If you know a subject well (algebra, chemistry, a language, the SAT, an instrument), tutoring is one of the more flexible side gigs there is. You can do it from home, set your own hours, and charge for expertise rather than for hours of driving. The main question is how you find students, because that decides how much of each lesson you keep.

Option 1: A tutoring marketplace

Marketplaces list your profile, send you students, handle scheduling and payment, and keep a cut for it. Wyzant, one of the largest US marketplaces, publishes its terms clearly:

  • Tutors set their own hourly rate and keep 75% of it. Wyzant keeps a 25% platform fee.
  • If you bring a new student to Wyzant yourself and they take lessons with you, you keep 100% of your rate for that student.
  • Students also pay Wyzant a separate 9% service fee on top of the lesson cost.

So if you list at $40 an hour, you receive $30 for a one-hour lesson, and the student pays $43.60.

Other marketplaces work differently. Some set the rate for you, some pay a flat per-session amount, and some take a larger share early on and less once you’ve taught more hours. Before you sign up anywhere, find the platform’s own fee page (not a review site) and work out what you’d actually receive per hour.

Option 2: Find students yourself

No platform means no commission, but you do the work the platform would do: marketing, scheduling, payments, and chasing no-shows. Tutors often find their first students through:

  • Parents’ groups, school newsletters and PTA boards
  • Local community boards and library notice boards
  • Word of mouth from existing students. That’s the best channel once you have a few.

Notice that Wyzant lets you keep 100% for students you bring yourself. Even the marketplace is telling you that an audience of your own is worth something.

Whichever way students find you, keep a way to stay in touch. A short email to parents before each term (“I have three spots for spring SAT prep”) fills a calendar faster than any listing, and those addresses stay with you whichever platform you use. Ask before you add anyone, and make it easy to unsubscribe. See why the money is in the list.

Many tutors use both: a marketplace to fill their calendar early on, then their own clients as word spreads.

Setting a rate that’s worth your time

A one-hour lesson is rarely one hour of work. Count:

  • Preparation: planning, finding practice problems, reviewing the last session
  • Messages: scheduling and progress updates for parents
  • The platform’s share, if you use one

If you prep 15 minutes for each hour taught and keep 75% of a $40 rate, your real rate is $30 for 75 minutes, about $24 an hour. Look at what other tutors in your subject and area charge, then set a rate that still makes sense after those deductions.

Teaching children: do it right

  • Expect a background check. Many platforms and schools require one, and parents increasingly expect it.
  • Keep sessions visible. Online, follow the platform’s recording or open-session rules. In person, meet in a public place or with a parent at home.
  • Communicate through parents for students under 18.

Taxes

Tutoring income from a marketplace or your own clients is self-employment income. Nobody withholds tax for you, so set some aside from each payment. Our side-income tax basics covers what to know.

Platform fees were checked against each platform's own help pages in November 2026 and can change. Rates in the example are illustrative.

Sources

  1. Wyzant: What is the fee structure for tutors listed on Wyzant?
  2. Wyzant: Student payment policies (student service fee)
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