what is chegg homework help

What is Chegg? Our Complete Review

What is Chegg?

Based in Santa Clara, California, Chegg is a disruptive education technology company that offers textbook rentals (digital and physical), textbooks, and a plethora of online student services. Chegg’s student services include online tutoring, online homework assistance, and scholarship and internship search engines.

Chegg’s slogan, “A Smarter Way to Student”, shows the breadth of the student services they offer. In practice, many college students also use Chegg to complete homework assignments, papers, quizzes and exams.

According to the company’s mission statement, “We support students on their journey from high school to college and into their career with tools designed to help them learn their course materials, succeed in their classes, save money on required materials, and learn the most in-demand skills.”

We’ll dive further into these specific services, but first let’s take a look at Chegg’s history and development as a company. 

It all began in 2000, when three Iowa State students got together and launched Cheggpost, a service similar to Craigslist for Iowa State students.

The name Chegg is a combination of chicken and egg. According to this New York Times article , the students were frustrated that you couldn’t get a job without experience, and couldn’t get experience out of a job.

Five years later, the company incorporated with humble beginnings, providing similar services to education blogs today, including:

• Scholarship searches
• Internship matching
• College admissions advice

It wasn’t until 2007 that Chegg took a page out of the Netflix book and centered all their efforts on renting out textbooks to college students. This turned out to be a great plan, as many college students only use their textbooks during the course anyway.

Expanding to the national stage, Chegg went public in 2013, and continued to grow through partnerships with college textbook giants such as Pearson and Ingram Content Group. Most recently, Chegg partnered with Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL), home to some of the best free college writing resources online.

Chegg has also bought quite a few companies, which helps explain how the education technology powerhouse has grown and evolved over the past decade.

Chegg History and Growth

Seeing what companies Chegg has bought gives a clearer picture of the services they offer today. By our counting, Chegg has acquired at least 9 other companies to expand their business areas throughout the past few years, including:

• Zinch, a website offering scholarship searches and college recruiting
• Cramster, an online company helping students with homework and exam prep
• Notehall, a company that sold course notes
• 3D3R, a software company acquired to launch multiple Chegg digital initiatives
• InstaEDU, another (larger) online tutoring company
• Internships.com, a website focused on (you guessed it) connecting students with internships
• Imagine Easy Solutions, a company helping students with research and bibliographies
• WriteLab, an artificial intelligence tool similar to Grammarly
• StudyBlue, an flash card software company
• ThinkFul, an online platform with courses in computer science

As you can see, Chegg’s services have expanded to include online tutoring, scholarship and internship search engines and resources, college writing resources such as bibliography tools, online flash cards. With the acquisition of ThinkFul, we may even see Chegg branch out into providing its own standalone educational tracks.

What Services Does Chegg Offer?

Chegg offers digital textbook rentals, physical textbook rentals, textbook purchases, and a host of online student services. These online services encompass almost everything you can think of that would help a college student with their studies:

• Chegg Study: Answers to textbook questions and an expert question-and-answer service
• Chegg Math Solver: A graphic calculator and step-by-step math solutions so you can understand both the answer and the process to get there
• Chegg Writing: This service check for grammar and plagiarism, and also assists students with citations for papers
• Chegg Practice: Practice exams for a wide variety of study areas, with detailed step-by-step explanations of each answer so that you can review

We’ll dive further into these services individually, but first let’s discuss how they provide such high-quality and on-demand answers to a vast number of college students.

How Does Chegg Work?

Chegg works by harnessing the most modern educational technology to help students with a broad variety of needs, from renting textbooks to writing papers to doing homework to finding internships. If there’s something students need, there’s a good chance Chegg has a service to meet that need.

In terms of how they provide the specific services, eTextbook rentals are available through the website. If you rent a physical textbook, you’ll sign in to your online Chegg account, print your prepaid UPS return label, put the books in a box, and drop it off at UPS.

Chegg’s online services are all accessed by creating an online student account. Once you have an account, you can enroll in one or multiple services, or get a bundle such as the Chegg Study Pack.

How does Chegg get answers for students? According to a scouring Forbes piece which we’ll reference again later, Chegg “employs more than 70,000 experts with advanced math, science, technology and engineering degrees” in India, who are available around the clock to answer subscriber questions.

How to Rent Textbooks on Chegg

As we cover Chegg’s multitude of services, we’ll start with their roots in textbook rental. To rent digital or physical textbooks on Chegg, simply visit their website, put the name of your desired textbook into the search box, add the book to your cart, click checkout , create an account as prompted, and complete your online purchase.

As this is a rental, you must create a Chegg account to rent a book. When it’s time to return your book, you’ll need to log back into your online Chegg account, print out the UPS return label, and drop your book or books off at a UPS location near you.

The process is much the same for online rentals, and your Chegg account login will allow you to access your eTextbooks with your devices. 

Textbook rental, sales, and purchases were the services that launched Chegg’s success, so it’s no surprise that the process is fully optimized for a smooth and user-friendly interaction.

What is Chegg Study?

Chegg Study is a subscription service providing online homework help for students. Chegg Study provides step-by-step answers to questions found in textbooks, and also allows subscribers to submit their own questions to experts. These experts provide detailed answers within 15 minutes to 24 hours.

Chegg Study is at the core of Chegg’s success and it’s controversy over the past years, as we’ll get to in the later sections on cheating accusations. While Chegg Study can be used simply to understand the problems, its use to answer homework questions is against many colleges’ codes of conduct.

The Covid-19 pandemic only exacerbated the drama, as students taking quizzes and exams online have also been able to access Chegg Study answers, making a marked improvement in their grades. 

We’ll cover this drama more in a later section, but we wanted to mention this debate now because it shows something: Chegg Study is incredibly effective. If the Chegg study answers weren’t comprehensive, fast, and accurate, then universities wouldn’t be up in arms about its use.

We’re not commenting either way on the ethics yet, just the quality, and Chegg Study offers incredible quality. With a vast database of textbook answers, answers to other students’ questions, and quick answers to new questions, Chegg Study is disrupting the entire landscape of higher education.

Let’s check out a couple of quotes from a Reddit thread before we move on. According to u/pzezson, Chegg is “100% worth it” because they have answers to almost every textbook question out there, as well as answers for specific assignments.

Reddit user u/Fishskull3 shares an answer for those in more technical majors. “Personally in an engineering discipline it’s extremely helpful because it can walk through how to solve very difficult [homework] problems and class problems, and often help you see first hand how to use concepts you don’t fully understand. If you’re also in a class where a professor always gives more hw than necessary it can really save you a lot of time if you don’t need to solve every single problem to ‘get it’.”

Fishskull3 goes on to argue against Chegg Study’s detractors, noting that Chegg Study is “an excellent tool and most people that think that it is a crutch, or not worth it, either don’t have many difficult classes or lack the self discipline to not just mindlessly copy every single [homework] problem down without ever looking back, then curse it for ruining their grade.”

Chegg Study is at the core of Chegg’s growing revenue and growing controversy. When people discuss Chegg or “chegging”, they’re most commonly referring to the answers on Chegg Study.

What is Chegg Math Solver?

Chegg Math Solver is much more than a powerful graphing calculator. The Math Solver can take you photo and spit out the math equation within seconds, showing you how each step was completed!

According to Chegg, the free version of the Math Solver (limited to three problems per day) gives you the solution and a basic explanation. The paid version includes unlimited problems, detailed explanations with sub-steps for each problem, and a graphic calculator.

The Math Solver is capable of handling almost any math problem, including those found in:

• Pre Algebra including powers, roots, and linear equations
• Algebra including polynomials, quadratic expressions, and quadratic equations
• Pre Calculus including matrixes and logarithmic functions
• Calculus including general and fundamental derivatives
• Linear Algebra including determinants, matrix operations, and eigenvalues

While Chegg Math Solver has seen some level of success, it’s still definitely a background player compared to the comprehensive and personal answers found on Chegg Study.

What is Chegg Writing?

Chegg Writing is an advanced AI software to proofread, improve grammar, scan for plagiarism, and create instant citations. Chegg Writing also includes a person expert review of your paper.

The Chegg website boasts that this AI has put in some serious work with:

• 7+ million assignments checked
• 4+ million plagiarism scans
• 15+ million grammar errors caught
• 1.7 billion citations generated

If you haven’t heard of Chegg Writing, then Grammarly is the best comparison, and the two services compete for subscriptions.

Chegg Writing’s plagiarism checker is arguably the most advanced on the market. If Chegg finds plagiarism in your paper, it will help you to either remove it or to cite the source accurately.

Chegg Writing’s plagiarism checker is actually quite similar to Turnitin, which is used by many universities to check papers for plagiarism. You guessed it, this similarity between Chegg Writing and Turnitin has also led to more drama and cheating accusations, as Chegg allows students to see whether their paper will likely be flagged by the university’s software or not. Whew!

If you do ask for an expert review of your paper, Chegg will get back with your review within 24 hours.

While Chegg lacks some of Grammarly’s most impressive features such as its tonality check, it’s still more than capable for college coursework. Being specifically designed for college students, it ticks all the right boxes. Perhaps too many boxes, according to the plagiarism whistleblowers. 

What is the Chegg Study Pack?

The Chegg Study Pack is a subscription that bundles Chegg’s core student services: Chegg Study, Chegg Math Solver, and Chegg Writing. These resources include homework solutions, video walkthroughs, expert Q&A, plagiarism and grammar checks, practice sets, and the Chegg Math Solver.

The study bundle claims to enable students to “learn anything, anytime”. The Chegg website describes it this way: 

“From core classes to tough upper levels, Chegg Study Pack has tools to help you crush the class. Get a better understanding of complex problems, so you can finish homework faster and get better grades.”

In essence, the Chegg Study Pack just gives you access to all of their core online student success resources for a discounted monthly subscription.

How Much Does Chegg Cost? Is Chegg Free?

Unfortunately no, Chegg is not free. However, Chegg does offer 5 free Chegg Practice questions per month, 3 Chegg Math Solver solutions per day, and a 3-day trial of Chegg Writing.

For their core online offerings, Chegg charges by monthly subscription fees. These core offerings are Chegg Study, Chegg Math Solver, and Chegg Writing. You can also bundle these services to save money with the Chegg Study Pack.

If you subscribe to these services individually, the prices are:

• $14.95 a month for Chegg Study
• $9.95 a month for Chegg Math Solver
• $9.95 a month for Chegg Writing

The bundled price is thankfully much lower, coming in at $19.95 a month for the Chegg Study Pack.

There’s no way to buy these services outright, so you’re stuck with the monthly bill, unless you’re one of those nefarious students looking to unblur Chegg answers (we’ll cover that later).

What is Chegg Uversity?

According to the official press release on BusinessWire in June of 2021, Uversity is “a platform for educators and faculty to share their education content with millions of learners on Chegg to help support their studies and enhance learner outcomes. The content will augment and enhance Chegg’s existing Chegg Study service that already contains 59 million step-by-step solutions.”

In short, Uversity will allow for professors to share videos and other more in-depth content students, rather than the straightforward question-and-answer format that is available now.

How will this work practically? The news release states that, “Educators will be compensated for their content contributions and will retain ownership of their intellectual property rights and give Chegg certain limited exclusive licenses.”

