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If you are researching maths help for your child in Australia, three names probably keep coming up: Cluey Learning, Mathspace, and imSteyn. They are very different products at very different price points, and the right choice depends on what you actually need.
This is an honest comparison, including the obvious bias that we make imSteyn. We will be straight about what each option is good at and where it falls short.
The short version
- Cluey Learning is live one-on-one human tutoring online, premium-priced, best for senior years and serious exam prep.
- Mathspace is an adaptive practice platform that many Australian schools already provide, best as a homework and curriculum-tracking tool.
- imSteyn is an AI Socratic tutor for daily practice, covering Australian Years 1–12, best for affordable structured learning at home.
They are not really competitors. They solve different problems. The honest answer for many families is some combination, not just one.
Cluey Learning
Cluey is an Australian company offering live online tutoring with qualified tutors over their custom video platform. Sessions are scheduled, recorded, and tutors prepare lesson plans based on your child's curriculum.
What Cluey does well
- Real human teaching. A trained tutor who can read your child's confusion, adapt explanations, and build a relationship over time. Nothing replaces that for some students.
- Curriculum match. Cluey tutors are matched to your state and year level. Their content is genuinely aligned to Australian syllabuses including HSC, VCE, and QCE.
- Senior years and exam prep. This is where Cluey shines. For ATAR-track students, having a specialist tutor who knows the exam style is genuinely valuable.
- Recorded sessions. Students can rewatch lessons before tests.
Where Cluey falls short
- Price. Cluey runs around $80 to $100 per session, usually weekly. That is $300 to $400 a month per child for one hour a week of tutoring. For families with multiple kids or budgets under $200 a month, it is out of reach.
- Frequency. Most families do one session a week. That leaves six other days where your child is on their own with homework. Tutoring once a week is rarely enough on its own to fix significant gaps.
- Tutor variability. Like any human-based service, the quality of your specific tutor matters a lot. Some are exceptional, some are uni students reading from a script.
Best for
Year 11 and 12 students preparing for ATAR exams, or families with the budget to invest seriously in personalised tutoring for a struggling student.
Mathspace
Mathspace is an adaptive maths platform that many Australian schools have already licensed. If your child uses Mathspace, they probably did not choose to: their school assigned it.
What Mathspace does well
- School integration. When teachers set Mathspace homework, students complete it in the platform and teachers see results. The feedback loop with school is real.
- Step-by-step working. Mathspace lets students enter their working line by line and gives feedback at each step, not just on the final answer.
- Curriculum coverage. It covers the Australian Curriculum from Year 3 to Year 12 across most strands.
- Adaptive practice. Questions adjust difficulty based on performance.
Where Mathspace falls short
- It is a practice platform, not a tutor. Mathspace shows worked solutions and gives hints, but it is not designed to actually teach concepts from scratch. If your child does not understand the topic, working through Mathspace problems often produces frustration, not learning.
- Generic feedback. The hints are pre-written and rules-based. They cannot read what your child is actually confused about.
- School-driven, not parent-driven. If your school does not use Mathspace, you cannot really get the full benefit. The home version exists but the experience is built around classroom assignment.
- It feels like work. Most students see Mathspace as homework, not learning. That is fine for what it is, but it does not change a child who is disengaged from maths.
Best for
Students whose school already uses Mathspace, where the goal is staying on top of assigned homework and getting structured practice across the curriculum.
imSteyn
imSteyn is an AI Socratic maths tutor built specifically for Australian students, covering Years 1–12. Primary years (1–6) are aligned to the Australian Curriculum; from Year 7 onwards we follow the Cambridge Essential Mathematics textbook used in many Australian schools.
What imSteyn does well
- Socratic method. imSteyn never gives away the answer. It asks guiding questions that help your child figure things out themselves, which builds the kind of understanding that transfers to exams and unfamiliar problems.
- Daily structured practice. A 4-phase system (Learn, Examples, Assess, Challenge) gives your child a clear path through every topic, suitable for 20 minutes a night.
- Affordable. $15 per month for up to three children. Less than two weeks of one Cluey session.
- Parent dashboard. You can see what your child has worked on, where they are stuck, and how their understanding is developing across topics.
- Built in Australia, for the Australian Curriculum. No translating "math" to "maths" or working out which version of long division your textbook uses.
Where imSteyn falls short
- No human tutor. If your child needs the relational accountability of a real person, an AI tutor will not replace that. Some kids respond brilliantly to the AI; others want a human in the room.
- Limited senior ATAR specialism. We cover Years 1–12, but if your child is in Year 11 or 12 chasing a 95+ ATAR, a specialist live tutor who knows the exact exam style is still the better final-push option.
- Newer product. Cluey and Mathspace have been around for over a decade. imSteyn is a 2026 product. The track record is shorter.
- Requires self-direction. The Socratic approach asks your child to think. Students who just want answers handed to them will not enjoy it (which, frankly, is the point).
Best for
Primary and secondary students (Years 1–10 especially) who need affordable, structured daily practice that builds real understanding, and parents who want visibility without paying $400 a month.
Side-by-side at a glance
| Cluey | Mathspace | imSteyn | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Live human tutoring | Adaptive practice platform | AI Socratic tutor |
| Price | ~$80-100 per session | Varies (often via school) | $15/month, up to 3 kids |
| Best for | Years 11-12, exam prep | Homework, curriculum tracking | Years 1–10, daily practice |
| Curriculum | All Australian syllabuses | All Australian Curriculum | Years 1–12 Australian Curriculum |
| Session model | Weekly 1-hour sessions | Self-paced practice | Self-paced, daily |
| Parent visibility | Session reports | School-mediated | Built-in dashboard |
| Teaches concepts | Yes (human) | Limited | Yes (Socratic AI) |
How to actually choose
Here is the honest framework.
If your child is in Year 11 or 12 chasing a strong ATAR, invest in Cluey or another live tutor. The exam-specific coaching pays for itself.
If your school uses Mathspace, lean in. Use it for what it is good at: structured practice on the curriculum your teacher is teaching.
If your child is in Years 7 to 10 and you want affordable daily practice that actually teaches, imSteyn is built for exactly that.
If your child is genuinely struggling and you have the budget, the strongest combination is one Cluey session a week for relationship and exam-style coaching, plus daily imSteyn practice to fill the other six days. That gives you human accountability and consistent practice for less than $400 a month.
Try imSteyn free
If imSteyn sounds like a fit, you can try it free for 7 days. No credit card required. Cancel anytime if it is not right for your child.
The bottom line
There is no single "best" maths tutoring option in Australia. Cluey, Mathspace, and imSteyn solve genuinely different problems. The right answer depends on your child's year level, the kind of help they need, and your budget.
Be sceptical of any review that calls one of these the "winner." Ignore your own bias toward whatever you have already paid for. Look at what your child actually needs this term, and pick accordingly.
