Best AI for WebAssign and Cengage MindTap, compared
There is no single best AI for WebAssign or MindTap, and there is no answer key to download: Cengage says most WebAssign questions use randomized values. The options differ in who types the answer and who presses Submit.
Prices, versions and user counts change. Each row says where it came from.
Which kind of WebAssign or MindTap AI fits the job?
You want hints, not answers
Cengage’s own Student Assistant, in courses that turn it on. Cengage says it will not reveal answers.
You are stuck on one question and will type it in yourself
A chat assistant, or a browser extension that reads the question on your screen.
You are comfortable running code
A GitHub project. Check the last commit first: one WebAssign project that still shows up in search was last pushed in 2013.
You want the assignment worked and submitted
An agent. Silent Student is a desktop app that enters answers and submits part by part. Its limits are below.
Your instructor uses LockDown Browser or a proctored test
None of these. Silent Student does not take proctored tests, and extension makers say theirs do not run in LockDown Browser.
WebAssign and MindTap AI options side by side
Each row quotes the option’s own page, listing or README, with source links under each name. A cell its sources do not answer says so.
| Option | Works on | Where it runs | What its own page says | Do you click and submit each question? | Price on its page | Listing: update and users |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Official | ||||||
| Cengage Student AssistantSource: WebAssign help · MindTap help · WebAssign updates | Both. “Available with select WebAssign Courses”; not available for all MindTap courses, activity types or question types. | Inside the course, as a Student Assistant button on compatible questions. | “A generative AI assistant that provides students with guidance, but it will not reveal answers.” Switched on automatically for supported WebAssign assignments “except quizzes, exams and tests”. In MindTap, “Your instructor will be able to view your chat logs.” | Yes. It gives step-by-step help; you answer and submit. | Not stated. It comes with courses that include it. | None. Cengage says it is in more than 800 of its Learning Platform courses (its own figure). |
| By hand and browser extensions | ||||||
| A chat assistant by hand (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude; Wolfram Alpha for computation)Source: none. We did not fetch provider pages. | Neither directly. You copy or screenshot each question in. | Another tab or app. | Not stated for WebAssign or MindTap. | Yes. You type each answer back in and press Submit. | Free tiers and paid plans. Check each provider’s pricing page. | Not applicable. |
| SnapGPTSource: WebAssign page · MindTap page · pricing · store listing | Both: “SnapGPT works on Cengage WebAssign” and “works on Cengage MindTap”. | Chrome and Firefox extension, Chromebooks included. iPhone app in beta. | Reads the question from your screen, “so it solves the version with your numbers”. On Plus, Autopilot works through a WebAssign assignment one question at a time and enters each answer. “It never submits for you.” | One click per answer. Autopilot (Plus) fills answers; you submit. | Free: 5 screenshot requests a day. Plus: $7.99 a week, $9.99 a month or $89.99 a year. | Version 4.4.11, updated 15 October 2026. 2,000 users. |
| FastSolveSource: WebAssign page · store listing | WebAssign, by paste or screenshot. “Native WebAssign support is on the roadmap.” We did not read a MindTap page. | Chrome extension (also Edge, Brave and Arc, it says) and its website. | Paste or screenshot the problem, get a worked answer in about 2 seconds, and enter it yourself. “FastSolve never touches the WebAssign page.” | Yes. You type each answer into WebAssign and submit. | Free: 10 solves a day. Pro: $9.99 a week, $19.99 a month or $99 a year. | Version 3.3.15, updated 7 October 2026. 5,000 users. Its WebAssign page says “Updated July 2026”. |
