Is Wyzant Tutoring Online? Yes, but Not From Your Phone

Yes, Wyzant tutoring is online. Lessons are live one-to-one video sessions in Wyzant’s browser-based Learning Studio (in-person lessons are also an option), but you can’t teach or join one from a phone, and tutors and students both have to live in the United States.

• Legit? Yes. It’s a real tutoring marketplace, founded in 2005. IXL Learning agreed to buy it in 2021.
• Realistic earnings: You keep 75% of the hourly rate you set. Wyzant puts its average price at $35 to $60 an hour. At those rates you get $26.25 to $45 per lesson hour. That’s roughly $21 to $36 an hour once you count unpaid prep (our assumption, explained below), and it’s before tax.
• Payout requirement: Once you’ve earned more than $50 in total, Wyzant needs your SSN (or a W-9 with an EIN) before it pays you.
• Payout methods: Direct deposit only (free).
• Time to first cashout: Approval takes 3 to 10 business days. After that, paydays are the 1st and 15th of each month, and your bank may take 1 to 3 more business days. We estimate one to four weeks from your first lesson to cash in your account.

If you have a laptop or tablet and know a subject well, Wyzant is a legitimate way to earn money. Just don’t expect a tap-and-earn phone app. Look closely at the fees and the payout schedule first.

How online lessons on Wyzant actually work

Students choose to learn in person (at home or at a coffee shop, for example) or online. Online lessons take place in the Wyzant Learning Studio, which runs in your web browser.

The Learning Studio includes:

• Video chat and screen sharing
• An interactive whiteboard for drawing, graphing and equations, which you can save or export
• File upload for PDFs, Word documents, images and spreadsheets
• A code editor and a real-time text editor
• Wolfram Alpha integration

That’s a solid toolkit for math, science, coding and writing help. It’s also why you need a proper screen.

The phone problem: read this before you download the app

According to Wyzant’s browser requirements, smartphones can’t run the Learning Studio. The Wyzant app can’t join lessons at all.

Your phone can handle the admin, like replying to students and booking sessions. The hour you actually get paid for has to happen on a computer or tablet. If you want to earn only from your phone, Wyzant only half fits.

Who can use Wyzant (US residents only)

Wyzant’s Terms of Use say all users must “reside within the United States.” If a review says you can use it from anywhere in the world, it contradicts Wyzant’s own terms.

To tutor, you must:

• Be 18 or older
• Live in the US
• Have a valid Social Security number

You don’t need a teaching certificate.

For students under 18, a parent or guardian has to be involved and give consent, or the student’s school has to arrange the tutoring. The terms say a responsible adult should supervise every session with a minor. Children under 13 are also covered by COPPA, the US law that protects children’s privacy online.

What it really pays per hour

Wyzant takes a flat 25% platform fee from every lesson, so you keep 75%. According to Wyzant’s tutor fee structure page, this applies to lessons submitted since January 15, 2019. Students also pay a separate 9% service fee on top of your rate.

There’s one exception worth using. If you refer a new student to Wyzant yourself, you keep 100% of your rate for that student. The student still pays the 9% fee.

Here’s how the money splits at three rates within Wyzant’s $35 to $60 average:

The math with unpaid time included

Teaching isn’t the only work. You also prepare, message students, reschedule and submit lessons. We assume 15 minutes of unpaid work for every lesson hour. That figure is our assumption, not Wyzant’s.

• At a $60 rate: $45 ÷ 1.25 hours = $36 an hour
• At a $35 rate: $26.25 ÷ 1.25 hours = $21 an hour

Both figures are before income tax and self-employment tax (covered below). A listing also doesn’t guarantee students. What you really earn per hour depends on how many hours you actually fill.

Online rate vs in-person rate

• Tutors certified for the Learning Studio can set different rates for online and in-person lessons. Instant Book lessons use your online rate by default.
• Tutors who aren’t certified can still teach online, but they’re paid their in-person rate.
• For school-funded “partnership” students, you have to accept the rate the school sets.

Listing on Wyzant is free, and there’s no fee for premium placement. Never pay a tutoring platform that wants money upfront to list you.

Getting paid: the July 2025 payout change

Older reviews may describe faster payout options. Those reviews are out of date. On July 1, 2025, Wyzant moved every tutor to a fixed payment schedule and dropped Express Direct Deposit.

How payouts work now:

1. Paydays are the 1st and 15th of each month, or the next business day.
2. Lessons must be submitted 5 days before a payday to count toward it.
3. Submit each lesson within 14 days. Late submissions aren’t guaranteed to be paid.
4. Direct deposit is the only method, and it’s free. Your bank may take 1 to 3 more business days to show the money.
5. Once you’ve earned more than $50 in total, Wyzant needs your SSN (or a W-9 with an EIN) before it releases payment.
6. Returned deposits are reissued on the 10th and 25th.

For example, say you teach your first lesson on the 11th. That misses the cutoff for the 15th, so the money arrives on the 1st of the next month, plus any bank delay.

