education

Best AI Science Solvers

The best AI chemistry and physics solvers: ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude ranked on independent physics and olympiad benchmarks, Gauth and Brainly for photo homework help, plus Wolfram|Alpha, Mathway, Symbolab and Pearson+, with prices and free plans.

Updated 6 November 2026

Quick answer: The best AI science solver for most people is ChatGPT, because the model behind its paid plans, GPT-6 Astra, had the top score on version 2 of CritPt, the independent research-level physics benchmark, as Artificial Analysis graded it before 6 November, and its free tier adds study mode and interactive visuals for topics such as Charles’ law, Ohm’s law and Coulomb’s law. To photograph a worksheet and get a worked answer, Gauth is the pick, rated 4.8 from about 1.5 million App Store ratings. For a free tutor that walks you through a problem instead of handing over the answer, Gemini with Guided Learning is the best free choice. The one caveat: chatbots still slip on arithmetic and units, so check any final number that matters with a calculator.

This page covers AI for chemistry and physics problems: balancing equations, stoichiometry, gas laws, kinematics, circuits, thermodynamics and derivations. For maths, see best AI for math; for help across every subject, see best AI for homework; for a tutor that teaches over time, see best AI tutors.

Which one should you pick?

What “AI science solver” means now

Three kinds of tool solve chemistry and physics problems, and they fail in different ways:

The big change is at the top. Frontier models now handle physics at a level that was out of reach a year ago: on CritPt, a benchmark of unpublished research-level physics problems written by more than 50 working physicists, GPT-6 Astra scored 83.1% on version 2, which fixed errors in the original problems and lets models run Python, against 29.0% for GPT-5, as Artificial Analysis graded it before 6 November (AlphaSignal). An agent built on Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview scored full marks on the 2025 International Physics Olympiad theory paper in five runs out of five, though its author notes the model came out after the exam, so contamination can’t be ruled out. Chemistry is the harder subject: on the ScienceArena olympiad tests, the best model scored 48.95 out of 60 on the 2025 International Chemistry Olympiad, against 57.1 for the top human.

For homework, that means a good chatbot can now explain almost any high-school or university problem. The remaining risk is small mistakes in the final number, which is where a computational engine earns its place.

How we ranked

AI chatbots are ranked on independent benchmarks: Artificial Analysis’ CritPt physics benchmark and the ScienceArena olympiad tests. Solver apps are ranked on user ratings with real volume behind them and on expert reviews. Tools without enough of either are further down, under other tools worth knowing.

Best AI science solvers ranked

AI chatbots

CritPt v2 scores are from AlphaSignal’s report of the Artificial Analysis results, at maximum reasoning effort, as Artificial Analysis graded them before 6 November. On 6 November it graded every model on CritPt v2 again, after CritPt’s authors fixed their marking (Artificial Analysis). Artificial Analysis says most of the jump from the original CritPt comes from the corrected problems, with code access adding more. On the original, no-code CritPt board at that point the top models sat within 1.2 points of each other, with Meta’s Muse Wonder Full at 32.9%, GPT-5.6 Sol at 32.3% and Claude Opus 5.5 at 31.7% (Artificial Analysis).

Solver and homework apps

The top picks, reviewed

ChatGPT: best AI science solver overall

ChatGPT is the best all-round tool for chemistry and physics because it combines the strongest independent physics score with the most useful free features for students.

• Benchmarks: GPT-6 Astra, available on every paid ChatGPT plan since 5 September 2026, scored 83.1% on CritPt v2, as graded before 6 November, ahead of GPT-6.1 Sol (82.0%), Claude Opus 5.5 (77.7%) and GPT-5.6 Sol (75.0%) (AlphaSignal).
• Interactive visuals: since 10 March 2026, ChatGPT can draw interactive explanations for more than 70 maths and science topics, including Charles’ law, Coulomb’s law, Hooke’s law, kinetic energy and Ohm’s law, where you drag a variable and watch the result change. It’s available to every logged-in user (TechCrunch).
• Study mode: asks you questions and works through the problem with you rather than giving the answer straight away. It’s free.
• Scale: OpenAI said in March 2026 that more than 140 million people use ChatGPT each week for help with maths and science (TechCrunch).
• Price: free; Go $8 a month; Plus $20 a month for GPT-6 Astra.
• Watch out for: the free and Go tiers run smaller models than Plus and show ads in the US and a growing number of other markets. Ask it to show units at every step, and check the final number.

