Pricing
Why direct is cheaper than commission.
Most UK tutoring platforms charge a percentage commission on every lesson, typically 15-35% on top of the tutor's actual rate. Tutorperch charges a one-off £9.99 to unlock contact-sharing with one tutor instead. After that, you and the tutor arrange lessons and payment between yourselves.
The maths
Take a tutor who charges £30/hr for 20 lessons:
Through a commission-based platform
£800
total over 20 lessons
- Tutor's rate
- £30/hr
- Platform markup (25%)
- £10.00/hr
- You pay per hour
- £40.00/hr
Through us
£610
total over 20 lessons
- Tutor's rate
- £30/hr
- Unlock fee (one-off)
- £9.99
- You pay per hour
- £30/hr
You save £190 over a 20-lesson course.
The tutor side of the maths.
On a commission platform, the tutor sees £30/hr but the platform takes a cut of every lesson. Many tutors list across multiple platforms because the commissions cap their take-home, leaving them to either absorb the cut or charge more to cover it.
On Tutorperch, the tutor sets a rate and keeps every penny of it. Tutors who list with us and on a commission platform often quote a lower rate here for exactly that reason.
Why isn't every site like this?
Commission scales with usage. If everyone you connect ends up booking 50 lessons, the platform earns 50× the take. That's lucrative when it works, and it's why most marketplaces default to it.
We chose the introduction-fee model because we'd rather earn once on a useful introduction than skim every lesson for years. It also means we have no incentive to lock you in or push a "premium" tier (there isn't one).
Want to see how this works out against specific platforms? Our side-by-side comparisons put the numbers next to MyTutor, Tutorful, Superprof, and the rest.
What the £9.99 actually buys.
When you and a tutor have messaged on platform and decided you'd like to work together, paying the £9.99 unlocks the thread so you can share your contact details directly. From there you arrange lessons between yourselves.
Safeguarding verification is funded separately, by the tutor. A tutor showing a DBS-Verified badge has paid a one-off £3.00 verification fee, and their Enhanced DBS certificate is checked against the live record by one of our team, by hand. Tutors based in Scotland and Northern Ireland use the equivalent PVG and AccessNI schemes, with the same manual-review discipline. It is not part of your finder's fee.
If you and the tutor never agree a lesson after unlocking, ask us and we'll refund the £9.99.
See who's available
Browse the directory and message tutors for free. Unlock contact details when you find the right fit.
Worked example: 20 lessons at £30/hr; the 25% platform markup is at the conservative end of the 15-35% commission range typical of UK tutoring marketplaces. Your actual savings depend on the tutor's rate and the lesson count.