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Economics
The marketplace tax is the single largest cost in a tutor's career. This page shows where the money goes today, where it stops going on day one of Koydo, and why the math holds for a decade — not until the platform raises rates.
| Koydo LinguaSoftware | italkiMarketplace | PreplyMarketplace | CamblyMarketplace | WyzantMarketplace | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform cutOff the top, every lesson | $0 | $150-$210 | $180-$330 | ~$590 | $250 |
| Subscription | $19 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| You keep | $981 | $790-$850 | $670-$820 | ~$410 | $750 |
| Annual difference vs Koydo | — | +$1,572 / yrPocketed when you switch | +$2,532 / yr | +$6,852 / yr | +$2,772 / yr |
Calculations exclude Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢ processing, which applies on every platform. Sources: italki Help Center (15-21% commission band), Preply Tutor Hub (18-33%), Wyzant tutor agreement (25% flat), Cambly tutor-pay schedule (~$0.20/min → ~41% of student price).
Marketplaces match supply and demand. They spend on Google Ads, Apple Search Ads, partnership deals, and SEO to bring in students; they spend on tutor recruiting, verification, and trust-and-safety to bring in teachers. The commission is the price of being matched. For a brand-new tutor with no audience, the deal is fair — until it isn't. The same 18-33% comes off every lesson with the regular student who books you weekly for three years.
Koydo is built for the tutor who already has students. Most working tutors do. You found them through your school, through a parent referral, through a community center, through one paid month on italki. Koydo gives you the teaching engine — curriculum, AI tutor, gradebook, video room, branded booking page — and steps out of the payment path entirely. You pay $19 a month for the tooling. You keep the money.
No. It's the product. Koydo is a software subscription, not a marketplace. We are not in the path of your student payments. There is no take rate that can creep up because we never see the money.
You connect your own Stripe account via Stripe Connect Express. Students pay your Stripe account directly. Stripe's published 2.9% + 30¢ passes through (you would pay it on any platform — italki, Preply, Wyzant, and Cambly all sit on Stripe or Adyen rails too). Koydo never touches the funds. Payouts land in your bank account on Stripe's standard schedule.
Optional. Koydo Payments is a separate tier where we take an all-in 5.9% + 30¢ to handle merchant-of-record paperwork: monthly tutor statements, 1099 prep, refund mechanics, dispute coordination, rolling chargeback reserve. Most independent tutors don't need it; the few who want a single payable entity for tax simplicity buy it.
No. $19/mo is flat. Unlimited students, unlimited lessons, unlimited video minutes via the built-in LiveKit room, unlimited use of the built-in GPT-4o-mini AI tutor. Premium AI is the only paid add-on and it is sold via the in-app purchase listed on the App Store, not a separate marketing tier.