Tutor.com

What: Tutor.com connects tutors with families needing assistance     

Expected pay: $10 + per hour

Husl$core: $$

Commissions & fees: NA

Where: Nationwide

Requirements: 18 or older; Windows software and a late-model computer with plenty of memory; high-speed internet; 4-year college degree (or be enrolled and at least a sophomore in college)

Review:

Tutor.com promises to connect tutors with students who need help in more than 40 subjects. However, the site sets your rate of pay and the pay is low. The site skirts direct questions about tutor salaries, saying only that your pay varies based on the subject you teach. However, tutors say that they start at $10 or $11 an hour and then get raises as they move up the ladder. (Tutors are ranked by level, with starting tutors earning the least, and seasoned tutors earning more.) Tutor.com’s starting pay is considerably less than what you’d earn at other tutoring platforms, though seasoned tutors may earn as much here as elsewhere. Tutor.com pays tutors once a month via direct deposit.

Each tutor has a “mentor,” who is supposed to provide help and advice. But that mentor also rates you. If your mentor is a jerk, which isn’t rare according to tutor reviews, you get bad ratings and have a miserable experience.

Unlike other platforms where you typically tutor for hour-long (or multi-hour) blocks of time, this platform apparently has an on-demand function where tutors are paid by the minute, usually in 20-minute increments. To score those on-demand jobs, you’ve got to be sitting by your computer, hoping for a client. Not a great use of your time.

Finally, you need to work at least 5 hours a week to maintain “active status” on the platform, according to Tutor.com’s terms and conditions. This may explain why tutors are willing to sit by their machines waiting for an assignment.

There are also copious complaints about the site’s technology.

Given the relatively low pay and the frequent complaints about virtually every aspect of this platform, it’s probably not surprising that we don’t recommend this platform. 

Recommendations

Better tutoring platforms include Varsity Tutors, and Wyzant. For those with experience and a teaching credential, try Chelsea International Education.

What their users say: (from Indeed)

They’ll hire at minimum pay –i.e. 10 or $11 an hour then once you reached level 1 tutor they increase pay $2-3 depending on your subject. You get a $2-3 raise with every increased tutoring level. 

Management’s expectations are ridiculous. They basically want Magical Instant Teaching Faeries at fast-food pay. The software sucks. Still, it’s pocket money.

Tutor.com pays by the minute and wait time is at $5.50 an hour. If you get just a 20-minute session, you get $4.33 if you make $13 an hour. 

Obviously, tutors are underpaid. But for a flexible part-time job you can do in your pajamas, it’s a trade-off. The goal is to obtain scheduled hours, in which you’re paid for a full 60 minutes of your time, whether or not students need you. However, in practice, obtaining scheduled hours is next to impossible. Weeks might go by before you’re able to grab one. What they really want is for you to “float”–or set yourself as online and wait at your computer, unpaid until a student might need you. Then you’re paid by the minute until your interaction with them is finished. Rinse and repeat.

You’re also micro-managed. Your every interaction with a student is analyzed and often critiqued by a “mentor.” This means you essentially have someone breathing down your neck after the fact, reading your every word and finding any possible flaw in your technique. Definitely not comfortable.