alai vs Photomath

What each one is

Photomath is a math solver app from Google. You point your phone's camera at a problem, and it shows a solution with every step explained. alai is a notes app for iPad and the web with Ally, an adaptive AI tutor that follows your work while you solve the problem yourself and asks about the first step that goes wrong.

So they answer different questions. Photomath answers "How is this problem solved?" alai answers "Where did my own work go wrong?"

At a glance

Photomath's prices are the US prices on photomath.com, and its age rule is from its Terms of Service.

How Photomath works

Photomath's home page describes three steps. You scan the problem (word problems too), a solution appears for your exact problem, often with more than one method to choose from, and then you go through each step to understand it. You can also type a problem into its calculator. Its App Store listing says it reads problems that are handwritten, in a textbook or on a screen, and its Google Play listing says it covers arithmetic through calculus, with interactive graphs and video lessons. Both stores list Google as the developer.

The free version includes the step-by-step explanations. Photomath Plus adds animated tutorials, deeper explanations and contextual hints, and the store listings add textbook solutions. Google's help center says the core step-by-step solutions will stay free.

What Photomath does well

• It's quick. You point the camera at a problem and a full solution appears, even for a word problem.
• It explains each step. The steps come with the reasons behind them, and the free version includes them. Photomath says its content comes from its own team of mathematicians and former math teachers.
• It reads what you have. Handwriting, a textbook page and a screen all work.
• It often shows more than one method, which helps when your class teaches a different approach from the first one you see.
• It runs on phones, including Android, so it's there when your iPad isn't.

Where alai is different

In alai you do the solving. You write the problem out by hand, and each time you pause, Ally reads what you've written. A worked solution shows you one correct way through the problem. Ally's question is about the way you went.

Here's the example from alai's home page. Under 3(x + 4) = 2x + 19, a student writes 3x + 4 = 2x + 19. Ally highlights the +4 and asks, "Did the 3 reach every term inside the brackets?" 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're stuck before anything has gone wrong, you can ask Ally for a hint. alai's hints are designed to stop one step short, so the next move is still yours.

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. If your homework is on a worksheet, you can upload a photo or a PDF of it, and the page becomes the place you write.

alai is much newer than Photomath. 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 want to see how a kind of problem is solved from start to finish: Photomath.
• You've finished a problem and want to compare your answer with a full solution: Photomath.
• You're doing homework by hand and want to find your own mistake while you still remember your thinking: alai.
• You keep making the same slip, like dropping a term when you distribute: alai, because Ally asks about the exact step where it happens and remembers it next time.
• You're 13 to 17: both work, with a parent's or guardian's permission.
• You only have a phone: Photomath. alai is made for iPad.

Using both

Some students like to see a full solution after they've tried a problem on their own. If that's you, work the problem in alai first, where Ally follows each step and asks about the first wrong one. Then open Photomath when you want a complete worked example of the same kind of problem.