Learning about the flora around us is a refreshing hobby that also helps you get a new appreciation for nature itself. However, unless you’re a botanist, you might also get confused about identifying different plants and their species. That’s why we created a list of the best plant identifier apps we have handpicked for quick and accurate recognition.
We have included both free and paid options that will help you quickly ID plants, as well as apps that offer tips on how to take care of your plants if you have a passion for gardening. So let’s take a look at the list we have prepared for you. Most of these apps are available on both Android and iPhones.
1. PlantNet – Top Plant Identification App
PlantNet is a plant identifier app that can help you recognize different types of plants without much effort. It is capable of recognizing over 20,000 plant species in the world. You can use the PlantNet app to identify flowering plants, trees, grasses, conifers, ferns, vines, wild salads, and even cacti.
When you scan a plant using this app, it identifies it and shows results that include a common name and a botanical name for the plant. The results come with a metric of confidence in accuracy because of the app’s crowdsourced database. Which means that you can contribute to it.
Pros Cons Identifies over 20,000 species Some results could be incorrect Crowdsourced database with option to contribute Results provide quite basic information Get background information about plants
Pricing: Free
2. Flora Incognita
Developed by scientists from the Technical University of Ilmenau and the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry Jena, Flora Incognita is an app that lets you identify plants for free without ads.
This plant ID app is free to use since it is part of a scientific research project aiming to improve nature conservation. Flora Incognita was also awarded as an official project of the UN Decade of Biodiversity. As far as the accuracy goes, I have noticed that it is very accurate and gives promising results. It can provide details like taxonomy Scientific names, Common names, and more.
Pros Cons Identify plants for free without ads No plant diagnosis option available Clean and simple interface Detailed insights about plants
Pricing: Free
3. Seek by iNaturalist
Seek is another app you can use to identify plants. To use it, all you need to do is launch the app, open the camera viewfinder, and point it at the plant. The app will automatically identify and give you a snippet of information about the plant from Wikipedia, including the taxonomy and seasonality.
It suggests similar species to explore in case the plant you want to grow is not available in your region which I also admire. It offers in-app badges for completing challenges to encourage the discovery of more fauna around you. Seek is backed by iNaturalist, a joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society, making it a must-have for plant lovers.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Exceptional accuracy | No cloud sync to transfer data |
| In-app challenges to promote exploration | Doesn’t properly recognizes plants |
| easy to navigate interface |
Pricing: Free
4. PlantSnap – Popular Plant Identifier App
PlantSnap is essentially the Instagram for plants. It boasts a massive catalog, capable of identifying over 600,000 types of plants. It is one of the leading plant identifier apps with a large community of over 50 million users worldwide sharing their findings and data on the app. PlantSnap shows detailed information including how big the plant can grow both outside and inside your home.
PlantSnaps’s explore tab is where you can discover the existence of identified plants anywhere in the world too. Snapchat users can use PlantSnap’s Lens to identify plants right from the Snapchat camera. This is a neat Snapchat trick you can use when you are in the middle of snapping or texting friends. It is probably the best plant identifier app with fast recognition and reliable accuracy. However, to use most of its features, you’ll have to subscribe to its premium subscription.
Pros Cons Visually pleasing interface Just 5 daily plant identification in free version Just 5 daily plant IDs in the free version Reliable and accurate with a vast database Snapchat integration Most features locked behind premium plan
Pricing: Limited free trial; Offers in-app purchases
5. Plantify
Apart from being an excellent app for ID plants, Plantify doubles as a reminder app to care for your precious green buddies. As a result, you can create tasks to water, add fertilizer, prune, or harvest your plants. The app can also diagnose the plant’s condition, and help you nurture it back to health making you a pro at gardening.
Of course, it can look up plants and give you information about them, including the botanical name, common name, genus, common problems you might face when growing them, how much Sunlight they need, and more. This makes it a perfect companion app if you are new at growing plants.
