Yes. Photomath is free to download and use, and the free version includes step-by-step solutions and animated steps. Google says core step-by-step features for symbolic math will always stay free. Photomath Plus is an optional paid upgrade.

How much does Photomath cost?

The basic app costs nothing. Photomath Plus costs $9.99 a month in the US. There are also 6-month and yearly plans, and Google says the yearly plan works out to about half the monthly price. Prices vary by country.

Does Photomath show steps for free?

Yes. Free Photomath shows step-by-step solutions and animated steps. Plus adds deeper explanations of each step, AI-powered animated tutorials and contextual hints.

Does Photomath Plus have a free trial?

Google's help article on Photomath subscriptions does not describe a standard free trial. Offers can change, so check the subscription screen in the app before you sign up.

What is the cheapest way to get Photomath Plus?

The yearly plan. Google says it works out to about half the monthly price. The 6-month plan sits in between, and the monthly plan is the most expensive per month.

How do I cancel Photomath Plus on iPhone?

Open Settings, tap your name, tap Subscriptions, choose Photomath and tap Cancel Subscription. Google recommends cancelling at least a day before the current period ends so you are not charged again.

Partly. Mathway is free to download and gives answers for free, but the step-by-step working needs a paid subscription.

No. MathScans is a paid app. It costs $9.99 a month with a 3-day free trial, or $4.99 a week, and every feature is included in both plans.

Updated October 2026

Is Photomath free? Yes, and here is what Plus adds.

Photomath is free to download, and the free version shows step-by-step solutions. You do not need to pay to see how a problem is solved.

Photomath Plus is the paid upgrade. This page covers what it costs, what it adds, how to cancel it, and what is free in the other popular math apps.

Download on theApp Store

A MathScans solution showing each step with a plain-language explanation

Disclosure: MathScans is our own app.

We make MathScans, a paid math app, so we have a reason to talk about prices. Every Photomath fact here comes from Google's own help pages and the App Store, checked in October 2026.

What you get in free Photomath

Free Photomath scans printed and handwritten problems and solves them step by step. It also shows animated steps and interactive graphs, without asking you to pay.

Google has made this a commitment, not just a current offer. Its help page says core features “will always remain free of cost.”

So for most students checking homework, the free version is enough. Plus is for when the free steps skip over the part you are stuck on.

Photomath, free

Scan printed or handwritten problems
Step-by-step solutions to symbolic math
Animated steps
Interactive graphs

Photomath Plus, paid

Everything in the free version
AI-powered animated tutorials
Deeper explanations of each step
Contextual hints and textbook solutions

Free and Plus, from Google's Photomath help pages and the App Store listing, October 2026.

How much does Photomath Plus cost?

Photomath Plus costs $9.99 a month in the US. You can also pay for 6 months or a year at a time, and both work out cheaper per month.

Google says the yearly plan comes to about 50% less than paying monthly. The monthly price is fixed, while the longer plans carry the discount.

Prices differ by country and are shown in your local currency. The price on the subscription screen in the app is the one you will actually pay.

Monthly

$9.99 a month

The full price, billed every month

6 months

Discounted

Paid up front, cheaper than six monthly payments

Yearly

About half

Google says it works out to about 50% off monthly

Photomath Plus plans in the US. Google publishes the yearly saving as a share of the monthly price rather than as a fixed figure.

Is Photomath Plus worth paying for?

It depends on how you use it. If you check an answer now and then, the free version covers you, and paying for Plus would be money you do not need to spend.

Plus earns its price when the free steps are too brief. The deeper explanations and contextual hints are aimed at exactly the moment you read a step and still do not follow it.

It also helps if your class uses a textbook Photomath supports. A worked solution to the exact exercise you were set is hard to get anywhere else.

Our advice is simple. Use the free version on a full week of real homework first, and only upgrade if you keep hitting the same wall.

How to cancel Photomath Plus on iPhone

Photomath Plus renews automatically until you cancel it. On iPhone, the subscription is managed through your Apple account rather than inside the app.

Google recommends cancelling at least a day before the current period ends. You keep Plus until the end of the time you have already paid for.

If you subscribed on an Android phone, cancel through the Subscriptions section of the Google Play Store app instead.

Deleting the app does not cancel the subscription. You still need to follow these steps.

1
Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2
Tap your name at the top, then tap Subscriptions.
3
Tap Photomath in the list of active subscriptions.
4
Tap Cancel Subscription and confirm.

What is free in other math apps?

