Nearo supports one-to-one online sessions for teachers, tutors, students, guests, and small organizations.
For most sessions, your Room is the easiest way to connect. Each Nearo host gets a personal meeting room that can be shared with a student, family, client, colleague, or guest. Guests can join from their browser without creating a Nearo account or downloading the Nearo app.
You can also use direct Nearo-to-Nearo Calls when both people have Nearo accounts and the Nearo desktop app installed.
Getting access to Nearo
To create your Nearo account, go to GetNearo.com and click Sign up.
Once your account is created, log in to the Nearo Dashboard to manage your settings, access your Room information, and download the Nearo desktop app.
Understanding Rooms and Calls
Nearo gives you two ways to connect for live one-to-one sessions.
Room Calls
Room Calls are the easiest way to meet with most students, families, clients, or guests.
Each Nearo host has a personal Room. You can share your Room link with someone, and they can join from their browser.
Room Calls are best when:
You want someone to join quickly.
Your guest does not have a Nearo account.
Your guest has not downloaded the Nearo app.
You are meeting with a student, parent, client, or outside guest.
You want to control when the guest enters your session.
You do not need to invite a student to your Nearo account before using a Room Call.
Direct Nearo-to-Nearo Calls
Direct Calls are available when both people are already set up with Nearo.
Direct Calls are best when:
Both people have Nearo accounts.
Both people have the Nearo desktop app installed.
Both people are regular Nearo users.
You want to call someone directly from your roster.
For most sessions, we recommend starting with your Room.
Downloading the Nearo desktop app
Hosts use the Nearo desktop app for live sessions.
From the Dashboard, you can download the Nearo desktop app if it is not already installed on your computer.
To download the app:
Log in to the Nearo Dashboard.
Look for the option to download the Nearo app.
Install the app on your computer.
Open the Nearo desktop app when you are ready to start a session.
For detailed instructions, see the article Downloading and installing the Nearo app on Mac or Windows.
🔔 You will spend most of your time in the Nearo desktop app when running live sessions. The Dashboard is used mainly for setup, account management, and organization administration.
Starting a Room Call
For most one-to-one sessions, start with your Room.
To start a Room Call:
Open the Nearo desktop app.
Click Open Room.
Share your Room link with your student, family, client, colleague, or guest.
Have your guest open the link in their browser.
Let the guest in when you are ready.
Begin your one-to-one session.
Guests can join your Room from their browser without creating a Nearo account or downloading the Nearo app.
You do not need to invite students to your Nearo account or add them to your student roster before starting a Room Call.
Starting a direct Call
You can also call another Nearo user directly.
To start a direct Call:
Open the Nearo desktop app.
Select a student or user from your roster.
Click Call.
The person you are calling must have a Nearo account and must have the Nearo desktop app open to receive the call.
If the other person is not already set up with Nearo, use your Room instead.
Understanding the Dashboard
The Dashboard is where you manage your account, optional student invitations, teammates, organization settings, and other setup details.
Live sessions do not take place in the Dashboard.
The Dashboard is used to:
Download the Nearo app.
Manage your Room and account settings.
Invite students to your Nearo account, if you want them to appear in your roster.
View teammates or organization members.
Update account and organization settings.
Inviting students through the Dashboard is optional and is not required for Room Calls.
Teacher setup
Teachers use the Dashboard to manage optional student invitations, prepare for sessions, and access setup tools.
Viewing your student roster
Your student roster only shows students who have been invited to your Nearo account using the student invite link in your Dashboard.
If you have not invited students this way, no students will appear in your student roster.
This is expected and does not prevent you from using Room Calls. You can still open your Room and share your Room link with a student or guest.
Inviting students to Nearo
You can invite students to your Nearo account using your unique student invite link.
This is optional. It is useful if you want students to have Nearo accounts and appear in your roster for direct Calls.
To invite students:
Copy the student invite link from your Dashboard.
Share the link with your students or their parents.
Students who sign up using this link are automatically added to your roster.
If you are part of an organization with multiple teachers, you may also see a plus icon next to your roster name.
Selecting the plus icon allows you to add students directly to your roster.
🔔 You do not need to invite students this way for Room Calls. For a Room Call, you can simply share your Room link and let the guest in when they join.
Viewing teammates
If you are part of an organization, the Teammates tab shows other staff members connected to your organization.
This helps you see who else has access to Nearo.
Updating your name and display name
You can manage how your name appears to others from the Settings tab.
From Settings, you can:
Update your name for account records.
Set your display name, which is the name students and others see during sessions.
Inviting another educator to Nearo
If you want to bring another educator onto Nearo:
Log in to the Nearo Dashboard.
Click Help Center in the purple sidebar on the left.
Under the Create a ticket heading, select Invite another educator to Nearo.
Setting up an organization account
To upgrade to an organization account, which allows you to add more users:
Log in to the Nearo Dashboard.
Click Help Center in the purple sidebar on the left.
Under the Create a ticket heading, select Set up an organization account.
Organization Admin setup
Admins manage organization-wide settings, members, and rosters.
🔔 You must be designated as an Admin to access organization settings.
ℹ️ Admins also have access to all teacher functionality.
Organization management is done from the Organization Settings tab in the Dashboard. This tab is only visible to Admins.
Managing organization details
Organization-level behavior is managed in the Team Configurations section of the Organization Settings tab.
From this section, you can:
Change the organization name visible to all members.
Choose how users are labeled in sessions, such as teacher and student or host and guest.
Control whether students can see each other's names.
Decide whether users must be approved before being added to an organization or roster.
Managing organization members
Member access and roles are managed in the Manage Members section of the Organization Settings tab.
From this section, you can:
View all organization members.
Change a member's role to student, teacher, or Admin.
Remove members from the organization.
Confirm which users have Admin access.
Managing rosters
Rosters help organize teachers and students for accounts, permissions, and direct Calls.
From the Rosters section, you can:
View all rosters in the organization.
Add teachers or students using the Plus button.
Manage which members belong to each roster.
Rosters are not required for Room Calls. Hosts can still open a Room and share their Room link with a guest.
Getting help
If something is not working as expected, use the search bar in the Help Center to find relevant articles and fixes.
If you still need help accessing your account, opening your Room, downloading the Nearo app, or managing your organization, contact Nearo support for assistance.