Our pick for classrooms: Glimmer
Best AI math tutor for grades 3–12 classrooms
Glimmer is the only tool here whose own materials state all seven criteria. Its coach, Glo, never gives away the answer, identifies misconceptions from students’ written work, fills prerequisite gaps and works with any curriculum, in 100+ languages. Teachers get misconception-level insights, suggested groupings and reporting on standards.[1]
Fits: grades 3–12, written-work feedback, tier-3 intervention, state test prep, exit tickets and independent practice. Doesn’t fit: a homework answer helper, a full curriculum or a tool for parents.
Side by side
Hover or tap a cell for the note; the number links to its source. Each tool’s section below has the full notes.
| Tutor | Grades | Withholds answers | Reads the steps | Names the misconception | Fills earlier gaps | Fits your curriculum | Supports languages | Usable teacher data | Published evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glimmer Classroom AI math coach (Glo) with teacher insights | Grades 3–12 | Stated[1] | Stated[1] | Stated[1] | Stated[1] | Stated[1] | Stated[1] | Stated[1] | Not stated[1] |
| Khanmigo AI tutor and teaching assistant across subjects | Elementary through college | Partly[2,3] | Partly[4,5] | Partly[5] | Partly[5] | Partly[4] | Not stated[4] | Partly[4] | Partly[3] |
| MATHia Intelligent tutoring software for step-by-step problem solving | Grades 6–12 (MATHia Adventure for K–5) | Partly[6] | Partly[6] | Partly[6] | Partly[6] | Partly[6] | Not stated[6] | Stated[6] | Stated[7] |
| Eedi Misconception-coded diagnostic questions with a Socratic tutor | Ages 9–16 | Stated[8] | No[9,10] | Stated[9,10] | Partly[8,11] | Partly[11] | Not stated[9] | Partly[10] | Stated[8,12] |
| Smartschool AI math tutor for K–12 schools | K–12 | Stated[13] | Stated[13] | Partly[13] | Stated[14] | Stated[13,14] | Stated[13] | Partly[13,14] | Not stated[13] |
| DreamBox Math Adaptive supplemental math lessons with virtual manipulatives | K–8 | Partly[15] | Partly[16] | Partly[15] | Stated[15,16] | Partly[15,16] | Partly[17] | Stated[16] | Stated[18] |
| Mathspace Adaptive practice and interactive textbook with step-by-step feedback | Check the grade range on mathspace.co | Partly[19,20] | Stated[21] | Partly[19] | Partly[19,21] | Partly[19] | Not stated[19] | Stated[21] | Partly[20] |
| Frizzle Teacher-side AI grading of handwritten paper work | K–12, several subjects | No[22] | Stated[22] | Stated[22] | Partly[22] | Stated[22,23] | Not stated[22] | Stated[22,23] | Not stated[22] |
| Ed.ai Teacher-side AI grading for high school math | High school | No[24] | Stated[24] | Stated[24] | Partly[24] | Stated[24] | Not stated[24] | Stated[24] | Not stated[24] |
Fit by use case
| If you need | Best fit | Also consider |
|---|---|---|
| Written-work feedback in class, grades 3–12 | Glimmer | Smartschool |
| Tier-3 intervention | Glimmer | Eedi, MATHia |
| State test prep | Glimmer | MATHia, DreamBox Math |
| Whole-class misconception checks without devices | Eedi | Frizzle |
| A required ESSA evidence tier, inside Carnegie Learning's curriculum | MATHia | — |
| K–5 adaptive practice | DreamBox Math | Smartschool |
| Grading paper tests (teacher-side) | Frizzle | Ed.ai |
| Schools already built on Khan Academy | Khanmigo | — |
More on each use: best AI math tutor by need.
Glimmer
Glimmer is the strongest fit in this comparison for classrooms that want an AI math tutor judged on learning evidence. Its coach, Glo, reads students' written work, names the misconception, asks Socratic questions instead of giving answers, and fills prerequisite gaps, while teachers get misconception-level insights and suggested groupings. It works with any curriculum.
