Tutorax vs. TutorLyft

Outside Quebec, Tutorax charges $55 an hour for in-home tutoring for elementary and high school, $45 an hour online, and $50 an hour for college and university. In Quebec it charges $45 an hour at home or online for elementary and high school, plus $10 an hour for travel to your home. There's also a one-time sign-up fee of $25.99 to $39.99 plus tax. Prepaid packages of 20, 30 or 40 hours add 1, 3 or 5 free hours. You pay by credit card after the lessons are given, and cancelling less than 24 hours ahead costs one hour.

TutorLyft tutors set their own rates, typically CA$40 to CA$75 an hour, shown on every profile, with no sign-up fee. You pay by card when you book. Book 10 or more lessons with the same tutor and you save 5%.

Yes. Tutorax offers online tutoring with an interactive whiteboard, and says it matches online students with a tutor within 24 to 48 hours. It also sends tutors to your home in many cities across Canada, with a match within 7 days. TutorLyft tutors teach online across Canada and in person in many Canadian cities, and you can book as soon as you've picked a tutor.

No. A Tutorax advisor talks with you about your child's needs, contacts tutors who live near you and picks the one they think fits best. If that tutor isn't right, Tutorax finds you a new one. You don't see tutor profiles or choose the tutor yourself. On TutorLyft you choose from full profiles with intro videos, rates and availability, and almost every tutor offers a free consultation.

Tutorax says it checks each tutor's grades and their experience working with young people, holds an interview, and has tutors complete training and pass a selection exam. Its tutors are college or university students, and its terms say each tutor confirms they have no criminal record related to teaching or tutoring. TutorLyft approves about 5% of applicants after phone and video interviews, records an intro video with every tutor, and runs a police check on every tutor who teaches in person.

Yes. Tutorax is a Canadian tutoring company founded in 2016, with more than 1,000 tutors, and it says it has helped more than 20,000 students. It has no Trustpilot reviews and no complaints with the Better Business Bureau; the biggest set of reviews we found is from tutors on Indeed, who rate it 4.5 out of 5 as an employer. Tutorax has a satisfaction guarantee: if the first tutor isn't right, it finds a new one and refunds the first session. TutorLyft is similar: if the first lesson isn't right, we refund it and give you your next hour free with a new tutor.

Tutorax has no contract, and its terms don't set a notice period for ending services, so tell your advisor you're stopping. To cancel a single session, give your tutor at least 24 hours' notice, or you're charged one hour. Its terms say sessions are billed weekly after they're given. If you bought a prepaid package of hours, ask Tutorax about any hours you haven't used, since its terms don't cover refunds for them. TutorLyft has no contract either: you pay per lesson and can cancel a lesson for a full refund up to 24 hours before it starts.