Which AI Is Best for Mathematics in 2026?

Best AI for Mathematics Overall

Each platform was tested on its best available model or plan. A platform’s overall score is the average of its scores across the tasks in our study, with each task weighted equally. The three math apps were scored on seven tasks, without proofs and competition problems. In the table below, we rank the ten platforms from highest to lowest.

Mathematics Scores by AI Platform (September to October 2026)

Rank	AI Platform	Model or Plan Tested	Overall Score	Strongest Task
1	Claude	Claude Opus 5.5	91.3	Proofs
2	ChatGPT	GPT-6 Sol	91.2	Everyday Math
3	Google Gemini	Gemini 4 Argon	90.7	Everyday Math
4	Wolfram Alpha	Wolfram Alpha Pro	88.0	Everyday Math
5	Grok	Grok 4.6	87.6	Everyday Math
6	DeepSeek	DeepSeek V4-Pro	87.0	Everyday Math
7	Photomath	Photomath Plus	85.8	Photo of Handwritten Work
8	Symbolab	Symbolab Pro	85.7	Everyday Math
9	Microsoft Copilot	GPT-6 Astra	84.8	Everyday Math
10	Meta AI	Muse Spark	80.7	Everyday Math

Our researchers took three main points from this data:

• We found that Claude and ChatGPT are almost tied, separated by 0.1 points. ChatGPT finished first or second in seven of the nine tasks and Claude in five, and Claude’s lead came from proofs and word problems, where it explained each step most clearly.
• Wolfram Alpha was the highest-ranked math app, in fourth place at 88.0. It computes answers with a math engine, so it led everyday math (94.6) and calculus (93.1), but it struggled with word problems (82.7) written in everyday language.
• Meta AI ranked last at 80.7. Its lowest score was on competition problems (74.6).

Best AI for Each Type of Math

We split the problems evenly across nine tasks, with 60 problems per task. The first table below shows the winner and runner-up for each task. The second table and the heat map that follows show every platform’s score for every task, with the top score in each column in bold.

Best AI Platform for Each Math Task (September to October 2026)

Math Task	Best Platform	Score	Runner-Up	Score
Everyday Math	Wolfram Alpha	94.6	Claude	93.4
Algebra	Claude	92.8	ChatGPT	92.2
Geometry	Google Gemini	91.2	ChatGPT	90.4
Calculus	Wolfram Alpha	93.1	ChatGPT	92.3
Statistics and Probability	ChatGPT	91.6	Claude	90.9
Word Problems	Claude	92.6	ChatGPT	91.4
Proofs	Claude	93.8	ChatGPT	91.2
Photo of Handwritten Work	Photomath	91.6	Google Gemini	90.8
Competition Problems	ChatGPT	90.1	Google Gemini	89.7

Mathematics Scores by Task and AI Platform (September to October 2026)

AI Platform	Everyday	Algebra	Geometry	Calculus	Statistics	Word Problems	Proofs	Photo	Competition
Claude	93.4	92.8	89.6	91.7	90.9	92.6	93.8	87.2	89.3
ChatGPT	93.1	92.2	90.4	92.3	91.6	91.4	91.2	88.6	90.1
Google Gemini	92.4	91.3	91.2	90.6	89.8	90.2	90.4	90.8	89.7
Wolfram Alpha	94.6	91.6	85.2	93.1	90.4	82.7	N/A	78.4	N/A
Grok	90.6	89.4	85.7	89.2	87.6	87.9	86.3	84.1	87.8
DeepSeek	90.2	89.8	84.9	89.6	87.1	86.4	87.2	80.6	86.9
Photomath	91.2	88.4	83.6	85.1	79.8	80.6	N/A	91.6	N/A
Symbolab	90.8	89.7	84.1	88.9	80.6	79.4	N/A	86.3	N/A
Microsoft Copilot	89.7	86.9	83.4	85.8	85.2	85.6	82.1	83.9	80.4
Meta AI	86.4	82.7	79.8	80.3	81.4	82.9	76.8	81.2	74.6

Here is what our team took from the task-level results:

• We found that five different platforms won at least one task. Claude won three, ChatGPT and Wolfram Alpha won two each, and Google Gemini and Photomath won one each.
• Proofs produced the widest gap of any task, 17.0 points between Claude (93.8) and Meta AI (76.8). Photomath led solving from a photo of handwritten work (91.6) because it is built to read handwriting, and Google Gemini was the strongest chatbot on that task (90.8).
• ChatGPT led competition problems (90.1) and statistics and probability (91.6). Google Gemini led geometry (91.2), helped by drawing and labeling diagrams as it worked.

Accuracy: Right Answers, Sound Steps and Reading Handwriting

A math answer is only useful if it is right. We checked every final answer against a known solution and grouped the problems into four difficulty levels, from middle school to competition problems. For every correct answer, the panel also read each step and counted answers that reached the right result through a wrong step, which can teach the wrong method. Finally, we counted how often each platform misread a number or symbol in the 60 photos of handwritten work.

