Chegg: step-by-step answers from a 9,000-textbook library, backed by human experts

Updated on August 18, 2026

Chegg is a subscription study platform that pairs detailed solutions for over 9,000 textbooks with a round-the-clock expert Q&A network and AI study tools. The company started out in 2005 renting textbooks to students at Iowa State University, long before its pivot to digital subscriptions and its NYSE listing. The base Chegg Study plan runs $15.95 a month, with book rentals priced separately.

Textbook solutions, expert Q&A and AI tools inside Chegg Study

Chegg Study is built on a library of worked solutions for exercises from thousands of textbooks, strongest in math, science and business. You look up your exercise reference, the full solution appears with every step of the reasoning. When a problem is nowhere in the database, you send it to the expert network, and an answer typically lands within about thirty minutes.

The entry plan caps expert questions at 20 per month, plenty for a busy semester if you save them for genuine roadblocks. Around that base, several extra tools round things out.

• AI features that re-explain a concept or generate practice quizzes
• Flashcards and practice problem sets
• Chegg Math Solver for stepwise math working
• Writing help with grammar checks, plagiarism detection and citations

From renting textbooks to an employability pivot

The story began in 2005 at Iowa State University, where students set up a rental service to dodge overpriced campus bookstores. Two decades on, rentals still exist, up to 90% below the purchase price, but study subscriptions now drive most of the revenue. The group also owns the Mathway solver and the language app Busuu.

Free chatbots shook that model hard, and the company rebuilt itself around AI, steering toward an employability platform blending academic support, job skills and languages. In the contest now playing out between AI study sites for students and general-purpose assistants, Chegg bets on answers checked by humans.

Chegg plans and pricing, from Study to Study Pack

The entry subscription costs $15.95 per month, and the full Study Pack $19.95. First-month discounts come around regularly for new subscribers. These figures shift with promotions, so treat the official subscription page as the only reliable reference.

One practical note before signing up, the whole platform works in English and the solution library tracks US course materials closely. (A detail plenty of subscribers learn the hard way, cancellation works fine online, but that renewal date sneaks up faster than a midterm.)

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