From this it sounds like professors will still be able to create content for their universities and other platforms, but will get paid to give Chegg exclusive access to their video and related course content.

To see how professors feel about this, we checked in on r/Professors, where the profs weighed in on the press release.

“In the long term, what such companies want is to set up a parallel education economy where obtaining degrees will not be possible without using their services,” said a skeptical u/seidenkaufman.

Others were less gentle. “PAY ME, Chegg, and maybe I’ll give you some old (vulgarity)”, wrote salty professor u/larry_birb. 

User OphidiaSnaketongue concurred, saying, “I would rather eat live worms than support those parasites.” Okay, so there’s no live lost between Chegg and the professors apparently. Let’s move on.

It’s unclear whether this will be part of Chegg’s subscription offerings, or more similar to the massive open online course (MOOC) providers such as Coursera and edX.

For now, Uversity remains in the preparation stage, as Chegg recruits faculty to create content for its new service. We’ll have to wait and see how it shakes out for students!

How Many Devices Does Chegg Allow?

You may only use two devices, and you can only swap to a new device once every 30 days.

According to Reddit user u/ginginpowpow , “Chegg is very anal about keeping track of how many devices are being used for one account. [I’m] constantly asked to change my password because I log in on library computers and it doesn’t recognize them as the same device.”

As you can guess, this two-device limit is intended to prevent students from sharing Chegg membership logins with their friends, so be prepared for strict enforcement of the two-device policy.

It sounds like asking users to change their password is another method to prevent the sharing of Chegg accounts.

Is Chegg a Legit Site?

Chegg is a legit site in terms of being a reputable, publicly-owned American company which offers proven resources. Chegg is less than legit in that you wouldn’t want any professor to know that you use Chegg, and it will be considered cheating by the vast majority of faculty and universities, even if you personally don’t use it to cheat.

The word legit can have a range of connotations, so the answer is either a strong yes or a strong no depending on your perspective. On the one hand, Chegg is never going to steal your credit card information and sell it on the dark web. They’re a huge public company based in California, and as such have a high level of accountability.

Chegg has a strong interest in protecting their excellent reputation with college students, so their customer service and products will remain top-notch.

With all that said, some detractors claim that Chegg’s subscription services are actually illegal in many America states, which we’ll get to later. It’s also undeniable that many Chegg subscribers use the services to cheat.

Is Chegg Cheating?

Yes, Chegg is cheating. Using Chegg Study to answer homework questions, quiz questions, or exam questions is almost universally considered to be cheating. Universities and faculty frown heavily on student Chegg usage, and may discipline students for breaking the university code of conduct. 

It is possible to use Chegg for personal use outside of coursework, which is not cheating.

The Forbes piece we mentioned earlier interviewed 52 students who use Chegg, and apart from the students Chegg had provided for the interviews, all but four students admitted they use Chegg Study to cheat.

These students cited a variety of reasons for using Chegg to cheat, like struggling to get through homework at midnight, or simply not knowing how to solve a quiz problem.

Also, there’s always that wise guy who asks if renting Chegg textbooks is cheating. Don’t be that guy. We’re not even going to answer.

Do Professors Check Chegg?

Yes, many professors check Chegg, though not all do. Professors can check Chegg by Googling the problem, as Chegg answers may have slight variations from other correct answers. Professors may also notice when students ace homework but fail tests.

To illustrate, let’s recap a story that u/Mwxh shared on the ProRevenge subreddit. Mwxh had an engineering course with an older prof who didn’t seem too technologically savvy.

An upstanding student, Mwxh felt irritated that half of his classmates had to use the bathroom “for totally unknown reasons” during his engineering final. 

Still, Mwxh did fine on the exam except for one question that totally stumped him. Later, professor sent out an email “explaining his diabolical plan to catch cheaters”.

The professor had designed a question that was impossible to solve and gotten his TA to post the question on Chegg. The professor then created his own Chegg account and submitted a flawed answer for that question!

About a dozen students had submitted this flawed answer. The professor emailed the names of the 14 cheaters to all the department professors, gave them all a 0 on the exam, and reported them for breaking the university’s academic honor pledge.

As this example shows, at least some professors do check Chegg, and there are several ways they can find that students are using Chegg to cheat:

• One obvious sign is when students ace the homework but fail quizzes or exams.
• In more technical majors, using advanced procedures that haven’t been taught in the class can be a giveaway, especially if students can’t replicate or explain that work themselves.
• If the problem-solving method or notation is significantly different than what is taught in class, professors may wonder where students learned this and investigate further.
• Finally, if many students submit answers phrased the same way, it’s easy for professors to plug those answers into Google and find Chegg showing up as the top result.

Does Chegg Notify Your School?

According to Chegg’s strict privacy policy, they will not release student information on used their service or viewed a particular page. However, Chegg may be allowed to give student information to a college as part of an official academic dishonesty investigation.

So no, Chegg isn’t composing thousands of emails ratting out students to their colleges. If a student is already under suspicion or investigation however, it’s very possible that Chegg would divulge some level of information to a college or university.

When considering this question, it’s helpful to think of Chegg’s interests. On the one hand, they would be shooting their own foot as a business by telling colleges about cheating students. This would lead to their entire business collapsing, leaving them only with the textbook rentals (which bring in much lower revenue).

However, Chegg also doesn’t want to be openly antagonistic to governments or universities, as  these institutions also have great power to bring Chegg down if they choose to try. As such, it shouldn’t be surprising that Chegg might cooperate with colleges when cases of extreme cheating are under investigation.

It’s also unclear how Chegg would respond to individual professors who reach out to see if their students have signed up for Chegg. Especially if the professor just wants to confirm that a couple students are using Chegg, there’s a significant chance that Chegg would provide that information.

Some professors have reported that Chegg gave them information such as IP addresses, which show compliance and goodwill while still making it awfully difficult for professors to act on the information. 

It’s frustrating not to have more hard facts on how and when Chegg would answer queries from universities, but a rule of thumb is to expect that they would cooperate with colleges regarding any students suspected of cheating.

A final note is that student to specifically submit questions are in more danger, as there are reports of Chegg providing the username or IP address of the account that requested a specific solution.

Again, we don’t have hard evidence either way, but that’s our best read on the situation.

How Can I Get Chegg Answers for Free?

To get Chegg answers for free, some students have employed dubious methods which generally fall into two categories. The first is to join a community where people share Chegg answers with others, and the second is to use technical skills to unblur Chegg answers.

For example, there are multiple Discord servers whose sole purpose is to provide their members with free Chegg answers, even using bots to automate and speed up the process. 

The CheggAnswers Reddit forum is another of these community sharing options that students use to view Chegg answers for free.

When you think about it, it’s kind of ironic really. The same students using Chegg to cheat in college also want to cheat Chegg out of the monthly subscription fee. Chegg could have seen this coming, you know?

Still, with their revenue continuing to skyrocket because of these services, Chegg seems to be doing just fine for themselves. 

Obviously, they’ll continue to work on new methods to crack down on unofficial distribution of Chegg answers, so that more students are forced to pay for the monthly subscription.

Finally, there’s also the temporary ethical solution of just using Chegg’s free four-week trial of Chegg Study.

Does Chegg Have Coupons?

Chegg does offer coupons from time to time. For example, RetailMeNot has a $5 off offer for the first month of Chegg Study or Chegg Study Pack.

A much better offer is Chegg’s four-week free trial, but this promotion isn’t available all the time either. Unfortunately, most students aren’t going to save much money with Chegg coupons.

How Can You Unblur Chegg Questions?

To unblur Chegg questions, some students have found technical workarounds to view blurred answers. These involve variations of using “Inspect Element” in a web browser, then mousing over the blur effect and deleting the blur’s <div> tag.

A Quora answer from Azlan Ahmad Salmini outlines the process in three steps:

• Right-click on page in your web browser and click “Inspect Element”
• When a list appears, move your cursor over each item until the blur effect is highlighted.
• Place the cursor there on the pop-up box and delete that one <div> tag, then the pop-up box will disappear and you can view the content.

Again, this is a case of students cheating Chegg out of subscriptions in order to cheat in college, so the irony is strong.

Chegg obviously doesn’t want students to unblur questions—they want students to pay for their services. It’s highly likely that future tech changes from Chegg’s side will make it impossible to unblur questions.

Sharing methods, on the other hand, may prove much more difficult for Chegg to control, but there will always be plenty of students willing to pay for the convenience of using Chegg’s services directly, and these workarounds obviously don’t provide a comparable experience.

Obviously, we should mention that these methods are also unethical, just like cheating at college. When it comes to Chegg, there’s just a lot of unethicality going around!

Is Chegg Illegal?

Citron Research claims that Chegg is illegal in 17 states. These state laws forbid companies from making a profit distributing college answers with “reasonable knowledge” that the users will submit these answers for academic credit.

Before we go further, we should mention that we aren’t lawyers and this is certainly not legal advice, just an interesting theoretical question.

While Citron Research makes a compelling case that Chegg Study should be illegal in some states, we don’t know of any lawsuits that states or universities have brought against Chegg. Chegg would seemingly have a good chance to successfully defend themselves in a lawsuit as well.

The state laws use different phrasing, but Chegg doesn’t have reasonable knowledge that any specific user is cheating with Chegg Study, and Chegg seems to comply to a large extent with university misconduct investigations (and even provides some assistance to individual professors).

While states may be able to prove that Chegg knows some users are using Chegg to cheat, Chegg could provide an almost endless list of services that some students are cheating with.

Whether or not Chegg Study services are illegal in some states, Chegg does continue to operate without hindrance in the entire United States.

A more dangerous scenario for Chegg is a lawsuit from their former partners at Pearson Education. Pearson claims that Chegg has violated Pearson copyrights in a massive fashion by providing answers and explanations to problems in Pearson workbooks.

This sort of lawsuit would impact Chegg’s future in all 50 states, and seems to have much more potential danger for Chegg as a company.

Is it illegal for students to use Chegg? According to Lutins and Pilgreen Law , cheating in college is sometimes a crime:

“For example, if you cheat by bribing a professor with money or something else they want, then that could be a punishable offense. Cheating on an SAT or ACT test and applying to a college could lead to accusations of fraud.”

The authors do note that “the average student isn’t cheating in a way that is going to result in criminal prosecution”. Criminal charges are much more likely to arise in situations that involve a large number of students cheating that impacts the entire school. 

Defrauding and bribery are two other types of college cheating that can lead to criminal charges.

In general, students cheating with Chegg are much more likely to be warned, suspended, or expelled for breaking their university’s student honor code. 

While these repercussions aren’t criminal charges or necessarily illegal, they can still have a dramatic negative impact on students’ lives.

Even if it isn’t illegal for students to use Chegg Study to cheat in college, there can still be very serious outcomes for students.

How to Cancel Chegg Study?

To cancel Chegg Study, simply log in to your account on Chegg’s website and follow this link . You can also search for “cancel Chegg Study” into your search engine and follow the directions on Chegg’s website.

Chegg Study subscriptions through iTunes and Google Play have slightly different cancellation links, but don’t worry. If you can’t figure out how to cancel your account, Chegg does have solid customer support.

Chegg even has taken the unusual step of having an actual phone number to call support. The Chegg support line is 855-477-0177.

Can you delete Chegg accounts?

Yes, you can delete your Chegg account. Before you can delete your account, you must return all rented textbooks (digital or physical), and cancel all of your active subscriptions.