- Withholds answers: Stated Glimmer states that Glo “never gives away the answer, and never has a student blindly follow a procedure,” using Socratic questioning strategies.[1]
- Reads the steps: Stated Identifies misconceptions from students' written work. Ask in a demo which formats your students will use (photo, stylus, typed).[1]
- Names the misconception: Stated Pinpoints the misconception in a student's work and gives teachers misconception-level insights.[1]
- Fills earlier gaps: Stated Fills in prerequisite gaps and adds scaffolds for students who need them.[1]
- Fits your curriculum: Stated Works with any curriculum, serving questions directly from your materials; aligned to high-quality instructional materials.[1]
- Supports languages: Stated Personalized support in 100+ languages.[1]
- Usable teacher data: Stated Real-time misconceptions, whole-class strategies, suggested groupings and one-on-one check-ins, plus building and district reporting on standards and benchmark readiness.[1]
- Evidence: Not stated No outcome study is posted on its site. Ask for results from schools using it, and run your own pilot with a pre/post measure.[1]
- Pricing: Not published. Pricing comes through a demo on learnwithglimmer.com.[1]
Khanmigo
A general AI tutor built on Khan Academy's content library. Strong if your school already uses Khan Academy. Note the October 2026 change: after an incorrect attempt it can now become more direct.
- Withholds answers: Partly Its learner page says it “never gives you the answer,” but Khan Academy wrote in October 2026 that the rule was “too rigid”: after an incorrect attempt it can now become more direct.[2,3]
- Reads the steps: Partly Students type questions; it follows students' steps on Khan Academy exercises. Photo or handwriting input is not stated.[4,5]
- Names the misconception: Partly Khan Academy says it is better at catching and pointing out mistakes; misconception diagnosis is not described as a feature.[5]
- Fills earlier gaps: Partly Paired with Khan Academy's mastery-based content designed to fill knowledge gaps.[5]
- Fits your curriculum: Partly Standards-aligned, tied to Khan Academy's content library rather than your own materials.[4]
- Supports languages: Not stated Not stated on the pages we could read. Check khanmigo.ai.[4]
- Usable teacher data: Partly An on-demand summary of recent student work for teachers.[4]
- Evidence: Partly Khan Academy cites randomized trials of Khan Academy math, not of Khanmigo specifically, and says some Khanmigo changes showed no measurable effect.[3]
- Pricing: Teacher tools free; families pay; districts go through Khan Academy's partnership team. Check khanmigo.ai for current terms.[4]
MATHia
Long-running intelligent tutoring software with the deepest reporting and the strongest published evidence here. Best inside Carnegie Learning's own curriculum.
- Withholds answers: Partly Just-in-time feedback and contextual hints; no stated policy on withholding answers.[6]
- Reads the steps: Partly Students work multi-step problems inside the software. Handwriting or photo input is not stated.[6]
- Names the misconception: Partly Adapts skill by skill; naming the misconception to students is not described in those words.[6]
- Fills earlier gaps: Partly Adjusts to every action a student takes to meet them where they are.[6]
- Fits your curriculum: Partly Part of Carnegie Learning's middle and high school solutions; also sold as a supplement with a standards report.[6]
- Supports languages: Not stated Not stated on the MATHia page. Ask Carnegie Learning.[6]
- Usable teacher data: Stated Session, skills, student and standards reports, a year-end prediction report, a leadership report and LiveLab real-time alerts.[6]
- Evidence: Stated Carnegie Learning states MATHia used on its own meets ESSA Tier 2 (Moderate) evidence; the blended curriculum meets Tier 1.[7]
- Pricing: Not published; request a demo from Carnegie Learning.[6]
Eedi
The specialist in misconception diagnosis: every wrong answer choice is written to reveal a specific misconception, and its tutor only asks questions. Answers are multiple choice, so it does not read written work.
