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Free vs Paid Homework Help: Is It Actually Worth Paying?
Chegg costs $15/month and ChatGPT Plus is $20/month. But free tools keep getting better. Here's an honest breakdown of when free is enough and when paid makes sense.
Table of Contents
TL;DR
- Free homework help tools (Khan Academy, Gradily free tier, YouTube, Wolfram Alpha basic) cover 80% of what most students need
- Paid tools make sense in specific situations: exam-heavy courses, STEM subjects with complex problem sets, or when you need step-by-step solutions on demand
- Chegg at $15/month is increasingly hard to justify when free AI tools give better explanations
- The best investment is usually your school's free resources (tutoring center, office hours, study groups) combined with free AI tools
Let's be real about the situation: you're a student. Money is tight. Every subscription is a calculation — is this $15/month going to help me enough to justify skipping three coffees?
The homework help market wants you to think you need premium everything. Chegg, Course Hero, Mathway Pro, ChatGPT Plus, Wolfram Alpha Pro — they all want your credit card. But do you actually need to pay?
I spent time comparing what you get for free versus what you get by paying, and the answer is more nuanced than either "free is fine" or "pay up."
What You Can Get for Free (And It's a Lot)
The quality of free homework help has exploded in the last few years. Here's what's available right now without spending a cent:
Khan Academy — Free Forever
What you get: Video lessons and practice exercises for math (pre-algebra through multivariable calculus), science, economics, history, and more. Recently added AI-powered tutoring with Khanmigo.
Best for: Learning or relearning concepts from scratch. If you missed a topic in class or your professor's explanation didn't click, Khan's videos are clear and structured.
Limitations: Not designed for solving your specific homework problems. It teaches concepts — you still have to apply them yourself.
YouTube — The Unlimited Tutor
What you get: Channels like Professor Leonard (calculus), Organic Chemistry Tutor (everything STEM), 3Blue1Brown (visual math), and thousands of others.
Best for: Finding an explanation that clicks with your brain. If one professor's teaching style doesn't work for you, there are fifty more on YouTube covering the same topic.
Limitations: You have to search for what you need. No interactive help, no question-answering. Quality varies wildly between channels.
Wolfram Alpha (Free Tier) — The Calculator on Steroids
What you get: Exact answers to computational math problems, basic graphs, unit conversions, and data lookups.
Best for: Checking your work. Did you get the right answer to that integral? Plug it into Wolfram Alpha and find out.
Limitations: Free tier doesn't show step-by-step solutions. You get the answer but not how to get there. Pro ($7.25/month for students) unlocks steps.
Gradily (Free Tier) — AI Homework Helper
What you get: AI-powered explanations for homework questions across subjects. Helps you understand concepts, work through problems, and develop your own answers.
Best for: When you're stuck on a specific problem and need someone to walk you through the thinking — not just give you the answer.
Limitations: Free tier has usage limits. But for most students, it covers their daily homework needs.
Photomath — Math from Your Camera
What you get: Point your phone camera at a math problem, get the answer and step-by-step solution. Covers arithmetic through calculus.
Best for: Quick checks on math homework. The camera feature is genuinely convenient.
Limitations: Only works for math. Some complex problems or unusual formatting confuse the camera. Step-by-step solutions are basic.
Your University's Free Resources
What you get: Tutoring center, writing center, office hours, SI (Supplemental Instruction) sessions, study groups, peer tutoring.
Best for: Everything. These are real humans who know your exact course and professor. They're tailored to your needs in a way no app can match.
Limitations: Fixed hours, sometimes long wait times, you have to leave your dorm. But seriously — these are free services your tuition already paid for. Use them.
What Paid Tools Offer
Chegg Study — $15.95/month
What you get: Textbook solutions (millions of them), expert Q&A (submit a question, get an answer within hours), and math solver with steps.
The case for paying:
- If your professor assigns problems directly from the textbook, Chegg almost certainly has the solutions
- Expert Q&A can answer specific, unusual questions that AI tools struggle with
- Huge textbook solution library
The case against paying:
- Textbook solutions encourage copying, not learning
- Expert Q&A quality has declined (many answers are now AI-generated or low-quality)
- Academic integrity risk — many schools specifically flag Chegg usage
- AI tools like ChatGPT and Gradily now provide better explanations for free
- $15.95/month adds up to $192/year
- Chegg has cooperated with universities to identify students who use it for cheating
Verdict: Increasingly hard to justify. Five years ago, Chegg was the only game in town. Now free AI tools do much of what Chegg does, with better explanations and less academic integrity risk.
Course Hero — $13.99/month
What you get: Study documents uploaded by other students (notes, study guides, past exams), expert tutors, and textbook solutions.
