Success Tutoring vs Cluey Learning: Tutoring Franchise or Online Tutoring Company?

Cluey Learning comes up in almost every conversation about tutoring in Australia. It advertises heavily, it served tens of thousands of new students a year as a listed company, and it made online tutoring mainstream for Australian families. So prospective business owners often ask us a reasonable question: should I buy a tutoring franchise, or should I do what Cluey does?

The short answer is that you cannot buy a Cluey. It is a company that sells lessons directly to families and employs or contracts its tutors centrally. There is no franchise, licence or territory on offer. Success Tutoring is a tutoring franchise: a system you can own, in a physical centre, in a defined territory, with head office support. This article compares the two models honestly, gives Cluey credit for what it has achieved, and explains what the differences mean for someone who wants to build an asset.

At a glance

• Cluey Learning: Sydney-based online tutoring company. Its service launched in July 2018; co-founder Mark Rohald dates the founding to 2017 (company investor materials). Listed on the ASX in December 2020 under the code CLU. Shareholders approved a voluntary delisting from the ASX on 13 August 2026 (ASX announcements).
• Model: Live, one-to-one or small-group online lessons for students in Years 2 to 12 in mathematics, English, chemistry, biology and physics, in Australia and New Zealand. Not a franchise.
• Scale: 34,737 new students enrolled in FY2025, up 11 per cent (Cluey FY2025 results, August 2025). First-half FY2025 revenue was A$13.2 million.
• Success Tutoring: Tutoring franchise founded in Sydney in 2017 by Michael Black, franchising since around 2020. Physical, retail-style centres for K-12 English and Mathematics on a membership model. Franchise partners own their centres.
• Footprint: Success Tutoring reported 35 centres with a launch schedule for 80 more in 2023 (Franchise Executives), with New Zealand, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore and India announced as international markets.

A tutoring franchise and an online platform are different businesses

The most important distinction is who owns what.

Cluey owns everything: the brand, the technology platform, the curriculum, the tutor workforce and every customer relationship. Families pay Cluey. Tutors are paid by Cluey. If you are a tutor on the platform, you are a worker. If you are an investor, you were, until 2026, a shareholder in an ASX company; following the approved delisting you would need to be a private shareholder.

In a tutoring franchise, you own the operating business. Success Tutoring franchise partners sign a franchise agreement for a territory, lease and fit out a centre, employ their tutors, enrol their own members and keep the business income after royalties and costs. Head office owns the brand and the system; you own the centre and the local relationships. When you eventually sell, you are selling a business with members, staff and a lease, which is something a Cluey tutor can never do.

That is not a criticism of Cluey. Centralised online delivery has genuine advantages: a single technology stack, consistent quality control, no leases, and the ability to match a Year 11 physics student in Dubbo with a specialist tutor in Melbourne. It is simply a different kind of enterprise, and it offers no ownership path.

What students get

Cluey students log in to live online sessions, one-to-one or in small groups, aligned to the student's school programme. The company has invested heavily in its own platform and content. For older students needing subject-specific help in chemistry or physics, that specialist matching is a real advantage. Cluey's own FY2025 reporting noted a shift away from higher-revenue session types and reduced acquisition spending in the first half, then a recovery in new student numbers in the second half.

Success Tutoring students attend a local centre as members. The experience is intentionally social and visible: a bright retail-style space, trained tutors working with small groups, a consistent K-12 English and Mathematics curriculum maintained by head office, and a culture built around the values Motivate, Uplift, Inspire. Many parents still want their child out of the bedroom and off the screen for tutoring, and they value a place where the tutor knows their child by name and a centre owner they can speak to at pick-up. You can see how the curriculum is structured on our learning resources page.

Online and in-centre tutoring are not mutually exclusive, and both have a place. The question for a would-be owner is which of them you can actually own.

What franchise partners get

Because Cluey is not a franchise, there is no franchisee support package to compare. The closest equivalents are the two ways a person can participate: as a tutor paid per session, or as an employee in the Sydney head office.

Success Tutoring provides a full operating system to franchise partners, packaged as the "Success Kit":

• Launch and pre-marketing support: centres build a member base before opening, and centres have reported opening with 45, 55, 60 and 70+ members on day one.
• Site selection, leasing and fit-out support for a retail-style centre.
• Tutor recruitment and tutor training through an online franchise training platform, so you are never the only person who can teach.
• Curriculum and learning resources for K-12 English and Maths.
• Ongoing marketing support and a brand that is now active or announced across six international markets.
• A flat franchising structure: franchise partners deal directly with head office leadership.

