# TutorBird vs TutorCruncher (2026): Seats or a Revenue Fee? A referee's comparison of TutorBird and TutorCruncher: verified 2026 pricing, worked costs at two agency sizes, payouts, portals, and data portability. Canonical URL: https://gigpie.com/compare/tutorbird-vs-tutorcruncher --- [TutorBird](https://www.tutorbird.com) and [TutorCruncher](https://tutorcruncher.com) sit at opposite ends of the tutoring-software spectrum. TutorBird is a per-seat subscription that keeps a small operation's software bill under $50; TutorCruncher is an agency platform whose price includes a percentage of your revenue and whose standout feature actually moves money to your tutors. Gigpie, which publishes this page, competes with both, so read this as a comparison from a rival who checked every number on the two vendors' own pages in August 2026 and saves its own pitch for the end. ## What Each One Costs, at Two Sizes TutorBird sells a single plan: $16.95 a month for one tutor, plus $4.95 a month for each additional tutor or staff member, with unlimited students and every feature included (tutorbird.com/pricing, August 2026). The trial runs 30 days with no card, and a 90-day money-back guarantee sits behind it. TutorCruncher stacks a subscription and a revenue fee. Its US tiers in August 2026: Pay As You Go at $30 a month plus a revenue fee of roughly 1%, with card fees of 3.85%; Startup at $80 plus roughly 0.65%, card fees 3.5%; and Enterprise at $240 with negotiated rates, API access, and unlimited technical support. UK pricing runs £25, £60, and £200. Every tier includes unlimited users and lessons, and the add-ons compound at scale: branches ($50 a month each), a custom domain ($100), extended priority support (about $120), and automated payouts (0.2% per invoice). The trial is two weeks, and refunds are excluded by TutorCruncher's own terms, so no money-back guarantee applies. > **Two businesses, both bills.** A three-tutor practice collecting $8,000 a month pays TutorBird $26.85 ($16.95 + 2 × $4.95) and TutorCruncher about $110 on Pay As You Go ($30 + 1% of $8,000). A 25-tutor agency collecting $60,000 a month pays TutorBird $135.75 and TutorCruncher about $470 on Startup ($80 + 0.65% of $60,000). Card processing fees sit on top of both, and TutorCruncher's published card rates (3.85% and 3.5% on its lower tiers) deserve their own line in your spreadsheet. TutorBird wins the subscription line at every size we can compute, and it isn't close. The question worth asking is what TutorCruncher's extra hundreds buy, and the answer is a specific kind of automation: when a client pays an invoice, TutorCruncher's split payments divide the money between your commission and the tutor's earnings, and the tutor's cut heads to a Stripe payouts account in the tutor's name. TutorBird calculates what each tutor is owed; TutorCruncher can also pay them. ## Side by Side | Feature | TutorBird | [TutorCruncher](https://tutorcruncher.com) | | --- | --- | --- | | Pricing model | $16.95/mo + $4.95 per added tutor | $30 to $240/mo + revenue fee | | Free trial | 30 days, no card | 2 weeks | | Money-back guarantee | 90 days | None; terms say non-refundable | | Calendar sync | Two-way Google + iCalendar | One-way iCal feed | | Payment processors | Stripe + PayPal | Stripe + GoCardless | | Bank payments | ACH (US), Bacs (UK) | ACH, bank transfer, Direct Debit | | Auto-charge on invoice | Yes | Yes | | Automated tutor payouts | No | Yes | | Payroll calculation | Hourly or % of tutor revenue | Split at point of payment | | Parent/student portal | Booking, bill pay, homework uploads | Schedules, invoices, reports | | Accounting integrations | Not documented | Xero, QuickBooks, Sage | | API access | Not documented | Enterprise tier | | Custom branding / white-label | Not documented | Yes | | CSV exports of your data | Not documented | Students, tutors, lessons, invoices | | Native mobile app | No | No | Neither column is our product. Every cell reflects the vendor's own pricing, feature, help-center, or terms pages in August 2026; "Not documented" means the vendor's public materials don't confirm the detail either way. ## The Payout Gap Is the Whole Argument Most tutoring platforms stop at arithmetic: they tell you what each tutor earned, and you move the money yourself. TutorBird does that arithmetic well, as a flat hourly rate or a percentage of the revenue each tutor generates, with category overrides and per-tutor logins where tutors see their own payroll. TutorCruncher goes one step further with a dedicated payouts system: tutors get Stripe payouts accounts, and when a client pays, the platform splits the invoice between agency commission and tutor pay, with funds reaching the tutor's account in about seven days per its help center. If you pay a dozen or more tutors every month and that transfer run is a real chore, this is the feature you're pricing against TutorBird's savings. If you pay two or three tutors, it probably isn't worth hundreds a month. ## Where TutorBird Is Stronger Calendar sync, for one: TutorBird's integrations page lists real two-way Google Calendar and iCalendar sync, while TutorCruncher provides a read-only iCal address your calendar app subscribes to, pushing events one way out of TutorCruncher. The trial terms favor TutorBird too: 30 days against 14, no card against an unstated card policy, and a 90-day refund promise against terms that rule refunds out. And TutorBird's student portal covers more of the family-facing loop: students book their own slots, families settle bills through Stripe or PayPal, and homework comes in with attached files and logged study time, plus reviews an admin approves before they publish. TutorCruncher's client portal handles schedules, invoices, payment history, and lesson reports; homework workflows aren't part of its documented surface. ## Where TutorCruncher Is Stronger Almost everything an agency's back office touches. GoCardless brings Direct Debit collection, which UK agencies in particular lean on, alongside Stripe. Accounting exports feed Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage. A documented API (Enterprise tier) and custom CSS and JavaScript support integrations and white-labeling, with a custom domain available as an add-on. Branch support exists for multi-location operations. And its help center documents CSV exports for students, tutors, jobs, lessons, and invoices, so your data has a published way out; TutorBird documents no equivalent. Support runs through phone lines in London and Chicago, with chat and a dedicated account manager on paid plans after a three-month onboarding period. ## Which One, by Business Shape **One to ten tutors, cost first.