ChatGPT vs Chegg vs Gradily: Which Is Best for Students?

TL;DR

• Chegg is best if you need specific textbook solutions and are willing to pay $15.95/month — but its AI features lag behind
• ChatGPT is the most versatile option and handles a wide range of subjects well, but it lacks student-specific features and sometimes gives wrong answers confidently
• Gradily is purpose-built for students who want to actually learn, not just get answers — it focuses on step-by-step explanations and guided learning
• The best choice depends on your specific needs, budget, and whether you want answers or understanding

Table of Contents

• Why This Comparison Matters
• Quick Comparison Table
• Chegg: The Old Guard
• ChatGPT: The Swiss Army Knife
• Gradily: The Learning-First Approach
• Head-to-Head: Key Categories
• Which Should You Choose?
• Can You Use All Three?
• Final Verdict

Why This Comparison Matters

If you're a student in 2026, you've got more homework help options than ever — and that's honestly a little overwhelming. The three names that keep coming up are ChatGPT, Chegg, and newer tools like Gradily. But they're fundamentally different products that take different approaches to homework help.

Choosing the wrong one means you're either overpaying, getting inaccurate answers, or just getting answers without learning anything. So let's break this down honestly.

Full disclosure: yes, this article is on the Gradily blog. But we're going to be genuinely fair here because a biased comparison helps nobody. We'll point out where Chegg and ChatGPT are genuinely better too.

Quick Comparison Table

Feature	ChatGPT (Free/Plus)	Chegg Study ($15.95/mo)	Gradily (Free/Pro)
Price	Free / $20/mo	$15.95/mo	Free / $9.99/mo
Subject Coverage	Almost everything	Strong in STEM + Business	Core academic subjects
Step-by-Step Solutions	On request	Pre-written for textbooks	Built-in, always on
Accuracy	Good, but errors happen	High for textbook solutions	High with verification
Learning Focus	Depends on how you use it	Minimal — answer-focused	Core feature
Textbook Solutions	No	Yes (huge database)	No
Writing Help	Excellent	Basic	Good with citations
Plagiarism Risk	High if not careful	Moderate (known answers)	Lower (guided approach)
Available 24/7	Yes	Yes	Yes

Chegg: The Old Guard

Chegg has been the go-to homework help platform for over a decade. It started as a textbook rental service and evolved into a study platform with Q&A, textbook solutions, and more recently, AI features.

What Chegg Does Well

Textbook solutions database. This is Chegg's biggest advantage and it's hard to overstate it. If your homework comes directly from a textbook, there's a good chance Chegg has the exact solution already written out, step by step. These solutions are typically written by subject matter experts, so they're generally accurate and follow standard methods.

Expert Q&A. You can post specific questions and get answers from human tutors, usually within a few hours. This is useful for unusual or complex problems that AI might struggle with.

Subject breadth. Chegg covers a massive range of subjects, from introductory courses to upper-division material.

Where Chegg Falls Short

The price. At $15.95 per month, Chegg is one of the more expensive options. And if you need additional features like Chegg Math Solver or Writing tools, you're looking at even more. For students already stretched thin financially, that adds up fast.

The learning problem. Here's the elephant in the room: Chegg has an answer-copying problem. The platform is designed to give you answers, and while those answers include steps, the incentive structure pushes students toward just copying rather than learning. Multiple universities have used Chegg's platform to catch students in academic integrity violations.

AI features feel bolted on. Chegg has added AI features, but they feel like they were added to compete rather than because they genuinely improve the product. The core experience is still built around a database of pre-written solutions.

Cancel carefully. Chegg has a reputation for making it annoying to cancel subscriptions. Read the fine print.

Best For

Students who need specific textbook solutions and want human-verified answers. If your homework is pulled directly from the textbook and you want the exact solution manual-style answer, Chegg is hard to beat.

ChatGPT: The Swiss Army Knife

ChatGPT (and similar general-purpose AI like Claude and Gemini) changed the homework help landscape overnight. It's free, it's versatile, and it's available right now.

