Disclosure: BoredProf publishes this article, and BoredProf is one of the five tools in it. We haven’t run hands-on tests of the other tools, and we don’t rank them with an overall score. Each tool fits a different student, so we compare them by need.
You’re a sophomore, it’s 9 p.m., and a physics problem set is open next to a chemistry quiz tomorrow. Which AI tutor should you open? For one tool that covers every subject, Khanmigo is the usual pick. For free, general help, ChatGPT Study Mode and Gemini Guided Learning are the obvious places to start. For a tutor that works from your own class slides and draws the steps on a whiteboard, BoredProf is built for that. Pick by the job you need done, then check age rules and prices on each official page, because both change.
TL;DR
- Khanmigo is the broadest all-subject option for families. Sources list it at $4/month or $44/year, with US eligibility rules.
- CK12 Flexi, ChatGPT Study Mode and Gemini Guided Learning are the lowest-cost ways to try guided help. Each has a free tier, and each has its own age and account rules.
- BoredProf fits students who learn from their own slides, PDFs or homework photos in math, physics, chemistry and biology. It requires age 13+ and has a limited free plan.
- No AI tutor replaces your teacher or a human tutor. Use them to understand a step, then check the answer yourself.
- Prices and eligibility change. Confirm everything on the official page before you pay.
The comparison table
This table summarizes what we could support from sources and from BoredProf’s own pages. Where a cell says to confirm on the official page, that is because the figure or rule changes and you should read it live. Prices are in USD unless marked, and they were last reviewed in early November 2026.
| Tool | Suitable student | Subjects | Price, currency, billing | Free limits | Age and parent access | Main drawback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khanmigo | Motivated middle and high schoolers who want one tutor for many subjects | Most academic subjects, including math, science, coding, history and humanities | $4/month or $44/year, USD, per family | Free for US K-12 teachers; for students the paid family plan applies | US parent and learner eligibility applies; read khanmigo.ai/pricing | It doesn’t start from your own slides in the way a file-based tutor does |
| CK12 Flexi | Students who want free help tied to CK-12 style study content | Math and science focus | Free, per CK-12’s Flexi page | Free; read info.ck12.org/flexi-info for current terms | Check the Flexi page for account rules | Narrower in scope than a general chatbot |
| ChatGPT Study Mode | Students who want a free, flexible tutor for any question | Any subject | Free tier includes Study Mode, per chatgpt.com/pricing | Free tier has usage limits that OpenAI sets | Check OpenAI’s current age and parental consent terms | It can still hand over answers if you ask, so you have to keep to the guided path |
| Gemini Guided Learning | Students who already use a Google account | Any subject | Free tier exists, per gemini.google/subscriptions | Limits set by Google | Check Google’s age rules for your account type | Account type (personal or school) changes what you can use |
| BoredProf | Students studying from their own slides, PDFs, Word or PowerPoint files, or homework photos | Math, physics, chemistry, biology | Free; Pro C$29.99/month or C$99/4 months; Max C$59.99/month, all in Canadian dollars | One lecture from one course, with usage caps; see the live pricing page | Terms require age 13+ | Four subjects only; it is not a full-curriculum replacement |
A price in this table is only as fresh as its source. Check each official page the day you sign up.
What “guided” actually means
A bad AI tutor gives you the answer and leaves you with nothing for the test. A good one asks you the next small question. A university example shows the design goal: RIT’s Center for Teaching and Learning describes a Socratic physics tutor built with Gemini that was set up to ask guiding questions and not to give direct solutions, and it only browses the course materials it was given. That is a course-specific setup built by instructors, not a consumer app, but it shows what to look for: a tutor that asks, and a tutor that stays inside your material.
The same page suggests a simple trick that you can borrow. Ask the tutor to “just give me the answer” and see what happens. If it holds the line and asks you a question, good. If it hands over a solution, you know to push it back to step-by-step.
A worked example: the same problem, two ways
Take the problem: solve 3(x − 2) = 2x + 5.
A bad exchange: “x = 11.” Done, and you learned nothing.
A guided exchange:
- Tutor: What does the 3 in front of the bracket do? It multiplies everything inside. So 3(x − 2) becomes 3x − 6. Why this step first: you can’t combine terms while the bracket is still closed.
- Tutor: Now you have 3x − 6 = 2x + 5. How do we get the x terms on one side? Subtract 2x from both sides: x − 6 = 5. Why: whatever you do to one side, you do to the other, so the equation stays true.
- Tutor: What’s left to isolate x? Add 6 to both sides: x = 11. Why: adding 6 cancels the −6.
- Tutor: How would you check it? Put 11 back in: 3(9) = 27 and 2(11) + 5 = 27. Both sides match.
The last step is the one students skip. A good tutor, human or AI, makes you do it. If you want a repeatable routine for word problems, our step-by-step method for algebra word problems walks through it.
Quick check: try 4(x + 1) = 2x + 10 on paper first. (Expand, move the x terms, solve, then substitute to check. The answer is x = 3.) Then ask any tutor on this list to walk through it and compare steps, not just the final number.
Khanmigo: the all-subject pick
Khanmigo is Khan Academy’s tutor. Don’t confuse it with Khan Academy’s free learning library of videos and exercises: the library is free, and Khanmigo is the paid AI layer on top. According to one comparison of age rules and prices, it serves students from elementary school through college and covers most academic subjects. Another roundup describes it as the safest all-subject option for motivated middle and high schoolers, at $4/month or $44/year for a family, with teachers getting access for free.
Fits best: a high schooler who wants one patient tutor for algebra, history and writing, and a parent who wants a family plan with a recognized education nonprofit behind it.
