By Chegg
Report updated May 20, 2026
Mathway: Scan & Solve Problems
For students, parents, and teachers requiring on-demand assistance for math and science homework.
Mathway: Scan & Solve Problems is a challenged education app that is free with in-app purchases. With a 4.1/5 rating from 414.7K reviews, it faces significant user friction. Users particularly appreciate core math problem solving functionality provides reliable academic support for students, though persistent ui overlays covering answer fields prevent users from viewing solutions remains a common concern.
What is Mathway: Scan & Solve Problems?
Mathway is a camera-based math solver for students that provides step-by-step homework assistance on iOS and Android.
Students hire Mathway to bypass complex homework hurdles via instant OCR, but the paywall-gated explanations create a value-tension that drives users toward free generative AI alternatives.
Current Momentum
v6.9 · 1mo ago
Maintenance- Maintains consistent category chart presence.
- Ships stability-focused updates.
Active Nemesis
Photomath
By Google
Other Rivals
7-Day Rank Pulse 🇺🇸
EducationNo ranking data
Rating Pulse 🇺🇸
Recent User MoodAI-powered deep analysis surfacing high-signal insights. Still in beta, accuracy improves daily. For informational purposes only.
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
How Is The App's Momentum Right Now?
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What Are The Key Features?
Optical character recognition captures math problems from physical homework for automated processing
Provides detailed breakdown of mathematical operations rather than just final answers
How much does it cost?
- Free tier with ad support
- Premium tier with 7-day free trial
Freemium model uses a 7-day trial to gate step-by-step instructional content behind a subscription.
Who Built It?
Chegg
Providing students with on-demand academic support and step-by-step problem solving for STEM and core subjects.
Portfolio
3
Apps
Who is Chegg?
Chegg maintains a distinct competitive advantage by vertically integrating automated solvers with a massive proprietary library of expert-verified solutions. Their moat is built on high switching costs for students who rely on their specific step-by-step pedagogical format, which is difficult for generic AI models to replicate with the same academic rigor. The current strategic inflection point involves a transition toward AI-powered tutoring, a move that seeks to scale their expert network while navigating the reputational risks of automated content.
Who is Chegg for?
- High school
- College students
- Along with parents
- Educators
Portfolio momentum
Released 12 updates across 2 apps in the last 6 months, with the most recent update occurring 9 days ago.
What other apps does Chegg make?
What do users think recently?
Low confidence · 50 reviews analyzed · Based on 50 reviews. Signal may be noisy.
What is the recent mood?
Recent user voice shows a frustrated sentiment. Users appreciate core math problem solving functionality provides reliable academic support for students, but report persistent ui overlays covering answer fields prevent users from viewing solutions and infinite loading loops and performance degradation hinder basic calculation tasks.
What Users Love
What Frustrates Users
What Users Want
What is the competitive landscape for Mathway: Scan & Solve Problems?
How's The Education Market?
How does it evolve in the Education market?
Mathway holds a #134 Grossing position in the US Education category, but its grossing rank lags behind free-tier chart performance. This gap signals that the current paywall strategy creates conversion friction that limits revenue relative to the app's discovery advantage.
| Country | Category | Chart | Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇧🇴 Bolivia | Education | AndroidFree | #105 | ▼15 |
| 🇭🇳 Honduras | Education | AndroidFree | #117 | ▼29 |
The rivals identified
The Nemesis
Head to Head
Mathway must pivot toward specialized, high-complexity problem solving or niche academic subjects to avoid being commoditized by Photomath's broad-spectrum AI dominance.
What sets Mathway: Scan & Solve Problems apart
Offers a more focused, lightweight interface that prioritizes immediate problem solving over complex educational ecosystem features.
Maintains a specialized brand identity as a dedicated calculator tool rather than a general-purpose educational platform.
What's Photomath's Edge
Integrates deeply with Google's broader educational ecosystem, providing a seamless transition from search to solution.
Features advanced AR-based overlays that guide students through complex geometric and algebraic visualizations in real-time.
Contenders
Employs generative AI to provide conversational explanations that mimic a human tutor's pedagogical style.
Aggressive feature deployment cycle allows for quick testing of new AI-driven homework assistance tools.
Brainly: Your Personal Tutor
★4.7 (283.5K)Brainly sp. z o o
⚡Brainly dominates the social-learning niche, providing a community-driven alternative to automated solvers.
Utilizes a peer-to-peer Q&A model that provides human context for complex problems that AI often misinterprets.
