The short answer
Photomath is very good at one thing: maths, explained step by step from a photo. If your problem is an equation on paper, it is hard to beat. Students look for an alternative when their coursework stops being only maths — essays, lab questions, multiple-choice quizzes, readings — or when the work lives on screen in an LMS, where photographing your own monitor is a poor way to get a question into a solver.
What is Photomath good at?
Photomath is owned by Google and stays deliberately focused on mathematics, from elementary arithmetic through college calculus. That focus is the point: it produces some of the clearest step-by-step working available for algebra and calculus, and it handles printed and handwritten problems from a camera. If you are working through a maths textbook on paper, it remains an excellent tool and this page is not going to pretend otherwise.
Why do students look for a Photomath alternative?
- Maths only. It does not help with essays, readings, lab write-ups, or the multiple-choice questions that make up much of a typical course load.
- Camera-first. Coursework already on a laptop screen means photographing your monitor or retyping the problem — and retyping is where notation gets mangled.
- No course context. It solves the equation in front of it, not the question as your instructor framed it, and it has no view of the method your class was actually taught.
How do the main options compare?
| Option | Subjects | Where it works | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apex Vision AI | 100+ subjects | Browser, on the page in your LMS | Desktop browser; generated reasoning to verify |
| Photomath | Maths only | Phone app, camera | No essays, readings or non-maths quizzes |
| Symbolab | Maths, some science | Web and app, typed input | You have to enter the expression yourself |
| Gauth | Broad | Phone app, camera | More variable on advanced topics |
How is Apex Vision AI different from Photomath?
Two differences, and both follow from the same design choice. It runs as a browser extension rather than a camera app, so it reads the question where it sits inside Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle or Top Hat — no photo, no crop, no retyping notation. And it is not limited to maths: because it reads the page rather than parsing an equation, the same tool handles a chemistry diagram, a multiple-choice biology question, a reading passage or an essay prompt.
Is it as good as Photomath at maths specifically?
For a clean equation photographed off a page, Photomath's step-by-step working is excellent and purpose-built, and it would be dishonest to claim otherwise. Where Apex Vision AI has the advantage is a maths question embedded in coursework — a word problem with a diagram, a multiple-choice item where the useful explanation is why the other three options fail, or a problem your instructor wrote that references the method taught in your class. Different shapes of the same subject.
Do I still need a separate app for other subjects?
That is exactly the gap this fills. A maths-only solver means one tool for calculus and something else for everything else, which is why students end up with three apps and three subscriptions. Apex Vision AI covers over 100 subjects — calculus, organic chemistry, statistics, physics, accounting, psychology, literature, world history — plus flashcards, practice exams and study guides in the same subscription.
Is there a free Photomath alternative?
Apex Vision AI starts with 30 free requests and no card required. Run it against a real week of coursework, specifically on the subjects a maths solver was never going to cover — that will tell you more than any comparison table, this one included.
Is it against the rules to use either one?
That depends on your course, not the tool. Most institutions permit AI and study tools for homework, practice and revision, and prohibit them in closed-book or proctored assessments. Published policy guidance is consistent that 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 — it shows reasoning so you can follow and verify it — 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. No import, no card. If you do a lot of maths on paper, keeping Photomath on your phone alongside it is perfectly sensible — they are good at different shapes of problem, and there is no reason to pick only one.
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.