| Apex Vision AISource: WebAssign guide · MindTap guide · pricing · store listing | Both, through screenshot guides for WebAssign and MindTap, each dated 29 December 2025. | Its website, a Chrome extension, and a phone camera option. | Screenshot the question, upload it, and get a step-by-step explanation. | Yes. You ask on each question and enter the answer yourself. | $7.99, $14.99 or $19.99 a month for 500, 1,000 or 2,000 requests. Free: 30 requests, refilled every 12 hours. | Version 6.0.16, updated 4 October 2026. 8,000 users. |
| QuizSolveSource: MindTap page | MindTap. It says it also reads Aplia and WebAssign activities “that render inside MindTap”. | Free Chrome extension. It says Chromebooks work. | “Reads Cengage MindTap questions right on the assignment page and returns the answer with a short explanation in about two seconds.” Lists multiple choice, multiple-select, true/false, fill-in-the-blank and matching. | A double-tap per question. Its page describes showing the answer, not entering or submitting it. | Free: 5 questions a day plus 2 screenshot solves. Pro from $8.33 a month. | Its page says “Last updated: July 2026”. We did not capture its store listing. |
| SmartSolveSource: store listing · reached from webassignsolver.com and webassignanswers.com | WebAssign, per webassignsolver.com and webassignanswers.com, whose download buttons lead to this listing. The listing names no platform. | Chrome extension, published by NIKNEA, LLC. | Scan, upload, highlight or ask a question in any subject. Its pages claim a 98.97% accuracy rate; we did not verify it. | One click per answer, its WebAssign pages say. Not stated whether it fills in or submits. | Not stated. The WebAssign pages say “it’s free” to get started. | Version 1.0.11, updated 24 August 2026. 30,000 users. |
| Mindko Homework SolverSource: store listing | “Any website”, its listing says. It names Blackboard, Canvas, Google Classroom and Moodle, not WebAssign or MindTap. | Chrome extension. | Highlight a question and choose “Ask Mindko”, or upload a screenshot, for an answer and explanation. | Yes, per question. Not stated whether it fills in or submits. | Not stated on its listing. | Version 3.0.5, updated 28 November 2025. 10,000 users. |
| Do it yourself | ||||||
| Open-source GitHub projectsSource: cschubiner/Webassign-Solver · nmchong/cengage_solver | WebAssign (cschubiner). MindTap opened from Brightspace (nmchong). | A C# program (cschubiner). A Python and Playwright script that signs into Brightspace (nmchong). | cschubiner: “Solves math and physics problems on webassign.net automatically.” nmchong: opens MindTap quizzes and listening activities, “solves them by exhaustively checking possible answers, and auto-submits them when correct.” | No for nmchong, which auto-submits. Not stated for cschubiner. | Free to download. | cschubiner: created 22 September 2012, last push 4 April 2013, 14 stars (GitHub API). nmchong: created and last pushed 14 March 2026. Stars are not ratings. |
| Agents | ||||||
| Silent Student OursSource: WebAssign page · Cengage page · benchmark | Both, opened from the assignment link in your Canvas course. | Desktop app for Mac and Windows, with its own browser. | Opens the WebAssign or MindTap assignment from Canvas, enters answers in the platform’s own fields, including the equation editor and ChemPad, presses each part’s own Submit and reads the result back. | No. You queue the assignment from Canvas and can stop a run. | $11.99, $24.99 or $49.99 a month. No free plan. | No store listing; updates arrive inside the app. Evidence: three Cengage-style replicas we built, scored on 22 September 2026: 8 of 8, 16 of 16 and 9 of 9 graded parts, all submitted. |
How this table was made. We did not test the other options. Their rows quote their own websites, Chrome Web Store listings, READMEs and the GitHub API, fetched on 19 October 2026 and listed at the bottom of this page. Cengage’s row comes from its help pages. Prices, versions and user counts change, so check the source before you pay. Our row rests on our own benchmark, run on replicas we built, not real student accounts. We make Silent Student, so read our row with that in mind. We publish no reviews.
