How Much to Charge for Online Tutoring

Tutoring makes an excellent side gig and serves as a way to make some extra money especially if you take up online tutoring. But when it comes to deciding the tutoring rates or how much to charge for tutoring sessions, most online tutors (Yes, even the experienced ones) stumble.

While the tutoring rates one should adopt varies greatly on the experience and qualifications you have, as well as your subject area, there are some guidelines you can follow to ensure you are setting the right tutoring rates per hour.

What factors affect the tutoring rates

For those passionate about tutoring, it is a great way to make money, only if you get the trick of charging your learners right. In many ways, online tutoring is a combination of freelancing and a regular tutoring job. You might have common learners, and new clients and you will have to connect them like in a freelancing job. Once you understand how online tutoring works and gain experience, you can figure out how much the average tutoring rate is.

Here are some of the factors you need to consider when setting your tutoring rate.

The educational qualifications you have

While you don’t need any formal qualification to tutor students online, having a degree in the subject you teach helps you charge more. For example, if you have a degree in literature and you want to teach your students English, you can charge accordingly as you are qualified in the subject area.

The age of your learners

As a thumb rule, the older your students are, the more you can charge as a tutoring rate. The theory behind this is simple- The older your learners are, the more complex the subjects they need to learn for which you must be paid more to teach.

The subject you are teaching

Any subject that needs more specialized knowledge is going to have a high price tag. For example, teaching 12th-grade Physics is probably going to get you a higher tutoring charge than 12th-grade English.

The tutoring hours you choose

If you plan to teach your students during business hours or even after school hours, your tutoring rates will be less than tutors who work on just weekends or later at night. When working around the schedule of your learners, you will need to be a bit flexible and you can charge more for this flexibility you offer.

The type of classes you take- Private vs group classes

Private tutor rates can vary based on the type of classes you take. For example, if you are offering private one-to-one classes for your students, you can obviously charge more for it. Whereas, group classes will come at a much lesser cost.

Timing of your tutoring services

If you are helping your learners prepare for exams, then probably you can charge more in the weeks just before the exams. This is because as the time of the exam nears, the demand for your services goes up as well. This can help you increase your rates accordingly.

Your location- One of the important factor

Even though you are tutoring online and you get access to a global student base, different cities will have average tutoring rates which will influence the price you charge. If you are teaching in a city where there isn’t a high supply of tutors, you can definitely charge high.

The amount of preparation and effort required

Ask any online tutor: Preparing lessons takes a major chunk of your time. When you are expected to put in much effort into preparing for the classes, you can consider this factor to decide your tutoring rates as well.

How to set your tutoring rates for online tutoring?

When starting out with online tutoring, most tutors set tutoring rates lower than the competition or the average market price. This will help you enter the market and get your first clients if you do not have an established client base. But even when you adopt this strategy, make sure it doesn’t make you look cheap and not worth it.

When deciding on tutoring charges, you must have an idea of how skilled you are in a specific subject. Highly skilled teachers can set their price to anywhere between $20 to $100 depending on the subject you teach and the location you serve.

For example, tutors teaching calculus can set their tutoring rates higher than those who teach elementary math. These factors along with your communication skills will determine your worth as an online tutor. We know, it isn’t satisfying not knowing the exact rate you must charge, but it is not possible to say an exact figure as it varies considerably.

But here is a guideline you can follow when deciding on your online tutoring rate.

• $10-$20 for teaching a common subject with no experience.
• $25-$50 for an hour for some skill and experience in a common subject.
• $50-$100 for some skills and experience in a rare yet useful subject area.
• $100-$200 for high skill and valid experience in a subject area.
• $200 for highly skilled tutors with valid experience in an affluent subject area.

Can you make a living as an online tutor

Now that you know how much does a tutor costs, you must be wondering, can you really make a living as an online tutor? Yes, definitely you can build your career as an online tutor, either by working part-time or full-time. But the amount of money you can make differs based on the tutoring platform you choose. This is because most tutoring platforms take a commission from the tutor’s earnings which will affect the profit you can make.

Most importantly, many tutoring marketplaces like Udemy don’t allow tutors to interact with students or access their information. So what is the best way to make the most out of your online tutoring career? Building your own online tutoring platform is the ultimate way if you want to make a living in online tutoring.

Use a professional and all-inclusive online tutoring software like Pinlearn to build your own online tutoring marketplace where you can schedule live classes and host online courses and even invite other tutors to be a part of your tutoring business. Doesn’t that sound great? Create a solid business plan to launch your tutoring business in the most efficient and cost-efficient way.

Conclusion

Knowing what tutoring rates to charge as an online tutor comes down to your experience, expertise, communication skills, and location. Have an idea about the market demand and general pricing, and what other tutors in your subject area charge. The best thing about online tutoring is that you can change the price as your experience and expertise increase. Specialty online tutors with lots of experience must start their tutoring charges on the higher end. You can refer to the guidelines we have provided here for a general guideline to decide your rates based on your experience.