From there, you can follow Chegg’s instructions here to request complete deletion of your user account data.

With Chegg’s reputation among professors, some students want to delete their Chegg accounts entirely. It’s doubtful that this would have any impact on a potential academic investigation, or on what information Chegg might hand over to a university.

Of course, there are others who simply used Chegg for textbook rentals and want to delete their accounts.

Who Owns Chegg?

Initial founders and stakeholders include Josh Carlson, Mike Seager, Mark Fiddleke, Aayush Phumbhra, and Osman Rashid. Today, Chegg is owned by public stakeholders, including Chegg CEO Dan Rosensweig, who owns a significant amount of shares.

As a publicly traded company, you can own a slice of Chegg too! In fact, Chegg stock holders have been rising quite a wave as Chegg’s stock price has risen dramatically in the Covid-19 pandemic era.

As we mentioned before, this rise has been met with sharp criticism from some, as remote quizzes and testing have made it harder for institutions to prevent cheating.

Are there more Websites like Chegg?

Yes, there are more websites like Chegg with online question solving services. Chegg competitors include Course Hero, Crazy for Study, SolutionInn, StudentShare, Transtutors, and Quizlet.

These Chegg competitors each have their unique spin related to online answer services, with various differences in offerings and price.

Here’s a quick rundown:

1. Course Hero

Course Hero is one of Chegg’s best known competitors, offering on-demand homework help and textbook solutions.

With the slogan, “Make every study hour count”, Course Hero has created 60 million study materials, divided into their courses. 

Like most Chegg competitors, Course Hero also emphasizes the in-depth nature of their textbook solutions and explanations.

Course Hero also offers Homework Help services that are available 24 hours a day, with answers in as little as 15 minutes.

Course Hero’s free plan is more extensive than Chegg’s, and they also offer a similar premium subscription model.

2. Crazy for Study

Based in Delaware, Crazy for Study offers two core services: homework help and textbook solutions. 

The textbook solutions include “step-by-step textbook solutions by our PhD experts”, and Crazy for Study claims to have answered millions of textbook problems.

For their assignment help, Crazy for Study entreats students to “Get the best assignment assistance by our PhD experts. Our experts customize the answers to meet your professor’s expectations. Get plagiarism-free assignment solutions 24×7.”

3. SolutionInn

SolutionInn is a Chegg alternative where you can hire online tutors for homework help. Their three core offerings are:

• Textbook Solutions
• Expert Q&A
• Live Tutor Sessions

The live tutor sessions set SolutionInn apart, but the textbook solutions and expert question and answer services are in direct competition with Chegg’s services.

4. StudentShare

While some of Chegg’s other competitors seem almost like Chegg clones, StudentShare is more specialized, and more shady. 

StudentShare allows students to download papers “for inspiration” for as low as 23 cents a day. Students can search by topic to find a paper on the subject.

For as low as $9.78 a page, StudentShare will have someone “eliminate plagiarism from the essay”. It sounds as though a human will take the downloaded paper and write it in their own words. As we said, it sounds pretty shady.

Or, you can pay as low as $13.60 per page to just write your essay from scratch.

With slightly different services, StudentShare isn’t as direct of a Chegg competitor.

5. Transtutors

Transtutors doesn’t seem to have joined the textbook solution game, but they do have a question and answer service as well as online tutoring. 

The Transtutors slogan reads, “Get Answers. Get Unstuck. Study Faster.” With a database of over four million questions and answers spanning 10 subjects, you can find a lot of questions already answered on Transtutors.

Their 24/7 tutor service is a similar service to SolutionInn’s live tutors, while the question and answer section is a direct Chegg competitor.

Quizlet is another Chegg competitor with textbook solutions on a wide variety of subjects. With thousands of textbooks in their database, they offer trusted step-by-step answers to all of these textbook problems.

Quizlet allows you to browse by subject or search to find your textbook. Once you find the question you’re looking for, you can reveal the answer explanation bit by bit, so that you can work along with the problem.

Quizlet’s advanced flashcard technology and database is another strength of their offering.

Chegg is a disruptive leader in the EdTech industry which has grown explosively in the pandemic era. The increased revenue has come with increased controversy, and it’s hard to deny that many students do use Chegg to cheat in college.

We’ll be curious to see where Chegg moves from here, as their new Uversity initiative seems to seek a new status quo in higher education.

Massive open online course providers like Coursera and edX have blazed a trail here, but both are beholden to universities (whom they partner with).

On the other hand, Uversity aims to partner with individual professors, meaning the learning platform might aim to replace the traditional college experience entirely. Chegg CEO Dan Rosensweig was quoted by Forbes as saying, “I don’t know why you can’t binge-watch your education.”

With their Chegg Study model in danger from the Pearson lawsuit, we’ll see if Chegg pivots to the more reputable strategy of replacing colleges entirely.

For now, Chegg will keep dishing out solutions to thousands of college students and raking in the dough.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this comprehensive review of Chegg and Chegg’s services! For more of the latest news and reviews in college, you can check out our latest blog articles here .

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From homework and study help to cheaper textbooks, Chegg is a great resource for students

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How chegg's individual subscriptions work, chegg's other services, chegg's textbook and e-book rentals, which subjects does chegg offer help with, how to use chegg's app and website, is chegg legal, using chegg for textbooks and homework help.

Conscientious students are always looking for anything that helps them succeed, from stand-out Chromebooks for students to helpful e-reader apps . But aside from Google products and Amazon Kindles , an education technology company that's experienced rapid growth over the years can help students stress less and learn more. Odds are that anybody who went to college between 2007 and 2023 has heard of Chegg, at least in passing. But what is Chegg, and why the strange name?

Chegg is an education technology company that offers student services such as textbook rental and study help that's come far from its humble beginnings. But understanding all Chegg has to offer requires a bit more explanation.

Chegg, an educational technology company, provides students with physical textbook rentals, e-book rentals, a subscription-based study help service, textbook solutions for study purposes, and more.

The company began as the dream child of Iowa State University students Josh Carlson, Mike Seager, and Mark Fiddleke, who launched CheggPost (its original name before changing to Chegg) in late 2000 as a Craigslist-like message board website for college students. When Osman Rashid and Aayush Phumbhra came aboard as co-founders, CheggPost hadn't taken off.

In 2005, Chegg launched as a textbook rental company and became incorporated with Rashid, Phumbhra, and Carlson as co-founders. In 2012, the company expanded to e-book rentals, and in 2013, Chegg went public. A year later, Chegg launched its Chegg Study service and Chegg Tutors. In the following years, Chegg introduced internship, writing, and math services, becoming the well-rounded student services edu-tech company it is today.

But what about the name? Per The New York Times , the co-founders of Chegg got the funny moniker from the philosophical paradox, "What came first, the chicken or the egg?" out of frustration with the age-old after-graduation problem — you can't get a job without experience, and you can't get experience without a job.

• Textbook rentals and purchases
• E-book rentals
• Textbook sales through GoRentals (an independent buyer separate from Chegg)
• Textbook solutions
• Expert Q&A tutoring
• Chegg Math Solver
• Chegg Writing (including Plagiarism Checker, Grammar Checker, expert proofreading, and instant citations)

Chegg Study

Chegg study pack.

• Chegg's Thinkful Bootcamp courses with career coaching
• Chegg Honor Shield for educators giving online tests
• Chegg Internships.com internship services
• Chegg's Career Center blog

Chegg offers individual subscription plans for student study services, depending on a consumer's needs. Each membership has a flat monthly subscription fee, while the bundle option incorporates several services.

Math Solver

Chegg's Math Solver offers solutions to math problems in pre-algebra, algebra, pre-calculus, calculus, and linear algebra. You can use a free version to get up to three daily solutions online (with ads) or on the app (without ads), along with a basic explanation of the math problem. The paid version, at $9.95 monthly, offers unlimited math help, basic explanations, explanations of sub-steps, ad-free usage on the app and the web, and a graphing calculator.

Chegg Writing

With Chegg Writing, you get writing help via unlimited paper scans, expert proofreading (for all subjects), plagiarism detection, grammar checks, and the ability to create and save citations in over 7,000 styles. The subscription also gets you feedback from experts on up to 30 papers per month. When coupled with other helpful student tools like Chrome reading mode for research or Android reading mode for listening, research papers don't have to look intimidating. You can sign up for a free three-day trial before committing to $9.95 monthly.

Chegg Study is the name of a popular homework help service (and the name of the edu-tech company's app) that allows you to post questions you're struggling with and get answers in as little as 15 minutes. You can use Chegg Study on the web or with the app. Though slightly more expensive at $14.95 monthly, this membership provides expert support at all hours, explanations of solutions to problems, study tools, and test prep for your courses. Plus, you can post up to five new questions a month to get study help from experts.

You also get access to tutoring. When you post a question that hasn't been asked on Chegg, a Chegg tutor responds with a detailed answer within as little as 15 minutes.

The Chegg Study Pack incorporates all of Chegg's helpful study tools, including Chegg's Math and Writing services, plus Chegg Study's expert answers and study help. If you need access to more than one of Chegg's memberships, the Study Pack is the best value at $19.99 monthly.

As one of the most popular services offered by Chegg, the Chegg Study Pack bundles all the powerful features of Chegg Writing and Chegg Math, including its plagiarism checker and grammar help. You also get access to Chegg Study for your courses, and instead of Chegg Study's basic five new questions per month, you can post up to 20. You also get access to up to five solution titles per month for homework help.

Most of Chegg's other services require extra fees. Here's a breakdown of what each service costs and what you get for your money.

Chegg's Thinkful Bootcamp courses

You have to apply to a Thinkful course before you can begin, and the cost of this service varies depending on your chosen course. The price isn't listed on the information page, but according to a few online reviews, the cost ranges from about $5,000 to $16,000, and they offer payment plans. It also states on the website that you don't have to pay your tuition until you've been hired in your chosen field.

Chegg's Honor Shield

Honor Shield is free to use if you're an educator in the US, Canada, or the UK. First, you need to verify you're an educator, a process that takes up to five days. Then you can upload exams for your students to take. Honor Shield prevents students from searching for answers to exam questions by blocking these answers across its website during the exam timeframe.

Chegg internship services

Chegg offers educational modules that, when you complete, allow you to search for internships. Chegg partners with companies in various industries via internship postings. If you're a student or graduate, you can search for internships via this Chegg service and apply through the platform.

Renting textbooks or e-books through Chegg isn't included in any study subscription service. A quick search for some textbooks shows you can rent a math or literature textbook for as low as $12.99 for the semester, but prices vary by title. When you rent a textbook through Chegg, there's an agreed-upon return-by date, and if you don't send it back in time, you may be charged an extended rental fee or the total purchase price of the book minus your rental fees. Chegg offers a seven-day grace period to return your book after a purchase-price charge, resulting in a full refund of that charge. Textbook rentals are up to 90% cheaper than book purchases, and you have 21 days to return the book for a full refund if you change courses.

Renting an e-book is similar, except you receive access digitally and don't have to return the book. When your rental is up, you no longer have access. Chegg's eBook textbooks are compatible with Android, iOS, PC, and other devices and are cheaper than physical textbook rentals, starting from $4.99. The return window for e-book rentals on Chegg is 10 days.