What the table leaves out. Accuracy percentages. SnapGPT’s pages say 98%, FastSolve’s say 98% and SmartSolve’s say 98.97%. Each is the seller’s own claim, none is independent, and they are measured differently, so they are not comparable. Ours is our own too. Answer-key and homework-for-hire sites, such as mindtapanswers.com, homeworkmarket and assignments4u, are left out on purpose. Red flag: SmartSolve’s WebAssign pages call it “completely undetectable”, and Mindko’s listing uses the same word. Treat that claim, “works under proctoring” and any request for your school password as warnings.
What each kind of tool is good and bad at
Cengage’s own AI
The Student Assistant is the one option Cengage built. It gives step-by-step help from Cengage material, and Cengage says it “will not reveal answers”. It is off on quizzes, exams and tests, and in MindTap your instructor can read the chat. Good for learning the method, not for getting an assignment done.
Chat assistants by hand
Chat assistants reason well and have free tiers, and Wolfram Alpha is strong on computation. The cost is the workflow: you copy or screenshot each question into another tab, then type the answer back in WebAssign’s notation. Paste your version, with your numbers.
Extensions that read the screen
SnapGPT, FastSolve, Apex Vision AI and QuizSolve read the question on your screen or from a screenshot. Each is quick per question, and by their own descriptions you enter the answer and submit. They charge differently: daily free allowances, weekly passes, request caps. Compare us with SnapGPT, FastSolve and Apex Vision AI.
Open-source bots and maintenance
These are free, but you run and maintain the code. A WebAssign solver that still shows up in search, cschubiner/Webassign-Solver, was last pushed in April 2013. The newer nmchong/cengage_solver works MindTap through Brightspace by trying possible answers until one is marked correct. If your MindTap activity allows only one attempt per question, a wrong guess there is final.
Agents
An agent works through the assignment instead of one question at a time. Silent Student, a desktop app with its own browser, opens WebAssign or MindTap from Canvas, enters each answer, presses the part’s own Submit and reads the result back. It leaves green-checked parts alone. An agent that submits also spends your submissions: a wrong answer costs an attempt exactly as if you had typed it. Limits are in Where Silent Student fits.
Why WebAssign and MindTap are hard for AI tools
Randomized values
Cengage’s help page on randomization says: “Most questions in WebAssign use randomized values.” Values can differ by class or by student, and some assignments require a new randomization after a set number of submissions. A posted answer list rarely matches your version.
Limited submissions per part
“Each time you submit answers to WebAssign, you use a submission,” says Cengage’s submit page, and once they are used up you cannot change your answers, even before the due date. Depending on the rule, you submit by question part, by question or for the whole assignment.
Enter does not submit
The same page says: “You can’t use the Enter key to submit answers.” You press Submit Answer or Submit Assignment. A tool that only fills a box leaves the work saved, not submitted.
Notation in the equation editor and ChemPad
Symbolic answers are graded on notation as well as content: subscripts, charges, exact form, significant figures and units. See our WebAssign equation editor tips for math and ChemPad.
Answer keys only when your instructor allows them
Cengage’s answer keys page lists three times a key might appear: in a tutorial step you skip, before the due date after a set number of submissions if your instructor allows it, or through a View Key button after the due date if allowed. There is no general key to download.
MindTap’s activity player
Our MindTap replica was built around what makes the player hard: two panes, custom pickers for matching, select-all and dropdown parts, and one attempt per question, so a wrong guess is final. For more on MindTap’s many activity types, see what works in MindTap and WebAssign.
Does WebAssign automatically submit? And MindTap?
WebAssign
Not for untimed work. Cengage’s submit page says your answers are saved automatically, then: “Your answers are not automatically submitted for untimed assignments. If you are working on a timed assignment and run out of time, your answers are submitted for you.”
After the due date an instructor can use Submit Saved Work. For each question part, saved work is submitted and scored only if saved work exists, no answer has been submitted, and at least one submission remains. Do not count on it.
MindTap
Cengage’s MindTap help says: “Most activities are automatically submitted if they are in progress when the due date passes, but some are not. Be sure to submit your activity to receive a grade.” Its exceptions include MindTap World Language manually graded activities.
