Photomath
Point your camera at a maths problem, get steps.
why this verdict
Downgrade — pay for the workflow, not the AI
ChatGPT and Google Gemini cover the headline feature free, so the $10/mo is now paying for the workflow around it.
- A named launch, not a vibe named, unlinked
- GPT-4 vision solving maths from a photo. OpenAI, September 25, 2023 — no announcement link recorded yet.
- How much of the job it covers headline only editorial call
- The headline feature, but not the workflow, data or integrations around it.
- Is there a free way to do it? yes
- 3 of 3 listed replacements have a usable free tier: ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Khan Academy.
- What the call is worth $120/yr
- $10/mo at the entry paid tier — $120 a year per seat.
- Threatened by
- OpenAI
- Since
- September 25, 2023
- List price
- $10/mo
- Per year
- $120
The backstory
Photomath let students point a phone camera at a math problem and get step-by-step solutions, a single trick done well. That exact capability, photo in and worked solution out, became native to multimodal chatbots like GPT-4 with vision. Photomath is wounded because its one job is now a free feature of general assistants. It survives on a focused, student-friendly interface and its acquisition into Google, but the moat is thin.
Escape hatches
switching could free up $120/yrPhotograph a problem and get worked steps
chatgpt.com open_in_newMultimodal solving with step-by-step help
gemini.google.com open_in_newFree structured lessons and practice
khanacademy.org open_in_new3 of 3 replacements have a usable free tier.