High-frequency release cadence ensures rapid integration of community-requested features and subject-matter expansions.
Question.AI-Math Calculator
★4.6 (230.2K)3HOUSE
⚡A high-velocity competitor that has rapidly captured market share through aggressive AI-feature updates.
Focuses on multi-modal input, allowing users to combine text, voice, and image for complex query resolution.
Maintains a high update frequency to keep pace with evolving LLM capabilities in the education sector.
Answer.AI - Your AI tutor
★4.7 (166.3K)ANSWER AI LAB INC
⚡Positions itself as a comprehensive AI tutor rather than just a calculator, broadening the scope of homework help.
Integrates a custom keyboard extension to provide AI assistance within any messaging or note-taking application.
Focuses on cross-subject tutoring, moving beyond math into humanities and science-based homework assistance.
Peers
Provides structured, curriculum-aligned video courses that prioritize deep conceptual understanding over quick answers.
Operates as a non-profit with a mission-driven brand that builds significant long-term user trust.
Acts as the central hub for student assignments, grades, and communication within institutional environments.
Deep integration with university and K-12 administrative systems creates a high barrier to entry for competitors.
Brilliant: Learn by doing
★4.5 (107.6K)Brilliant.org
⚡Focuses on interactive, gamified learning for STEM subjects, serving a more proactive student audience.
Uses interactive, puzzle-based learning modules to teach complex mathematical and scientific concepts from first principles.
Targets a premium, self-motivated audience looking for skill development rather than homework shortcuts.
IXL - Math, English, & More
★4.3 (195.3K)IXL Learning
⚡A comprehensive K-12 learning platform that serves as a primary tool for schools and parents.
Offers a massive, standards-aligned practice library that integrates directly with school-based learning management systems.
Provides detailed analytics and progress tracking for parents and teachers to monitor student performance.
New Kids on the Block
Turbo AI - Notetaker
★4.8 (289.4K)TurboLearn AI
⚡A recent entrant that leverages AI to transform lecture notes into study materials, showing strong growth.
Automatically generates flashcards and quizzes from uploaded lecture recordings or notes to facilitate active recall.
Focuses on the 'study session' workflow rather than just the 'problem solving' workflow of traditional calculators.
The outtake for Mathway: Scan & Solve Problems
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- Camera-based OCR utility drives high-volume organic acquisition
- Multi-subject calculator broadens total addressable student demographic
Critical Frictions
- Persistent UI overlays block core answer visibility
- Infinite loading loops force frequent app uninstalls
- Premium-tier gate restricts instructional access
Growth Levers
- Integrate conversational AI to match competitor pedagogical styles
- Expand into study-session workflows like flashcard generation
Market Threats
- Photomath's Google-backed computer vision dominance
- Generative AI competitors offering free conversational explanations
- Declining sentiment trend eroding user trust
What are the next best moves?
Audit UI layout to remove answer-blocking overlays because they are the top complaint → reduce churn
Top complaint theme in sentiment analysis identifies UI overlays as a primary blocker to answer visibility.
Trade-off: Pause the new subject-solver expansion — UI hygiene is a higher retention priority than content breadth.
Resolve infinite loading loops because they force frequent uninstalls → stabilize daily active habit
Performance degradation is cited as a high-frequency complaint causing app unresponsiveness.
Trade-off: Deprioritize the graphing utility update — core stability is required before adding features.
A counter-intuitive read
The high-volume install rate is a liability, as it masks the underlying churn caused by performance instability, making the app appear healthier than its retention metrics suggest.
Feature Gaps vs Competitors
- Conversational AI tutoring (available in Nerd AI but absent here)
- Multi-modal input for complex queries (available in Question.AI but absent here)
Key Takeaways
Mathway holds its category lead through utility-focused problem solving but bleeds users to AI-native rivals due to UI friction, so revenue growth hinges on resolving the answer-blocking overlays to stabilize retention.
Where Is It Heading?
Declining
The homework-help market is consolidating around generative AI tutors that provide conversational explanations, leaving Mathway's static-answer model exposed. Unless the team resolves the UI and performance regressions, the current churn pressure will accelerate as students migrate to free, more interactive alternatives.
Persistent UI regressions block core answer visibility, which directly triggers negative sentiment and forces users to abandon the app.
Infinite loading loops during calculation tasks erode trust, which compounds the churn pressure from competitors offering more reliable AI experiences.