Math Accuracy by AI Platform (September to October 2026)

AI Platform	Middle School Answers Correct	High School Answers Correct	College Answers Correct	Competition Answers Correct	Correct Answers With a Flawed Step	Photos Misread
Claude	99.2%	97.6%	94.1%	78.3%	2.1%	5.4%
ChatGPT	99.4%	97.9%	94.6%	81.7%	3.4%	4.2%
Google Gemini	99.1%	97.2%	93.4%	79.6%	3.9%	3.1%
Wolfram Alpha	99.6%	96.8%	93.9%	N/A	0.4%	13.6%
Grok	98.6%	95.4%	90.2%	72.4%	6.2%	7.8%
DeepSeek	98.9%	96.1%	91.8%	74.6%	5.1%	11.2%
Photomath	98.8%	94.2%	84.7%	N/A	1.9%	2.3%
Symbolab	98.7%	95.1%	89.6%	N/A	1.2%	5.9%
Microsoft Copilot	98.1%	93.7%	86.4%	61.2%	5.8%	6.6%
Meta AI	96.4%	89.8%	79.2%	48.6%	8.7%	9.4%

Our researchers drew three conclusions from the accuracy data:

• We found that every platform was close to perfect on middle school problems, with at least 96.4% correct, but accuracy fell as problems got harder. On competition problems, ChatGPT was right 81.7% of the time and Meta AI 48.6%.
• Wolfram Alpha almost never reached a right answer through a wrong step (0.4%), because a math engine computes every step. Among the chatbots, Claude had the lowest rate at 2.1%, while Meta AI reached 8.7%.
• Photomath misread the fewest photos of handwritten work (2.3%), followed by Google Gemini (3.1%). DeepSeek misread 11.2%, and Wolfram Alpha misread 13.6%, the most in the study.

Competition Math and the Hardest Problems

Competition problems are the hardest test of mathematical reasoning. Our 60 competition problems were new problems written in the style of national olympiads, so no platform could have seen them before. The table below shows each chatbot’s share of correct answers on them and how far its accuracy fell from middle school problems.

Competition Problem Accuracy by AI Chatbot (September to October 2026)

AI Chatbot	Competition Answers Correct	Middle School Answers Correct	Drop (Points)
ChatGPT	81.7%	99.4%	17.7
Google Gemini	79.6%	99.1%	19.5
Claude	78.3%	99.2%	20.9
DeepSeek	74.6%	98.9%	24.3
Grok	72.4%	98.6%	26.2
Microsoft Copilot	61.2%	98.1%	36.9
Meta AI	48.6%	96.4%	47.8

Here is what our team took from the competition results:

• We found that ChatGPT (81.7%), Google Gemini (79.6%) and Claude (78.3%) solved about four of every five competition problems.
• Meta AI’s accuracy fell the most, 47.8 points from middle school problems to competition problems, and Microsoft Copilot fell 36.9 points.
• These results match the progress of the strongest AI systems on real competitions. In July 2025, an advanced version of Gemini with Deep Think became the first AI system officially graded at gold-medal level at the International Mathematical Olympiad.

Best AI Models for Mathematics, Including Free Options

Most platforms give free users a different model or fewer features than paying subscribers. We tested 16 models and plans across the ten platforms, including each platform’s free option. The table below ranks every one we tested.

Mathematics Scores by Model and Plan (September to October 2026)

Rank	Model or Plan	Platform	Available On	Score
1	Claude Opus 5.5	Claude	Paid	91.3
2	GPT-6 Sol	ChatGPT	Paid	91.2
3	Gemini 4 Argon	Google Gemini	Paid	90.7
4	Claude Sonnet 5.5	Claude	Free and paid	90.4
5	Gemini 3.8 Flash	Google Gemini	Free and paid	89.3
6	GPT-6 Luna	ChatGPT	Free and paid	88.7
7	Wolfram Alpha Pro	Wolfram Alpha	Paid	88.0
8	Grok 4.6	Grok	Free and paid	87.6
9	DeepSeek V4-Pro	DeepSeek	Free	87.0
10	Wolfram Alpha (free)	Wolfram Alpha	Free	86.1
11	Photomath Plus	Photomath	Paid	85.8
12	Symbolab Pro	Symbolab	Paid	85.7
13	GPT-6 Astra	Microsoft Copilot	Free and paid	84.8
14	Photomath (free)	Photomath	Free	84.1
15	Symbolab (free)	Symbolab	Free	84.0
16	Muse Spark	Meta AI	Free	80.7

Our team took three main points from the model-level results:

• We found that Claude Sonnet 5.5 is the best free AI for mathematics, scoring 90.4, behind only three paid models.
• Paying for ChatGPT added the most of any platform: GPT-6 Sol scored 2.5 points higher than the free GPT-6 Luna, mostly on competition problems.
• Wolfram Alpha’s free version scored 86.1, 1.9 points below Wolfram Alpha Pro, which adds step-by-step solutions and photo input.