Which tools submit
Silent Student submits, part by part, and nmchong/cengage_solver says it auto-submits. SnapGPT says its Autopilot never submits, and FastSolve, Apex Vision AI and QuizSolve describe giving you the answer to enter yourself.
Longer guides, each quoted from Cengage’s help: Does WebAssign automatically submit? and What happens when a MindTap assignment is late?
MindTap, WebAssign and CNOWv2 are different players
Cengage’s Terms name MindTap, WebAssign and CNOW one by one. WebAssign is the STEM homework system, with per-part submissions and randomized values. Cengage’s MindTap page describes a course platform with a Learning Path and customizable activities. CNOWv2 is aimed at accounting and tax courses. From a Canvas course, any of them can open from an assignment link.
A tool that lists “Cengage” may handle one player and not the others. Silent Student has a dedicated WebAssign solver and works MindTap activities from Canvas. We publish no result for CNOWv2.
What Cengage says, what the platforms record, and tests
Cengage’s Terms
Cengage’s Terms of Service for Cengage Higher Education Platform, last updated November 2025, cover MindTap, WebAssign, CNOW, OWLv2 and SAM. Under “Limited License and Restrictions on Use”, students agree not to “Access (or attempt to access) any part of the Services or Content through any automated means (including use of scrapers, scripts, robots, spiders, or web crawlers)”. They also may not use the Services “in a manner contrary to the educational purpose of the Services, such as by posting answers to test or assessment questions”. Cengage may terminate, suspend or block your use “if in Cengage’s sole determination you have breached these Terms”.
In our reading, the automated-means clause reaches the bots and agents on this page, ours included, and may reach extensions that fill in answers on the page. It applies whether or not anything is detected. We are not lawyers. Read the Terms yourself before you decide.
Your school
Your school sets its own academic-integrity rules, which can be stricter than Cengage’s. Silent Student’s Terms (section 5) make you responsible for both.
What WebAssign and MindTap record
WebAssign counts every submission per question part (submit page). The instructor guide’s View Student Access Logs topic says the log “shows when your students have opened and submitted their assignments”, including times for submitted answers, saved work and any answer key viewed. View a Student’s Answers lets an instructor open a student’s most recent answers. In MindTap, Cengage says your instructor can view your Student Assistant chat logs.
Silent Student does not hide or fake any of that. We found no Cengage page describing AI detection on homework, so we make no claim either way.
LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor
Some WebAssign assignments require LockDown Browser. While it runs, Cengage says, “you cannot use other applications, view other Web sites, copy, or print.” Cengage’s WebAssign updates page lists Respondus Monitor, which records students by webcam during exams. Silent Student does not take proctored tests. SnapGPT and QuizSolve say no extension runs inside LockDown Browser.
Six things to check before you pick one
- The last update date. Look for a recent version on the store listing or a recent commit on GitHub.
- Whether it submits. Most extensions show the answer and leave entry and Submit to you. An agent submits. Decide which you want, because saved is not submitted.
- How it handles attempts. WebAssign limits submissions per part, and a MindTap activity may allow only one attempt per question. A tool that guesses until something sticks can spend them all.
- Equation editor entry. Ask whether it types into WebAssign’s math pad and ChemPad in the right notation, or leaves that to you.
- Price per month. Weekly passes, daily allowances and request caps do not compare by headline price. Work out a month of real use.
- Your course policy. Read Cengage’s Terms and your syllabus. If either rules these out, the Student Assistant and your instructor stay open to you.
Where Silent Student fits
What it is
A desktop app for Mac and Windows, made by El Dorado Ignition LLC. You connect your Canvas account once, and your login stays on your computer. It opens the WebAssign or MindTap assignment from your Canvas course, enters answers in Cengage’s own fields, submits part by part and reports what it could not confirm.
Plans are $11.99, $24.99 and $49.99 a month, with no free plan (pricing).
