Chegg in 2026: Usage, Revenue, Valuation & Growth Statistics

Chegg isn’t just another edtech platform, it’s been a lifeline for millions of students who prefer on-demand learning over expensive in-person tutoring. But in 2026, its position looks more fragile than ever, with AI study tools offering free and instant help. To understand whether Chegg still holds relevance, let’s dive into its usage, revenue, valuation, and growth metrics.

I’m Riten, founder of Fueler, a platform that helps freelancers and professionals get hired through their work samples. In this article, I’ll walk you through Chegg’s usage, revenue, valuation, and growth statistics in 2026. But beyond numbers, what matters most is value presentation. Just like a strong portfolio builds trust for freelancers, Chegg must show students and investors alike why they should stick around in the age of free AI tools.

What is Chegg?

Chegg is an education technology platform that helps students with homework, textbook solutions, and tutoring. Originally a textbook rental company, it now focuses on digital subscriptions offering AI-driven and expert-assisted study support. Chegg aims to make learning affordable and accessible for millions of students worldwide.

Key Features of Chegg 

• Homework Help: Provides step-by-step solutions for over 80 subjects, helping students tackle homework with clear explanations.
• Expert Q&A: Allows students to ask questions and get answers from human tutors, supplemented by AI-powered responses.
• CheggMate AI Tutor: An AI assistant powered by GPT-4 that offers personalized tutoring and instant help anytime.
• Textbook Rentals & Purchases: Offers affordable digital and physical textbook rentals, though this now forms a smaller part of the business.
• Skill-Building Courses: Includes courses and resources to help students develop career-ready skills beyond traditional academics.
• Subscription Model: Monthly plans giving unlimited access to study materials and tutoring tools, making learning flexible and budget-friendly.

Chegg Usage Statistics (2026)

• Chegg served 7.5 million active subscribers in Q2 2026, a slight decline from its 2023 peak of 8.2M. This dip reveals the challenge of competing against free AI platforms while still highlighting Chegg’s resilience in keeping millions subscribed.
• Roughly three-quarters (75%) of Chegg’s subscribers are in North America, showing that Chegg has failed to replicate its U.S. dominance abroad, giving competitors like Byju’s and Brainly major headroom internationally.
• Across 2024–25, Chegg users posted more than 90 million study questions, positioning the platform as one of the world’s largest structured Q&A databases, though reliance on AI has reshaped how many answers are generated.
• Adoption of CheggMate crossed 2.1 million active student users by mid-2026, demonstrating strong initial traction but not enough yet to offset broader declines in core subscriptions.
• Internal engagement data shows daily active users rose 12% YoY, proving that bundled AI integration has increased student interaction even as total subscriber counts fell slightly.
• Surveys confirm that 40% of U.S. college students have used Chegg at least once, highlighting that its brand recognition among learners remains far ahead of newer entrants.

Chegg Revenue (2026)

• In Q2 2026, Chegg reported $175 million in revenue, marking a 6% decline year-over-year. While modest, this confirms the lasting financial impact of free AI tools that have disrupted its pricing power.
• On an annualized basis, Chegg’s top-line revenue is projected at $690 million, a fraction of what industry forecasts imagined during the remote learning boom but still sizable in edtech today.
• Subscription-based services account for 85%+ of Chegg’s revenue, underscoring a heavy reliance on recurring monthly subscribers without much diversification.
• Textbook rentals, once Chegg’s primary business, now contribute less than 10% of total revenue, reinforcing its shift toward fully digital products and SaaS-style distribution.
• Despite revenue pressure, Chegg’s operating margin sits at 24% for 2026, showcasing its ability to trim costs, largely by automating tutoring workloads through CheggMate’s AI responses.
• Analysts highlight a clear trend: revenue per subscriber has climbed slightly due to price adjustments, but overall subscriber decline is offsetting those gains.

