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Tutor-owned cooperative

Teaching
owned by teachers.

Docens is a tutoring platform owned by the tutors who use it. Set your own rates, keep 92% of what you earn, and build lasting student relationships without a corporation standing between you.

Keep 92% of every session (vs 60-75% on Wyzant or Chegg)
Set your own hourly rate with no race to the bottom
Own a share of the platform you teach on
JL
MR
SC
AP
Tutors already teaching
across math, science, languages, and more
0+
Active tutors
across all subjects
0
Sessions completed
and counting
0+
Subjects covered
from algebra to Mandarin
0%
Tutor satisfaction
vs 41% on tutoring platforms

Tutoring platforms take up to 40% of what students pay you.

Wyzant, Chegg Tutors, Preply, and Varsity Tutors have built businesses by standing between tutors and students, extracting massive fees from both sides of every lesson.

  • Wyzant takes 25% of every session, on top of what students already pay
  • Preply takes 100% of your first lesson with each new student
  • Platforms control student relationships and can cut you off at any time
  • Your reputation and reviews are locked to each platform, not portable
  • No voice in fee changes, policies, or platform decisions that affect your income
The tutoring extraction economy
$12B+
Online tutoring market
25-40%
Taken by platforms
0%
Tutor ownership
0
Tutor board seats

See exactly where your tutoring fees go

Traditional tutoring platforms hide their fee structures. On Docens, every cent is accounted for, because you own the platform.

⚠ Wyzant / Chegg Tutors
Tutor receives60%
Platform takes25%
Processing and other15%
Tutor keeps
60%
✓ Docens cooperative
Tutor keeps88%
Platform costs8%
Co-op fund4%
Tutor keeps
88%

Tutoring tools that respect tutors.

Every feature designed by tutors, for tutors. Fair fees, real ownership, and technology that makes teaching better.

💰

Keep 92% of earnings

A transparent 8% fee covers platform costs and the cooperative fund. No hidden charges, no surprise deductions, no sliding scales.

📱

Teaching suite

HD video lessons, interactive whiteboard, screen sharing, file exchange, and built-in scheduling. Everything you need in one place.

🏛

Democratic governance

Vote on fee structures, platform policies, and new features. One tutor, one vote. Your cooperative, your rules.

💲

Set your own rates

You know what your expertise is worth. Set your hourly rate and adjust it anytime. No algorithms undercutting you.

🤝

Direct relationships

Build lasting connections with your students. Your students stay your students, with portable reviews and reputation.

📚

Educator community

Share lesson plans, discuss pedagogy, and collaborate with fellow tutors. A professional network that actually helps you teach better.

How your teaching day changes

⚠ On a tutoring platform
1Log in. Check if the platform changed fees again.
2New student request. Platform takes 100% of the intro session.
3Teach a great hour of calculus. Platform keeps 25%.
4Student wants to message you. Must go through platform chat.
5Try to raise your rate. Platform algorithm buries your profile.
6End of day: great teaching, mediocre pay, zero control.
VS
✓ On your cooperative
1Log in. Same fair 8% fee you voted to set.
2New student finds you. Full payment from the first session.
3Teach a great hour of calculus. Keep 92% of it.
4Student messages you directly. Your relationship, no middleman.
5Set your rate to match your experience. Profile stays visible.
6End of day: great teaching, fair pay, you are an owner.

Better for everyone in education

Docens creates a better experience for tutors, students, parents, and schools by removing the extractive middleman.

🎓

Tutors

Keep more of what you earn, set your own rates, and build a sustainable teaching practice with real ownership.

📖

Students

Lower session costs because tutors keep more. Direct relationships with your tutor, not a platform algorithm.

👪

Parents

Transparent pricing with no hidden fees. Know that your money goes to qualified educators, not corporate shareholders.

🏫

Schools

Partner with a cooperative of vetted tutors for after-school programs, test prep, and supplemental instruction at fair rates.

