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Short answer
MyTutor and Tutorful are both pay-as-you-go tutor marketplaces. As of October 2026, MyTutor starts at £26 an hour with a free 15-minute meeting, while Tutorful's own guide averages £33 to £36 an hour from primary to GCSE, with a first-lesson guarantee of up to £100. Both say tutors need an enhanced DBS check, and both let you cancel free with more than 24 hours' notice. Choose by tutor, not platform.
Key takeaways
- MyTutor starts at £26 an hour with a free 15-minute meeting; Tutorful's guide averages £33 to £36 an hour for primary to GCSE.
- Both say tutors must hold an enhanced DBS check, and both let you cancel free with more than 24 hours' notice.
- Tutorful's first-lesson guarantee is up to £100 within 48 hours; MyTutor credits your account with the first lesson.
- Pick the tutor, not the platform: shortlist two or three on each and use the free meeting or trial.
How TaleemSquare compares
- Format
- Live one-to-one math lessons online
- Price
- From £69 a month for 2 classes a week (about £8.63 a class)
- Fees and contract
- No registration fee, no contract, cancel any month
- First step
- Free 45-minute assessment, then a 4-class money-back promise
How we wrote this
TaleemSquare offers online one-to-one tutoring, so we compete for the same parents as both services. Prices and policies come from MyTutor's and Tutorful's own pages and the sources listed at the end, checked in October 2026.
MyTutor and Tutorful are two of the best-known tutor marketplaces in the UK. Both list individual tutors, let you message them before you book, and charge by the lesson rather than by the month. That makes them look alike, so the differences are in the details: fees, first-lesson protection, safeguarding checks and what happens when you cancel.
This guide compares them side by side as of October 2026, gives a verdict, and explains when a managed one-to-one service fits better than either.
How do MyTutor and Tutorful work?
On both sites you search for a tutor by subject, level and price, read profiles, message the tutors you like and book lessons through the platform's online classroom. You are choosing an individual, not being assigned one, which gives you control but also means you do the comparing.
MyTutor says its tutors are personally interviewed and onboarded, and its pricing page promises no sign-up fees or subscriptions. Tutorful tutors set their own rates, and the lesson price you see includes a Tutorful service fee, which its terms define as a percentage added to the tutor's fee.
How do MyTutor and Tutorful compare side by side?
| MyTutor | Tutorful | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Marketplace, tutors interviewed and onboarded, priced in tiers | Marketplace, tutors set their own rates |
| Finding a tutor | Browse by subject, level and price, message tutors, free 15-minute meeting | Search by subject, level or exam, message tutors, optional trial lesson |
| Price | From £26 an hour; tiers £25+, £45+ and £65+ | Averages an hour: primary £33.01, KS3 £34.47, GCSE £35.86, 11+ about £41.12 |
| Fees and commitment | Pay as you go, no sign-up fee or subscription; optional membership plans exist (monthly plans add £9.99 a month) | Pay per lesson; service fee is a percentage included in the price shown; card charged after each lesson |
| First lesson | Free meeting; if unhappy after the first lesson, credit to try another tutor | Trial lesson priced by the tutor (discounts start at £5); first-lesson guarantee up to £100 |
| Levels | KS2, KS3, GCSE, A level, IB, university | Primary, KS3, GCSE, 11+, A level, degree |
| Cancellation | Free up to 24 hours before; later, you are charged and a refund is at the tutor's discretion | Free with more than 24 hours' notice; later, the tutor chooses 0%, 50% or 100% |
| DBS as stated | Enhanced DBS required, with a Children's Barred List check | Enhanced DBS (or Scottish or Northern Irish equivalent) required, awarded within 3 years |
Tutorful's averages come from a guide published in 2024 and updated in March 2025, so they are indicative rather than a current quote. MyTutor publishes a starting price and tiers, not averages, so the two are not strictly like for like.
Which is cheaper, MyTutor or Tutorful?
At the entry level MyTutor is cheaper: its headline price is from £26 an hour (the lowest tier is labelled £25+), against a Tutorful average of £33.01 for primary and £35.86 for GCSE. Those are different measures, though. The top MyTutor tier starts at £65 an hour, and Tutorful's marketplace includes tutors below its averages.
For four hourly lessons a month, expect about £104 at £26 on MyTutor, £180 at £45 and £260 at £65. On Tutorful's averages, four lessons come to about £132 (primary) to £143 (GCSE). Eight lessons a month, two a week, double those figures.
