Comparisons
A Photomath alternative that explains the method, not only the steps
Photomath is a camera solver: photograph a maths problem and it returns the solution with steps, which is the right tool for checking an answer quickly. The gap appears when the steps are visible and the method still does not make sense, or when the same error repeats across a problem set. A tutor closes that gap by talking through why the step is what it is, drawing it, and asking you to do the next one. CANtutor AI does that in a live voice session, and its Practice mode waits for your attempt before it hints.
By CANtutor AI team, EditorialPublished Updated
What does Photomath do well?
Speed and accuracy on a single problem. Point the camera at a printed or handwritten equation and the steps appear. For checking homework answers, for confirming you set up an integral correctly, or for seeing the shape of a method you half-remember, it is hard to improve on. Its narrowness is a strength: it does one thing and the interface never gets in the way.
The sourced claims about Photomath, checked against its own site, are rendered below from our comparison page.
What Photomath says about itself
Each line below is taken from Photomath's own site, linked, with the date it was read. Nothing here comes from reviews, press or memory.
Photomath's core flow is scan the problem with the app (including word problems) or type it on a math keyboard, get a solution for that exact problem, and step through the explanation.
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Photomath describes its coverage as math from elementary through college, listing elementary math, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, statistics and calculus.
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Photomath's help centre explains that each scanned image is sent to cloud servers, where a neural network reads the formula and a solving engine produces the steps, so the app needs an Internet connection.
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Photomath publishes a list of supported and unsupported math content in its help centre, so you can check whether a problem type is covered before relying on it.
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Photomath's premium tier adds animated tutorials, contextual hints and concept explanations on top of the basic step-by-step solutions.
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Why do the steps sometimes not help?
Because a solution shows what was done and not why. The step that says factor the trinomial is correct and unhelpful if you do not know how to choose the factors. The step that says apply the chain rule assumes you can see which function is inside which. A solver presents the finished ladder; a student who cannot see why the third rung is there will fall off the same rung next time.
The second limit is that a solver answers one problem. It cannot notice that you flipped the inequality sign in questions two, five and nine for the same reason, which is the single most useful thing a tutor does in a maths session.
What does explaining the method actually look like?
In a CANtutor AI session you hold the problem up to the camera or share your screen, and the tutor reads the question itself. It then talks, and while it talks it writes the working on a shared whiteboard line by line and sketches the graph where one helps. You can interrupt: saying wait, why did you do that step, is the most useful habit in a session, and the tutor picks up the change while you are still talking.
The modes decide how much is handed over. Learn mode teaches the idea with small steps and questions. Practice mode waits for your attempt, tells you exactly where it went wrong, and gives the smallest hint that gets you moving; ask outright and it shows the full solution. Answer mode gives the complete worked solution at once, and it is labelled and warned, because writing the work for you is a different thing from teaching it.
After the session, a practice quiz on the same topic comes back with full worked solutions, so the check on whether the method landed is a set of fresh problems rather than the one you photographed. A Visual Explainer turns one hard question into slides you can step through and save.
Which one should you reach for tonight?
Use the solver when you have an answer and want it checked, or when you need the shape of a method in the next thirty seconds. Use the tutor when the steps are in front of you and still do not make sense, when the same mistake keeps recurring, or when the problem is a word problem that needs setting up before any solving happens. The two are not in competition; a lot of students check with one and learn with the other.
A session spends credits, and the plans and trial terms are on /plans, so it makes sense to bring the problem that will not budge rather than the whole worksheet.
Questions people ask about this
Can CANtutor AI read a photo of a maths problem like Photomath?
Yes. Your webcam, your shared screen and any photo or file you upload feed the same live session, so the tutor works from the real problem rather than a retyped version. Photograph handwriting flat and lit from the front for the best read.
Does it only do maths?
No. The same session works for chemistry, physics, essays and code, and there is a /tutoring page for each subject. Photomath is scoped to maths by design.
Will it give me the answer?
If you switch to Answer mode, yes, and it says so at the point of use. Learn and Practice modes teach the method first, and Practice waits for your attempt before it hints.