The short answer
- The best free live tutor is probably already paid for: your public library card. Many libraries offer Tutor.com or Brainfuse HelpNow free to cardholders — log in on the library website with your card number.
- Free sites that teach: Khan Academy (K-12 through early college, nonprofit), CK-12’s Flexi tutor, OpenStax textbooks, Desmos, and Purdue OWL for writing.
- Statewide programs: Homework Louisiana (all residents) and Homework CA (with a California library card) both run through Tutor.com.
- Hotlines: AskRose (grades 6-12 math and science, 877-ASK-ROSE) and NYC’s Dial-A-Teacher ((212) 777-3380, NYC public school students).
- Avoid answer mills: a site that only hands over answers, hides who runs it, or pushes a paid subscription before showing anything is not homework help.
Most “free homework help” searches end on a site that shows half an answer and then asks for a credit card. Genuinely free, genuinely useful help exists — it is just spread across nonprofits, public libraries, state programs and a couple of phone lines. This page pulls it together, sorted by what you actually need tonight.
Everything below was checked on October 14, 2026. Hours and offers change, so confirm on the provider’s own page before you rely on a time slot.
Free homework help at a glance
Start with the row that matches your problem. A live tutor is the closest thing to a teacher at the table; the self-study sites are better for practice and for understanding a topic from scratch.
| Need | Best free option | Who it’s for | How you get in |
|---|---|---|---|
| A live tutor, tonight | Library Tutor.com or Brainfuse HelpNow | K-12, college, adults | Library card on your library’s website |
| A live tutor, statewide | Homework Louisiana / Homework CA | All ages (LA residents; CA cardholders) | State program site / library card |
| Math or science by phone | AskRose | Grades 6-12 | 877-ASK-ROSE, chat or email |
| NYC homework by phone | Dial-A-Teacher | NYC public school students, K-12 | (212) 777-3380 or online |
| Lessons and practice, any subject | Khan Academy | K-12 through early college | Free account, web or app |
| A free AI tutor | CK-12 Flexi | Mainly middle and high school | Web, apps, WhatsApp |
| Writing and citations | Purdue OWL | High school and college writers | Website, 24/7 |
| A free textbook | OpenStax | High school and college | Read online or PDF |
Free homework help by subject and grade
Pick your subject, then your grade. Live help comes in three forms — library services, statewide programs and hotlines, each covered further down. The tables here sort the self-study sites and tutoring options by subject so you can skip straight to yours.
Math
| Resource | What you get | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Khan Academy | Courses from early math through calculus, with practice | Free |
| Desmos | Graphing and scientific calculators; the same calculator is built into the SAT, PSAT and certain AP Exams | Free |
| Wolfram|Alpha Basic | Computes answers; step-by-step solutions need the paid Pro plan | Free basic |
| AskRose | A person to talk a problem through, grades 6-12 | Free |
| Library tutoring | Live tutor on a shared whiteboard | Free with card |
More on getting unstuck, with a step routine, in our math homework help guide.
Writing
| Resource | What you get | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Purdue OWL | Handouts, slides and videos on writing; APA, MLA, Chicago, IEEE, AMA and ASA style guides | Free (donation-supported) |
| Tutor.com via your library | Includes writing review | Free with card |
| Brainfuse HelpNow via your library | Many libraries include a Writing Lab — Solano County Library (CA) says feedback usually arrives within 24 hours | Free with card |
Science
| Resource | What you get | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Khan Academy | Science courses alongside math, ELA, social studies, economics and computing | Free |
| AskRose | Math and science help, grades 6-12 | Free |
| Wolfram|Alpha Basic | Science computations (no free step-by-step) | Free basic |
| OpenStax | Peer-reviewed, openly licensed textbooks | Free online / PDF |
By grade
| Grade band | Good free starting points |
|---|---|
| Elementary (K-5) | Khan Academy; Khan Academy Kids (separate free app, ages 2-8); library tutoring (Tutor.com covers kindergarten up) |
| Middle school (6-8) | Khan Academy; CK-12 Flexi; AskRose; Desmos; library tutoring |
| High school (9-12) | All of the above, plus OpenStax, Purdue OWL and Wolfram|Alpha Basic |
| College / adult | OpenStax; Purdue OWL; library tutoring (both Tutor.com and HelpNow serve adults) |
How to get free library tutoring with your card
If you remember one thing from this page, make it this. Many public libraries pay for a live tutoring service so that their cardholders don’t have to. The two names to look for are Tutor.com (run by The Princeton Review, covering 200+ subjects from kindergarten through college) and Brainfuse HelpNow.
- Get a library card. Many library systems offer digital cards you can apply for online; otherwise, ask at your local branch what they need from you.
- Open your library’s website and look for “Homework Help,” “Research,” “Databases” or “eResources.”
- Choose Tutor.com or Brainfuse HelpNow from the list.
- Sign in with your card number. Tutor.com may ask you to create a free account the first time.
- Pick the subject and connect to a live tutor, usually by chat with a shared whiteboard. Have the exact problem ready to type or show.
Hours depend on the library. Two real examples: Longmont Public Library in Colorado lists live Tutor.com tutors from 3 to 10 p.m. Mountain time, seven days a week, in English or Spanish, with no appointment needed. Solano County Library in California lists one-on-one HelpNow help for most subjects 24/7, plus SAT, ACT, GED, ASVAB and TOEFL prep.