What ChatGPT Does Well

Versatility. You can ask ChatGPT about anything from organic chemistry to Shakespeare to macroeconomics. It handles an incredibly wide range of subjects and question types, from solving equations to explaining concepts to helping you write essays.

Conversational learning. The chat format is naturally good for learning. You can ask follow-up questions, say "I don't understand," and have a back-and-forth dialogue that mimics working with a tutor. This is something static answer databases (like Chegg) simply can't do.

Writing assistance. For essays, research papers, and writing assignments, ChatGPT is genuinely excellent. It can help you brainstorm, outline, draft, and revise. If you're looking for help starting an essay, it's one of the best tools available.

Free tier is actually useful. Unlike many tools where the free tier is basically a demo, ChatGPT's free version is legitimately useful for most homework tasks.

Always improving. OpenAI continues to improve ChatGPT's capabilities, especially in math and reasoning.

Where ChatGPT Falls Short

Accuracy issues. ChatGPT can and does give wrong answers, especially in math, science, and any subject requiring precise calculations. The dangerous part is that it presents wrong answers with the same confidence as right ones. There's no warning light that says "I might be wrong about this."

No student-specific features. ChatGPT is a general-purpose tool. It doesn't know what class you're taking, what your professor expects, or how to format your assignments. You have to provide all of that context yourself, every time.

Plagiarism concerns. If you use ChatGPT's output directly in your assignments, you're walking into an academic integrity minefield. AI detectors are getting better, and many universities now specifically prohibit submitting AI-generated work. Check out our article on using AI homework help responsibly for more on this.

No memory between sessions (free tier). Unless you're on the paid plan, ChatGPT doesn't remember your previous conversations. You can't build on past sessions or have it track your progress.

Information cutoff. ChatGPT's knowledge has a cutoff date, so it may not have information about the latest research, recent events, or updated guidelines.

Best For

Students who need help across many different subjects and want a conversational, flexible tool. Especially strong for writing assignments and conceptual explanations.

Gradily: The Learning-First Approach

Gradily takes a different approach from both Chegg and ChatGPT. Instead of just giving you answers, it's designed as an AI homework assistant that prioritizes helping you understand the material.

What Gradily Does Well

Guided learning. Rather than dumping a complete solution on you, Gradily walks you through problems step by step, checking your understanding as you go. It's designed to be more like working with a tutor than looking at an answer key.

Student-specific design. Every feature in Gradily was built for students. The interface is designed around homework workflows, not general chat. This means less time configuring prompts and more time actually learning.

Accuracy focus. Gradily is built with verification in mind, reducing the confident-but-wrong answers that plague general-purpose AI tools.

Affordable pricing. With a functional free tier and a Pro plan at $9.99/month (cheaper than Chegg), Gradily is accessible for students on a budget.

Lower plagiarism risk. Because Gradily focuses on explaining and guiding rather than writing complete answers, you're less likely to accidentally cross academic integrity lines.

Where Gradily Falls Short

Smaller subject coverage. Gradily covers core academic subjects well but doesn't have the breadth of ChatGPT or the massive textbook solution database of Chegg. If you're in a niche upper-division course, coverage may be limited.

Newer platform. As a newer tool, Gradily doesn't have the same track record or name recognition as Chegg or ChatGPT. The community and resource library are still growing.

No textbook solutions database. Unlike Chegg, Gradily doesn't have a database of pre-written textbook solutions. It generates explanations on demand.

Best For

Students who want to actually understand the material, not just get through tonight's homework. Ideal if you're preparing for exams and need to build real knowledge, or if you've been burned by inaccurate AI answers before.

Head-to-Head: Key Categories

Accuracy

Winner: Chegg (for textbook problems) / Gradily (for AI-generated solutions)

Chegg's textbook solutions are pre-verified by humans, so they're generally the most reliable — if your problem is in their database. For problems that aren't in Chegg's database, Gradily's verification-focused approach edges out ChatGPT, which can confidently present incorrect solutions.