Pros Cons Extremely accurate scanning Takes a while to identify plants Vast database Plant care tips and reminders
Pricing: Free; Offers in-app purchases
6. PlantApp
PlantApp is a pretty useful app that can identify over 3000 species of plants with over 88% accuracy. Like Plantify, this app also gives you tips on how to take good care of your plants with timely reminders.
Yes, it has a smaller database compared to other apps in this list. But what I liked about PlantApp is the fact that it doesn’t skim out the details and includes information like toxicity, care requirements, propagation, and FAQs. This can be a good alternative to Plantify if you are into serious gardening.
Pros Cons Shows detailed information Has a limited database Plant diagnosis and care reminders Pretty aggressive to promote its premium version Quite fast at identifying plants Can misidentify plants at times
Pricing: Free; Offers in-app purchases
7. Blossom – Plant Care Guide
If I had to give an award for the best-looking UI among any of these apps, then Blossom would win it hands down. The app looks visually pleasing and is packed with features to help you get the most out of it. Blossom positions itself as a complete solution for all your plant-related needs. It creates a personalized experience for you based on how skilled are you at working with plants.
With Blossom, you can identify plants, set reminders to nurture them, learn how to care for them and organize all your plants in the in-app garden. While the free version is sufficient for most people, you get added perks like unlimited plant identification, reminders, and a light meter to measure the light levels in the premium subscription.
Pros Cons Clean and soothing interface Limited database Plant diagnosis and caring advice Measure light intensity Unlimited plant identification
Pricing: Free; Offers in-app purchases
8. PlantCam
Then there is PlantCam which covers over 12,000 different species across the globe. The app is a little slow when it comes to scanning the plants but its information is mostly accurate. It gives you a detailed description of the plant, but also lets you know about other necessary conditions for it to survive.
You can set a reminder to get alerts when you need to water your plant. PlantCam also does a health checkup during the scanning process letting you know whether your plant is healthy or not. However, there are some limitations in terms of features that can be lifted by subscribing to the pro membership.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Quite accurate at recognizing plants | Slow at scanning plants |
| Diagnosis plant health during scanning | Some features hidden behind the Pro susbscription |
| Offers detailed insights related to the plant |
Pricing: Free
9. LeafSnap
Apart from being a decent app to identify plants, LeafSnap can also be used as a reminder app to take care of your plants. It gives you step-by-step instructions on how you can look after the plant and nurture it properly. As a result, you can create tasks to water, add fertilizer, prune, or harvest your plants. The app gives you tips that will help you grow plants better.
Speaking of plant identification, you can press the “Identify” button on the app’s home screen to capture a plant’s picture. Within a few seconds, the app will recognize the plant for you and show the botanical name, common name, genus, and plant family. Its only major issue is that it will show you add after every two actions that you take on the app.
Pros Cons Free unlimited plant IDs Too many ads Easy to use experience Plant care tips and reminders
Pricing: Free; Offers in-app purchases
10. NatureID – Plant Identification App
Capable of recognizing over 10,000 plants with up to 95% accuracy, NatureID is our next pick. What makes NatureID unique is its ability to recognize mushrooms. Moreover, it can also identify insects if you find a unique one in your garden. The good things about NatureID don’t end there.
In addition to all these features, you can also use the app to diagnose whether your plant or the insect is poisonous or not. But what irks me is the fact that most of its features are locked behind the premium paywall. Even the plant identification feature requires you to pay up to learn more about the plants which some other apps in this list can do for free.
Pros Cons Can help identify plants, fungi and insects Pricey subscription Plant diagnosis Essential features locked behind subscription Recognize if plant or insect is poisonous Interface is pretty basic
Pricing: Limited free trial; Offers in-app purchases
If you don’t want to install a separate plant identifier app, you can use your Android phone’s Google Lens or iPhone’s Visual Lookup features instead. All you have to do is point the viewfinder at the plant and tap the shutter button to search. It will then perform an image search and show you reliable results. The results though might not be quite accurate so that in mind.
Ajaay Srinivasan
