Education · head to head
Clever vs Photomath
Clever
Education
Single sign-on and roster synchronisation between district student records and classroom applications
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Photomath
Education
Camera based maths solver that shows step by step working, owned by Google since 2022
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Clever coverage is built around United States district data models and state reporting patterns, so schools outside the United States often find their student information system unsupported and their local identity conventions unrepresented.; Photomath full free step by step solutions make it straightforward for a student to submit copied working without doing the reasoning themselves, which is a real concern for teachers assigning homework.
- They diverge on capability: Clever covers Secure Sync, Photomath covers Camera scanning.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Clever and Photomath actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Education).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Clever
- Secure Sync
- Clever portal
- Clever Badges
- Instant Login
- Clever IDM
- Application analytics
Only in Photomath
- Camera scanning
- Step by step solutions
- Built-in calculator
- Word problem support
- Animated explanations
- Textbook alignment
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Clever
- A district that has bought forty classroom applications and wants pupils to reach all of them without forty passwordsnot Photomath
- Primary schools where pupils cannot yet type a password reliably and need badge loginnot Photomath
- District IT that needs accounts created and revoked automatically as pupils enrol and leavenot Photomath
- Evidencing to a board which licensed applications are used enough to justify renewalnot Photomath
Photomath
- A student checking their own worked answer against the app steps to find where a method went wrongnot Clever
- A parent who cannot help with unfamiliar high school maths and needs a worked explanation rather than just an answernot Clever
- A student working through word problems in a subject not covered by the free tier who needs the Plus subscriptionnot Clever
- A school evaluating whether to recommend or restrict the app given the ease of copying a full worked solutionnot Clever
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Clever
- Coverage is built around United States district data models and state reporting patterns, so schools outside the United States often find their student information system unsupported and their local identity conventions unrepresented.
- Because application vendors pay and districts do not, a district has no commercial leverage when a sync breaks, and support priority follows the paying side of the market.
- Rostering is a single point of failure. One bad field mapping propagates wrong class lists to every connected application at once, and unpicking it means correcting the source system and waiting for the next sync cycle.
- Sync is scheduled rather than immediate for many connections, so a pupil who transfers mid week can sit in the wrong class in several applications for a day or more.
- Ownership moved to Kahoot! in 2021 and then to a private equity consortium in 2023, so a district is now depending on infrastructure whose long term roadmap is set by investor timelines rather than by education procurement cycles.
Photomath
- Full free step by step solutions make it straightforward for a student to submit copied working without doing the reasoning themselves, which is a real concern for teachers assigning homework.
- Word problems, a common school assessment format, are gated behind the Plus subscription, so the free tier is weaker on exactly the problem type many students struggle with most.
- Camera recognition of messy handwriting or complex notation such as matrices or multi-line proofs is unreliable, and misreads produce confidently wrong steps.
- Since the 2022 Google acquisition, the product sits inside a company whose primary business is advertising and data, which is a relevant factor for schools with strict student data policies.
- It solves problems rather than teaching underlying concepts from scratch, so a student with no foundational understanding gets a worked answer but not necessarily comprehension.
Pricing, plan by plan
Clever
Free- Clever core rostering and single sign-on$undefined/year
- Free to United States districts
- Funded by application vendors rather than the district
- Secure Sync, portal and Badges included
- Clever paid district products$undefined/year
- Identity management and account provisioning
- Multi-factor authentication for staff
- Pricing quoted per district, not published
Photomath
Free- Photomath Plus$9.99/month
- Step by step solutions for most problem types free and unlimited on the base app
- Plus unlocks word problems, animated explanations and deeper steps
- Plus available at roughly $59.99 billed annually as a cheaper alternative to monthly
Which should you pick?
Choose Clever if
- You need secure sync.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, ChromeOS.
- You also want clever portal.
Choose Photomath if
- You need camera scanning.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on iOS, Android.
- You also want step by step solutions.
Questions people ask
- Is Clever or Photomath better?
- Neither clearly leads. Clever starts at Free and Photomath at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Clever or Photomath?
- Clever starts at Free and Photomath at Free.
- Does Clever or Photomath run on more platforms?
- Clever runs on Web, iOS, Android, ChromeOS. Photomath runs on iOS, Android.
- Can I use Clever for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Clever best used for?
- Clever is most often used for a district that has bought forty classroom applications and wants pupils to reach all of them without forty passwords, primary schools where pupils cannot yet type a password reliably and need badge login, district it that needs accounts created and revoked automatically as pupils enrol and leave, evidencing to a board which licensed applications are used enough to justify renewal. Of those, a district that has bought forty classroom applications and wants pupils to reach all of them without forty passwords and primary schools where pupils cannot yet type a password reliably and need badge login are not what Photomath is typically brought in for.
- What can Clever do that Photomath cannot?
- Clever covers Secure Sync, Clever portal, Clever Badges, Instant Login. Photomath covers Camera scanning, Step by step solutions, Built-in calculator, Word problem support.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Clever: Does Clever really cost a district nothing?
The core rostering and single sign-on service is free to districts. Application vendors pay for the connection and build that cost into what they charge the district, so the money reaches Clever through the software bill instead of a direct invoice.
Photomath: Is Photomath free?
Basic step by step solutions for most maths problem types are free and unlimited. Word problems, animated explanations and some textbook-specific solutions require Photomath Plus.
Clever: Is Clever FERPA and COPPA compliant?
Clever operates as a school official under FERPA, acting on district instruction, and relies on district consent rather than parental consent for COPPA. It has signed the Student Privacy Pledge.
Photomath: Who owns Photomath now?
Google acquired Photomath in 2022. It operates as a standalone app but is owned by Google.
Clever: What happens if we leave Clever?
Every connected application loses its roster feed and needs a replacement method, either a competing rostering service or manual CSV uploads per application. That is why districts rarely switch once more than a handful of applications depend on it.
Photomath: Does it just give the answer or show working?
It shows step by step working for the method used, not only the final answer, on both free and Plus tiers, with Plus adding more detail.
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