Chegg offers homework help for many subjects, including but not limited to:

• Advanced Math
• Biochemistry
• Biological Sciences
• Cell Biology
• Civil Engineering
• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Evolutionary Biology
• Mechanical Engineering
• Operations Management
• Pre-Algebra
• Pre-Calculus
• Statistics and Probability
• Trigonometry

To use Chegg's various homework help features, you can use the web version or the Chegg app, which is available on the App Store and Google Play for free. While the app and website cost nothing to use, most of Chegg's study services are not free beyond a free trial period or have limited usage, so you need a subscription to get the most out of the study tools. Chegg doesn't offer free textbook or e-book rentals, though some of its resources, such as the Career Center blog, are free.

Anybody interested in using Chegg's study services should know you can only link your account to two devices at a time. If you use more than two devices, you might get locked out of your account, per Chegg Study's terms of service. According to Chegg's FAQ page, you can swap a registered device every 30 days by signing in to your account on the new device, using a part of your Chegg subscription (like posting a question), and you'll see a prompt to register the device. Select Manage My Devices and click the Swap button next to the device you want to swap.

Chegg is legal for students to use, but a recent rise in students using Chegg to cheat has made the company seem dubious. In a March 2021 article from Forbes , some students admitted to using the service to cheat. Various Reddit threads exist about using Chegg for this purpose, and a quick Google search titled "Chegg cheating Reddit" yields some concerning results.

Some of these are from professors who caught students cheating with Chegg. Others seem to be from students who extol and promote the behavior (one such example is a thread from 2020 named "[Guide] How to Chegg Without Getting Caught"), even though students who do this are breaking their university's academic honesty code.

On Chegg's Terms of Use page, a section directly addressing students reads:

As current and former students, the Chegg team understands the pressures and time constraints school creates. That being said, we also know from the unfortunate tales of our peers that the risk you take by violating your school’s code of academic integrity is not worth the reward.

The note emphasizes that "copying solutions" or "posting unexplained final answers promotes completion without comprehension," which isn't something Chegg supports. Chegg also has an Honor Code page, further addressing the company's stance against cheating.

As a leading education technology company, Chegg is a valuable resource for assisting students in their academic careers (and beyond) by offering textbook rentals, study memberships and resources, and information for continuing education. When used as intended, Chegg helps students acquire expensive textbooks at a cheaper cost via rentals and can assist with learning outside the classroom through its study resources and subscriptions.

Those using Chegg agree to use these services as a learning tool, and those who abuse these privileges are breaking their academic honor code and risk consequences that could jeopardize their academic career. Those who use Chegg responsibly can save money on textbooks and get solid help understanding their course materials.

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What is Chegg and how much does it cost?

Published on March 26, 2024

When students struggle with a particular subject, Chegg has become a favorite resource to use, but not always for the right reasons. Whether you’re working with a tricky math problem or test prep question , Chegg’s 24/7 tutors are like having a personal genie in your pocket (except instead of granting three wishes, it answers endless homework questions). Because Chegg enables people to outsource their schoolwork to others, some universities have explicitly forbidden students from using it. Here’s everything you need to know about how Chegg works, what subjects it covers, and how much it costs.

QUICK ANSWER

Chegg is an online platform that provides homework help, digital and physical textbook rentals, online tutoring, and other student services starting at $14.95 per month.

What is Chegg?

Chegg is an American edu-tech company that provides various student services, including online textbook rental, homework help, tutoring, scholarships, and internships. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Students can use Chegg to rent physical textbooks, access e-textbooks, receive assistance with their homework, and connect with tutors for live online help.

The name Chegg comes from a combination of the words  chicken  and  egg , which the founders say is about the Catch-22 feeling of being unable to obtain a job without experience while being unable to acquire experience without a job. Unfortunately, Chegg doesn’t exactly give students the experience necessary to get a job. Still, its stated goal is to improve the overall return on investment in education by helping students learn more in less time and at a lower cost.

The elephant in the room regarding Chegg is the controversy surrounding its methods. There are several recorded cases of students using the website to ask for and find the answers to questions on their worksheets, exams, or assignments. It’s as easy as Chegg subscribers uploading their assignments and receiving solutions within two hours from a willing “Chegg Expert.” As you can imagine, not every student gets away with it. That’s because it’s relatively easy for teachers to catch students that copy those answers verbatim, and Chegg cooperates with universities investigating cases of academic misconduct. Yet, it’s a risk some are still willing to take.

During my time as a student at the University of British Columbia, two students from the Chemistry department were caught cheating using Chegg for several final exam questions, resulting in them receiving a zero and failing the course. The kicker was that the answers to the questions were wrong. The lesson here is that the risk of cheating isn’t worth it. Additionally, college/university materials are copywritten, so you could still get in trouble for uploading assignments even if you don’t receive an answer.

How does Chegg work?

Chegg provides students with various academic services through its website and mobile app. It operates on a subscription-based model, which provides the following services around the clock:

• Textbook rental: Students can rent physical textbooks or access e-textbooks for a fraction of the list price.
• Homework help: Students can ask questions, receive step-by-step solutions from tutors, and access many study tools.
• Tutoring: Live, online tutoring for various subjects, where students can connect with a tutor for one-on-one help.
• Scholarships and internships: A search engine that allows students to search for and apply for scholarships or internships.

Once signed up, you’ll have access to a personalized Chegg dashboard. From there, you can add the courses you’re currently taking and the textbooks you’re using. On the left, you can access study tools such as asking a homework question, using practice tests and flashcards, getting help proofreading essays, and creating citations.

The most popular Chegg service is the Expert Q&A feature. As Chegg puts it, you can “take a pic of your homework question and get an expert explanation” in a matter of hours. However, there usually isn’t any explanation provided with the answer unless you ask for it. Instead of a tutor helping you through the question, this method simply gives you a solution that may or may not be correct.

Chegg also offers a service to buy and rent textbooks. A Chegg subscription provides you with access to over 400,000 titles, and the ability to rent digital textbooks starting at $6.99. Shipping on physical books is free over $50, and you can sell your used textbooks to the company with free shipping.

What subjects does Chegg cover?

Chegg offers course help in a variety of academic subjects. Here’s a complete breakdown:

• Biochemistry
• Evolutionary Biology
• Cell Biology
• General Biology
• Operations Management

Engineering:

• Computer Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Statistics and Probability
• Advanced Math
• Trigonometry
• Precalculus

How much does Chegg cost?

The cost of Chegg varies depending on the services you use. They offer a 7-day free trial, after which a subscription starts at $14.95 per month. Physical textbook rental typically costs a fraction of the list price, while e-textbook access and tutoring services may have variable pricing.

The basic $14.95 subscription includes a 21-day purchased book return, up to a 90% discount on textbooks, one-month free access to Chegg Study Pack, and the ability to post 20 questions per month to Q&A experts.

The Chegg Study Pack costs $19.95 per month and includes the basic services above, but with unlimited homework questions, plus instructor-made materials, practice sets, and a plagiarism checker.

You can additionally get the Chegg Writing service for $9.95 per month, which includes access to EasyBib, Plagiarism Checker, and Grammar Checker. There’s also the Chegg Math Solver for $9.95 per month, which offers step-by-step solutions to math problems.

No, Chegg offers the same rate for all students, as you might expect. However, the company sometimes offers promotional discounts or bundles with other services, such as DoorDash. It’s best to check the website or contact the company directly for the most up-to-date offers.

Chegg used to fully cooperate with schools conducting investigations into academic dishonesty, sharing information such as usernames, emails, or IP addresse. In August 2022, the company changed its “honor code policy” to limit the information it provides to universities and colleges. The company says that this change was to protect student privacy.

Chegg Study is a tool offered by Chegg that provides access to millions of step-by-step textbook solutions and tutor Q&A. It’s designed to help students with their homework and coursework. With Chegg Study, students can search for answers to specific textbook questions or browse through a library of study materials. The service covers a wide range of academic subjects and is available 24/7. Chegg Study is available as part of a monthly subscription or as a standalone service.

Using Chegg can be considered cheating if you’re found copying other people’s answers without doing the work yourself.

While the company explicitly prohibits academic dishonesty, a study published in 2020 found that Chegg answers student questions even though questions had clear cues to indicate that the student was trying to buy answers for the assessed activity. The questions were neither identified nor flagged as violations of academic integrity anywhere in the process.

It’s always best to use educational resources to help you understand material rather than use a service to cheat on assignments or exams. The answers provided by Chegg may not always be correct, and the consequences of getting caught are severe. It may result in failing a course, suspension, or even expulsion from school. Ultimately, if you can’t reproduce results on your own, you haven’t learned anything.

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Chegg Study - Homework Help 4+

Expert answers & college app, chegg, inc., designed for ipad.

• #53 in Education
• 4.7 • 201.8K Ratings
• Offers In-App Purchases

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Description.

Get ready for exam season with the Chegg Study® app. Used by millions of students, the Chegg Study app is the homework helper which offers school help and personalized support for each of your courses—from homework to exam prep, study your courses inside-out and learn your own way. Tap into our huge library of millions of fully explained, step-by-step solutions, and flashcards for subjects including Math, English, Physics, Engineering, Chemistry, and more. Get school help for 80 subjects and hundreds of courses and flashcards. The Chegg Study app is the homework helper that has you covered for your toughest concepts, classes, and assignments, for school. Now with AI solutions backed by experts you can get your homework help even quicker and boost your education using the latest technology. Get 24/7 study help and expert Q&A responses. Snap or scan a pic of any homework question and submit it with our question scanner to our Chegg experts. You will get detailed solved answers in as little as 30 minutes.* Get unstuck and be your own problem solver, learn about tough concepts with detailed explanations, solutions, and answers provided. Search our library of over 60 million fully solved homework questions. See how to solve them with our question scanner feature. Take control of your education and learn at your own rate and in your own style. With Chegg there are a variety of ways to study your courses so you can learn and have fun at the same time! The fine print: Your Chegg Study subscription will be charged to your credit card through your iTunes account. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours prior to the end of the current subscription period. Your account will be charged for renewal within the 24 hours prior to the end of your current subscription period. You can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal by going to your Account Settings after purchase. For bug reports and general feedback, email [email protected] or tweet @Chegg #iOSapp. Privacy Policy: http://www.chegg.com/privacypolicy/ Terms of use: http://www.chegg.com/termsofuse/ *Experts’ response time for answers and solutions varies by question and subject. Average response time is 46 minutes. **Available for select problems only.

Version 6.11.3

We've made bug fixes to improve your experience. Need help or have a feature suggestion? Contact our Help Center: https://www.chegg.com/contactus Love Chegg? Why not leave us a review?

Ratings and Reviews

201.8K Ratings

Device Limit?

The only reason Im writing a review and giving it 3 stars is just for this device limit, I have no problem with it just giving me a limit of devices, at first I just logged in through safari in both devices and It was fine but when I downloaded the app to use it on one of the devices I was already logged into, it read it as a new one and it said that I needed to swap devices and there’s only one swap per month allowed, I didn’t mind, I just uninstalled the app from my phone and kept logging in through safari and I had no problem with it, but the last two times I’ve tried to post a question, it asks me to download the app so I be able to post a question, it doesn’t let me do it through safari like it used to, I prefer to use safari than the app because I just type in the question on google and if chegg doesn’t have it It shows me other places where it is and I dont have to type it in twice like I would do If I used the app and it didn’t have the answer. I need two different devices because sometimes I can’t use my phone, so if I have to choose between swapping the device and posting a question now and not being able to use this anymore since I’m not allowed to use my phone sometimes, or not posting the 20 questions THAT IM PAYING TO POST, I don’t think this is worth the 15 bucks. Please fix this, I’ve read the other reviews and I know I’m not the only complaining.

