The Khuri-Treiman formalism models the partial-wave expansion of a scattering amplitude as a sum of three individual truncated series, capturing the low-energy dynamics of the direct and cross channels. We cast this formalism into dispersive equations to study $pipi$ scattering, and compare their expressions and numerical output to the Roy and GKPY equations. We prove that the Khuri-Treiman equations and Roy equations coincide when both are truncated to include only $S$- and $P$-waves. When higher partial waves are included, we find an excellent agreement between the Khuri-Treiman and the GKPY results. This lends credence to the notion that the Khuri-Treiman formalism is a reliable low-energy tool for studying hadronic reaction amplitudes.