The case for paying:
- Access to course-specific materials (notes from YOUR class at YOUR school)
- Past exams and study guides can be incredibly valuable for exam prep
- Tutor access for real-time help
The case against paying:
- Using past exams that weren't shared by the professor may be an academic integrity violation
- Document quality is inconsistent (uploaded by random students)
- Many documents are locked behind a paywall AND require you to upload your own materials
- $13.99/month = $168/year
Verdict: The course-specific materials can be genuinely useful, but the ethical gray area makes it risky. Check if your school has its own exam archive or study resource database first.
ChatGPT Plus — $20/month
What you get: Access to GPT-4 (smarter, more accurate), longer conversations, image/file uploads, data analysis, and priority access during peak times.
The case for paying:
- GPT-4 is significantly better at math and reasoning than GPT-3.5
- Image upload lets you photograph homework problems
- Can analyze data, create charts, and help with coding assignments
- Useful for many things beyond homework (writing, brainstorming, research)
The case against paying:
- GPT-3.5 (free) handles many homework questions adequately
- Still makes computation errors (even GPT-4)
- Not specifically designed for education
- $20/month = $240/year — the most expensive option
Verdict: If you're going to use AI heavily for learning, studying, AND other parts of your life (cover letters, project ideas, coding), the $20/month might be worth it. For homework help specifically, free alternatives are usually sufficient.
Wolfram Alpha Pro — $7.25/month (Student)
What you get: Step-by-step solutions, extended computation time, downloadable data, and more detailed results.
The case for paying:
- Step-by-step solutions are highly accurate (computed, not generated)
- Essential for STEM students doing heavy computation
- Cheapest paid option on this list
- Great complement to free conceptual tools
The case against paying:
- Only useful for computational subjects
- Steps show procedure but don't explain concepts
- Free tier might be enough if you mainly need answer verification
Verdict: Best value paid option for STEM students. If you're in calculus, physics, or engineering and doing problem sets regularly, the $7.25/month is a smart investment.
The Decision Framework
Ask yourself these questions:
Question 1: What subject is giving you trouble?
If it's math/science/engineering: Free tools (Khan Academy + Wolfram Alpha free + Gradily) cover most needs. If you want step-by-step computation, Wolfram Alpha Pro at $7.25/month is the best value.
If it's writing/humanities: Free tools (Grammarly free + Gradily + your writing center) are usually sufficient. Paid tools don't add much for essay writing.
If it's a broad mix: Gradily covers the widest range of subjects in one tool for learning and understanding.
Question 2: Do you need answers or understanding?
If you just need to check your work: Free tools (Wolfram Alpha, Photomath) are fine.
If you need to actually understand the material: Invest in tools that explain, not just answer. Gradily, Khan Academy, and YouTube are better for learning than Chegg solutions.
Question 3: What's your budget reality?
$0/month: Khan Academy + YouTube + Gradily free + Wolfram Alpha free + university resources. This combination honestly covers 80% of students.
Under $10/month: Add Wolfram Alpha Pro ($7.25) for STEM computation. This is the best single upgrade.
Under $20/month: Add Grammarly Premium ($12) if writing is your weakness, OR Wolfram Alpha Pro ($7.25) + a coffee fund.
$20/month: ChatGPT Plus is the most versatile single tool if you want one subscription for everything.
Question 4: Are you using free resources you're already paying for?
Most students never:
- Visit the tutoring center
- Go to professor office hours
- Use the writing center
- Attend SI sessions
- Form study groups
Your tuition pays for all of these. Before spending money on Chegg, try the resources you've already bought.
The Hidden Cost of "Free" Answers
Here's something worth thinking about: the cheapest option in the short term isn't always the cheapest in the long term.
If you use Chegg to copy textbook solutions without understanding them, you "save" time on homework. But you show up to the exam with gaps in your understanding. You might need to retake the class — which costs thousands of dollars and an entire semester.
If you use free tools to actually learn the material — even though it takes longer per assignment — you show up to the exam prepared. You pass. You move on.
The most expensive homework help is the kind that helps you finish assignments without learning anything.
My Recommendation
For most students, the optimal setup is:
- Gradily (free tier) — Your go-to for understanding homework concepts and working through problems
- Khan Academy (free) — For learning or relearning topics from scratch
- Wolfram Alpha (free or $7.25) — For verifying math answers
- Your school's free resources — For personalized help from humans who know your courses
- YouTube — For finding explanations that click with your learning style
Total cost: $0 to $7.25/month
That's enough for the vast majority of students. Save the rest for textbooks, coffee, and your sanity.
The tools that charge the most aren't always the ones that help the most. Sometimes the best investment is free — it just requires you to actually engage with the material instead of looking for shortcuts. That's not a fun answer, but it's the honest one.
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