W|A and Mathematica agree here. Note that these two functions are not the same; the input in the question is `f1[x]`. f1[x_] := (x^2)^(1/3) f2[x_] := (x^(1/3))^2 So the derivatives do not agree. Both are correct though. {D[f1[x], x], D[f2[x], x]} (* Out[256]= {(2 x)/(3 (x^2)^(2/3)), 2/(3 x^(1/3))} *) (I'll make this a Community wiki and also vote to close since it reduces to a misunderstanding of the definition, not to mention off-topic if W|A is the issue.)