The short answer
The best Gauth alternative depends on where your coursework actually lives. Gauth is a phone app built around a camera: you photograph a problem and it returns worked steps. That is excellent for a printed worksheet or a handwritten problem, and awkward for coursework that is already on a screen — nobody wants to photograph their own monitor. If your assignments are in Canvas, Blackboard or Moodle, a browser tool that reads the question in place is the better fit.
What is Gauth good at?
Credit where it is due. Gauth, built inside ByteDance and formerly known as Gauthmath, has grown from a maths solver into a broad homework assistant covering far more than numbers, and it returns step-by-step reasoning rather than only a final answer. It handles printed and handwritten problems well, and it offers a live-tutor add-on for when the AI explanation is not enough. For photographing a physical worksheet, it is a strong option.
Why do students look for a Gauth alternative?
- It is phone-first. Coursework done on a laptop means either photographing your screen or retyping the question, and retyping is where formulas and diagrams get lost.
- Accuracy varies on advanced material. Reviews consistently find it reliable on standard problems and more variable on advanced topics — so anything past introductory level needs checking step by step.
- It does not see your course. Like any camera app, it works from the image, not from the platform your assignment lives in.
How do the main options compare?
| Option | Where it works | Best for | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apex Vision AI | Browser, on the page | Coursework inside Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Top Hat | Desktop browser; generated reasoning to verify |
| Gauth | Phone app, camera | Printed and handwritten problems, broad subjects | More variable on advanced topics |
| Photomath | Phone app, camera | Maths specifically, very deep step-by-step | Maths only — no essays, readings or quizzes |
| ChatGPT | Separate tab or app | Open-ended explanation and writing | Only sees what you paste; no course context |
How is Apex Vision AI different from Gauth?
The difference is structural rather than a feature list. Gauth starts from a photograph; Apex Vision AI starts from the page. It runs as a browser extension inside Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle and Top Hat, so it reads the question exactly as your instructor wrote it — the wording, the attached diagram, the answer choices — without a photo, a crop or a retype in between. It then shows the worked reasoning beside the original question, which is what makes checking it practical.
Which should I use?
Genuinely: it depends on your coursework, and using both is reasonable. If most of your problems arrive on paper — a printed problem set, a textbook, your own handwritten working — a camera app is the natural tool and Gauth is a good one. If most of your work is submitted through an LMS in a browser, a camera is an extra step that loses information, and an on-page tool will be faster and more accurate for the same question.
Is there a free Gauth alternative?
Apex Vision AI starts with 30 free requests and no card required, which is enough to run it against a real week of coursework. That is a better test than any comparison table, including this one — including whether the explanations hold up on the specific subjects you are taking, which is the thing no review can tell you.
Does it handle more than maths?
Yes. Apex Vision AI covers over 100 subjects, from calculus and organic chemistry through statistics, accounting, psychology, literature and world history. Because it reads the page rather than parsing an equation, it works the same on a multiple-choice biology question with a diagram as on a maths problem — which is the practical limit camera-based maths solvers run into once your timetable includes essays and readings.
Is it against the rules to use either one?
That depends on your course, not the tool. Most institutions permit AI study tools for homework, practice and revision, and prohibit them in closed-book or proctored assessments. Published policy guidance is consistent on one point: where an assignment does not explicitly permit AI, the safe assumption is that it is disallowed. Check your assignment brief, then your syllabus, then your institution's academic integrity policy. Apex Vision AI is designed for the permitted side of that line, and we do not support using it during proctored work.
How do I switch?
Install the extension from the Chrome Web Store, sign in once, and open it on an assignment you are already working on. Nothing needs importing and no card is required. Keep Gauth on your phone for the paper problems if it is useful — the two do not conflict, and the honest answer is that they are good at different things.
Try it on the question you are actually stuck on
Apex Vision AI is a Chrome extension and mobile app that reads the question already open on your screen — including diagrams and answer choices — and explains it step by step, without you copying anything into a separate chatbot. It works inside Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle and Top Hat.
Free plan includes 30 requests a day, no card required. AI answers can be wrong — always check them against your course material.