> says it cant recognize the handwriting even when i type it in. Saw this today and felt that pain... honestly most of these apps are such a letdown for diff equations. I tried using general LLMs for a while but they kept tripping on boundary value problems and basically making up math rules. Really disappointing when you actually need to learn the steps for a midterm. Since youre on a budget, dont dump your last 15 bucks into a generic bot. Check these out instead:

• Symbolab Step-by-Step Calculator Pro is way better at symbolic logic than Photomath and usually under 10 bucks.
• Maple Calculator AI Math Solver is actually free for a lot of the heavy lifting. The technical side is what matters here. Most scanners just guess, but these use actual math engines. Save your cash and use the desktop versions too, sometimes they show more steps for free.

Re: "> says it cant recognize the handwriting even..." - yeah, total nightmare. unfortunately even some paid apps are a letdown. i had issues with Mathway Premium Monthly Subscription because the steps were way too jumpy.

• Gauthmath Plus Monthly Subscription is decent because they have tutors for when the ai breaks.
• Question AI Plus Monthly Subscription is cheaper and handles diff eqs okay. basically, dont expect miracles...

Works great for me

Honestly, if youre dealing with differential equations, stop using those basic photo scanners. I wasted so much time back in college trying to get those apps to read my sloppy notes, and they always tripped up on stuff like integrating factors or Laplace transforms. I eventually switched over to WolframAlpha Pro Subscription and it was a total lifesaver for my advanced calc classes. Unlike the usual AI bots that just guess the next word based on probability, this thing actually calculates the math using a computational engine. It doesnt really hallucinate because its basically a massive symbolic logic system. Last semester, I had this insane second-order non-homogeneous equation that my tutor couldnt even explain clearly. I typed it into the web interface and it didnt just give the answer, it showed the full step-by-step breakdown for the method of undetermined coefficients. Since you have a 15 dollar budget, the pro sub is usually around 7 to 10 bucks a month for students, so youll even save some cash for coffee. It handles the typing much better than those apps handle photos anyway. Just make sure you learn the basic syntax for typing out the derivatives... it takes like five minutes to learn but saves hours of frustration. It wont just lie to you like some LLMs do when they get confused by complex variables. Definitely worth the few bucks to get through your midterms without losing your mind.