Signing up as a tutor

Registration has six steps:

1. Choose your subjects.
2. Review the terms.
3. Write a free-response answer.
4. Build your profile.
5. Agree to the terms.
6. Verify your email.

Depending on the subject, you’ll either take a proficiency quiz or submit written qualifications. You only get one attempt at each quiz, so prepare before you start one. Wyzant’s help center says it replies within 3 to 10 business days.

Background checks are optional. They cost $15.99, paid by whoever orders the check. But if a student or parent buys a check on you, you must complete and pass it within 7 days (extendable up to 30), or your account is deactivated. Checkr runs the checks, which cover:

• An SSN trace
• Felonies and misdemeanors from the past 7 years
• Sex crimes from any period
• Sex-offender and watchlist searches

Your data

Wyzant collects far more than a typical rewards app:

• Your SSN to tutor, and again (or a W-9 with an EIN) to get paid.
• Payment details: students must have a card or other payment method on file before they can swap phone numbers or schedule a lesson.
• Background check data through Checkr, if someone orders a check.
• Lesson recordings, if you opt in. Only users aged 18 or over can record, and you have to click “Yes, I Agree.” Videos are processed within 24 hours, kept for about 30 days, and can’t be downloaded or edited. The catch: the recording terms give Wyzant a perpetual, royalty-free license to use those videos, and opting out only covers future lessons. Think hard before you switch recording on.

Scams and account-closure risks

Wyzant itself is legit, but scammers use it to find tutors. These are Wyzant’s own warning signs of a fake student:

• Contact details hidden in “encoded” form in messages
• Requests for tutoring “for one month”
• Poorly written messages
• Any request to move off the platform. This is the biggest red flag.

The classic version is the overpayment scam. A “parent” sends a check for more than the agreed amount and asks you to send back the extra. Weeks later the check bounces, and you lose the money you sent. If anyone suggests paying you outside Wyzant, click “Mark As Spam,” block them and contact support.

These are the ways to get your own account closed or your pay withheld:

• Taking payment off-platform. This breaks the Terms of Use and the Independent Tutor Agreement and can get you deactivated. Wyzant won’t guarantee those payments.
• Not passing a background check that someone has ordered on you.
• Submitting lessons late, or teaching a subject you weren’t approved for.

If you’re the student or parent: what a lesson really costs

• You pay the tutor’s hourly rate plus a 9% service fee and any applicable taxes. Cancellation fees carry the 9% fee too.
• Searching is free. You’re charged after each lesson happens, except for prepaid Instant Book lessons.
• Wyzant accepts Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, PayPal, personal checks and money orders. You’re not allowed to pay a tutor directly.
• Your tutor’s starting rate is locked for three months, unless the tutor asks for a change and Wyzant approves it.
• Good Fit Guarantee: if the first lesson with a new tutor isn’t a good fit, Wyzant refunds that first hour (you pay it up front). You have to contact support within 30 days. It doesn’t apply to tutors you’ve worked with before.

Wyzant’s price guide (December 2024) gives these hourly ranges by subject: Algebra $30 to $150, Calculus $35 to $100, Physics $40 to $100, Chemistry $30 to $100, and Writing $4 to $120.

Taxes on Wyzant income

Wyzant tutors are independent contractors, not employees. You won’t get a W-2, and you’re responsible for your own federal, state and local taxes.

Wyzant’s help page still says it issues a Form 1099 once you earn $600 or more in a year. But the IRS raised the 1099-NEC reporting threshold to $2,000 for payments made after December 31, 2025. Wyzant hasn’t said whether it has updated its process, or which 1099 form it uses. Your tutoring income is taxable whether or not you get a form.

On top of income tax, self-employment tax is 15.3% (12.4% for Social Security plus 2.9% for Medicare). You must file Schedule SE once your net self-employment earnings reach $400. Set aside part of every payout. This isn’t tax advice, so check your own situation with a tax professional or the IRS.

Better alternatives

• You want something you can do entirely from your phone: Wyzant can’t run lessons on a phone, so look at phone-first options. Our guide to online survey jobs for students covers which survey apps actually pay.
• You already have tutoring clients: bring them onto Wyzant as referrals so you keep 100% of your rate, not 75%.
• You’d rather teach face to face: Wyzant also offers in-person lessons. If you aren’t certified for the Learning Studio, your in-person rate applies to online lessons too.

Use it if / Skip it if

Use it if:

• You live in the US, are 18 or older, and have a laptop or tablet with a reliable connection.
• You know a subject well enough to pass Wyzant’s quiz or qualification review, and you can charge a rate that’s still worth it after the 25% fee.
• You can bring in some of your own students, since you keep 100% of your rate for students you refer.

Skip it if:

• You want to earn entirely from your phone. Lessons won’t run on one, so survey apps are a better fit.
• You need fast cash. Payouts come only twice a month, and approval alone can take up to 10 business days.
• You’re not comfortable handing over your SSN or possibly going through a background check.