Franchise partners do not need a teaching background. Many have come from corporate, engineering, finance and small-business careers, and their stories are collected on our franchise stories page.

Investment, fees and the economics of each model

Success Tutoring does not quote franchise fees, royalties or set-up costs in articles. Those figures change and every candidate receives a disclosure document under the Franchising Code of Conduct. The current structure is on our investment schedule page, and our potential earnings page explains how to think about centre revenue responsibly.

Cluey has no entry price because there is nothing to buy. What its public filings do show is what a centralised online model costs to run at scale. In the first half of FY2025 the company reported revenue of A$13.2 million, down 23 per cent on the prior period, alongside a deliberate cut in customer acquisition spending (ASX announcement, February 2025). For the full year it reported a A$4.4 million improvement in EBITDA, with an underlying EBITDA loss of A$4.0 million, and operating and marketing costs down 21 per cent (ASX announcement, August 2025). In 2026 the board sought and won shareholder approval to delist, citing the costs of a listing and a wish to focus on product and technology.

Those numbers are not a judgement on Cluey's quality. They illustrate a structural truth about direct-to-consumer online tutoring: customer acquisition is national, expensive and continuous, because every student is won from a screen. A franchised centre acquires members locally, through the school gate, the shopping strip and word of mouth, and the franchise partner has a personal stake in every one of them. That is why launch pre-marketing works for a centre in a way it cannot for a national platform.

Markets and footprint

Cluey serves students across Australia and New Zealand from Sydney, with no physical centres. Its Code Camp subsidiary runs holiday camps and after-school coding programmes; the company announced that Code Camp's UK operations would close by 31 August 2026.

Success Tutoring is a physical network. Reported Australian milestones include 35 centres with a launch schedule for 80 more (Franchise Executives, 2023) and territories sold in more than 100 Australian locations (Inside Small Business). New Zealand was announced as the first overseas market with 25 sites planned over four years, followed by Texas in the United States, Singapore, Canada with a 2026 launch, the United Kingdom and India. Treat these as snapshots and check available locations for current territories.

Who each option suits

Cluey may suit you if you are a tutor who wants flexible, paid sessions without running a business, or a family that wants specialist senior-subject help online. It is not an option for anyone who wants to own a tutoring business.

A tutoring franchise such as Success Tutoring may suit you if you want to build a local asset you can grow and eventually sell, you want a proven system and pre-launch marketing rather than a cold start, and you want your name on the door of a centre in your own community. If you are comparing a franchise with building your own independent centre, our guide to a tutoring franchise versus starting from scratch covers that decision in detail.

For a comparison with another centre-based brand, see Success Tutoring vs Kumon.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cluey Learning a franchise?

No. Cluey Learning is a company that delivers online tutoring directly to families and engages its tutors centrally. It does not offer franchises, licences or territories.

Can I invest in Cluey instead of buying a tutoring franchise?

Cluey listed on the ASX in December 2020, but shareholders approved its removal from the ASX in August 2026. After delisting, shares are not publicly traded. Buying a franchise is an operating investment, not a passive shareholding, and the two should not be confused.

Is online tutoring replacing tutoring centres?

Both are growing parts of the Australian market. Online suits specialist senior subjects and remote families; centres suit younger students, families who want screen-free learning and parents who value a local relationship. Many centres, including franchised ones, also use digital resources.

Do I need teaching experience to open a Success Tutoring centre?

No. Franchise partners run the business and recruit tutors with head office support. Training is delivered through our franchise training programme.

What does a Success Tutoring franchise cost?

Fees and set-up costs are published on our investment schedule page and detailed in the disclosure document provided to every candidate.

Cluey has done the sector a service by making tutoring a normal household expense in Australia. If you want to own the business that serves that demand in your own community, a tutoring franchise is the practical route. Start with our why us overview, then read the process to see how a Success Tutoring centre goes from enquiry to opening day.

All third-party trademarks belong to their respective owners. Figures about other franchises are taken from their public websites, disclosure documents or reputable franchise directories at the time of writing and may have changed; verify them directly before making any decision. This article is general information, not financial or legal advice.