From the founder.

I'm Lenin. I tutor HSC English in Sydney. I built Crestio because every Sunday afternoon I was opening three different spreadsheets, copy-pasting session notes into emails, chasing parents for invoice payments, and forgetting which student needed what next week.

I tried Teachworks. Too much. I tried Notion. Too DIY. I tried sticky notes. Lost them. So I built the tool I wished existed — the one that lets me finish a session, scribble three lines into a phone, and have everything else handled.

Crestio is in early access. I'm still the main person using it. If you're a tutor and you want to try it, I'd love to know what works and what doesn't — email me directly at lenin@crestio.ai and I'll respond personally.

Stripe Connect went live last week. Parents can now pay invoices with a card directly instead of bank transfer.

The math on a $100 invoice: Stripe takes 2.9% + 30¢ (about $3.20), Crestio takes a 1% platform fee ($1), you receive $95.80. Bank transfer still works exactly like before — if your rate doesn't account for the card friction, leave that invoice on bank transfer. Both options live side-by-side on the invoice page.

Refunds are one tap from the invoice. Money goes back to the parent's card in 5–10 business days, the platform fee reverses, and you don't pay the Stripe fee on a refunded charge.

A few billing setups don't fit the standard flow yet: group sessions where one parent pays for multiple kids, sibling discounts, prepaid lesson packs. If that's how you bill, email me at lenin@crestio.ai and tell me what your invoice currently looks like. I want the next iteration to handle it instead of pushing you back to bank transfer.