Watch the extras. Tutorful's service fee is a percentage of the lesson price, included in what you see. MyTutor also offers memberships, as weekly plans that renew until you cancel or monthly plans of 3 or 6 months with a flat £9.99 monthly platform fee, so check which one you are buying.
What are the trial lesson and cancellation rules?
First lesson. MyTutor lets you book a free 15-minute meeting with a tutor before you pay. If you are not completely happy after your first session, it credits your account so you can try someone new; the page states no cap or deadline. Tutorful has an optional trial lesson whose price each tutor sets, and a guarantee of up to £100 towards a replacement first lesson. Its terms say you must tell Tutorful within 48 hours of the first lesson ending, and only one claim is allowed per student.
Cancelling. MyTutor says no payment is taken if you cancel more than 24 hours ahead. Inside 24 hours you are charged, and a refund is at the tutor's discretion, issued as account credit. If a tutor misses your lesson, the refund is automatic.
Tutorful's terms also allow free cancellation with more than 24 hours' notice. Inside 24 hours the tutor decides whether to charge nothing, 50% or 100%, with 50% as the default, and a £5 handling fee can apply if you cancel within 6 hours. A missed lesson with no cancellation is charged in full.
How do their safeguarding checks compare?
MyTutor says all tutors must hold a valid Enhanced DBS check issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service in the UK, and the certificate must show "NONE RECORDED" under the Children's Barred List. New tutors' certificates must be less than 12 weeks old.
Tutorful's terms require tutors to hold Background Checked Status: an enhanced check from the DBS, Disclosure Scotland or Access Northern Ireland, awarded within the last 3 years. Tutorful says it uses "reasonable endeavours" to check identity and background checks, and its terms say parents of under-18s should not leave a child in the sole care of a tutor.
Both are checks on the tutor, not a substitute for being nearby. For younger children, stay within earshot, and ask a tutor to confirm their check is current.
Which should you choose?
Our verdict
The two are closer than their marketing suggests. Choose MyTutor if you want a free meeting before paying, a lower entry price (from £26 an hour) and a published Enhanced DBS rule that includes the Children's Barred List. Choose Tutorful if you want tutors priced by level, including 11+, and a written first-lesson guarantee, remembering its 48-hour window. In both cases pick the tutor, not the platform: shortlist two or three on each site, use the free meeting or trial, and ask about experience with your child's exam board or test.
When does a managed one-to-one service fit better?
A marketplace hands you the work: reading profiles, judging tutors from a few lines of text, booking each lesson, and watching the price as you move up tiers. That is a fair trade if you want to pick a particular teacher, need a specialist, or only want the odd lesson.
A managed service suits parents who would rather not choose from profiles. At TaleemSquare, we match a tutor to your child, lessons are live one-to-one for 45 minutes on a shared whiteboard, and a plan is £69, £95 or £119 a month for two, three or four lessons a week, about £11.50 an hour at the entry plan. There is a free assessment first, no registration fee, no long contract, a free tutor rematch and progress updates on WhatsApp. TaleemSquare covers maths, English, reading and writing, and it was founded in 2023, so it has a shorter track record than either marketplace.
What to do next
- Shortlist two or three tutors on each site and book MyTutor's free meetings. On Tutorful, ask each tutor what their trial lesson costs.
- Check each tutor's DBS status and cancellation rules, and read our guide on how to choose a maths tutor.
- To compare a managed plan, book a free 45-minute assessment with TaleemSquare, see pricing, or read our UK provider comparison.
Sources
- 1.MyTutor, Pricing Price tiers (£25+, £45+, £65+), from £26 an hour, pay as you go, no sign-up fees or subscriptions, free 15-minute meeting. Checked Oct 2026.
- 2.MyTutor, Maths tutors Levels listed (KS2 to university), tutor rates from £26 an hour, first-session credit. Checked Oct 2026.
- 3.MyTutor Help, Refund policy (updated 25 Nov 2025) 24-hour cancellation rule, refunds as account credit, tutor discretion. Checked Oct 2026.
- 4.MyTutor Help, What is a valid DBS check? Enhanced DBS required, Children's Barred List, certificate age limits. Checked Oct 2026.
- 5.Tutorful, Terms of service Service fee, payment timing, cancellation charges, first-lesson guarantee, DBS requirement. Checked Oct 2026.
- 6.Tutorful, How much does a tutor cost? Average hourly rates by level and subject, published June 2024 and updated March 2025. Checked Oct 2026.
Written and fact-checked by the TaleemSquare Editorial Team
We research every figure against the provider's own pages or independent sources, list them above, and update posts when prices or policies change. See our editorial process and teaching method.