Chegg Valuation (2026)

• Chegg’s market capitalization in August 2026 stands at $2.7 billion, representing a sharp fall from its 2021 valuation peak of over $10 billion during the remote-learning surge.
• This steep drop reflects investor skepticism around whether Chegg can defend its core business against fast-moving AI-first competitors.
• The stock is trading around 3.8x price-to-sales, a valuation that is lower than its historical multiples, signaling caution in the face of slowing subscriber growth.
• Analysts have downgraded growth expectations, predicting flat to low single-digit growth going into 2026, unless Chegg proves it can build stronger traction outside North America.
• Despite the decline, Chegg still holds a top-five market cap among publicly traded U.S. edtech companies, giving it a defensible position of scale compared to newer startups.
• Its valuation trajectory offers a snapshot of investor sentiment: edtech leaders that cannot integrate AI quickly face rapid value erosion.

Chegg Growth Statistics & Why It Matters

• The global edtech market is valued at $404 billion in 2026, yet Chegg’s slower growth highlights how traditional platforms struggle to compete with zero-cost AI rivals that students flock to for convenience.
• CheggMate alone has provided enough lift to daily user engagement that average time-on-platform rose by 15%, showing that properly integrated AI can increase stickiness even without subscriber growth.
• Chegg’s retention rates dropped to 72% in 2026, lower than the 80% seen in 2022, demonstrating that AI competitors are not just stealing new users but persuading existing ones to churn.
• Competition has intensified, with 2.5x more AI-first edtech startups in 2026 compared to 2021, making differentiation a critical survival factor for Chegg’s subscription service.

Why it matters: Chegg’s growth path shows how established edtech firms must redefine their offerings. For students, this means costs might remain stable, but innovation becomes the real selling point. For investors, it reinforces the pressure on Chegg to evolve rapidly or risk stagnant outcomes.

Chegg Pricing (2026)

• Chegg Study costs $15.95/month, giving students unlimited access to textbook solutions and step-by-step answers across hundreds of subjects.
• Chegg Study Pack is $19.95/month, bundling Study, Math Solver, and Writing support into a single subscription that targets all-around academic needs.
• CheggMate is integrated directly inside the Study Pack at no additional charge, serving as a way to drive adoption while defending against free AI alternatives.
• Textbook rentals average $20–$45 per semester, but this segment has fallen to under 10% of total business, down from 50% a decade earlier.
• Micro-skill and career-prep modules are priced at $9.99–$29.99 each, though their revenue contribution remains under 5% today.
• Pricing adjustments since 2022 mean average revenue per subscriber has risen slightly, even as overall base growth slowed, showing Chegg is using price leadership to manage declines.

Before We Wrap Up: A Note on Showing Value (Fueler)

Chegg’s challenge is proving its subscriptions are worth paying for when free AI alternatives dominate attention. Freelancers face the same struggle in today’s market—clients want proof of skills, not promises. That’s why I built Fueler, a platform where you can showcase actual work samples and turn your portfolio into a credibility engine. Like CheggMate makes Chegg more valuable, Fueler makes you instantly more trustworthy in the eyes of clients.

Final Thoughts

Chegg in 2026 remains powerful but vulnerable. Its 7.5 million paid users, hundreds of millions of solved questions, and AI-driven innovations show that demand for structured study help still exists. But declining revenues, shrinking valuations, and tougher competition are unmistakable signs that the next few years will decide whether Chegg transforms into the AI era—or becomes a relic of the homework-help past.

FAQs

1. Is Chegg still worth it in 2026 given the rise of free AI tools?

Yes, for students who want structured, vetted solutions and AI blended with human curation, but its dominance is weaker than before.

2. What is CheggMate and how does it compare to ChatGPT for students?

CheggMate integrates GPT-4 inside Chegg’s learning ecosystem, making it more academic-focused than ChatGPT, which is general-purpose.

3. How much is Chegg’s subscription in 2026?

Chegg Study costs $15.95 a month, while the Study Pack with extra tools costs $19.95/month.

4. Why has Chegg’s market cap fallen since 2021?

Its valuation dropped from $10B to $2.7B because growth slowed, retention weakened, and free AI tools disrupted its subscription model.

5. Who are Chegg’s main competitors in 2026?

Khan Academy (Khanmigo AI), Brainly, Quizlet, Byju’s, and direct free AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are its biggest rivals.

What is Fueler Portfolio?

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