The app is in public beta. The Mac installer is self-signed and the Windows installer is unsigned, so your system will warn you the first time you open it. See the download page and security.
What we measured
On three replicas we built of Cengage platforms, scored in one run on 22 September 2026, the Base-plan engine got 8 of 8 graded parts on a WebAssign-style STEM workbook, 16 of 16 on a WebAssign calculus homework and 9 of 9 on a MindTap-style mixed assessment. All three were submitted.
Those are replicas in a test harness, not live accounts, and the engine has changed since. Method and recordings: benchmark.
Where it stops
- No free-body diagrams, vector dragging, graphing or general drawing.
- It does not take proctored or LockDown Browser tests.
- We have not tested MindTap written-response activities, and publish no CNOWv2 result.
- It cannot win back submissions you have already used, and no plan promises a grade.
- Silent Student is not affiliated with or endorsed by Cengage, and Cengage’s Terms bar automated access.
Is there a WebAssign solver?
Yes, of a few kinds, and none can work from a shared answer list, because Cengage says most WebAssign questions use randomized values. Screen-reading extensions such as SnapGPT, FastSolve, Apex Vision AI and QuizSolve read the question on your screen, and by their own descriptions you enter the answer and submit. Open-source solvers age badly: cschubiner/Webassign-Solver was last pushed in April 2013. Silent Student, which we make, types each answer into WebAssign’s equation editor or ChemPad and presses that part’s own Submit. Cengage’s own Student Assistant gives step-by-step help and “will not reveal answers”.
Is there a Cengage auto answer tool for MindTap?
A few, and they work differently. nmchong/cengage_solver, an open-source project, works MindTap through Brightspace by trying possible answers until one is marked correct; if an activity allows one attempt per question, a wrong guess there is final. Screen-reading extensions show an answer that you enter yourself. Silent Student, which we make, opens the MindTap activity from its Canvas link, answers each part in Cengage’s own fields and submits it. From Canvas it runs on our general vision agent, which is less predictable than our dedicated MindTap solver, and that one works through D2L Brightspace only. On a MindTap-style replica we built it got 9 of 9 graded parts (watch the run). Cengage’s Terms bar access “through any automated means” (the wording).
How do you type a subscript in WebAssign?
In a ChemPad answer box, type an underscore for a subscript and a caret for a superscript, so H_2O shows as H2O. Cengage’s chemPad help says “Typing an alphabetic character or a space ends a subscript or superscript,” and for longer notation you “enclose the content of a superscript or subscript in braces {}”. Symbolic answers are graded on notation as well as content, so a misplaced subscript can cost you the part. More in our WebAssign equation editor tips.
Common questions
It depends on the job. For hints without answers, use Cengage’s Student Assistant where your course turns it on. For one stuck question you will type in yourself, use a chat assistant or a screen-reading extension such as SnapGPT, FastSolve or Apex Vision AI. To have the assignment worked and submitted, use an agent such as Silent Student. Cengage’s Terms bar automated access, so read them first.
The same split applies. Cengage’s Student Assistant gives step-by-step help on compatible MindTap questions but will not reveal answers, and your instructor can read the chat. Extensions such as SnapGPT, QuizSolve and Apex Vision AI read the question on screen while you answer it. Silent Student opens the MindTap activity from your Canvas course, answers it and submits. Check your course policy first.
A few exist. One GitHub project that search engines still show, cschubiner/Webassign-Solver, was last pushed on 4 April 2013. nmchong/cengage_solver, from March 2026, targets MindTap through Brightspace and auto-submits by trying possible answers. SnapGPT’s Autopilot fills in answers but, it says, never submits. Silent Student is a maintained desktop agent that submits part by part. Cengage’s Terms bar automated access to its platforms.
No. Cengage says it “will not reveal answers” and offers step-by-step help, study strategies and resources instead. It is switched on automatically for supported WebAssign assignments except quizzes, exams and tests, and your instructor can turn it off. It is not in every course, activity type or question type. In MindTap, Cengage says your instructor can view your chat logs.
