Show HN: A free derivative calculator with step-by-step explanations

Hey everyone,

I remember struggling with Calculus back in the day, specifically with knowing which rule to apply and when.

I decided to build a tool to help with that. It's a Derivative Calculator that focuses on explaining the solution, not just giving the result.

Why I made it: Most calculators are either paid or just dump the final LaTeX string. I wanted something that visualizes the graph and walks you through the Chain Rule, Product Rule, etc., just like a tutor would.

How we built it We built this project using a modern, performance-focused stack: - Framework: Next.js 15 (App Router) for a blazing-fast, server-rendered experience. - Math Engine: We integrated nerdamer for symbolic computation to handle the heavy lifting of differentiation logic. - Visualization: We used function-plot to build a custom interactive graphing engine that renders functions and their derivatives in real-time. - UI/UX: TailwindCSS and Shadcn/UI ensured the interface remained clean, accessible, and distraction-free.

It's completely free and doesn't require any login.

I'm looking for feedback on the "Steps" generation—does the logic follow how you'd solve it manually?

Thanks for checking it out!