This study seeks to explore the perceptions of undergraduate pedagogy students in a peer tutoring project undertaken in a first-year course with the 2019 and 2020 cohorts. A face-toface format was used in 2019 and this was adapted to an online version in 2020 amid the COVID emergency. The study design was qualitative and content analysis was employed to systematize the data. Viewed from an active learning and socioconstructivist perspective, the results suggest that tutoring supports cognitive and social aspects. We observed more situated learning, the development of metacognition, and the promotion of a climate of trust. No differences were found in the perception of learning upon comparing the face-to-face and online formats. Nonetheless, problems of noise and space were observed in a face-toface setting, while we encountered reduced motivation and misinformation with the online format.