ChatGPT study mode vs alai

What each one is

ChatGPT study mode is a setting inside ChatGPT. You turn it on in a chat, and ChatGPT tries to guide you with questions and explanations instead of only giving the final answer. alai is a notes app for iPad and the web with Ally, an adaptive AI tutor that follows your work through a problem, asks about the first step that goes wrong and learns which kind of help works for you.

Both are meant to help you work a problem out yourself. The difference is where the work happens: in study mode it's a conversation, and in alai it's the page you write on, in your own handwriting.

At a glance

ChatGPT's prices are the US prices on its pricing page, and its age rule is from OpenAI's Terms of Use.

How ChatGPT study mode works

OpenAI launched study mode on July 29, 2025. As of October 2026, its help article says study mode is available on every ChatGPT plan, on the web, iOS and Android, with any model. You turn it on in a regular chat by choosing Study from the + menu, or by typing @study on the web.

With study mode on, ChatGPT asks what you already know and where you got stuck, explains an idea in layers, and checks your understanding as you go. You can ask it to quiz you one question at a time, write practice questions, or turn your class notes into a study plan. You can upload notes, slides, a worksheet, a PDF or a photo of a problem, and it works from them. If memory is on in your settings, it can use what it remembers about your goals and the topics you've studied. You can type or, where it's available, use voice dictation.

OpenAI says study mode runs on custom instructions written with teachers, scientists and pedagogy experts, and that it was built with college students in mind.

What ChatGPT study mode does well

• It isn't tied to one subject. OpenAI's examples run from introductory biology and algebra to game theory and accounting, so one tool can cover your whole course load.
• It meets you at your level. You can ask it to slow down, use simpler words, give an analogy or go deeper, and it adjusts.
• It works from your own materials. Upload a syllabus or a set of slides and ask for a plan for the week before the exam.
• It's in the free plan, inside an app you may already use.
• It turns a wrong answer into a walkthrough. When a Tom's Guide reviewer answered an algebra practice problem wrong on purpose in July 2025, study mode walked through how to solve it.

OpenAI is open about the limits. Study mode can make mistakes, and there may be times when it gives a direct answer; you can ask it for hints or a quiz instead. It's a mode you choose, so you can switch it on and off within a conversation. For teen accounts linked to a parent, the parent can set study hours, which start new chats in study mode at set times.

Where alai is different

alai starts from the page. You write the problem out by hand, the way you would on paper, and each time you pause, Ally reads what you've written. You don't need to describe your work or take a photo of it.

When a step goes wrong, Ally finds the first wrong line, highlights it and asks a short question about it. If 5(x + 2) turns into 5x + 2 on your next line, Ally asks something like "Nice job getting 5x; does the 5 in 5(x + 2) reach the 2 too?" The question sends you back to that one step so you can fix it yourself. If you're stuck before anything has gone wrong, you can ask Ally for a hint. Hints are designed to stop one step short of the next move.

Ally also remembers what tripped you up in earlier sessions and what helped, and can bring that up when the same slip comes back. You can hold to talk and ask Ally why a step works. And you can bring the worksheet you already have: upload a photo or a PDF, and the page becomes the place you write.

alai is newer and smaller than ChatGPT. It opened to the public in November 2026. alai is for students 13 and older in the US, and younger children through a parent.

Which to pick

• You're learning a topic or reviewing for a test, in any subject: ChatGPT study mode. It can explain, quiz you and plan your review from your notes.
• You're doing a page of algebra or physics problems by hand and want the slip caught while you're on it: alai.
• You finished a problem and want to know why your answer is wrong: either one. In study mode, upload a photo of your work and ask it to help you find the mistake. In alai, Ally points at the first wrong step on your page.
• You're 13 to 17: both work, with a parent's or guardian's permission.
• You don't have an iPad: ChatGPT, which runs on the web, iOS and Android. alai is made for iPad, though its web app runs in a browser too.

Using both

The two fit together. You might use study mode to get a concept straight before you start, for example by asking why you multiply every term when you expand brackets, and then do the problem set in alai, where Ally follows each step. You could also keep ChatGPT for reading and essays, and use alai when the work is math on the page.