** TutorBird. At this size the revenue fee buys automation you can do by hand in an hour a month, and the difference funds a lot of tutoring supplies. The 90-day guarantee also makes it the safer trial. **An agency where paying tutors is the weekly chore.** TutorCruncher. Split payments that move each tutor's share automatically when the client pays are the one capability in this matchup TutorBird simply doesn't offer, and at 20+ tutors the hours saved can justify the fee stack. **A UK agency on Direct Debit, or anyone needing an API.** TutorCruncher, on the strength of GoCardless, £-denominated tiers, and the Enterprise API. If neither of those phrases means anything to your operation, that's a sign TutorBird covers you. ## Where Gigpie Fits in This Comparison A third company competes for the same budget. Gigpie charges neither a seat fee nor a subscription-plus-revenue combination, just a flat 2% of collections with nothing due before revenue arrives, and it builds family-level billing and a CRM into that same number. [Gigpie vs TutorBird](/compare/gigpie-vs-tutorbird) and [Gigpie vs TutorCruncher](/compare/gigpie-vs-tutorcruncher) put us in this exact matchup with real math attached. ## Frequently Asked Questions ## FAQ **Q:** Is TutorBird or TutorCruncher cheaper? **A:** TutorBird, at every size we can compute from published prices. As of August 2026, a three-tutor practice collecting $8,000 a month pays TutorBird $26.85 versus about $110 on TutorCruncher's Pay As You Go tier; a 25-tutor agency collecting $60,000 pays TutorBird $135.75 versus about $470 on Startup. TutorCruncher's case is the automation the difference buys, chiefly automated tutor payouts. **Q:** What is TutorCruncher's revenue fee? **A:** A percentage of your revenue charged on top of the monthly subscription: roughly 1% on Pay As You Go and roughly 0.65% on Startup, per tutorcruncher.com's US pricing page in August 2026. Enterprise rates are negotiated. Card processing fees are separate, published at 3.85% and 3.5% on the two lower tiers. **Q:** Does TutorBird pay tutors automatically like TutorCruncher does? **A:** No. TutorBird calculates each tutor's pay automatically, at an hourly rate or as a share of tutor-generated revenue, but moving the money is up to you. TutorCruncher splits each paid invoice and sends the tutor's cut to a Stripe payouts account held by the tutor, which is its clearest advantage in this matchup. **Q:** What calendar sync does each one offer? **A:** TutorBird lists two-way Google Calendar and iCalendar sync on its integrations page: lessons go out, outside events come in, and double-booking gets blocked. TutorCruncher provides a subscribe-only iCal address for Google or Outlook, so events push one way out of TutorCruncher and edits made in your external calendar don't come back, as of August 2026. **Q:** What are the trial and refund terms on each? **A:** TutorBird: 30 days free, no credit card required, plus a 90-day money-back guarantee. TutorCruncher: a two-week free trial, and its own terms state the service is billed in arrears and is non-refundable, so plan to decide within the trial window. **Q:** Which portal will parents find more useful? **A:** TutorBird's, for most families. Students book their own lessons, pay bills online, and hand in homework with attachments and logged time, and families can submit reviews for admin approval. TutorCruncher's client portal covers schedules, invoice viewing and payment, payment history, and lesson reports, which suits an agency model where admins arrange the tutoring. **Q:** Can I get my data out of each platform? **A:** TutorCruncher documents CSV exports for students, tutors, jobs, lessons, and invoices, plus accounting exports for Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage, and has a documented account-closure process. TutorBird publishes no import or export documentation, though third-party tools advertise reading TutorBird CSVs; confirm with its support before you depend on it. **Q:** Which suits a UK agency better? **A:** For most UK agencies, TutorCruncher: tiers priced in pounds (£25, £60, £200 a month as of August 2026), Direct Debit collection through GoCardless, and a London office with phone support. TutorBird does accept Bacs payments in the UK and staffs a UK phone line, so small UK teams aren't stuck, but the agency tooling tilts to TutorCruncher. **Q:** Does either have a native mobile app? **A:** No. Both run in the browser as of August 2026. Neither shows up in either app store, and TutorBird's help center covers saving the site to a phone home screen instead. **Q:** When does the switch from TutorBird to TutorCruncher make sense? **A:** When the back office, not the teaching, is the bottleneck: tutor payout runs eating a day a month, an accountant asking for Xero or QuickBooks feeds, multiple branches, or a white-label requirement. Until then, the price gap is hard to argue with, and TutorBird's portal and calendar sync cover the family-facing side well. **Neither a seat fee nor a revenue cut is the only option Gigpie charges a flat 2% of collections, nothing before revenue, and includes household billing, payroll runs, and a CRM. Compare it head-to-head with either platform before you sign anywhere.** [Get started](/register) ## Related Resources - [Gigpie vs TutorBird](/compare/gigpie-vs-tutorbird) - The per-seat plan against the 2% model, with exact break-even points. - [Gigpie vs TutorCruncher](/compare/gigpie-vs-tutorcruncher) - Two revenue-based platforms compared, including the payouts question. - [Best Tutoring Software 2026](/compare/best-tutoring-software-2026) - Every platform in this category, shortlisted by team size.