Education · head to head
Elevate vs Photomath
Elevate
Education
Cognitive skills training app from Elevate Labs covering reading, writing, maths and speaking games
- 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: Elevate the free tier limits daily games enough that the personalised programme the app is designed around is effectively a paid-only feature.; 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: Elevate covers Daily game sets, Photomath covers Camera scanning.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Elevate and Photomath actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (iOS, Android), 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 Elevate
- Daily game sets
- Personalised training plan
- Progress tracking
- Reading and comprehension drills
- Maths and estimation games
- Writing and proofreading games
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.
Elevate
- An adult wanting short daily practice on workplace writing and proofreading skillsnot Photomath
- Someone preparing for a maths or verbal reasoning assessment who wants low-stakes daily drillsnot Photomath
- A user comparing Elevate against Lumosity on whether they want practical skills or abstract cognitive gamesnot Photomath
- A buyer wanting to sample the format on the limited free tier before committing to a subscriptionnot Photomath
Photomath
- A student checking their own worked answer against the app steps to find where a method went wrongnot Elevate
- A parent who cannot help with unfamiliar high school maths and needs a worked explanation rather than just an answernot Elevate
- A student working through word problems in a subject not covered by the free tier who needs the Plus subscriptionnot Elevate
- A school evaluating whether to recommend or restrict the app given the ease of copying a full worked solutionnot Elevate
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Elevate
- The free tier limits daily games enough that the personalised programme the app is designed around is effectively a paid-only feature.
- As with the brain training category generally, evidence that improved performance on Elevate specific games transfers to broader real-world cognitive or task performance is weaker than marketing framing implies.
- The annual subscription auto-renews and, as with most mobile subscriptions, must be cancelled through app store settings rather than inside the app itself.
- Game variety within each skill category is finite, and long-term daily users report the exercises becoming repetitive after extended use.
- It does not replace structured instruction for skills like reading comprehension or maths where a genuine foundational gap exists; it is practice and drilling rather than teaching from first principles.
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
Elevate
Free- Elevate Pro$9.99/month
- Free tier gives a limited number of games per day
- Pro unlocks the full game library and personalised training plan
- Annual Pro plans typically run $44.99 to $59.99, cheaper per month than monthly billing
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 Elevate if
- You need daily game sets.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on iOS, Android.
- You also want personalised training plan.
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 Elevate or Photomath better?
- Neither clearly leads. Elevate 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, Elevate or Photomath?
- Elevate starts at Free and Photomath at Free.
- Does Elevate or Photomath run on more platforms?
- Both run on iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Elevate for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Elevate best used for?
- Elevate is most often used for an adult wanting short daily practice on workplace writing and proofreading skills, someone preparing for a maths or verbal reasoning assessment who wants low-stakes daily drills, a user comparing elevate against lumosity on whether they want practical skills or abstract cognitive games, a buyer wanting to sample the format on the limited free tier before committing to a subscription. Of those, an adult wanting short daily practice on workplace writing and proofreading skills and someone preparing for a maths or verbal reasoning assessment who wants low-stakes daily drills are not what Photomath is typically brought in for.
- What can Elevate do that Photomath cannot?
- Elevate covers Daily game sets, Personalised training plan, Progress tracking, Reading and comprehension drills. Photomath covers Camera scanning, Step by step solutions, Built-in calculator, Word problem support.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Elevate: Is Elevate free?
A limited number of games per day are free. The full library, personalised training plan and progress tracking require Elevate Pro.
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.
Elevate: Does Elevate improve real-world cognitive ability?
It reliably improves performance on the specific games practised. Evidence that this transfers broadly to real-world cognitive or task performance is limited, consistent with the brain training category generally.
Photomath: Who owns Photomath now?
Google acquired Photomath in 2022. It operates as a standalone app but is owned by Google.
Elevate: How is Elevate different from Lumosity?
Elevate focuses on practical skills such as reading, writing and workplace maths, while Lumosity is built around broader abstract memory, attention and reasoning games.
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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