State-funded homework help programs
A few states pay for tutoring for everyone. If you live in one of them, you don’t need to hunt for a local service.
| Program | Who can use it | Hours | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homework Louisiana | Every Louisiana resident, all ages | Live tutors 10 a.m.–midnight Central, 7 days (closed major holidays); self-study 24/7 | State Library of Louisiana, powered by Tutor.com; support line 800-411-1970 |
| Homework CA | California library cardholders, all ages | Live 1:1 tutoring 24/7 | Statewide service via Tutor.com, English and Spanish; announced by San Bernardino County Library on Aug 6, 2026 |
| NCVPS Edvantage (North Carolina) | Students at participating schools | Mon–Wed 4:30–6:30 p.m.; fall Sept 21–Dec 11, 2026; spring Mar 1–May 19, 2027 | Middle school math, Math I–III, middle school science, Biology, Earth & Environmental Science; the school or district pays $35/hour, so it is free to families — ask whether your school takes part |
If your state isn’t listed, the library route above is the next best thing — most large library systems offer one of the two tutoring services.
Homework hotlines you can call
Sometimes a voice on the phone beats typing into a chat box. Two long-running free lines:
| Hotline | Who it helps | How to reach it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AskRose (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) | Grades 6-12, math and science | 877-ASK-ROSE (1-877-275-7673), chat at askrose.org/chat, email at askrose.org/email | Check the website for this school year’s hours |
| Dial-A-Teacher (United Federation of Teachers) | NYC public school students K-12; parents can call too | (212) 777-3380, 4–7 p.m. Mon–Thu on school days; online at tutor.dialateacher.org | Help in 10 languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Bengali, Russian and Haitian-Creole |
Before calling, have the assignment in front of you and know exactly which step you’re stuck on. A tutor can do far more with “I don’t get why step 3 flips the sign” than with “I don’t get it.”
How to judge a homework help site (and avoid answer mills)
A good homework helper makes you need it less over time; an answer mill makes you need it more. Answer mills are sites built around posting finished answers to assignment and test questions. They can land a student in academic-integrity trouble, and they skip the only part of homework that matters — the practice.
| Check | Green flag | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | Nonprofit, university, library, public agency, named company | No “about” page, no company name |
| What it gives you | Explanations, worked examples, practice | Only final answers, often copied from tests |
| Cost | Free, or clear pricing up front | Paywall appears after you’ve typed your question |
| Data asked for | Nothing, or a basic account | Phone number, school login or payment details just to look |
| Accuracy | Shows steps you can check | Confident answers with no working |
Photo-solver apps sit in between: useful as a worked example after a real attempt, harmful as a shortcut. Our guide to homework scanner apps covers what they cost and how to use them without short-circuiting the learning, and AI homework help covers chatbots.
Which free homework help needs no sign-up?
Several of the best free options need no account, no card and no email address. That matters for younger students, for a shared family computer, and for anyone who wants help tonight without handing over personal details. The table sorts every option on this page by what it asks for before you get help.
Free homework help by sign-up requirement (as described on each provider’s page, checked October 14, 2026)
| What you need | Options | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing: just call | AskRose (877-ASK-ROSE), Dial-A-Teacher ((212) 777-3380, NYC public school students) | Talking a math or science step through with a person |
| Nothing: open the website | Purdue OWL, OpenStax (read online or PDF), Desmos calculators, Wolfram|Alpha Basic | Writing help, a free textbook, graphing, checking a computation |
| A free account | Khan Academy (web or app) | Lessons and practice with saved progress |
| A library card (plus a free Tutor.com account on first use) | Tutor.com or Brainfuse HelpNow via your library | A live tutor on a shared whiteboard |
| State residency or a state library card | Homework Louisiana, Homework CA | Live tutoring when your local library has none |
| A participating school | NCVPS Edvantage (North Carolina) | After-school math and science sessions |
How to read it. If a site asks for a phone number, school login or payment details before showing anything, treat it with suspicion: that is one of the answer-mill red flags listed in the site checklist on this page. The no-sign-up options cover the most common evening problems: a stuck math step, a citation format, or a missing textbook.
For a step-by-step routine once you are connected, see our free math homework help routine. If the hard part is starting at all, these tips to start your homework help before you call, and the student tools hub collects the rest.
Make free help go further
Free help works best inside a routine. Plan the week’s assignments in the homework planner so the live-tutor window doesn’t close before you get to the hard subject. Check how much time is reasonable for your grade with the homework time calculator. And if a grade is what’s really worrying you, the grade calculator shows exactly where you stand.
Sources
- Khan Academy — about page: https://www.khanacademy.org/about
- Khanmigo pricing: https://www.khanmigo.ai/pricing
- CK-12 Flexi: https://info.ck12.org/flexi-info
- Tutor.com for libraries: https://www.tutor.com/libraries
- Longmont Public Library, Tutor.com: https://longmontcolorado.gov/library/library-services/tutor-com/
- Solano County Library, homework help: https://solanolibrary.gov/youth/get-homework-help/
- Homework Louisiana: https://www.tutor.com/homeworklouisiana/learn-more/
- San Bernardino County, Homework CA announcement (Aug 6, 2026): https://main.sbcounty.gov/?p=183946
- NC State Board of Education bulletin on NCVPS Edvantage (Aug 6, 2026): https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NCSBE/bulletins/423db2b
- AskRose: https://askrose.org/
- UFT Dial-A-Teacher: https://www.uft.org/faqs/what-dial-teacher-program
- Wolfram|Alpha Pro for students: https://www.wolframalpha.com/pro/pricing/students
- OpenStax: https://openstax.org/about
- College Board Bluebook tools (Desmos): https://bluebook.collegeboard.org/students/tools
- Purdue OWL: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/about_the_owl/index.html
All checked October 14, 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us via the about page.