Goodnotes Math Assist vs alai

What each one is

Goodnotes is a note-taking app that, by its own count, has more than 25 million monthly users. Math Assist is a feature inside it that reads the equations you write and gives you results. alai is a notes app for iPad and the web with a tutor called Ally, who reads each step of your work when you pause and asks about the first one that goes wrong.

Both read handwritten math, and they do different things with it. Math Assist works out the equation you mark with an equals sign, and Ally follows how you got from one line to the next.

What Math Assist does, step by step

This is how Goodnotes' support article describes it as of October 2026:

1. Turn it on. Tap the pen tool, then Math Assist, and switch Suggestions on. It's off by default.
2. Write an equation followed by an equals sign. When Goodnotes recognizes it, the equation glows blue.
3. Tap the glow to open the Math Assist menu and pick a solving strategy. The answer appears in handwriting.

You can change how the answer is shown, set variables and watch results update, and edit the LaTeX if Goodnotes misread your writing. Goodnotes' 2024 launch post says Math Assist also suggests next steps, including for trigonometry and calculus.

Math Assist can also mark lines as wrong. The support article says that when the app misreads your handwriting, lines of your equation can be underlined as incorrect when they aren't, and that misreading is the most common cause of those mistakes. Tapping a line shows how Goodnotes read it.

Supported topics include arithmetic, equations up to quartics, systems of equations, expanding and factoring, trigonometry, functions, limits, differentiation, integration and matrices. Goodnotes lists differential equations, geometry and inequalities as not supported. Math Assist works in English-language notebooks, and Goodnotes' troubleshooting article lists iPad, iPhone and Mac.

Goodnotes also has a separate tool, Goodnotes AI for Math, with two modes. Solve gives a full worked solution with each step explained. Teach Me explains the idea first, then guides you through the problem with hints and questions. It uses Wolfram|Alpha for the math, and it shows how it read your problem before it starts.

At a glance

Goodnotes' prices are the US prices on its pricing page. Which plan includes what is from its plan comparison, and the age rule is from its terms.

What Goodnotes does well

• It's a complete notebook. PDFs, templates, audio recording, handwriting search and sync across devices, on iPad, iPhone, Mac, Android, Windows and the web.
• Math Assist is right on the page and comes with every plan, including the free one.
• It covers a lot of math, from arithmetic to integration and matrices.
• Teach Me gives guided practice on the Essential and Pro plans, with hints and questions you answer one step at a time.
• It shows its reading first. Goodnotes AI for Math shows how it read your problem before it solves anything, so a misread gets caught early.

Where alai is different

Math Assist responds to an equation you've marked with an equals sign. Ally reads your whole page each time you pause writing, line by line, and looks at how each step follows from the one before.

When a step goes wrong, Ally finds the first wrong line, highlights it and asks a short question. 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 is designed to point you at the slip without writing the fix for you, so the corrected line is yours to write. When you ask Ally for a hint, it's 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.

alai is new. 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

• Your notes already live in Goodnotes and you want quick results without leaving the page: Math Assist.
• You want a full worked solution, or a guided walkthrough of one problem: Goodnotes AI for Math, using Solve or Teach Me, on Essential or Pro.
• You're practicing and want someone to follow every step and ask about the first slip: alai.
• You work on Android or Windows: Goodnotes runs there, though Math Assist itself is on Apple devices. alai is made for iPad, though its web app runs in a browser too.
• You're under 18: both work. Goodnotes needs an account a parent or guardian creates if you're under 16; alai lets you sign up yourself from 13, and a parent sets it up for a child under 13.

Using both

You don't have to move your notes to try alai. alai can bring in a Goodnotes notebook: in Goodnotes, export the notebook in the Goodnotes format and save it to Files, then choose Bring your notes in alai. Your handwriting comes in as ink you can keep writing beside. A simple split is to keep lecture notes in Goodnotes and do problem sets in alai.