Gauth: best for photographing a worksheet

Gauth has the most App Store ratings of the photo homework solvers here, at 4.8 from about 1.5 million App Store ratings. Snap a question and it returns a worked solution; it lists chemistry and physics among its subjects, and live human tutors are an extra paid option. Plus is $11.99 a month, and the free tier gives a limited number of AI answers a day. Its strength is speed on standard, formula-driven problems: stoichiometry, kinematics, circuits. Like every answer-first app, it’s easy to copy without learning, so use the explanation, not just the result.

Gemini: best free guided tutor

Google’s Gemini models do best on olympiad-level science. On ScienceArena, a set of tests on 13 recent physics, chemistry and biology olympiads, Gemini 3.1 Pro had the top scores on IPhO 2025 (29.45 of 30) and IChO 2025 (48.95 of 60) among 14 models (ScienceArena); the OpenAI and Anthropic models in that test were GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 4.7, not their newest. Guided Learning, launched on 6 August 2025, turns Gemini into a tutor: it breaks a physics problem into steps, asks questions back, and adds diagrams, video clips and quizzes (Google). It’s in the free Gemini app; Google AI Plus is $4.99 a month and AI Pro $19.99 a month.

Claude: strong on careful explanations

Claude Opus 5.5 was third on CritPt v2 at 77.7%, as graded before 6 November, and on the original CritPt it was level with the leaders at 31.7%. Claude has a free plan, and Pro is $20 a month. Behind only OpenAI’s models on those CritPt v2 results, it’s the strongest second opinion on a hard physics problem.

Brainly: cheapest with human help

Brainly started as a community Q&A site and now adds AI answers on top, with ads and a daily AI limit on the free tier. It’s rated 4.7 from about 284,000 App Store ratings. Plus is $9.99 a month or $39.99 a year; Tutor, at $29.99 a month or $95.99 a year, adds live human tutors. It’s aimed at school students and parents rather than university courses.

Other tools worth knowing (not ranked)

These tools are established and widely used, but there isn’t enough independent testing or rating volume yet to rank them.

Wolfram|Alpha for checking answers

Wolfram|Alpha computes answers from structured formulas and chemical data rather than predicting text, so a balanced equation or a molar mass comes from a calculation, not a guess. Its Pro step-by-step solutions cover 13 chemistry topic groups, including balancing equations, stoichiometry and percent yield, net ionic equations, Lewis structures and oxidation states, the Nernst equation, equilibrium constants, gas laws, kinetics, molarity, dilution and titration. It also handles physics formulas and unit conversions.

• Price: free answers without steps; Pro for Students $60 a year, against $9.99 a month for the standard Pro plan.
• Watch out for: the WolframAlpha iPhone app is rated 2.8 from about 130 App Store ratings. Long word problems need breaking into a clean question first, which is where pairing it with a chatbot works well.

More solver and homework apps

For college courses

Chemistry-only apps

Photomath, often recommended alongside these, is maths only; it doesn’t cover chemistry or physics. Socratic by Google, once the go-to free science helper, has been folded into the Google app and Google Lens.

Pricing compared

How to get right answers from an AI science solver

• Ask for units at every step. Most chatbot errors in chemistry and physics are a dropped unit, a wrong power of ten or a rounding slip, not a wrong method.
• Check the final number in a computational engine. Paste the cleaned-up calculation into Wolfram|Alpha; if the two disagree, the engine is usually right.
• Give the data, not just the photo. Type the given values, the constants your course uses and the number of significant figures you need.
• Use tutor modes when you’re learning. ChatGPT study mode, Gemini Guided Learning and Khanmigo make you do the next step yourself, which is what helps on the exam.
• Know your school’s rules. Copying from an answer app into graded work is where students get into trouble; see best AI for homework for the integrity side.

