Free AI math solvers compared: What you actually get without paying

Most “best free math solver” lists still rank Microsoft Math Solver near the top. Microsoft retired it on 7 July 2025 and pointed users towards the Math Assistant in OneNote instead. If your shortlist came from an article written before that date, one of the four options on it no longer exists.

The second problem with those lists is the word free. Almost every solver hands you the final answer for nothing. The working is what gets charged for, and the working is the part you need if you are trying to learn a method rather than fill in a box. So this comparison is built around three questions: what each tool gives away, where the paywall sits and what each one is actually good at.

What separates one solver from another

Feature lists tend to blur these tools together. Three differences matter more than the rest.

•         The engine underneath. Symbolab and GeoGebra are built on computer algebra systems, which manipulate symbols by fixed rules. Enter the expression correctly and the algebra will be correct. AI-led solvers reason more flexibly across messier inputs, which is why they cope with word problems, and they can also be wrong with complete confidence.

•         How well the scan reads. OCR decides whether you spend your evening studying or retyping. Cramped handwriting, stacked fractions and small superscripts are where recognition tends to break, whichever tool you use.

•         Whether the steps are free. This is the line that splits the four tools below into two pairs.

The four worth using in 2026

1. AI Math Solver

AIMath-Solver.net runs in the browser with no sign-up and no app. It takes typed equations, screenshots, photos of handwritten work and PDF worksheets, then returns step-by-step working with graphs. Coverage runs from arithmetic and pre-algebra through calculus, geometry, statistics, linear algebra, number theory and financial maths, with a separate calculators section for one-off computations.

Word problems are where it separates from the CAS tools. A computer algebra system expects an equation to exist already. Translating a paragraph about two trains into that equation is the step most students get stuck on, and it is the step a language-model solver can actually do.

Two things to know before you rely on it. It is web-only, so on a phone you are working through the mobile browser rather than a native camera app. And the site carries its own warning that AI can make mistakes and results should be verified. Take that at face value on anything that counts.

2. GeoGebra Math Solver

The GeoGebra Math Solver is free with no upgrade tier, from the same project behind the graphing calculators most maths departments already use. Photo scan, full working, graphs, and a homework checker that reads your own attempt and starts explaining from the point where you went wrong.

That last feature is rare and it is the reason to keep GeoGebra on the list. Most solvers replace your working. This one marks it.

Best for algebra and calculus at school and first-year undergraduate level, and for anyone who wants solving and graphing in the same window.

3. Photomath

Photomath has been part of Google since 2023 and remains the fastest way to get a handwritten page checked. Its help documentation states that camera scanning and step-by-step solutions for symbolic maths stay free. Photomath Plus, listed at $9.99 a month or $69.99 a year, adds animated tutorials and solutions matched to specific textbooks.

The trade-off is that Photomath is built mobile-first, so there is no real desktop workflow. Accuracy also drops on untidy handwriting and unusual notation, which is a scanning limit rather than a maths one. Retyping a problem you know it has misread will save you more time than rescanning it.

4. Symbolab

Symbolab is the strongest of the four on advanced work: derivatives, integrals, series, matrix operations, differential equations and a large library of dedicated calculators.

It also carries the clearest paywall. The free tier gives you the answer. Full step-by-step working sits behind Symbolab Pro. Pricing has moved around and differs by region and platform, so check the figure on the site rather than trusting any listicle, this one included.

The tool that dropped off the list

Microsoft Math Solver was the standard free recommendation for years: strong OCR, real-time graphs, practice quizzes generated from your scanned problem, no ads and no upsell. The mobile apps went first, then the web tool was retired on 7 July 2025. Microsoft now directs users to the Math Assistant inside OneNote, which handles equations well enough but is not a scan-and-solve replacement and needs a Microsoft account.

Feature comparison

	AI Math Solver	GeoGebra Math Solver	Photomath	Symbolab
Step-by-step working, free	Yes	Yes	Yes, for core symbolic maths	No, Pro required
Photo or scan input	Photos, screenshots and PDFs	Photo scan	Camera-first scanning	Photo scan
Word problems	Takes narrative text directly	Not the focus	Basic	Not the focus
Graphs and visuals	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Where it runs	Browser	Browser and apps	Mobile apps	Browser and apps
Account needed	No	Optional, for saving work	App download	Optional
Paid tier	None	None	Plus, $9.99 a month or $69.99 a year	Pro, price varies
Strongest at	Word problems and mixed-format uploads	Checking your own working	Reading handwriting	Advanced STEM computation

Using a solver without undoing your own learning

A solver that gives you the answer in four seconds can quietly remove the part of homework that was doing the work. Four habits keep it useful.

•         Attempt the problem first, then compare. Used as a marker rather than a source, the tool becomes a tutor with infinite patience.

•         Read the step you did not expect. That is where your gap is. The steps you would have written yourself teach you nothing.

•         Check the input before you trust the output. Most wrong answers from a scan are wrong reads: a 5 taken for an S, an exponent taken for multiplication, a fraction bar lost entirely.

•         Redo one similar problem with the tool closed. If you cannot, you have watched a solution rather than learned a method.

Which one to pick

For everyday homework on a laptop, aimath-solver.net takes the widest range of inputs and does not put the working behind a payment. Add GeoGebra when you want your own attempt checked instead of replaced, or Photomath when you would rather point a camera at the page than type. Keep Symbolab for the stage where you need a serious computer algebra system and paying for the steps starts to make sense.

Whichever you use, verify anything that carries marks. Every tool here gets things wrong, and the two AI-led ones say so themselves.