Docens vs. Wyzant and Chegg Tutors

⚠ Wyzant / Chegg / Preply
25-40% commission extracted from every tutoring session
Platform owns the student relationship and controls communication
Your reviews and reputation are locked to one platform
Rates constrained by algorithms that favor cheap tutors
Zero ownership, zero voice in platform decisions
✓ Docens cooperative
8% transparent fee covering only real platform costs
Direct student relationships that you own and control
Portable reputation that follows you across the cooperative
Set your own rates based on your expertise and experience
Full cooperative ownership with one tutor, one vote governance

See how much more you keep with Docens

Adjust your sessions per week and hourly rate to compare earnings on traditional platforms versus the Docens cooperative.

Sessions per week
5 sessions/week
130
Your hourly rate
$50/hr
$20$100
On Wyzant / Chegg
$187
$9,750 per year
On Docens
$230
$11,960 per year
Extra in your pocket
+$43/week
= $2,210 per year

Educators who made the switch

I taught AP Chemistry on Wyzant for three years and watched them take a quarter of every session. On Docens I keep 92%, and I finally feel like my expertise is valued, not exploited.

JL
Jennifer Liu
Chemistry tutor, cooperative member since 2024

The best part is not just the money. It is knowing that when I vote on a policy change, it actually happens. We decided together to lower the platform fee from 10% to 8%. Try getting Wyzant to do that.

TN
Thomas Nakamura
Math and physics tutor, board member

My students followed me from Preply to Docens. They pay less per session and I earn more. There is no catch, just no corporation extracting value from both sides of the lesson.

RC
Rosa Cardenas
Spanish and ESL tutor, cooperative member

Start teaching on your terms

1

Apply

Sign up and verify your credentials. Share your subjects, experience, and availability. We review applications within 48 hours.

2

Teach

Match with students, deliver lessons using our built-in video and whiteboard tools. Keep 92% of every session from day one.

3

Own

After your first month, become a member-owner. Vote on policies, share in profits, and help shape the future of education.

Open source. Auditable. Yours.

Docens runs on Coopify, a 100% open-source platform. Every line of code is public. No hidden algorithms deciding who gets students, no secret formulas for search ranking. Just transparent, fair technology owned by educators.

4,200+
Commits
85+
Contributors
AGPL
License
View on GitHub →
# Clone and run locally
git clone coopify/platform
cd platform
bin/setup

# Start the platform
bin/rails server

# Your cooperative is live
openhttp://localhost:3000
Early Access

Free today, fair pricing forever.

🎓

Free during beta

Full access to all teaching tools. No credit card required. Help us build the tutoring platform educators deserve.

💜

Solidarity pricing at launch

Fees based on cooperative revenue, not per-tutor charges. Small cooperatives pay less, growing ones contribute more.

🔓

Open source forever

Docens will always be open source. Self-host for free, or use our managed platform for convenience.

Common questions

Need more help? hello@docens.coopify.app

Wyzant takes 25% of every session. Chegg takes a similar cut. Docens is owned by the tutors themselves, so there is no corporation extracting profit. You keep 92% of every session, set your own rates, and vote on platform decisions.

Any subject where there is student demand. Our tutors currently cover math, science, languages, test prep (SAT, ACT, GRE), computer science, music, writing, and more. If you have expertise, you can teach it.

Students search by subject, availability, and location. Our search algorithm is open source and transparent, so there is no hidden boost or pay-to-rank system. Your profile visibility is based on your qualifications and student reviews.

The fee covers video infrastructure, payment processing, server costs, and the cooperative fund. The cooperative fund is used for marketing, tutor support, and platform improvements, all decided by member vote.

Absolutely. Many tutors transition their existing students to Docens. Your students will pay less because our fees are lower, and you will earn more. Everyone wins except the old platform.

HD video conferencing, interactive whiteboard, screen sharing, file sharing, scheduling, payment processing, and messaging. Everything you need to deliver great lessons without juggling multiple tools.

After your first month of active tutoring, you become a member-owner. You get one vote in cooperative decisions: fee structures, new features, board elections, and policy changes. Ownership is equal regardless of how many hours you teach.

You can leave at any time. Your student reviews and reputation data are exportable. There are no non-compete clauses or lock-in periods. We want tutors to stay because the platform works, not because they are trapped.

Now accepting tutors

Ready to own your teaching ?

Join educators building a tutoring platform that values expertise over extraction. Fair pay, your rates, real ownership.

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