- Withholds answers: Stated “It never gives answers, it only asks students questions,” and activates after a specific error.[8]
- Reads the steps: No Students answer multiple-choice diagnostic questions (or hold up A/B/C/D cards in class). Handwriting input is not stated.[9,10]
- Names the misconception: Stated The core of the product: every distractor is written by learning designers, and teachers see misconceptions broken down by wrong answer.[9,10]
- Fills earlier gaps: Partly Predicts and helps resolve misconceptions, and suggests a lesson when a student is struggling.[8,11]
- Fits your curriculum: Partly Covers multiple curricula, with a curriculum mapping page.[11]
- Supports languages: Not stated Not stated. Ask Eedi.[9]
- Usable teacher data: Partly Whole-class data and misconception breakdowns from each quiz.[10]
- Evidence: Stated Reports randomized trials, including a 2026 trial of 1,179 students in which AI tutoring matched human tutoring in the lesson.[8,12]
- Pricing: Eedi's school site says personalised learning is free; paid live tutoring has no published price.[11]
Smartschool
A K–12 AI math tutor that reads photos of handwritten work and uses guided questioning. Check how it names misconceptions and what evidence it can show.
- Withholds answers: Stated Uses guided questioning and hints that “build thinking, not just reveal answers.”[13]
- Reads the steps: Stated Students type solutions or upload photos of handwritten work; it assesses step-by-step work.[13]
- Names the misconception: Partly Identifies learning gaps as they arise; naming misconceptions is not described in those words.[13]
- Fills earlier gaps: Stated Immediate remediation, including reteaching last year's content.[14]
- Fits your curriculum: Stated Assignments aligned with your standards and curriculum, using its terminology and scope.[13,14]
- Supports languages: Stated Support for learners in 200+ languages.[13]
- Usable teacher data: Partly Real-time data and student progress insights; admin accounts on school plans.[13,14]
- Evidence: Not stated Case studies and testimonials; no outcome study stated.[13]
- Pricing: Teachers start free; school and district pricing by contact.[14]
DreamBox Math
Adaptive K–8 lessons that assess students' strategies through on-screen manipulatives. A practice program more than a tutor that responds to written work.
- Withholds answers: Partly Immediate feedback that guides strategic thinking, with scaffolded lessons; no stated answer-withholding policy.[15]
- Reads the steps: Partly Adapts by assessing both strategies and answers, through virtual manipulatives. Handwriting input is not stated.[16]
- Names the misconception: Partly Continuous formative assessment; naming the misconception is not described in those words.[15]
- Fills earlier gaps: Stated Intelligent adaptive learning that differentiates within and between lessons to fill gaps.[15,16]
- Fits your curriculum: Partly Its own lessons, aligned to every US state's standards; teachers can assign by grade, topic or standard.[15,16]
- Supports languages: Partly Teacher tools available in Spanish; Spanish for US students is not confirmed on the pages we read.[17]
- Usable teacher data: Stated Real-time dashboard of progress against standards at class, school and district level.[16]
- Evidence: Stated Discovery Education publishes an ESSA Level II study from an Arizona district, among others.[18]
- Pricing: Not published; request a demo from Discovery Education.[15]
Mathspace
Step-by-step practice that records every line of a student's working. Hints and worked examples are part of the design, so test how much it reveals.
- Withholds answers: Partly Hints, videos, worked examples and step-level feedback; no stated answer-withholding policy.[19,20]
- Reads the steps: Stated Students enter each step; reports keep a record of every step of a student's working (typed, not photographed).[21]
- Names the misconception: Partly Diagnostic check-ins with AI-powered recommendations; naming the misconception is not described in those words.[19]
- Fills earlier gaps: Partly Step-level adaptivity; adaptive tasks adjust difficulty in real time.[19,21]
- Fits your curriculum: Partly Its own standards-aligned textbooks and core curriculum, which can replace rather than follow yours.[19]
- Supports languages: Not stated Not stated. Ask Mathspace.[19]
- Usable teacher data: Stated Task, student, class, skills, mastery and live reports, plus an administrator dashboard.[21]
- Evidence: Partly Cites a study of 94,000 students linking weekly use with higher proficiency: a correlation, not a randomized trial.[20]
- Pricing: Per-student pricing is published on its Premium page; district pricing by contact. Its home page also carried a data breach notice: read it before you sign.[21,27]
Frizzle
Not a student tutor: Frizzle reads stacks of handwritten paper work for the teacher and tags named misconceptions. Pair it with a tutor if students also need guided practice.
