Brainly
Brainly runs a homework help Q&A site now rebuilt around an AI answer engine.
On the record
Checkpoint: White House free access rollout (TX, FL, GA) either converts to paid school district contracts or stays a free giveaway
The call
Brainly is growing on paper while standing next to a category peer, Chegg, that grew the same way right before it collapsed.
Brainly lets students ask homework questions and get answers from other users or AI, but it now pays for the same AI technology that ChatGPT and Google offer for free. Its main rival Chegg already collapsed after students switched to free AI tools, and Brainly faces the exact same problem: there is nothing stopping students from using Google or ChatGPT instead, which costs nothing and works well enough. The one thing that could save Brainly is if schools actually pay for it as an official tool through government deals, but so far those promises have not turned into real money.
Why
01
AI pressure: ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Google AI Overviews. Free chatbots answer the same homework questions instantly, and Brainly now pays OpenAI/Google for the tech its rivals give away. Could AI do the core job? Yes, likely.
02
Bigger players: Google (AI Overviews, Gemini) and OpenAI (ChatGPT). Chegg, Brainly's direct peer, lost 99% of its stock value and 39% of revenue after citing these same tools in its own filings. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. A 15 million daily user base and 35 country footprint that gives it scale to license or bundle, if it moves before cash runs out.
What would change this call
Whether Brainly signs paid district/school contracts with LMS integration by Q3 2026. Would show institutional lock-in beyond free consumer downloads.
Whether Brainly raises a new funding round within 18 months (none since Dec 2020). Would show investor confidence and extended runway in a collapsing category.
Whether Brainly's revenue growth holds through 2026 or flattens/reverses like Chegg's did. Would show if Brainly is decoupling from or converging with Chegg's collapse.
Whether Brainly raises a new funding round within 18 months (none since Dec 2020). Would show investor confidence and extended runway in a collapsing category.
Whether Brainly's revenue growth holds through 2026 or flattens/reverses like Chegg's did. Would show if Brainly is decoupling from or converging with Chegg's collapse.
Key numbers
- Revenue est. $75M 2025, up from $59.6M 2024
- No funding round since $80M Series D, Dec 2020
- Headcount down to ~500 from ~656 in 2024
Named risks
- Core Q&A product is directly replicable for free by ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews.
- No funding round disclosed since December 2020, raising runway and next-round uncertainty.
- Depends on third-party OpenAI GPT-4 backend rather than owning proprietary AI capability.
- History of repeated layoffs (2022, 2023) signals prior growth or cost pressure.
- Conflicting public pricing figures for Brainly Plus suggest unclear or unstable monetization.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Chegg | gaining on | Chegg revenue fell 39% YoY and stock dropped 99% by mid-2026, exposing shared category collapse risk |
| ChatGPT (OpenAI) | losing to | Reviewers say ChatGPT is adequate for about 70% of student homework workloads, free, as of July 2026 |
| Google Gemini/AI Overviews | losing to | Cited alongside ChatGPT as a free substitute already blamed for Chegg's 2025 revenue collapse |
| Quizlet | contesting | Quizlet's 500M+ user content library and OpenAI-powered Q-Chat tutor compete directly for study-help users |
Questions people ask
- Is Brainly profitable in 2026?
- Brainly has not disclosed profitability figures. Third-party revenue estimates put 2025 revenue growth in the tens of millions, but these are unaudited aggregator estimates, and the company has not raised or disclosed capital since its December 2020 Series D round.
- Has Brainly done layoffs?
- Yes. Brainly cut about 72% of its roughly 35-person India team in November 2022, and laid off 23+ employees across Poland, Spain and the US in January 2023, per Livemint and Sifted reporting.
- Could AI replace Brainly?
- Brainly's core value, crowdsourced peer answers, is directly substitutable by free tools like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews. Its category peer Chegg saw revenue fall 39% year over year in 2025 and its 10-K explicitly blamed generative AI, per everything-pr.com, June 2026.
- Who is Brainly's biggest competitor?
- Brainly competes with Chegg, Quizlet, Course Hero, Photomath and Khan Academy, but its most urgent threat is free general-purpose AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini, which reviewers rate as adequate for about 70% of student homework needs as of July 2026.
- Who owns Brainly?
- Brainly is privately held, backed by investors including Prosus/Naspers, General Catalyst, Runa Capital, Learn Capital, Point Nine Capital and Kulczyk Investments, with CEO and co-founder Michal Borkowski still leading the company as of September 2025.
- What is Brainly doing about AI?
- Brainly rebranded itself as an 'AI Learning Companion' in 2025, built beta features on OpenAI's GPT-4 starting in 2023, launched AI-powered test prep in May 2024, and CEO Michal Borkowski signed a White House AI-in-education pledge on September 4, 2025.
Timeline
- 2026-03-09Co-branded study with CodeStrap; Brainly claims to be top AI education tool (vendor claim)
- 2025-10-15Launched 'ClarityPods' mindfulness feature for student focus, announced by CTO Bill Salak
- 2025-09-04CEO signed White House AI education pledge, promising free access in Texas, Florida, Georgia
- 2024-05Launched AI-Powered Test Prep generating customized practice questions
- 2023-06Introduced beta AI features built on OpenAI's GPT-4 for personalized learning
- 2023-01Laid off 23+ employees across Poland, Spain and the US
- 2022-11-06Laid off about 72% of roughly 35-person India team
- 2020-12Closed Series D funding round led by Learn Capital
- 2019-07-24Raised $30M Series C led by Naspers, valuing company at about $180M
- 2009Founded in Poland as 'Zadane.pl' by Michal Borkowski, Tomasz Kraus, Lukasz Haluch
Revision history
22 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Brainly (2026-07-08)
- Brainly CEO Joins Leaders at the White House (2025-09-04)
- Brainly Stock Price, Funding, Valuation
- Edtech company Brainly raises $30m (2019-07-25)
- $75M Est. ARR, $148.5M Raised (2026-07-02)
- Company Analysis & Supplier Insights (2026-06-28)
- Brainly fires almost entire India team (2022-11-06)
- Brainly, Clue, Aiven: Tech layoffs aren't over in 2023 (2023-05-30)
- Brainly launches ClarityPods (2025-10-15)
- Best Chegg Alternative (2025-10-17)
- 10 Best Options to Choose in 2026 (2026-04-20)
- 20 Chegg Alternatives (2026-07-08)