Skip or look elsewhere if: you’re outside the US, because eligibility is described around US parents and learners, or if your main need is working from your own professor’s slides. Read khanmigo.ai/pricing for the current terms.
One honest wrinkle: a company blog reports that Sal Khan called early student-tutor results “a non-event” for most learners while usage grew past 2 million. The takeaway isn’t that the tool is useless. It’s that a tutor helps most when a student is already motivated and doing the work.
CK12 Flexi: free and math and science focused
CK-12’s Flexi is listed as free on the official info page (info.ck12.org/flexi-info). That makes it an easy first stop for a student who wants help with math and science concepts at no cost.
Fits best: a student who wants no-cost explanations and has no budget for a subscription.
Skip or look elsewhere if: you need it to teach from your own class slides or want voice conversation with drawn steps. Read the Flexi page for current account rules.
ChatGPT Study Mode: flexible, free, and easy to misuse
OpenAI’s pricing page (chatgpt.com/pricing) lists Study Mode as part of the Free plan. It works on any subject, which is its strength. The weak point is that you control how guided it is. If you type “just solve it,” it may drift toward answers, which is exactly the habit that hurts you on exams.
Fits best: a self-disciplined student with questions across many subjects, or one who wants a free option to try first.
Skip or look elsewhere if: you tend to copy the answer and move on. Check OpenAI’s current terms for age and parental consent before a teenager signs up.
Gemini Guided Learning: free, tied to a Google account
Google lists a free tier on its subscriptions page (gemini.google/subscriptions). Guided Learning is a mode for step-by-step help. A Socratic course tutor like the RIT example shows what Gemini can do when instructors set it up with approved materials.
Fits best: a student who already lives in Google apps and wants a free guided option.
Skip or look elsewhere if: you’re on a school-managed account, since what’s available there depends on what your school switched on. Check Google’s age rules for your account type.
BoredProf: for your own slides and homework photos
Here is what BoredProf is, using only what our site says. You upload lecture slides, PDFs, Word or PowerPoint files, or a homework photo. It explains ideas out loud and draws steps and figures on a whiteboard. It has voice chat, captions, follow-up questions, saved lessons and feedback on handwritten working. The subjects on the public site are math, physics, chemistry and biology. The public demo uses prewritten sample answers drawn on the real board, so it shows the format and not live answers to your own file.
Fits best: a high schooler aged 13 or older who has a teacher’s slide deck or a worksheet and wants to see each step explained and drawn. If your trouble is chemistry or physics, our guides to choosing an online chemistry tutor and an online physics tutor lay out what to look for in any option.
Skip or look elsewhere if: you need history, English or coding help, since the public site shows only four subjects. Also look elsewhere if you want a full replacement for your school curriculum or a human tutor, which BoredProf isn’t designed to be.
The terms require users to be 13 or older. We can’t tell you a parent isn’t needed for your situation, so a younger or newer teen should read the terms with a parent.
What it costs, side by side
Money is where families get tripped up, so here it is in plain terms.
- Khanmigo: $4/month or $44/year, USD, for a family, per this roundup. The annual price works out to $44 upfront.
- CK12 Flexi, ChatGPT Study Mode, Gemini Guided Learning: free tiers, each with limits and rules the provider sets. Read their official pages for caps.
- BoredProf: Free at C$0 with one lecture from one course and usage caps. Pro is C$29.99/month or C$99/4 months. Max is C$59.99/month. These are Canadian dollars as listed on our pricing page and terms, checked on November 3, 2026. Look for USD options and current caps on the live page.
For comparison with a math-only tool, a professional comparison lists Photomath at $9.99/month or $69.99/year, with the free plan giving basic steps only. It is for users 13 and over and covers math only.
How to choose by student need
Skip the idea of a single winner. Match the tool to the job.
- “I want one tutor for everything and a family plan.” Start with Khanmigo, if you meet the US eligibility terms.
- “I want free, today.” Try Study Mode, Gemini Guided Learning or Flexi. Keep your rule: ask for hints, not answers.
- “My teacher’s slides are confusing.” A tool that reads your file is the better fit. BoredProf does this for math, physics, chemistry and biology.
- “I have a handwritten worksheet and want to know where I went wrong.” BoredProf describes feedback on handwritten working. A homework photo can start a lesson.
- “I need a person.” For deeper gaps, see our guide on when on-demand tutoring helps.
A simple habit makes any of these better: cover the tutor’s answer, try the next step yourself, then compare. Our piece on AI-assisted learning goes into that routine.
Try BoredProf on your own material
If your hardest class runs on slides and problem sets, BoredProf is built for that. You can watch the public demo first, then start on the Free plan, which has one lecture from one course and stated usage caps. Pro and Max expand access. See the Free, Pro and Max plans for current limits and prices.
Want to see the format before uploading anything? Browse the worked examples library for solved problems explained step by step.
FAQ
Which AI tutor is best for a high school student?
It depends on the job. Khanmigo is the broadest all-subject choice, free tiers like Study Mode suit a first try, and BoredProf suits students working from their own slides in four STEM subjects. Pick one need, try one tool, and confirm age and price on the official page.
Can a 13-year-old use these tutors?
Rules differ by tool and change over time. BoredProf’s terms require age 13 or older, and Photomath lists 13 and over in one comparison. Khanmigo describes US parent and learner eligibility. Read each provider’s current terms with a parent.
Will an AI tutor just give my child the answers?
Some tools do if asked. Guided modes are designed to ask questions first. A simple test from RIT’s tutor page is to ask it to “just give me the answer” and see whether it holds the line. Encourage trying each step before looking.
Is a free plan enough?
For trying a tool, usually yes. BoredProf’s Free plan covers one lecture from one course with usage caps, so heavier use needs Pro or Max. Other tools set their own free limits, so check the official pages.