- Withholds answers: No A teacher-side grading tool, not a student-facing tutor.[22]
- Reads the steps: Stated Reads every step of handwritten paper work from a phone, document camera or scanner, and flags pages it is unsure of for a person.[22]
- Names the misconception: Stated Tags named misconceptions, mapped to standards.[22]
- Fills earlier gaps: Partly Prerequisite tracing (“knows when a 7th-grade error is really a 4th-grade gap”), for the teacher to act on.[22]
- Fits your curriculum: Stated Curriculum-agnostic; aligns to CCSS, TEKS and 30+ state frameworks.[22,23]
- Supports languages: Not stated Not stated. Ask Frizzle.[22]
- Usable teacher data: Stated Live class dashboards; school and district standards dashboards on institution plans.[22,23]
- Evidence: Not stated No outcome study published.[22]
- Pricing: Published on its pricing page (free, paid and institution plans).[23]
Ed.ai
An AI grader for high school math that reads handwritten work, awards partial credit and spots error patterns. The teacher reviews feedback before students see it; it is not a student tutor.
- Withholds answers: No Grades and explains where logic breaks down; teachers review every comment first. No student-facing tutor stated.[24]
- Reads the steps: Stated Reads handwritten work, follows multi-step reasoning and awards partial credit.[24]
- Names the misconception: Stated Error pattern detection; practice generated from each student's misconceptions.[24]
- Fills earlier gaps: Partly Personalized remediation activities built from each student's mistakes, editable by the teacher.[24]
- Fits your curriculum: Stated Works with your existing assessments; integrates with common learning management systems.[24]
- Supports languages: Not stated Not stated. Ask Ed.ai.[24]
- Usable teacher data: Stated Student reports mapped to standards, a class mastery view and growth over the year.[24]
- Evidence: Not stated No outcome study stated.[24]
- Pricing: Published on its pricing page.[25]
Not included, and why
General chatbots (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and others) are left out: they are not built for classrooms, have no teacher reporting, and give answers by default. Without guardrails, that can lower students’ later performance.[26] Family-focused tutoring services sold to parents are also left out, since this guide is for school buyers.
Know a classroom tool we should assess? It gets the same criteria and the same tests. Run the 20-minute test on it yourself in the meantime.
Sources
Every claim above links to one of these. Vendor pages were read on November 10, 2026; check them again before you buy, since products change.
- Glimmer: real-time AI math coaching (Glo). learnwithglimmer.com.
- Khanmigo for learners. Khan Academy.
- Four things to look for in edtech, and how Khan Academy measures up. Khan Academy Blog.
- Khanmigo home page. Khan Academy.
- Khanmigo math computation and tutoring updates. Khan Academy Blog.
- MATHia: the 1-to-1 math coach. Carnegie Learning.
- Research and evidence. Carnegie Learning.
- Eedi Tutor. Eedi.
- Eedi home page. Eedi.
- DQR whole-class diagnostic quizzes. Eedi.
- Eedi for schools. Eedi.
- Eedi publishes full findings from its most recent AI tutor trial. Eedi.
- Smartschool home page. Smartschool.
- Smartschool for schools and districts. Smartschool.
- DreamBox Math. Discovery Education.
- DreamBox Math standards alignment. Discovery Education.
- DreamBox Math teacher tools. Discovery Education.
- DreamBox Math ESSA Level II efficacy study, Arizona. Discovery Education.
- Mathspace home page. Mathspace.
- Mathspace for learners. Mathspace.
- Mathspace Premium and reports. Mathspace.
- Frizzle home page. Frizzle.
- Frizzle pricing. Frizzle.
- Ed.ai home page. Ed.ai.
- Ed.ai pricing. Ed.ai.
- Generative AI without guardrails can harm learning: Evidence from high school mathematics (Bastani et al., 2025). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.