Tutorful alternative: keep your client and set your rate
Marketplace: Tutorful adds a "service fee" on top of the tutor's quoted rate, charged to the parent, with the tutor effectively losing a share of what would otherwise be a direct rate. TutorLab takes 0% commission on your own students, ever. You keep your client and your full rate. When a family pays through TutorLab, on any payment method, a processing fee (5%, 0% on Pro) is added to their price, never a commission.
How the main UK tutoring platforms charge
Checked against each platform's own public pricing, help or terms pages on 2 August 2026. Where a platform does not publish one percentage, this table says so instead of estimating from reviews.
| Platform | Model | What it costs | Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|
| MyTutor | Managed marketplace | Tutor fee + VAT; public % not stated | Booking and payment stay on-platform |
| Tutorful | Managed marketplace | Percentage service fee; public % not stated | Booking and payment stay on-platform |
| Tutor Hunt | Managed marketplace | Fees included in displayed rate; public % not stated | Booking and payment stay on-platform |
| Superprof | Contact marketplace | Recurring parent Student Pass; checkout price | Parent pays to unlock contact |
| TutorCruncher | Agency management SaaS | From £25/mo + published usage/payment fees | Agency owns its customer workflow |
| TutorLab | Directory + business software + optional card collection | 0% commission on your own students; you keep your full rate. £29/mo flat subscription. A processing fee (5%, 0% on Pro) is added to the family's price on your own students; bank-transfer invoicing has no TutorLab transaction fee | Direct tutor-parent relationship |
Sources: MyTutor tutor-payment details; Tutorful service-fee help and terms; Tutor Hunt “How our service works”; Superprof UK purchase journey; TutorCruncher official GB pricing. Recheck before relying on a competitor price.
Compare one real student without false precision
A tutor charging £40/hour, one student, one lesson a week, 40 term-time weeks a year = £1,600/year from that single student before software or payment costs. Use a competitor's written quote and your actual payment mix before deciding what you would keep.
On Tutorful
Tutorful's own terms say its service fee is a percentage increase applied to the tutor fee. Its public help and terms pages do not state one percentage, so TutorLab does not estimate it here.
On TutorLab
Bank-transfer invoicing has no TutorLab transaction fee. On any payment method through TutorLab, a processing fee (5%, 0% on Pro) is added to the family's price on your own students, and you keep your full rate. The separate subscription is £29/month.
Where Tutorful is genuinely strong
Tutorful runs an established marketplace with an online classroom, payment collection, a first-lesson guarantee and parent demand that a tutor does not have to generate alone.
The structural difference
Tutorful's markup funds the matching and support layer sitting between tutor and parent; removing it removes their revenue. TutorLab doesn't sit between the conversation at all, parents message the tutor directly, so the service fee is 15% inside one all-in price, not 35%.
Teaching on Tutorful? Bring your students to TutorLab with 0% lesson commission, keeping your full rate. Bank-transfer invoicing has no TutorLab transaction fee; on any payment method through TutorLab, a 5% processing fee (0% on Pro) is added to the family's price.
See how switching works0% commission on your own students
Never a percentage of your lesson fee on the students you bring, on any tier, forever; you keep your full rate. A processing fee is added to the family's price on every payment method through TutorLab.
Free to start, no card needed
Every core tool for unlimited students who pay through TutorLab and up to 3 you invoice yourself.
Questions about switching from Tutorful
Does Tutorful take my clients?
No platform can take clients you already have offline, but on Tutorful the platform sits in the booking relationship. On TutorLab you are the merchant of record: money settles directly to your own bank account and you keep the client relationship. You can ask us for a copy of your TutorLab account data at any time.
What does TutorLab cost compared to Tutorful?
TutorLab charges 0% commission on your own students, ever, and you keep your full rate. The optional subscription is a flat £29 a month for the business tools (AI lesson notes, parent reports, invoicing, HMRC tax summary). When a family pays you through TutorLab's own-student rail, on any payment method, TutorLab adds an all-in processing fee to the family's price (a 5% processing fee, 0% on Pro). Paying you directly, for example by bank transfer, has no TutorLab fee. Tutorful's public model is: Percentage service fee; public rate not stated.
What happens to my existing students if I switch?
Your existing students stay yours, and you keep your full rate. If they pay you through TutorLab, on any payment method, TutorLab adds a processing fee to their price (5%, 0% on Pro). You can also keep collecting by bank transfer, which has no TutorLab transaction fee.
Can I leave TutorLab if it's not for me?
Yes. Cancel any time from your billing settings, with no lock-in contract. Email harry@trytutorlab.uk before you leave if you want a copy of your TutorLab account data.
Is Tutorful bad for tutors?
Tutorful runs an established marketplace with an online classroom, payment collection, a first-lesson guarantee and parent demand that a tutor does not have to generate alone.
Ready to stop paying lesson commission on your own students?
0% commission; you keep your full rate. A 5% processing fee (0% on Pro) is added to the family's price, on every payment method.Free to start, no card needed. Reply to any TutorLab email, or write to harry@trytutorlab.uk and we will move your student list for you.