Too expensive for college students

Chegg is super helpful but not a possibility for many college students. It gets very real when you have to decide if you want to eat or get homework help. It would be nice if college students who sign up with a .edu email could have 3 people on an account (“family plan”) can pay $5 each for the subscription each month. I am currently writing this as I got locked out of my account for using a vpn (I also travel a lot and use my account in different places). I also regularly use my account on a few devices at once and it won’t let me use it anymore. I don’t know how willing they are to help but I assume lots of the people working for chegg were once college students with very limited funds who would have loved to have this resource. It is sad that limiting funds can be the difference between academic success and failure. I have a calculus test this Friday and now I’m not sure what I am going to do, I have gotten used to studying with chegg. I would really appreciate some help with this :( UPDATE: the developers respond very nicely to the reviews saying that they can help if we email chegg support, I emailed them months ago and I NEVER GOT A RESPONSE. This company only cares to look good in the reviews but they will not actually help you💗

Developer Response ,

Hey there, apsasha! We really can't thank you enough for your feedback in regards to this service. We would love to go over this with you and ensure we get this addressed. Send an email to [email protected] with 'iTunes Review' as your subject and we'll do all we can for you. We hope to hear from you soon!

It is a very helpful tool for when you get stuck on questions but the reason it doesn’t get 5 stars is because on the app you are not able to post a comments. As someone who owns multiple devices I must say I absolutely HATE how we are only allowed 2 registered devices. For instance, say I post a question on the app and I have a question for the person who kindly took on my question, I am unable to may any comment and must go to a web browser to just make a comment, very inconvenient.. along with that I have the app on my iPad and my laptop registered as my 2 devices for the service, I recently came home for break and left my laptop at my apartment since it is an inconvenient to bring to and from my apartment and we are on break and the homework I have on break is material I am able to do on my iPad. But since my laptop is back at my apartment I had to use the web browser to log into Chegg just to post my comment which I then had to register the iPad again to the service and waste my monthly device swap which they only give you 1 swap for each month. I would like for them to at least update the app to where we can see comments and write comments just like the web version.

App Privacy

The developer, Chegg, Inc. , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

Data Used to Track You

The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:

Data Linked to You

The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:

• Contact Info
• User Content
• Search History
• Identifiers
• Diagnostics

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Information

English, Spanish, Turkish

• Chegg Study $15.99
• Chegg Study Basic $15.99
• Developer Website
• App Support
• Privacy Policy

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In-Depth Chegg Review For 2023 — Is It Worth Trying?

Chegg is an online education platform based in California. Two businessmen, Osman Rashid and Aayush Phumbhra, founded the company. The initial goal was to rent, buy, and sell textbooks, but the platform expanded by offering tutoring, scholarships, and homework solutions.

Today, Chegg is well-known for providing services to students and helping them with their homework. The platform covers various subjects, from math and history to finance, computer science, and algebra. Some Chegg reviews claim that services are not legit, so we’ll discuss this further in the article. 

Chegg started renting textbooks, but today, it’s well-known for its tutoring services. You can use the platform as a tutor or a student. If you’re having trouble with a particular subject, there are step-by-step explanations and over 22,000 solutions. Students and teachers can work together in virtual classrooms, using audio and video chat and a virtual whiteboard.

Pros & Cons

Pricing Plans

Chegg basic services, $14.95/per month.

21-day purchased book return

Up to 90% discount on textbooks

One-month free access to Chegg Study Pack

Post 20 questions per month (to Q&A experts)

Chegg Study Pack

$19.95/per month.

All basic services

Instructor-made materials

Practice sets

Plagiarism checker

Features, Courses, and Materials

Chegg tutors review.

Chegg Tutors is an online tutoring service for students of all ages. Students can pick their tutors based on their profiles. Classes are conducted in virtual classrooms and are mobile-friendly. 

To become a tutor on Chegg, you’ll have to meet specific requirements, such as teaching experience and enrollment or graduation from a four-year university. Once you get accepted, you’ll be able to see tutoring requests from students. There is a practical set of tools you can use for interaction with students. In short, you can use a video chat tool, a virtual whiteboard, and a text window while conducting a class. 

For example, use the whiteboard to present the problem (draw it on the board). Try to find a solution by asking students about their opinion. Help them work through the problem by giving them advice via video.

Some Chegg tutoring reviews mention the importance of the Chegg Tutors honor code. You are not allowed to help your students during online exams as a tutor. The result of this code violation is profile deactivation (you won’t be allowed to work). 

This honor code states that tutors are strictly forbidden to cheat or plagiarize. Moreover, students cannot use the platform to cheat on their exams. Chegg is authorized to reveal all the information to students’ educational institutions if contacted by them. You can find the code on the official website. 

Chegg Tutor Requirements

To become a Chegg tutor, you must fill out an online application and meet the requirements. You’ll need the following:

• The photo of your diploma, ID card, and scanned copies of your transcripts
• A picture of you holding your ID (passport or driver’s license)
• To pass the proficiency test (in some cases)
• Access to a computer, stable internet connection, a mic, and a camera
• A PayPal account
• A short introductory video (this is optional)

According to Chegg Tutors, it takes about one week for them to process your application. (However, it sometimes takes longer). You can log into your account and accept students’ requests when accepted. 

Chegg Tutor Salary

The typical tutor on Chegg makes $20 per hour. The hourly rate can range from $20 to $22. You can earn an average annual salary of $44,170. Your pay depends on the number of minutes you work during the week; the minimum working time is five minutes. 

That means you’ll always make at least $1.67 if you work at least five minutes daily. Payments will arrive in your PayPal account every Thursday morning.

Tips for Starting Chegg Careers

There are ways to boost your earnings and even start a career on Chegg. Here’s what you can do: 

• You can earn many bonuses if you’re teaching popular subjects. 
• You can earn $10 every time you use the referral system (refer a tutor).
• If you want to make more money, ensure you’re available during midterm and final examination periods (midterms are in October and March, and finals are in December and May).
• Your “available now” status must always be on.
• Don’t forget to answer students’ questions whenever you can.

Chegg Solutions Reviews 

Chegg offers several solutions to fix the problems students often face. You can choose between textbook solutions and expert Q&A. What is the difference? 

If you choose to use textbook solutions, you’ll be able to use step-by-step guidelines and video tutorials. You’ll need to enter the ISBN (from your textbook) in the search tab to see the possible solution for your problem. 

On the other hand, the Q&A option will get you in touch with an expert in the field who will answer your question in less than 30 minutes. To get this answer, you’ll have to take a picture (or screenshot) of your homework and send it to Chegg.

Chegg Study Review

As we mentioned above, there are two options: textbook solutions and expert Q&A. 

If you’re having trouble with a particular subject, you can search for the answer using solutions for 22,000 ISBNs on this platform or step-by-step explanations.

How to use Chegg Study:

• Go to Chegg Study, and click “Try Chegg Study.”
• Enter your credit card information and click “Join Now.”
• You’ll have to enter your phone number, after which you’ll receive a text containing the link to the app. 
• To find the solutions to your questions, click “Find Textbook Solutions” and enter the title or the textbook’s author’s name.  
• You’ll see a menu in the left corner with the textbook’s chapters. You can scroll to the section you need. 
• Click on the problem, and you’ll get a step-by-step solution.

Chegg Book Rental Reviews

On Chegg, you can rent ebooks and hard copies. If you rent a book, you’ll need to return it on the due date. If you’re late with your return, the platform will charge you an additional fee or the book’s full price. 

To extend your due date and avoid paying an additional fee, you need to contact Chegg. 

Benefits of renting textbooks :  

• Renting books saves money. You can compare prices and see if there are any discounts.
• Flexible rental terms. You can contact Chegg for a free extension if you need to keep your book past the due date. 
• In addition to renting, you can purchase new and used editions or download textbooks. 
• You get a four-week free trial of Chegg Study.
• Textbook deliveries include gifts and discounts.

Chegg Buyback Reviews  

Chegg used to buy used textbooks from students, but now it outsources this service to GoTextbooks. You log in through your account and link through to GoTextbooks from there. 

You just need to enter ISBN and send the book. After reviewing the book’s condition, they’ll pay you in one of several ways (gift card, Chegg credit system) within 15 days. Alternatively, you can donate low-value books. 

The standard for selling books on GoTextbooks and buying books on Chegg differs. You can highlight the books you rent, but when you sell used books, the site is very fussy about the condition and may ship highlighted books back to you at your cost.

Moreover, some Chegg sell books reviews mentioned poor customer service, the lack of communication, and bad tracking service, while others praised the swiftness of its buyback service. However, Chegg doesn’t have this option anymore. It now only allows you to rent or buy books (hard and digital copies) and other solutions for students. 

Other places to sell textbooks include BookScouter, Amazon, or TextbookRush. 

Chegg Ebook Reviews

To read your ebooks, you need to download the Chegg eReader app, and then you can make a purchase. 

How to purchase: 

• To make a purchase, you’ll need to sign in to your Chegg account and click on “Books.”
• Scroll down to the book you want to buy and select it (if you’re going to buy more books, you’ll have to repeat all the steps).
• You can choose between the “Extend” or “Purchase” button. This will transfer you to another page. 
• Click the “Select Here” (next to the book title) and select “Purchase.”
• To complete the purchase, select the “Checkout” button and follow the next few steps.

Chegg Homework Help Reviews

On top of textbook solutions and expert Q&A, Chegg provides homework help services. Take a photo of your assignment, send it to Chegg, and they’ll get someone to help you. 

You can also use the database to find similar homework problems and solutions or compare them. There are many video tutorials (walkthroughs) that can help you out as well.

The homework help allows you to:  

• Search for a solution to your homework assignment in a large library section. Find step-by-step textbook solutions for many subjects. 
• Use the help of experts in the field. They are available 24/7. Take a picture (or scan) of your homework, and send it to Chegg. You’ll get a detailed answer within 30 minutes.
• If you’re a visual type, you can watch walkthrough videos.

Ease of Use

Chegg tutoring jobs are suitable for people who pass the requirements test. The site is user-friendly and easy to navigate, and most tutors enjoy it. There is only one disadvantage related to the company’s first-come-first-serve model . What does this mean?

In short, you’ll see many tutoring requests on your screen, but as soon as you click on them, the system will tell you they are not available anymore. This can be frustrating for most tutors.

Plans and Pricing 

How much does chegg cost.

Chegg offers a one-week free trial that can be canceled during those seven days. The monthly subscription fee depends on the tools and packages you want to use. An annual subscription will cost you $74.95. You can reap many benefits if you choose an annual or monthly subscription. 

