How to Develop an On-Demand Tutor App?- Cost and Key Features

Updated 14 Mar 2024
Published 05 Aug 2020
Rahul Mathur 2854 Views

The increasing use of technology and mobile devices on a day-to-day basis has resulted in the growth of mobile applications. These apps are a solution that offers on-demand services to users.

Technology and good internet connectivity have made a person dependent on their phones to a great extent. As a result, there is an app for almost everything (including both products and services), that has proliferated over time.

With the hectic work schedules and the difficulty in making their physical presence in the classes, phones have made it easy for students to study remotely with the help of on-demand tutor applications.

These online tutor apps are a one stop solution to all the queries of the students and one is free to ask anything or look up all their doubts in one place.

Introduction to on-demand tutoring apps

On-demand tutor applications are a platform that brings a student close to teachers of a particular subject from whom he can either take personal online tuition or can join a batch, whatever is best suited to him.

This does not require the physical presence of a person, whereas, everything is managed by the app itself.

Most parents are on the lookout for good tutors for their children during their summer or winter break so that their children are well versed with the syllabus of the upcoming term.

However, finding the perfect tutor who suits all your requirements can be a bit of a task. Therefore, the tutor finder apps offer these parents a wide range of tutors who register themselves on the application.

Their bio-data and all other information regarding the subjects and experience in mentioned in their profile. This helps the parents choose the best online tutor for their child.

on-demand tutor app development

Transformation of the online learning trends

There has been a sharp rise in the sector of online studies during the times of COVID-19. Since the lockdown was announced around the world in several countries, teachers and students have turned to the online medium of studies and it has become the latest trend. Schools have realized the ease of teaching their students with the help of several applications.

  • The result of the lockdown has changed education industry radically. Teachers have been taking to remote platforms to teach their students.
  • The global trend has changed due to COVID-19 as children and teachers have started using all online mediums and applications for imparting studies.
  • According to research conducted, it has been proven that the retention level amongst the students is high in the case of online tution-classes.

While the novel coronavirus has brought in some major changes in our daily lives and our lifestyles, we might just not want to look back and let these changes stay post the pandemic as well.

Take a look at the impact of COVID-19 on Global education according to a report of Statista:

covid 19 staggering impact on global education statista
Image Credit: statista.com/

A look at the market size and stats of on-demand tutor apps

It has been estimated that the online tutoring market size will grow exponentially in the coming years. Let’s look at some of the important statistics of such education applications future:

  1. A report suggests that the expected growth of this platform from 2020-2024 is estimated to be around $132.21 billion.
  2. A report suggests that the online tutoring market was valued at around $133,20 billion in 2018 and the expected value by 2025 is somewhere around $369.69 billion.
  3. The CAGR of the apps between 2018-2016 is 15.7 percent.
  4. Another report suggests that the growth of online tutoring will increase by 12.75 percent between 2017 to 2021.
tutors app market size and statistics
Image Credit: technavio.com/

Here is how the on-demand tutor app business model works

Free services:

this business model lets the users register on the tutor finding app at no cost initially and avail a part of the services of the app for free. Going forward, if they want to use additional services, they would have to pay a certain amount for it.

Subscription:

In this case, the users have to subscribe to the application before getting access to it. There is a specific amount of subscription fee that the users have to pay to access the app.

However, it is best for the tutor application to offer the first few days free of cost, so that the users get a hang of the application.

You must set a subscription fee according to the market trends of the industry. One should not feel that they are paying much more than required on your app.

In-app purchases:

Another way of monetizing the app is through in-app purchases. Not everything your app has to offer should be free, this will not help you monetize it. As and when a new feature is accessed by a user, he must pay for it.

Advertisements:

One of the most common business models for any application, this one offers space to publication houses, schools and colleges, on their app in return for money. Charges vary according to the time tan ad is displayed on the page and the placement of the advertisements.

Monetization with the help of data:

Since it is an education app, you can ask the users or the students to add their information like their grades and schools in the applications. This data can be churned for valuable information.

Basic Features of the On-demand Tutor Application

Investing money in an on-demand tutor booking app is a good idea only if one knows what features would attract the users. Therefore, we have segregated the features for the student panel and for the tutor panel. Take a look at it.

Features of the Student Panel

Easy registration and profile creation:

To give the best experience of an app is by reducing the time for a student to register on an application, thereby, integrating social media logins in your app. This is not only convenient for them but also saves them the time of putting in their entire information one by one.

It is also additionally important for the students to create their profile so that they can make purchases of books and download online study material and save it in their dashboards.

registration process of tutor app development

Browse for a tutor:

This feature enables the students to look up for a tutor according to their specific needs like a subject, board or an exam. This helps them to get the best tutor on board according to their needs.