Best AI science solver for each need

Best overall: ChatGPT

ChatGPT is the best AI science solver overall, because GPT-6 Astra led the CritPt v2 physics benchmark at 83.1%, as graded before 6 November, and the free tier includes study mode and interactive visuals for more than 70 maths and science topics.

Best photo solver: Gauth

Gauth is the best app for photographing a chemistry or physics question, because it’s rated 4.8 from over a million App Store ratings and covers both subjects.

Best free tutor: Gemini Guided Learning

Gemini is the best free science tutor, because Guided Learning breaks problems into steps and Gemini 3.1 Pro had the top olympiad scores on ScienceArena.

Best second opinion on hard physics: Claude

Claude Pro is the best second opinion on university physics, because Claude Opus 5.5 scored 77.7% on CritPt v2, as graded before 6 November, behind only OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol.

Best for college course help: Pearson+ Study Prep

Pearson+ Study Prep is worth a look if your chemistry or physics course uses a Pearson textbook, because its video solutions and AI tutor follow those courses.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best AI chemistry solver?

The best AI chemistry solver for most students is ChatGPT, which explains balancing, stoichiometry, gas laws and equilibrium step by step, and whose GPT-6 Astra model led the CritPt v2 science benchmark, as graded before 6 November. For photographing a worksheet, Gauth is the pick, rated 4.8 from about 1.5 million App Store ratings. Check final numbers with a calculator, because chatbots slip on arithmetic and units.

What is the best AI physics solver?

ChatGPT is the best AI physics solver, because GPT-6 Astra, the model on its paid plans, scored 83.1% on CritPt v2, Artificial Analysis’ independent benchmark of research-level physics problems, as graded before 6 November. Claude Opus 5.5 was third at 77.7%, and an agent built on Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview scored full marks on the 2025 International Physics Olympiad theory paper.

What is the best free AI for chemistry and physics?

The best free options are ChatGPT, with study mode and interactive visuals for topics such as gas laws and Ohm’s law, and Gemini with Guided Learning, which walks you through a problem step by step.

Can ChatGPT solve chemistry problems?

Yes. ChatGPT handles balancing equations, stoichiometry, gas laws, equilibrium and thermodynamics, and explains each step. Its most common mistakes are arithmetic, rounding and units rather than method, so check the final number in a calculator or Wolfram|Alpha.

Is AI good at physics now?

Yes, at a high level. On version 2 of Artificial Analysis’ CritPt benchmark of unpublished research-level physics problems, which lets models run code, GPT-6 Astra scored 83.1% against 29.0% for GPT-5, as graded before 6 November. Frontier models also score at or near full marks on International Physics Olympiad theory papers.

Is AI better at physics or chemistry?

Physics. Top models score at or near full marks on recent International Physics Olympiad theory papers, but the best model on ScienceArena scored 48.95 out of 60 on the 2025 International Chemistry Olympiad, against 57.1 for the top human. The ScienceArena researchers name chemistry as one of the main remaining weak spots.

Does Photomath do chemistry or physics?

No. Photomath covers maths only. For chemistry and physics from a photo, Gauth, Brainly, Question.AI and Solvely all cover both subjects, and ChatGPT and Gemini can read a photographed problem too.

Is Wolfram Alpha better than ChatGPT for chemistry?

For a final number, usually yes, because Wolfram|Alpha computes the answer from formulas and chemical data rather than predicting it. For understanding a word problem or the reasoning behind a reaction, ChatGPT explains far better. Most students do best using ChatGPT for the method and Wolfram|Alpha to check the answer.

Is using an AI science solver cheating?

It depends on your school’s rules and how you use it. Copying an answer from a photo app into graded work usually breaks academic integrity policies, while using a tutor mode such as ChatGPT study mode or Gemini Guided Learning to understand the method is generally treated like using a textbook. Check your course policy; see best AI for homework for more.

What happened to Socratic by Google?

Socratic, Google’s free homework app, no longer exists as a separate app. Its features moved into the Google app and Google Lens, and Gemini’s Guided Learning is now Google’s main free tutor for science problems.