses a finder's-fee model rather than a per-lesson commission. A one-off payment of £9.99–£39.99 releases a chosen tutor's contact details; after that, lessons and payment are arranged directly between tutor and family, and TutorDex takes no commission on the lessons.

It is free for tutors to list, and the student pays the finder's fee. Tutors can also choose an optional Premium subscription, which includes enhanced search ranking. Imported First Tutors reviews also feed the search algorithm, so tutors moving from a closed platform do not start from zero.

Read the import walkthrough or compare TutorDex with individual platforms in the platform comparisons.

FAQs

Sources

Published figures were checked on 14 September 2026. Percentages described as reported are estimates and may not reflect a platform's current terms.

• MyTutor — Terms and Conditions

  MyTutor · Accessed 2026-09-14

• MyTutor — Pricing

  MyTutor · Accessed 2026-09-14

• Tutorful — For Tutors: How much does it cost to use Tutorful?

  Tutorful Support · Accessed 2026-09-14

• Tutorful — Terms and Conditions

  Tutorful (Tutora Ltd) · Accessed 2026-09-14

• Tutor Hunt — About / How Our Service Works and FAQ

  Tutor Hunt · Accessed 2026-09-14

• Superprof — Superprof Payments: What You'll Pay as a Student or Tutor

  Superprof · Accessed 2026-09-14

• TutorDex — Importing reviews

  TutorDex · Accessed 2026-09-14