Check for ratings and reviews of tutors:

One can get a tutor finding app idea of the proficiency of a tutor by going through their ratings and review given by other students. This will help a student simplify his search and be sure of the tutor he wants to hire.

Details of the tutor:

This is a very important feature as it consists of all important data of a tutor like the courses he teaches, the years of experience he has and the fee structure.

Select a tutor:

These applications have made it very simple and convenient for students to select a tutor according to their preferences. After checking the availability of the tutor for their timings and other details, they can finally select one out of the many online tutors available on the app.

features of selecting a tutor

Post requirements:

In this case, a student can put up a post regarding his requirements on the application and let the tutors get in touch with him either through in app call or message.

Enroll for a class or course:

The next step is to select a tutor and finally book him. Then the students can enroll for his classes or for a course through the app.

In-app chat:

This is a very important feature as it allows the students to get in touch with the tutors through the in-app chat function. They can clear all their queries on the chat itself without having to connect with the tutor through phone or any other medium.

Push notifications:

This feature is basically for the admin that sends out alerts of any kind, which are useful to the students. A student can be alerted with the help of a push notification in case the fee is pending, the class is cancelled or if there are any changes in the time schedule of the classes.

Integration of payment:

Students can pay the tutor fees hassle-free on the app itself through any of the mediums. The new-age on-demand tutor apps have several integrated payment methods for students to choose from. They can pay either by a bank transfer or through their debit/credit cards or by any of the e-wallets that are available on the platform.

Features for the Panel of Tutors-

Creating a profile:

It is of utmost importance for the tutor to create a profile for themselves on the app, so that the students get an idea of his work experience and the subjects undertaken by him. A strong profile can lead to more students selecting him on the platform.

Availability:

One cannot be available for tutoring at all times, therefore, this feature enables a tutor to update the timings he is available for students in his profile. If the timings of the tutor match with the timings of a student, they can go ahead and make a deal.

The online tutor has the authority of changing the timings any time in the future accordingly.

browse content in tutor application development

Accept and reject requests:

Well, if you think that students can choose a tutor according to their convenience as the ball is in their court, then they need to be corrected here. This feature allows the tutors to either take up a student or reject him. They have an equal role to play in the entire process.

Change timings of their classes:

A user who is a tutor on the portal is free to change his timings for a batch or a class at any given point in time.

Keep track on earnings:

The online tutor app gives the tutors access to the earnings made by them either in a week or a month. This reduces the extra effort for the tutors of using any other application to keep track of their income.

In-app chat with students: 

Tutor is free to chat with the student through the app with the help of an integrated chat system.

Features of Admin Panel-

Efficient Analysis:

This is one place where all the profiles of the students and the tutors are saves for effective analysis. The main objective is to save this information to analyse the work behaviour and experience of both the groups.

Statistics:

This helps the admin in enhancing the operations of the app based on the data consisting of the services that have been availed and set up for the future. Also, the payment details and history are all stores in the statistics of the application.

Management of the tutors and their services:

The feature enables the admin to manage all the information pertaining to the tutor regarding their subject expertise, year of experience and also look at the number of batches and classes taken by them through the app.

Managing the services:

This enables the admin to overlook the services and all the information related to colleges, schools and other educational institutions.

Earnings:

The tutors make money through these eLearning mobile apps only by following the rules and guidelines laid by the application admin. Through this feature, the admin can control and look at the number of hours spent by a tutor on teaching his students on the platform and the amount earned by them by offering their services.

features of on demand tutor app

Management of the students:

The administration keeps an eye on the details of a student and the fee paid by them. Admin can easily manage the subjects and courses chosen by each student.

Assigning job to the tutors:

It is the duty of the manager to assign tutors to the students according to their availability and their time schedules. If a tutor has no time slots available for new students, it is the responsibility of the admin to transfer that student to other tutors with similar qualifications and subject expertise.

A look at the Advance Features of On-Demand Tutor Finder App

We have already discussed about the basic features of all students, tutors and admin panel above. Now we will throw some light on the advanced features of the tutor apps.

While the basic apps in most cases can be availed for free, the advanced features can be availed with the help of in-app purchases. Take a look:

Referral program:

Under this feature, one can recommend or refer the app to his friends through social media or sharing it on other chat platforms or apps.

Push notifications:

This feature enables the admin to send out a message to all its users when they launch any promotional campaigns or offer discounts. This helps in user retention and bringing important information to their notice.

In-app payment:

An app with various integrated methods of payments makes it stand out of the rest as it makes it easy for the users to submit their fees for tuitions online.

With time new e-wallets and payment methods have come up making it very easy for users to make online payments.

