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Tutoring Online With Wyzant: Sign-Up, Fees and Pay Explained

ByWalter Briggs

If you spent years as a teacher, nurse, accountant, engineer or musician, what you know still has value. Online tutoring lets you share it with students over a video call from your own kitchen table, on hours you choose. Wyzant is one large US marketplace that connects independent tutors with students, and its help pages explain the process clearly. Here is a calm walk-through.

How Wyzant works in plain words

Wyzant is a marketplace, not an employer. You list yourself as an independent tutor, students find your profile and message you, and you agree on lessons together. Wyzant collects payment from the student and then pays you, so you never have to chase anyone for money.

Before your profile goes live, a Wyzant team reviews your qualifications by hand. Tutors who don’t meet its standards are not listed, which helps students trust the people they find there.

Signing up, step by step

Wyzant asks you to register on a laptop or desktop computer rather than the phone app. The steps are:

  1. Choose the subjects you want to tutor. Pick the ones you know well, perhaps from your working life or a long-time hobby.
  2. Read how the relationship between tutors and Wyzant works.
  3. Write a short “Free Response” describing your experience, degrees, licenses, certifications and education. Wyzant says being specific matters here.
  4. Personalize your profile with a photo, a headline and your education details.
  5. Read and agree to the Independent Tutor Agreement.
  6. Verify your email address by clicking the link Wyzant sends you.

The subject quizzes

Many subjects have a short quiz of 8 to 20 multiple-choice questions, usually taking up to about 30 minutes. You only get one try at each quiz, so pick a quiet time and don’t rush. The good news: you don’t need a perfect score, and passing marks vary by subject. Some subjects ask for a written description of your qualifications instead of a quiz.

Waiting for approval

Applications are reviewed in the order they arrive, typically within 3 to 10 business days, and you will get an email with the result. If Wyzant needs more information, it tells you what to change, but you only get a limited number of chances to resubmit, so read its notes carefully.

Setting your rate and what you keep

You set your own hourly rate. You can even set different rates for online lessons, group lessons or travel. Once a student has messaged you or had a lesson, their rate is locked; to raise it later, the student has to approve the change.

As of 2026, Wyzant’s fee page says tutors keep 75% of their posted hourly rate, and Wyzant keeps a 25% platform fee. So if you posted a rate of $40 an hour, you would keep about $30 per hour of lessons, before your own taxes. Students you refer to Wyzant yourself are handled differently, and the fee page explains how.

To make the bill idea concrete: at that example rate, two one-hour lessons a month would bring in around $60, which might cover a modest internet bill. That is only an illustration. How many students you find, and how often they book, varies a great deal.

How you get paid

  • After each lesson, you submit it on the Wyzant website or app. You must do this within 14 days, or it can’t be submitted.
  • You need to sign up for direct deposit to receive payment.
  • Payments go out twice a month, on the 1st and the 15th.
  • Lessons have to be submitted at least 5 business days before a payday to be included in it; otherwise they roll to the next one.

A simple habit helps: submit each lesson the same day you teach it.

About background checks

Wyzant doesn’t require tutors to have a background check when they sign up. Running one on yourself is optional and costs $15.99 per check as of 2026. However, if a student or parent orders a check on your profile, you must complete and pass it to keep tutoring there. Wyzant itself suggests waiting to buy one until you hear back about your application, so there is no need to spend anything before you are approved.

Good habits and red flags

  • Keep messages and payments inside Wyzant. If someone asks to pay you by check, gift card or wire transfer instead, be very careful.
  • The Federal Trade Commission warns about fake check scams, where you are “overpaid” and asked to send back the difference. The check later bounces, and you owe the bank.
  • Real tutoring marketplaces don’t charge you for a “starter kit” or training before you can work. The FTC lists paying to get a job as a classic warning sign.
  • Before lessons, test your camera and microphone, and sit somewhere well lit and quiet.

A word on taxes and benefits

Wyzant tutors are independent, not employees, and the IRS says gig income must be reported even if you never receive a tax form for it. If you get Social Security and are under full retirement age, earnings above a yearly limit can reduce your benefits for a while. Side income can also affect SSI, Medicaid or housing assistance. This is general information only; please check your own situation with Social Security, the IRS or a tax professional.

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