Best SmarterBook Alternative in 2026
SmarterBook has discontinued service, and the students who relied on it are looking for somewhere to land. This is our own rundown of what HWSolved offers, written by the team that builds it, so you can judge whether it fits how you study.
First, the honest framing
You are reading this on HWSolved's own site, so treat it as what it is: our pitch, not a neutral survey. We are not going to pretend to be a review site that weighed ten products and happened to pick us. What we can do is describe plainly what the tool does, what it does not do, and what it costs, and let you compare that against anything else you are considering.
What HWSolved actually is
HWSolved is a Chrome extension that sits alongside your coursework and gives you AI assistance on the question in front of you. You open it on a page you are already logged into, and it reads the question, works through it, and returns an answer along with the reasoning behind it. The reasoning is the part that matters. An answer with no explanation teaches you nothing and is worthless the week of the exam.
It is a study aid. It does not replace reading the chapter, and it is not a substitute for understanding material you will be tested on without it.
Platform coverage
Coverage is the practical difference between study tools. A tool that only understands one publisher stops being useful the moment a course changes platform. HWSolved works across the platforms most college courses actually run on:
- McGraw Hill Connect and SmartBook
- Canvas LMS
- ALEKS
- Pearson MyLab and Mastering
- Edgenuity
- Knewton Alta and Wiley
- Coursera and Quizizz
- Snap AI, which works on any page via a screenshot
Snap AI is the one worth understanding. Press a shortcut, crop any question on any site, and it reads the image. That covers PDFs, scanned worksheets, and platforms nobody has written specific support for.
Answer quality
First-pass accuracy runs roughly 75 to 85 percent depending on subject and question type, and we would rather publish that number than claim something rounder. Maths and multi-step calculation are harder than vocabulary. The Smart Cache stores answers you have already confirmed correct, so repeat questions come back instantly on a second attempt or a final review, and the Answer Pool draws on questions the wider user base has already verified.
What it costs
Starter is $6.99 a week, $18.99 a month, or $49.99 for a semester. Pro and Elite add more of the session tooling and the Answer Pool. Every tier includes every supported platform, which is deliberate: we do not think it makes sense to sell platform coverage back to you piece by piece. There is a 24-hour money-back guarantee if your key does not work.
Who it is not for
If you want something free, this is not it. If you are in a course where any outside assistance is prohibited, do not use it. Your school's academic policy governs what you are allowed to use, and that is your call to make before you install anything, not ours.
If SmarterBook was doing a job for you, work out which part of that job you actually need covered now, then check whether HWSolved covers it before you pay for anything. That is a better way to choose a study tool than any ranked list.
HWSolved is an independent study aid. You are responsible for following your school's academic policy. See our Acceptable Use Policy.