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Buyer's Guide
You didn't become a tutor to send invoices. But every month you're creating bills, tracking who paid, and following up with parents who forgot. Here's how the best invoicing tools compare — and why autopay makes most of them unnecessary.
Not all invoicing is created equal. Here are the four features that separate real time-savers from digital paperwork.
The best tools create invoices from your sessions — no manual data entry. If you're typing amounts into a form after every lesson, you're using the wrong tool.
An invoice without a pay button is just a PDF. Look for tools that let parents pay directly from the invoice — or better yet, charge their card automatically.
If you're texting parents “hey, just a reminder about last week's session” — your tool should be doing that for you. Automated reminders recover payments without the awkwardness.
The end goal isn't better invoicing — it's no invoicing. Autopay charges the parent's saved card after you confirm the session. No invoice, no reminder, no chase.
Invoicing Compared
From manual Venmo requests to fully automated autopay — here's how each tool handles billing.
Free for tutors. $1 parent service fee per invoice
Invoicing
Automatic — invoice generated when you confirm a session
Best for: Tutors who want invoicing to happen without thinking about it
$14.95/mo
Invoicing
Manual — create and send invoices from the app
Best for: Solo tutors who want basic invoice generation with scheduling
$16.49/mo + $0.32/lesson
Invoicing
Manual + batch — generate invoices per lesson or in bulk
Best for: Multi-tutor businesses that need detailed lesson-level invoicing
Free (paid plans from $16/mo for payments)
Invoicing
Full-featured invoicing — not tutoring-specific
Best for: Tutors who already use Wave for other freelance work
25% commission + 9% student fee
Invoicing
None — marketplace handles payment automatically
Best for: Tutors who need students and don't mind the cut
Free
Invoicing
None — you text or email a request manually
Best for: 1-2 students, cash-only, no billing needs
Feature Comparison
| Feature | TutorTab | TutorBird | Teachworks | Wave |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto-generate invoices | Yes | No | No | No |
| Autopay | Yes | No | No | No |
| Payment reminders | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Session-aware billing | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Parent portal | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Google Calendar sync | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| No monthly fee | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Wyzant and Venmo/Zelle are excluded from this table because they don't offer invoicing features. Wyzant handles payment through its marketplace (at 25%). Venmo/Zelle require you to manually request payment.
Even the best invoicing software still makes you wait for parents to pay. Here's the typical cycle.
You taught a great lesson. Now the billing work starts.
Open your invoicing app, enter the details, set the amount, hit send. With some tools this is automatic; with most, it's manual.
The parent gets an email. Maybe they open it today, maybe next week, maybe never.
It's been 5 days. Your tool sends a reminder (or you text them yourself).
The parent clicks pay. Or they forget again. Or they Venmo you a random amount without a note.
The parent saves a card once. You confirm the session happened. Payment is collected automatically — no invoice, no reminder, no follow-up. The parent gets a receipt. You get paid. That's it.
Calculator
Enter your sessions and rate to compare the real cost of each tool.
Enter your numbers to compare real monthly costs. TutorTab is free for tutors — a small service fee is added to parent invoices instead.
Monthly revenue: $720
TutorTab
$0.00
free for tutors
TutorBird
$14.95
/month
Teachworks
$20.33
/month
Wyzant
$180.00
/month
Short answer: it doesn't make you think about it.
When you confirm a session, the invoice is created and sent. No forms, no data entry, no “create invoice” button. The session IS the invoice.
Parents save a card once. After that, payments are collected automatically when you confirm sessions. No emails, no reminders, no awkward “hey, did you see my invoice?” conversations.
Payment history, upcoming sessions, receipts — parents can see it all without emailing you. Fewer “can you resend that invoice?” messages.
No monthly fee for tutors, ever. A $1 service fee per invoice is charged to parents on their invoices. You keep 100% of your rate. Other invoicing tools still charge tutors even with no students.
You run a multi-tutor business. If you employ other tutors and need payroll, lesson-level billing, and employee management, Teachworks is purpose-built for that. TutorTab is designed for independent tutors, not agencies.
You need invoicing for non-tutoring work. If tutoring is one of several freelance services you invoice for, a general-purpose tool like Wave gives you one place for all your billing. TutorTab only handles tutoring sessions.
You have 1-2 students and prefer cash. If your entire practice is two students who hand you cash after each lesson, you don't need invoicing software. A spreadsheet (or nothing) works fine.
Pricing
No subscriptions. No monthly minimums. A fee applies only when a payment goes through TutorTab, and the parent pays it.
$1
per paid invoice
2.9% + 30¢
processing, paid by the parent, card or bank
$0
cost to tutors
How it works
Scheduling, reminders, and invoicing are always free. When we process a payment, a $1 service fee and the card processing fee are added to the parent's invoice. You keep 100% of your rate.
Example
You bill $50? Parent pays ~$52.84 ($50 + $1 service fee + ~$1.84 processing). You receive $50.
You keep 100% of your session price. The service fee is added to the parent's invoice. Payments collected outside TutorTab (cash, Venmo, etc.) are never charged.
No monthly fees. No setup cost. Only pay when you get paid.
FAQ
Autopay collects payment automatically after every confirmed session. No invoices, no reminders, no follow-ups.
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