Cloud management:

With the integration of various frameworks like Cassandra DatabaseMongoDB Database, MailChimp and Postgres, it has become easy for the apps to save the payment information of the users along with the student information. This saves the users time of putting in their information each time they log in or payment details every time they pay for a new service.

Heat map view:

This gives a view of the activities of the users with the help of the overlay of colours. With this, the admin gets the idea of the elements in the app that are used maximum.

In-app chat, voice and video:

Integration of these features allows the users chat and get in touch via a call or video call with the other party through the app itself. One does not have to reveal his number to the other person.

Availability toggle:

All bookings are made according to the availability of the tutors, therefore, this feature enables the users to change or edit their availability on the app.

Tracking:

The tutor can take online classes of the students or simply go and teach the students at their residents by following their geographical location that is enabled in the applications.

Location track in online tutor app

Integration of multiple languages:

Since there are students from all races, religions, and countries registered on the app, the developers should make sure to integrate teachings through multiple languages. This helps in widening the scope of the app.

Loyalty programs:

The app should offer some sort of loyalty program to its users to build their interest in apps and earn their loyalty.

Multiple bookings:

An on-demand tutor application enables user to make multiple bookings of tutors at one time. One is not restricted to making one booking at a time, but can schedule various classes from different tutors all at once.

Multiple categories:

The filtering of categories in the tuition app makes the search experience enhanced for the users. One can directly jump to the category they are interested in and not loiter around looking for something.

Promo codes:

Engagement of users is very important therefore; tutor applications should offer them special discount promo codes. This helps in increasing the interest of the users.

Read Also: Evolution of E-Learning: Top E-Learning Trends 

Revenue generation from on-demand tutor apps

The on-demand tutor booking apps can earn revenue in three ways. Take a look:

  • In-app advertisements: Almost all applications generate a large amount of revenue with the help of advertisements. They collaborate with other tech companies and place their ads of products and services on the apps.
  • Commission-based: The app bridges the gap between the tutors and students, thereby earning a fair amount of commission each time a registration is made.
  • Subscription: The online tuition apps charge a fair amount of fees from each student on subscribing to the app. Students can get access to the premium services offered by the app after paying the joining fee.

Tech stack required for building a tutor app

Push notification: Twilio or Push.io
SMS, voice and phone verification: Nexmo or Twilio
Real-time analysis: Apache Flink, Cisco, Spark, BigData, Hadoop
Database: Cassandra Database, HBase, MongoDB Database, PostgreSQL
Cloud environment: Azure, Google, AWS
Payment: e-wallets, PayPal, Stripe, Braintree

Cost of on-demand tutor app development

The cost of developing a tutor app varies depending on several factors. Take a look at these factors that are the deciding factors of the app:

  1. The platform on which the app is to be launched decides the price of the app. An app developed for Android will cost different from an app developed for iOS and for cross platforms.
  2. The time taken in developing an all is also a deciding factor in the pricing of the application.
  3. The third deciding factor of the price are the features in the application. If one goes in for adding only the basic features, it will cost less than that that has all additional features as well.
  4. One can either hire full-time employees for developing an on-demand tutor finding application, or hire freelancers to do the same work in lesser price.
  5. Also, if you ask the employees to work remotely, that will cost lesser than buying space for them and building an office environment.

However, the cost estimated to create a tutor app lies somewhere between $15000 to $20000.

Conclusion

All the above-mentioned pointers are extremely important in developing a tutor app, however, the developers can be flexible with features and design of the app. It is extremely important to hire a team of app developing experts who have prior knowledge and experience of developing tutor apps.

This will result in the development of a full-fledged app that will go through all phases including testing and quality analysis.

FAQs – On-Demand Tutor App

  • What are the responsibilities of the tutors?

    They should be able to connect with all students irrespective of their age and class and help them with their subject expertise. The tutoring session should last for the time mentioned in the schedule and the tutor should make sure to share all the important information with the students.

  • Who can be a tutor on the app?

    Professional people belonging to the following categories can register themselves as tutors on the app:
    • Teachers (Current or retired)
    • Students (both graduates of college going)
    • Professionals of each subject and experts

  • Is there a minimum requirement of tutoring hours?

    The app allows the users/tutors to make their schedule according to their timings and availability, hence becoming flexible when it comes to timings. Following are the ways of tutoring:
    • Schedule sessions for batches
    • Creating a schedule ahead of each week
    • Setting their availability according to the schedule

Rahul Mathur

Rahul Mathur is the founder and managing director of ARKA Softwares, a company renowned for its outstanding mobile app development and web development solutions. Delivering high-end modern solutions all over the globe, Rahul takes pleasure in sharing his experiences and views on the latest technological trends.

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