In addition to the one-year subscription, the monthly cost of Chegg  is $14.95, and it includes basic services :

• Standard shipping is free of charge if your order is $35 or more. It usually takes 7–10 business days. Keep in mind that this fee doesn’t include taxes.
• You have 21 days to return a purchased book.
• You can get up to 90% discount on textbooks.
• You’ll get one month of free access to Chegg Study, which includes step-by-step solutions and expert Q&A.
• As mentioned before in our Chegg review , rental extensions are free.  
• Each month, you’ll get detailed solutions for five different textbooks.
• You are allowed to post 20 questions per month (to Q&A experts). 
• You’ll get unlimited view-only access to 25 million homework solutions answered by experts in their fields. 
• You’ll be able to use help from Chegg tutors (this service is free for the first 30 minutes) .

You can also purchase the Chegg Study Pack for $19.95 per month, including the services mentioned above, plus video walkthroughs, practice sets, and a plagiarism checker.

Chegg Membership Cost

Being a Chegg member provides many benefits, such as access to step-by-step textbook solutions for five different textbooks each month, posting 20 questions each month, and getting access to 25 million answered homework questions. 

Everything except the practice problems, guided videos, math solver, and writing tool is at your disposal. To get full access to all the tools, you’ll need a Premium Chegg study subscription for $19.95 per month. You can also subscribe for Homework Help by itself for $14.95 per month. 

Chegg Writing service costs $9.95 per month (individually). It gives you access to EasyBib (easy-to-use tools for creating proper citations), Plagiarism Checker, and Grammar Checker. 

If you want to use the Chegg plagiarism checker, you have to upload your document (or copy and paste it) to the checker. When your scan is complete, you’ll see the option ”return to paper.” Click on this option to see your results. The matching sentences will be highlighted. 

The Math Solver alone costs $9.95 per month. It offers step-by-step solutions to math problems in the following subjects :

• Pre-Algebra
• Precalculus
• Trigonometry
• Statistics and Probability
• Advanced Math

If you cancel your Chegg subscription plans, you can still use its services until the next billing date. Monthly subscribers are allowed to pause their subscription at any time. If you use a free trial version, make sure to cancel it before the billing begins to avoid the charges going through. 

You can switch your membership within the first 30 days of paying for your annual subscription. For more information, check out the help center. When it comes to the Chegg refund policy, you can get a full refund for your annual Chegg study subscription. 

Account sharing is one more critical thing most customers complain about. You should know that Chegg doesn’t allow multiple users. You can have only one account and are not allowed to share it. If you share the account, Chegg will suspend it, and you won’t be able to use it for a specific period. 

All the information you provide to create an account must be accurate and complete. As we already mentioned, it’s forbidden to share your Chegg account. To prevent suspension of your account, you need to log out after every use. Remember that you’ll need to use a single device to access your account. 

Failing to do so can trigger account suspension. Your account can be suspended if you use different devices to log in or enter your account from multiple locations. These, and other factors, can indicate a shared account.  

E.g., if you log into your account from another city (state) using a different device, Chegg will suspend your account. 

Chegg Scholarship Reviews

Chegg began as an online textbook store for renting and selling books. But today, it hosts over $1 billion in scholarships, including its own scholarships. Chegg scholarships range from $500 to $12,500. You can win a monthly scholarship challenge that all US citizens are eligible to apply for. You must be at least 16 years old if you want to apply.

Chegg gives personalized scholarships depending on your profile. There are five awards available, each worth between $1,500 and $5,000 in scholarships.

According to many Chegg reviews, scholarships are also available for international students. To apply, you must show transcripts, write an essay, and get a reference form. There are 60 international scholarships available. 

Overall, there are over 25,000 scholarships available on Chegg. 

Refund Policy

As mentioned before, Chegg offers a refund policy that can be requested within 21 days of purchasing a book. To get the full refund (minus shipping), the book you send back must be in the same condition as it was when you received it.  

When it comes to digital books (ebooks), you’ll have a full refund if you return the book within 14 days. You’ll see all the instructions on your Account page.

Online Ratings

There are a lot of Chegg complaints, and some people consider it to be a platform that helps students cheat on their exams, present plagiarized work as original, etc. It’s safe to say this platform is not for everyone. 

Tutors benefit the most from it, even though they can’t rely on Chegg as their only source of income. Students can benefit from Chegg if they don’t use its services to cheat on exams.  

According to Chegg customer service reviews, several problems are recurring on this platform:

• Many people complain about the account suspension due to the alleged account sharing.
• You won’t get a refund if your question is unanswered or incorrectly answered.
• Many people complain about the non-responsive customer service and non-intuitive account ID. 
• Some hard copies are not in good condition.
• Some people believe Chegg is an unethical platform that helps students cheat.

As opposed to these claims, Chegg employee reviews tell a different story. People seem to think this platform offers excellent service that people sometimes use for illegitimate purposes. That said, some colleges even banned their students from using it, which is to be expected as reviews cite Chegg as one of the best tutoring websites.

This brings us back to the importance of the honor code. Tutors are not allowed to cheat or plagiarize. Moreover, students mustn’t use Chegg to cheat on their exams. The platform is authorized to reveal all the information to educational institutions if requested. 

Despite some Chegg ratings that are not as high, the tutors’ knowledge and credentials are indisputable (and Chegg offers many tutors). But when posting a question, be sure to double-check the facts. It seems that expert Q&A is probably Chegg’s drawback, together with the non-responsive customer service and non-intuitive account ID. 

Overall, Chegg is a legit platform, not a scam, as some may think. In fact, when it comes to the Course Hero vs Chegg debate, Chegg comes out on top in most categories.

Final Verdict

In these Chegg reviews, we discussed the platform’s offers, solutions, pricing, tutoring, and customer service. Like other online learning platforms , it has its cons and pros. All things considered, Chegg can be useful to students who use it as an accessory and not a way to cheat. So is Chegg a scam? No. Is it legit? Yes. Many reviews on the internet prove that. 

Is Chegg worth a try? If you’re looking for cheap college textbooks to buy or rent, Chegg is one of the best options out there, but when it comes to other services, it’s maybe better to check other alternatives.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Many reviews on the internet prove this platform is relatively reliable. It offers help to students through solutions, textbook materials, and assistance from online tutors. Chegg is known for letting some mistakes go unnoticed and occasionally providing incorrect information, but that doesn’t make it fake. The platform is legit and helpful if you use it the right way.  The most common issues people have are related to customer service, which is not as good as you would expect from a professional service provider.

The average tutor on Chegg can make $20 per hour. Hourly rates usually range from $20 to $22. An average annual salary is $44,170. The more you work, the more money you make since the payment depends on the exact number of minutes you work. You can work for a minimum of five minutes. In other words, you can always make at least $1.67 for five minutes of work.

Chegg Math Solver is an application that helps students solve math problems. You need to take a picture of the assignment (or a screenshot) or enter the problem using the keyboard.  Chegg Math Solver can handle numerous math problems, including the ones with integrals and basic matrices. When students get their answers, they can use the additional information to double-check the answer or understand it better. The cost of Chegg Math Solver is $9.99 per month. The app is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and Android. We hope you enjoyed these Chegg reviews and that we managed to shed some light on the services of this platform.

This post contains affiliate links. We may earn commission from any sales made or actions taken as a result from users clicking the links on this page.

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the 5 best homework help websites (free and paid).

Other High School , General Education

Listen: we know homework isn’t fun, but it is a good way to reinforce the ideas and concepts you’ve learned in class. But what if you’re really struggling with your homework assignments?

If you’ve looked online for a little extra help with your take-home assignments, you’ve probably stumbled across websites claiming to provide the homework help and answers students need to succeed . But can homework help sites really make a difference? And if so, which are the best homework help websites you can use? 

Below, we answer these questions and more about homework help websites–free and paid. We’ll go over: 

• The basics of homework help websites
• The cost of homework help websites 
• The five best homework websites out there 
• The pros and cons of using these websites for homework help 
• The line between “learning” and “cheating” when using online homework help 
• Tips for getting the most out of a homework help website

So let’s get started! 

The Basics About Homework Help Websites–Free and Paid

Homework help websites are designed to help you complete your homework assignments, plain and simple. 

What Makes a Homework Help Site Worth Using

Most of the best sites allow users to ask questions and then provide an answer (or multiple possible answers) and explanation in seconds. In some instances, you can even send a photo of a particular assignment or problem instead of typing the whole thing out! 

Homework help sites also offer more than just help answering homework questions. Common services provided are Q&A with experts, educational videos, lectures, practice tests and quizzes, learning modules, math solving tools, and proofreading help. Homework help sites can also provide textbook solutions (i.e. answers to problems in tons of different textbooks your school might be using), one-on-one tutoring, and peer-to-peer platforms that allow you to discuss subjects you’re learning about with your fellow students. 

And best of all, nearly all of them offer their services 24/7, including tutoring! 

What You Should Should Look Out For

When it comes to homework help, there are lots–and we mean lots –of scam sites out there willing to prey on desperate students. Before you sign up for any service, make sure you read reviews to ensure you’re working with a legitimate company. 

A word to the wise: the more a company advertises help that veers into the territory of cheating, the more likely it is to be a scam. The best homework help websites are going to help you learn the concepts you’ll need to successfully complete your homework on your own. (We’ll go over the difference between “homework help” and “cheating” a little later!) 

You don't need a golden piggy bank to use homework help websites. Some provide low or no cost help for students like you!

How Expensive Are the Best Homework Help Websites?

First of all, just because a homework help site costs money doesn’t mean it’s a good service. Likewise, just because a homework help website is free doesn’t mean the help isn’t high quality. To find the best websites, you have to take a close look at the quality and types of information they provide! 

When it comes to paid homework help services, the prices vary pretty widely depending on the amount of services you want to subscribe to. Subscriptions can cost anywhere from $2 to $150 dollars per month, with the most expensive services offering several hours of one-on-one tutoring with a subject expert per month.

The 5 Best Homework Help Websites 

So, what is the best homework help website you can use? The answer is that it depends on what you need help with. 

The best homework help websites are the ones that are reliable and help you learn the material. They don’t just provide answers to homework questions–they actually help you learn the material. 

That’s why we’ve broken down our favorite websites into categories based on who they’re best for . For instance, the best website for people struggling with math might not work for someone who needs a little extra help with science, and vice versa. 

Keep reading to find the best homework help website for you! 

Best Free Homework Help Site: Khan Academy

• Price: Free!
• Best for: Practicing tough material 

Not only is Khan Academy free, but it’s full of information and can be personalized to suit your needs. When you set up your account , you choose which courses you need to study, and Khan Academy sets up a personal dashboard of instructional videos, practice exercises, and quizzes –with both correct and incorrect answer explanations–so you can learn at your own pace. 

As an added bonus, it covers more course topics than many other homework help sites, including several AP classes.

Runner Up: Brainly.com offers a free service that allows you to type in questions and get answers and explanations from experts. The downside is that you’re limited to two answers per question and have to watch ads. 

Best Paid Homework Help Site: Chegg

• Price: $14.95 to $19.95 per month
• Best for: 24/7 homework assistance  

This service has three main parts . The first is Chegg Study, which includes textbook solutions, Q&A with subject experts, flashcards, video explanations, a math solver, and writing help. The resources are thorough, and reviewers state that Chegg answers homework questions quickly and accurately no matter when you submit them.  

Chegg also offers textbook rentals for students who need access to textbooks outside of their classroom. Finally, Chegg offers Internship and Career Advice for students who are preparing to graduate and may need a little extra help with the transition out of high school. 