Not for untimed work. Cengage says your answers are saved automatically but “not automatically submitted for untimed assignments”. On a timed assignment, your answers are submitted for you when time runs out. After the due date, an instructor can submit a student’s saved work. In MindTap, most activities still in progress are submitted at the due date, but some are not.
We found no Cengage page that describes detecting AI help, so we make no claim either way. Cengage does document what is recorded. WebAssign’s Student Access Log shows when you opened, saved and submitted work, and instructors can view your answers. Instructors can read your Student Assistant chats in MindTap. Cengage’s Terms apply whether or not anything is detected.
Not one you can download. Most WebAssign questions use randomized values, so a posted answer carries someone else’s numbers. Cengage says answer keys show up only in tutorial steps you skip, after a set number of submissions if your instructor allows it, or through View Key after the due date. Sites that sell MindTap answer keys are left off this page.
Some do. SnapGPT says its extension runs on Chromebooks, and QuizSolve says it runs on Chrome OS. Cengage’s Student Assistant is a button on compatible questions inside the course, so it needs nothing installed. Silent Student does not: it is a desktop app for Mac and Windows. WebAssign’s LockDown Browser assignments open on Chromebooks, and SnapGPT and QuizSolve say no extension runs inside LockDown Browser.
Where each fact came from
Every outside page we relied on, with the date we fetched it.
Cengage
- Terms of Service for Cengage Higher Education Platform (last updated November 2025)
fetched 19 October 2026 - Enable Student Assistant (WebAssign)
fetched 19 October 2026 - Student Assistant (MindTap)
fetched 19 October 2026 - Cengage Student Assistant page
fetched 19 October 2026 - WebAssign updates
fetched 19 October 2026 - Submit Your Answers (WebAssign)
fetched 19 October 2026 - Randomization (WebAssign)
fetched 19 October 2026 - Answer keys (WebAssign)
fetched 19 October 2026 - Submit a Student’s Saved Work
fetched 19 October 2026 - View Student Access Logs
fetched 19 October 2026 - View a Student’s Answers for an Assignment
fetched 19 October 2026 - Work on an Assignment with LockDown Browser
fetched 19 October 2026 - Automatic submission (MindTap)
fetched 19 October 2026 - MindTap product page and CNOWv2 product page
fetched 19 October 2026
The other options
- SnapGPT WebAssign page and MindTap page
fetched 19 October 2026 - SnapGPT pricing and store listing
fetched 19 October 2026 - FastSolve WebAssign page and store listing
fetched 19 October 2026 - Apex Vision AI WebAssign guide and MindTap guide
fetched 19 October 2026 - Apex Vision AI pricing and store listing
fetched 19 October 2026 - QuizSolve MindTap page
fetched 19 October 2026 - SmartSolve store listing, reached from webassignsolver.com and webassignanswers.com
fetched 19 October 2026 - Mindko Homework Solver store listing
fetched 19 October 2026 - GitHub: cschubiner/Webassign-Solver and GitHub API
fetched 19 October 2026 - GitHub: nmchong/cengage_solver and GitHub API
fetched 19 October 2026
Silent Student
- Pricing (plans, proctored tests)
read 19 October 2026 - Terms (section 5)
read 19 October 2026 - Download page (installers) and security
read 19 October 2026 - Benchmark (scored run of 22 September 2026)
read 19 October 2026 - WebAssign and Cengage platform pages
read 19 October 2026 - About Silent Student
read 19 October 2026
Other comparisons in this series: best AI for McGraw Hill Connect and best AI for Canvas.
If you want the WebAssign or MindTap assignment worked and turned in
Silent Student opens WebAssign and MindTap from your Canvas course, submits part by part, and tells you when it could not confirm something.
Plans from $11.99/mo · No free plan · See pricing