Photomath, Mathway and GeoGebra compared — camera solving, step-by-step working and interactive graphs for homework, revision and understanding it.
An app that only hands over the answer is worth very little; one that shows how the answer is reached can replace thirty minutes of private tutoring. That difference in explanation is the real dividing line between these tools — and the reason most of them keep the step-by-step working behind a paid plan. The three below also aim at different moments: photographing a worksheet and seeing each step, throwing any problem at a wide-coverage calculator, or manipulating graphs until the concept clicks. The 3 apps in this guide were picked for those three jobs, from high-school homework to visualizing university-level functions.
Photomath points your camera at a problem — handwritten ones included — and explains each step in plain language instead of just giving the result.
Photomath turned the phone camera into a maths tutor: point it at a printed or handwritten exercise and it returns not just the result but the working, broken into steps written for someone still learning the topic. Coverage runs from arithmetic through to calculus, and its handwriting recognition is reliable enough for messy notebook pages, which makes it genuinely useful while revising at home. The detailed explanations beyond the basic breakdown sit behind the paid plan, so the free tier proves the answer more than it teaches method. There are two honest caveats: it can become a copying tool if you skip attempting the problem first, and long word problems still defeat it.
Mathway covers the widest syllabus — algebra, trig, calculus, statistics and even chemistry — and gives answers free, with steps behind a paywall.
Mathway is the broad net of the group: arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, calculus, statistics, chemistry and a built-in graphing calculator all sit in one app, so a problem from an unusual subject is less likely to be refused. Typing or photographing a question returns the answer for free, which is handy for a quick check. The catch is the exact thing that matters for learning: seeing the steps requires a subscription, so without paying it confirms results more than it teaches method. The free app also runs pushy ads, and its user ratings are uneven, largely for those two reasons. Think of it as a powerful answer engine with tuition sold separately.
GeoGebra does not do homework for you: it plots functions and geometry you can drag and watch react, completely free and ad-free.
GeoGebra is the understanding tool rather than a solver. It is the go-to software in secondary schools for plotting functions, geometry and statistics interactively: drag a parameter and the curve moves with you, which is how abstract equations turn into something you can see. It costs nothing, shows no ads, is built by an educational organisation and remains a standard in schools and universities. What it will not do is hand over homework solutions or numbered steps — if you want the answer computed, Photomath or Mathway is the tool. It also takes more effort to learn, and some users report bugs on particular phones behind its uneven ratings. The payoff is comprehension rather than speed.
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Questions & answers
What is the best free maths app?
GeoGebra is the only one here that is free and ad-free without a paid tier, although its job is visualizing and understanding rather than computing exercise answers. Among the apps that actually solve, Photomath is the best free option: it returns the answer and a basic explanation at no cost, reserving the deeper step-by-step explanations for its paid plan. Mathway gives answers free but charges the moment you want the working shown.
Photomath or Symbolab?
Photomath for high school: its camera reading is the strongest of the group and its explanations are pitched at learners still building the basics. Symbolab for university: it handles complex integrals, series and differential equations Photomath will not attempt, and its maths keyboard makes advanced notation comfortable to enter. Many students keep both — the camera for routine work, Symbolab when the syllabus gets serious.
Do these apps help you learn or just help you copy?
Both, depending entirely on when you open them. Used before attempting the exercise, they simply supply answers and teach nothing. Used afterward, to compare working and locate where your reasoning broke, they are unusually valuable: they identify the exact step where you went wrong, the information a crossed-out answer in class never gives. Treat them as a checker, not a shortcut, and the same app becomes a tutor.
Can they solve word problems?
Only up to a point. Photomath and Mathway read photographed expressions well, including handwritten ones, but long written problems — the train-leaves-the-station type — still defeat them. You first have to translate the wording into an equation yourself, and that translation is usually the actual hard part of the exercise. For the maths once the equation exists, they are reliable; for the reading comprehension before it, you are on your own.
More related apps
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