Photomath's free tier is generous by the standards of math apps. Here is how the others compare, including ours, which has no free tier at all.

App	Free to use	Steps without paying	Paid tier
Photomath	Yes	Yes, basic and animated	Plus, $9.99/mo
Mathway	Yes	No, answers only	Paid steps
Symbolab	Yes	Basic steps	Paid detail
Gauth	Yes, with limits	Limited	Plus, $11.99/mo
MathScansours	No	3-day trial	$9.99/mo or $4.99/wk

Checked on each app's US App Store listing and help pages in October 2026. Prices are US prices and vary by country.

Is Mathway free?

Partly. Mathway is free to download and shows the final answer for free, but the step-by-step working needs a subscription. That is the main difference from Photomath, whose free version shows steps.

Our Mathway alternative page

Is Symbolab free?

Yes, with basic steps. Symbolab's free tier shows the working, and the paid tier adds more detailed explanations. It is built around typing problems in, with a camera as an extra.

Our Symbolab alternative page

Is Gauth free?

You can use Gauth without paying, but with limits its listing does not spell out. Gauth Plus costs $11.99 a month in the US and adds unlimited detailed explanations and priority help from experts.

Our Gauthmath alternative page

What about the free apps that disappeared?

Two of the best known free math apps no longer exist. Microsoft retired Math Solver on July 7, 2025, and Google folded Socratic into Google Lens.

That leaves Photomath as the strongest free option for most students. If you used either retired app, our Microsoft Math Solver alternative and Socratic alternatives guides explain what to use now.

If you decide to pay, here is what MathScans includes

Every explanation, in one plan

MathScans has no free tier and no premium tier. One subscription includes every explanation, animation and narration, on every problem.

So there is no point where the step you are stuck on sits behind an upgrade screen.

A MathScans solution showing each step as typeset math with a plain-language explanation underneath

Your own problem, animated

The animation walks through the problem you scanned, one step at a time, rather than a general lesson on the topic.

You can pause, step back and replay any part of it.

The MathScans animated tutorial player stepping through an equation to x = 5, with play and voice controls

Read aloud in 19 languages

Every step can be narrated aloud in any of 19 languages, using the voices built into your iPhone.

That helps if you learn by listening, or if math is taught in your second language.

The MathScans language settings screen listing English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and more

Free Photomath or a paid app?

Start with free Photomath. If it explains your homework well enough, keep it and do not pay for anything.

If you find yourself wanting more detail, you have two choices. Photomath Plus deepens the same app you already know, while MathScans offers a different style of explanation, with every step read aloud.

MathScans has a 3-day free trial on the monthly plan. Scan the same problems you tried in Photomath and see which explanation you follow more easily. Our Photomath alternatives page and the best math solver apps comparison cover the wider field.

Questions about Photomath's price

Is Photomath free?: Yes. Photomath is free to download and use, and the free version includes step-by-step solutions and animated steps. Google says core step-by-step features for symbolic math will always stay free. Photomath Plus is an optional paid upgrade.
How much does Photomath cost?: The basic app costs nothing. Photomath Plus costs $9.99 a month in the US. There are also 6-month and yearly plans, and Google says the yearly plan works out to about half the monthly price. Prices vary by country.
Does Photomath show steps for free?: Yes. Free Photomath shows step-by-step solutions and animated steps. Plus adds deeper explanations of each step, AI-powered animated tutorials and contextual hints.
Does Photomath Plus have a free trial?: Google's help article on Photomath subscriptions does not describe a standard free trial. Offers can change, so check the subscription screen in the app before you sign up.
What is the cheapest way to get Photomath Plus?: The yearly plan. Google says it works out to about half the monthly price. The 6-month plan sits in between, and the monthly plan is the most expensive per month.
How do I cancel Photomath Plus on iPhone?: Open Settings, tap your name, tap Subscriptions, choose Photomath and tap Cancel Subscription. Google recommends cancelling at least a day before the current period ends so you are not charged again.
Is Mathway free?: Partly. Mathway is free to download and gives answers for free, but the step-by-step working needs a paid subscription.
Is MathScans free?: No. MathScans is a paid app. It costs $9.99 a month with a 3-day free trial, or $4.99 a week, and every feature is included in both plans.

Keep reading

Every step, explained and read aloud.

Try MathScans free for 3 days on the monthly plan. After that it is $9.99 a month or $4.99 a week. Cancel any time in Settings.

Download on theApp Store