Another great feature Chegg provides is a selection of free articles geared towards helping with general life skills, like coping with stress and saving money. Chegg’s learning modules are comprehensive, and they feature solutions to the problems in tons of different textbooks in a wide variety of subjects. 

Runner Up: Bartleby offers basically the same services as Chegg for $14.99 per month. The reason it didn’t rank as the best is based on customer reviews that say user questions aren’t answered quite as quickly on this site as on Chegg. Otherwise, this is also a solid choice!

Best Site for Math Homework Help: Photomath

• Price: Free (or $59.99 per year for premium services) 
• Best for: Explaining solutions to math problems

This site allows you to t ake a picture of a math problem, and instantly pulls up a step-by-step solution, as well as a detailed explanation of the concept. Photomath also includes animated videos that break down mathematical concepts to help you better understand and remember them. 

The basic service is free, but for an additional fee you can get extra study tools and learn additional strategies for solving common math problems.

Runner Up: KhanAcademy offers in-depth tutorials that cover complex math topics for free, but you won’t get the same tailored help (and answers!) that Photomath offers. 

Best Site for English Homework Help: Princeton Review Academic Tutoring

• Price: $40 to $153 per month, depending on how many hours of tutoring you want 
• Best for: Comprehensive and personalized reading and writing help 

While sites like Grammarly and Sparknotes help you by either proofreading what you write via an algorithm or providing book summaries, Princeton Review’s tutors provide in-depth help with vocabulary, literature, essay writing and development, proofreading, and reading comprehension. And unlike other services, you’ll have the chance to work with a real person to get help. 

The best part is that you can get on-demand English (and ESL) tutoring from experts 24/7. That means you can get help whenever you need it, even if you’re pulling an all-nighter! 

This is by far the most expensive homework site on this list, so you’ll need to really think about what you need out of a homework help website before you commit. One added benefit is that the subscription covers over 80 other subjects, including AP classes, which can make it a good value if you need lots of help!  

Best Site for STEM Homework Help: Studypool

• Best for: Science homework help
• Price: Varies; you’ll pay for each question you submit

When it comes to science homework help, there aren’t a ton of great resources out there. The best of the bunch is Studypool, and while it has great reviews, there are some downsides as well. 

Let’s start with the good stuff. Studypool offers an interesting twist on the homework help formula. After you create a free account, you can submit your homework help questions, and tutors will submit bids to answer your questions. You’ll be able to select the tutor–and price point–that works for you, then you’ll pay to have your homework question answered. You can also pay a small fee to access notes, lectures, and other documents that top tutors have uploaded. 

The downside to Studypool is that the pricing is not transparent . There’s no way to plan for how much your homework help will cost, especially if you have lots of questions! Additionally, it’s not clear how tutors are selected, so you’ll need to be cautious when you choose who you’d like to answer your homework questions.  

What Are the Pros and Cons of Using Homework Help Sites?

Homework help websites can be a great resource if you’re struggling in a subject, or even if you just want to make sure that you’re really learning and understanding topics and ideas that you’re interested in. But, there are some possible drawbacks if you don’t use these sites responsibly. 

We’ll go over the good–and the not-so-good–aspects of getting online homework help below. 

3 Pros of Using Homework Help Websites 

First, let’s take a look at the benefits. 

#1: Better Grades Beyond Homework

This is a big one! Getting outside help with your studies can improve your understanding of concepts that you’re learning, which translates into better grades when you take tests or write essays. 

Remember: homework is designed to help reinforce the concepts you learned in class. If you just get easy answers without learning the material behind the problems, you may not have the tools you need to be successful on your class exams…or even standardized tests you’ll need to take for college. 

#2: Convenience

One of the main reasons that online homework help is appealing is because it’s flexible and convenient. You don’t have to go to a specific tutoring center while they’re open or stay after school to speak with your teacher. Instead, you can access helpful resources wherever you can access the internet, whenever you need them.

This is especially true if you tend to study at off hours because of your extracurriculars, work schedule, or family obligations. Sites that offer 24/7 tutoring can give you the extra help you need if you can’t access the free resources that are available at your school. 

#3: Variety

Not everyone learns the same way. Maybe you’re more of a visual learner, but your teacher mostly does lectures. Or maybe you learn best by listening and taking notes, but you’re expected to learn something just from reading the textbook . 

One of the best things about online homework help is that it comes in a variety of forms. The best homework help sites offer resources for all types of learners, including videos, practice activities, and even one-on-one discussions with real-life experts. 

This variety can also be a good thing if you just don’t really resonate with the way a concept is being explained (looking at you, math textbooks!).

Not so fast. There are cons to homework help websites, too. Get to know them below!

3 Cons of Using Homework Help Websites 

Now, let’s take a look at the drawbacks of online homework help. 

#1: Unreliable Info

This can be a real problem. In addition to all the really good homework help sites, there are a whole lot of disreputable or unreliable sites out there. The fact of the matter is that some homework help sites don’t necessarily hire people who are experts in the subjects they’re talking about. In those cases, you may not be getting the accurate, up-to-date, and thorough information you need.

Additionally, even the great sites may not be able to answer all of your homework questions. This is especially true if the site uses an algorithm or chatbot to help students…or if you’re enrolled in an advanced or college-level course. In these cases, working with your teacher or school-provided tutors are probably your best option. 

#2: No Clarification

This depends on the service you use, of course. But the majority of them provide free or low-cost help through pre-recorded videos. Watching videos or reading info online can definitely help you with your homework… but you can’t ask questions or get immediate feedback if you need it .

#3: Potential For Scamming 

Like we mentioned earlier, there are a lot of homework help websites out there, and lots of them are scams. The review comments we read covered everything from outdated or wrong information, to misleading claims about the help provided, to not allowing people to cancel their service after signing up. 

No matter which site you choose to use, make sure you research and read reviews before you sign up–especially if it’s a paid service! 

When Does “Help” Become “Cheating”?

Admittedly, whether using homework help websites constitutes cheating is a bit of a grey area. For instance, is it “help” when a friend reads your essay for history class and corrects your grammar, or is it “cheating”? The truth is, not everyone agrees on when “help” crosses the line into “cheating .” When in doubt, it can be a good idea to check with your teacher to see what they think about a particular type of help you want to get. 

That said, a general rule of thumb to keep in mind is to make sure that the assignment you turn in for credit is authentically yours . It needs to demonstrate your own thoughts and your own current abilities. Remember: the point of every homework assignment is to 1) help you learn something, and 2) show what you’ve learned. 

So if a service answers questions or writes essays for you, there’s a good chance using it constitutes cheating. 

Here’s an example that might help clarify the difference for you. Brainstorming essay ideas with others or looking online for inspiration is “help” as long as you write the essay yourself. Having someone read it and give you feedback about what you need to change is also help, provided you’re the one that makes the changes later. 

But copying all or part of an essay you find online or having someone write (or rewrite) the whole thing for you would be “cheating.” The same is true for other subjects. Ultimately, if you’re not generating your own work or your own answers, it’s probably cheating.

5 Tips for Finding the Best Homework Help Websites for You

Now that you know some of our favorite homework help websites, free and paid, you can start doing some additional research on your own to decide which services might work best for you! Here are some top tips for choosing a homework help website. 

Tip 1: Decide How You Learn Best 

Before you decide which site or sites you’re going to use for homework help, y ou should figure out what kind of learning style works for you the most. Are you a visual learner? Then choose a site that uses lots of videos to help explain concepts. If you know you learn best by actually doing tasks, choose a site that provides lots of practice exercises.

Tip 2: Determine Which Subjects You Need Help With

Just because a homework help site is good overall doesn’t mean that it’s equally good for every subject. If you only need help in math, choose a site that specializes in that area. But if history is where you’re struggling, a site that specializes in math won’t be much help. So make sure to choose a site that you know provides high-quality help in the areas you need it most. 

Tip 3: Decide How Much One-On-One Help You Need 

This is really about cost-effectiveness. If you learn well on your own by reading and watching videos, a free site like Khan Academy is a good choice. But if you need actual tutoring, or to be able to ask questions and get personalized answers from experts, a paid site that provides that kind of service may be a better option.

Tip 4: Set a Budget

If you decide you want to go with a paid homework help website, set a budget first . The prices for sites vary wildly, and the cost to use them can add up quick. 

Tip 5: Read the Reviews

Finally, it’s always a good idea to read actual reviews written by the people using these homework sites. You’ll learn the good, the bad, and the ugly of what the users’ experiences have been. This is especially true if you intend to subscribe to a paid service. You’ll want to make sure that users think it’s worth the price overall!

What’s Next?

If you want to get good grades on your homework, it’s a good idea to learn how to tackle it strategically. Our expert tips will help you get the most out of each assignment…and boost your grades in the process.

Doing well on homework assignments is just one part of getting good grades. We’ll teach you everything you need to know about getting great grades in high school in this article.

Of course, test grades can make or break your GPA, too. Here are 17 expert tips that’ll help you get the most out of your study prep before you take an exam.

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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Millions of college students use Chegg, which professors say enables cheating – and possibly blackmail

An apparent good Samaritan had bad news for math professor Juan Gutiérrez: One of his students cheated on an exam. 

The person, who identified himself as an incoming graduate student in the USA, said he helped an undergraduate on a test after the two connected online. The emailer said he worked for Chegg, a website that sells itself as a one-stop shop for collegians who need help with their studies.

Some academics and students know Chegg for another reason: claims it enables   cheating in the classroom. 

“It pains me to see students taking undue advantage of the pandemic situation to boost their GPA without putting any effort,” the emailer   told Gutiérrez. 

Gutiérrez snapped into action and got in touch with his student, who complicated the narrative.   Days earlier, the Texas student said, he had received an email threatening to disclose he had used Chegg to fraudulently complete his coursework unless he paid off the person via PayPal. 

“I have sources everywhere and understand you have an exam coming up," the threatening email read. "It will be a shame if something happened regarding the score." 

Gutiérrez was angry, but his ire probably surprised the would-be whistleblower. 

“Extorting anyone is a crime,” he wrote back. 

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Vulnerable to blackmail?

For years, professors have lamented the use of college-help websites such as Chegg in academic dishonesty. Students who use the sites, especially with their real names, make themselves vulnerable to possible attempts of blackmail, experts said. 

To Gutiérrez, chair of the mathematics department at the University of Texas, San Antonio, the possible blackmail was a far more serious issue. He told the sender, whom he suspected was an Indian national, that he had alerted the State Department. The emailer went dark, but Gutiérrez posted screenshots of the incident on Twitter with a warning to students.

Kshitij Karan, whose name was on both the threat and the note to the professor, told USA TODAY he had not sent the threatening message to the student, but he had reached out to Gutierrez. He suggested the email containing the threat had been doctored. 

The Texas undergraduate did not respond to requests for comment.

Chegg denied the student and the alleged blackmailer had met on its platform. Despite a screenshot showing a Chegg question that was referenced in emails between the two, Chegg said it could not find a record of the question being sent. 

"We immediately conducted our own internal investigation and can categorically say that we have found no evidence that this exchange took place on the Chegg platform," the company said in a statement to USA TODAY. "It is technically impossible for there to be no record of the question if it was in fact posted on our platform."