Value for Money

Winner: ChatGPT (free tier) / Gradily (paid tier)

If you're spending nothing, ChatGPT's free tier is hard to beat. If you're willing to pay, Gradily's $9.99/month gets you student-focused features at a lower price than Chegg's $15.95/month. ChatGPT Plus at $20/month is the most expensive option.

Learning Quality

Winner: Gradily

This is where the purpose-built approach pays off. Gradily's guided learning approach means you're more likely to understand the material, not just copy an answer. ChatGPT can be used for learning, but it requires you to actively structure your prompts and resist the temptation to just copy. Chegg actively works against learning by making answers too easy to copy.

Writing Help

Winner: ChatGPT

For brainstorming, outlining, drafting, and revising written work, ChatGPT is the clear leader. Its natural language capabilities are best-in-class, and the conversational format works perfectly for iterative writing improvement. For tips on using AI effectively for writing, see our guide on how to write an essay fast.

Math and Science

Winner: It depends

For textbook problems, Chegg's solution database wins. For step-by-step learning, Gradily's guided approach is strongest. For quick conceptual explanations, ChatGPT is great. For pure computation, none of these beat dedicated tools like Wolfram Alpha — check our guide on solving math homework with AI for more.

Academic Integrity Safety

Winner: Gradily

Gradily's guided approach inherently reduces plagiarism risk because it teaches you to solve problems rather than giving you finished answers to copy. ChatGPT is the riskiest because it generates original-looking text that can trigger AI detectors. Chegg falls in the middle — professors know students use it and sometimes specifically check for Chegg-style solutions.

Which Should You Choose?

Choose Chegg If:

• Your homework comes directly from a textbook
• You need the specific, verified answer (not an AI interpretation)
• You value the expert Q&A feature for complex questions
• You're okay with the $15.95/month price tag
• You have the discipline to use solutions for learning, not just copying

Choose ChatGPT If:

• You need help across many different subjects
• Writing assignments are a big part of your workload
• You want a free tool with strong capabilities
• You're comfortable crafting specific prompts to get good results
• You know how to verify AI answers independently

Choose Gradily If:

• You want to actually understand the material (not just survive the assignment)
• You're preparing for exams and need to build real knowledge
• Budget matters and you want a student-focused paid plan
• You've had issues with accuracy in other AI tools
• Academic integrity is a concern for you

The Honest Answer

For most students, the ideal setup is using 2-3 tools together:

1. A learning tool (Gradily) for subjects you need to understand deeply
2. A general AI (ChatGPT) for writing help and quick conceptual questions
3. A computation tool (Wolfram Alpha, Desmos) for verification and calculations

Spending $15.95/month on Chegg is increasingly hard to justify when free and cheaper alternatives cover most of the same ground — unless you specifically need those textbook solutions.

Can You Use All Three?

Absolutely. And here's how to use them strategically:

During homework: Start with Gradily to work through problems and understand the material. Use ChatGPT for writing assignments or when you need a concept explained in plain English. Use Chegg (or its free alternatives) only when you need a specific textbook solution you can't find elsewhere.

Before exams: Use Gradily's step-by-step approach to review concepts you struggled with. Use ChatGPT to quiz yourself and generate practice problems. Skip Chegg entirely — memorizing textbook solutions won't help you on an exam.

For papers and essays: Start with ChatGPT for brainstorming and outlining. Use Gradily for research help and source evaluation. Use Chegg's writing tools only if you're already subscribed.

Final Verdict

There's no single "best" tool for every student. But here's how we'd summarize it:

• Chegg is a legacy product that still has value for its textbook solutions database, but its pricing feels outdated when AI tools offer more for less.
• ChatGPT is the most versatile option and a great default choice, but you need to be aware of its accuracy limitations and academic integrity risks.
• Gradily is the best choice if your primary goal is learning, not just assignment completion, and it represents where student-focused AI tools are heading.

The homework help landscape is changing fast. Two years ago, this comparison would have been Chegg vs. human tutors. Today, AI tools have fundamentally changed what's possible. Whatever tools you choose, remember the goal: use them to learn more effectively, not to avoid learning entirely.

Your future exam-taking self will thank you.