Misuse of online platforms for cheating is not unique to Chegg. The company is one of many that operate alongside the country’s higher education system without the same   rules or responsibilities colleges bear. The business started as a purveyor of textbook rentals in 2005 – a service it still offers – but added services such as writing help, test prep and other homework help. 

It had 6.6 million subscribers across 190 countries in the 2020 fiscal year, making it one of the largest education technology companies in the world. The company's market capitalization was as high as $14 billion this year but is now about $4.5 billion.  

College help is a lucrative business: Harvard grad made millions on US college admissions for international students

Chegg's test prep and homework help come either through live experts or a cache of questions from textbooks and exams. If students need help with a math problem, they can upload a photo of it to Chegg. An answer, complete with how to solve it, can come back within minutes. 

Professors said students have used the service in exams, snapping pictures surreptitiously with their phones and peeking when the answers come in.

Cheating in college is nothing new, but some feared the increased online learning spurred by the pandemic would lead to even more academic dishonesty, enabled by websites such as Chegg. 

Chegg denies that characterization and said its users agree in its terms of service not to use the platform to cheat. It cooperates with schools looking to find cheaters.

A new product, Chegg said, even allows professors to upload their tests before the scheduled exam dates. The tool prevents students from accessing the material in the given time range. 

“We constantly work to prevent misuse of our site,” the company's statement said, “including reminding subscribers about our Honor Code before they submit questions, and providing tips and information to students and faculty on how to properly use and not use Chegg services.”

What is Chegg?

Chegg, like other education technology websites, saw major growth during the pandemic as  universities were forced to pivot instruction online . A company spokesman said Chegg grew by 67% in 2020   from the previous year. 

Students can pay $15 to $20 a month to access the site.   Along with receiving help with questions from their course material, they can get help with essays, view flashcards or take practice exams. 

Company officials said they're aware some students use its services to cheat but that Chegg works with universities to try to address the behavior. David Rettinger, a professor at the University of Mary Washington who studies academic dishonesty, said Chegg is notable for its transparency and willingness to work with academic institutions compared with other sites offering similar services. 

Cheating may be on the company’s radar, but officials said it has never dealt with an accusation of extortion. 

The Texas incident, according to Gutiérrez’s account and screenshots of the alleged exchange, started on Chegg. The student told Gutiérrez he posted a question about his calculus homework involving tangent lines. The company specifically denied the existence of the post.

Two days later, the email threatening the student arrived. It read, “I posted a solution on your Chegg post a few days ago regarding tangent lines.” The sender, according to the return email, was named Kshitij Karan. 

Gutiérrez’s class had an exam that month. The email accusing the student of cheating arrived the next day, again bearing Karan's name. 

To Gutiérrez, it seems clear his student posted a question to Chegg and was blackmailed. He was further convinced when the student was able to produce Karan’s name before Gutiérrez shared it with him.

“By chance, is this regarding a person by the name of Kshitij?” the student wrote to Gutierrez on Sept. 29. “I have been getting harassed by him, but I just thought he was trying to get money out of me.” 

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Karan disagrees with that account. He said he works for Chegg and other learning platforms to supplement his income.

He said he sometimes takes practice tests for students and charges them a fee for his services. In this case, Karan said, the student contacted him through Discord, a messaging app.

Karan said he completed the test as requested by the student, then realized it was a real exam. He reached out to Gutiérrez, and that’s when he said he learned of the threatening email sent to the student. He suggested the student could have doctored the sender's information.

Karan's Discord tag calls into question his account. The same username appears in multiple posts on Reddit forums where students seek others to do their assignments for pay. In one post with Karan's Discord tag, the writer identifies himself as a "verified" Chegg tutor and says he can offer help with homework, for pay. In other posts, Karan's Discord tag appears in forums with names such as "Paid homework" or "hwforcash." The latter forum bears a simple description: "Pay reddit to do your homework for you."  

Karan said he was trying to reach people who might need a tutor, not trying to complete their coursework for cash. 

Gutiérrez doesn’t buy Karan’s story. 

“Everything follows a perfect timeline,” Gutiérrez said. “And everything fits perfectly.”

Gutiérrez has been communicating with Chegg, and he described its answers as a smokescreen. He said he never claimed the incident occurred on the company’s platform. Instead, he said, the student used Chegg, then made an error by including his personal information on the website. That made him vulnerable to harassment outside the platform, Gutiérrez said. 

Chegg denied Karan has worked for its site. The company said it can't find an account tied to the student. Students often share Chegg accounts, so it can be difficult to track individual users. 

Joe Izbrand, a spokesman for the University of Texas, San Antonio, confirmed the university was aware of the incident and addressing it, but it would not provide more details in compliance with federal laws regarding students' privacy. The university released a statement saying it had "previously addressed alleged academic dishonesty incidents involving students and Chegg."

'Chegg will narc' 

In October 2020, months after the pandemic forced many classes online, Redditors on a forum for Ohio State University students had a problem. They had heard some of their peers were busted using Chegg on an organic chemistry test in April, and they weren't sure they could trust Chegg to protect their identities. 

Jake Conway, then a student   at OSU, had an idea to get to the bottom of what happened. He’d use a public records request to   ask for the emails between the professor in question, Andrea Baldwin, and Chegg.

His plan worked. He shared the documents in a post. 

The emails show Baldwin coordinated with the university’s Office of Academic Affairs to ask Chegg for the names of students who would have accessed relevant material at the time of her test. Chegg handed over   the email addresses and other non-financial   information tied to the student profiles.

Conway said he expected to learn the company shared the names and emails. He questioned how Chegg could have been sure the people listed had actually been the ones using the account since students commonly share accounts. 

Conway's takeaway was clear. He warned his classmates: “Chegg will narc you out upon request.”

To the Redditors, the solution was simple: Don’t cheat, or if you do, use a different name and email address. 

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Benjamin Johnson, an Ohio State University spokesman, confirmed that in 2020, several professors raised concerns about students using Chegg during exams and quizzes. He said the university coordinated with the company to learn which students visited the site during tests. 

Johnson stopped short of saying whether students were punished for using the site, but he did say, "Students can be charged with violating the Student Code of Conduct."

Though the university and Chegg streamlined the process for reporting academic misconduct cases, Baldwin said cheating hasn't stopped. 

Can laws stop cheating?

To deter cheating, it helps to understand its motive. Many students who cheat feel as though they can’t ask their professors for help. They may have fallen behind in their coursework and see an outsider as their only option, said Rettinger, who oversees the University of Mary Washington's academic integrity programs.

“The bulk of students make a bad choice on a bad day,” he said. “We have a responsibility to educate them.”

It’s likely students cheated more during pandemic shutdowns, Rettinger said. Students cheat, he said, when they're not engaged in their classes or suspect their professors are indifferent about them.

Cats in class, porn on Zoom: How online learning went in the early days of the pandemic

Cheating knows no nationality, and some countries have taken aggressive steps to curb the behavior. Among them is Australia, which in 2014 saw a massive cheating scandal in which students paid ghostwriters to craft their essays. 

The Australian government passed a law in 2018 aiming to stop this type of academic fraud. Its law is directed at “those who provide and advertise cheating services and not at students,” according to Australia's Department of Education, Skills and Employment.  

In Australia, cheating probably increased during pandemic shutdowns, but that's hard to quantify, said Cath Ellis, an associate dean and professor studying academic cheating at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Ellis said blackmail is a known issue in the industry, but it remains difficult to document. Even web forums focused on helping students cheat on their coursework tell potential customers to be wary of people who might extort them.  

Arc – UNSW Student Life at Ellis' institution offers guidance for those who may find themselves the target of blackmail . It stresses the university will help the victims navigate the situation but only if they're willing to admit their academic dishonesty. 

Despite the support for curbing online cheating, it's difficult to craft legislation that does so, Ellis said. Often, tutors are in different countries than the students they help. Cheating on a test isn’t a crime, so it doesn’t make sense for laws to target students. 

Instead, these types of laws have focused on intermediaries. Law prevents some essay-writing services from operating in Australia; they are legal in the USA.

Part of the challenge, Ellis said, is navigating the distinction between how companies advertise themselves and how students actually use the product.

On the front end, an essay-writing company may promise original content that students can use as their own. Yet in the fine print, they say their product is supposed to be used only as a model for learning. 

“The story they tell in the shop window," Ellis said, "is very different to the story they’re telling in the terms and conditions."

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Why Chegg Shares Are Plummeting Today

Chegg, Inc.  (NYSE:CHGG) shares are trading lower today. Several analysts cut the price target after it released first-quarter FY24 financial results and issued second-quarter net revenue guidance below estimates.

Yesterday, Chegg posted adjusted earnings of 26 cents per share, beating market estimates of 25 cents per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $174.40 million versus expectations of $174.10 million.

The company said it sees total net revenues of $159 million to $161 million for the second quarter, versus market estimates of $173.58 million.

Chegg also announced the appointment of Nathan Schultz as Chief Executive Officer, effective June 1.

Piper Sandler  analyst Arvind Ramnani cut the price target to $6 (from $8.5) and maintained an Underweight rating.

The analyst says that Chegg faces secular challenges that will likely remain in place and could intensify with broader advances with GenAI. 

The analyst trimmed the CY25 revenue estimate to $660 million (from $716 million) and expects a revenue decline of -6.1% in FY24 and -1.9% in FY25.

Goldman Sachs  analyst Eric Sheridan maintained Sell rating and price target of $7 but cut estimates for the company.

The analyst writes that the company’s second-quarter guidance was below estimates due to a lower subscriber count Y/Y at the beginning of the quarter and no clear timeline on an expected return to subscriber or revenue growth, among others.

Sheridan estimates EPS estimates of $1.18 (vs. $1.21 prior) for FY25 and $1.16 (vs. $1.19 prior) for FY26.

J.P. Morgan  analyst Bryan M. Smilek cut the price target to $8 (from $9) while maintaining a Neutral rating.

The analyst says that Chegg’s second-quarter outlook is pressured by continued Y/Y subscriber declines (JPM est. -10% Y/Y) & ARPU pressures from pricing tests (JPM est. -3% Y/Y), & return to growth remains a priority.

The analyst believes a broader rollout is likely ahead of the Fall 2024 semester, which should aid improved subscriber trends ahead of back to school. 

Smilek cut the 2024 revenue & adj. EBITDA estimates by 5% and 9% for the company.

KeyBanc Capital Markets  analyst Devin Au maintained a Sector Weight rating but lowered the 2024 estimates to reflect the weak second-quarter outlook, with implied Subscription Services growth at -12.5% (vs. consensus -5.6%). 

The analyst cut the revenue estimate to $657.8 million (from $670.0 million) for FY24 and $665.9 million (from $685.6 million) for FY25.

Barrington Research  analyst Alexander Paris maintained the Market Perform rating but lowered estimates for FY24 net revenues to $646.4 million (from $687.0 million) and non-GAAP EPS to $1.00 (from $1.20). 

For FY25, the analyst trimmed estimates for net revenues to $660.0 million (from $695.0 million) and non-GAAP EPS to $1.15 (from $1.30).

The analyst believes that embracing generative AI aggressively and immediately is the right call for the company and will likely result in a bigger market opportunity and a better user experience over time, but the reduced near-term visibility is keeping them on the sidelines.

Price Action : CHGG shares are down 26.75% at $5.25 at the last check Tuesday.

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