Identify, plan or look up your climate
The apps in this list do three different jobs. Pick by the question you have:
| Question | Kind | In this list |
|---|---|---|
| What is this plant? | Identification app: point the camera at a leaf or flower | Pl@ntNet, Flora Incognita, Seek, iNaturalist |
| Where does each crop go? | Layout planner: draw beds and place plants | VegPlotter, Planter |
| What survives my winter, and when can I plant? | Climate lookup by ZIP code | USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, Almanac frost dates |
| A plan on paper | Printable sheet | Our printable garden planner |
Our free printable garden planner has a grid to sketch your beds, planting and harvest logs, a seed inventory and a yearly task calendar, as a PDF.
How the identification apps differ
All four are free to use. They differ in who runs them and what happens to your photos:
| App | Run by | What the official page says |
|---|---|---|
| Pl@ntNet | CIRAD, INRAE, INRIA and IRD | A citizen science project; the plants you photograph are collected and analyzed by scientists, and cultivated plants are not its primary purpose |
| Flora Incognita | TU Ilmenau and the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry | Free of charge and advertising, part of a research project that combines AI identification with citizen science |
| Seek | iNaturalist | No registration, identifies plants, animals and fungi, about 80,000 species |
| iNaturalist | iNaturalist, a nonprofit | Free, nonprofit, community-powered; observations become open data for science |
Identification apps can be wrong, so never use one to decide whether a plant is safe to eat or touch. Pl@ntNet itself notes that many plants look alike from afar and that small details often separate two species, so it asks for photos of flowers, fruits and leaves.
Your zone and frost dates come first
Before you plan a bed, look up two numbers for your address. The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (2023 edition) is searchable by ZIP code and is based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature, shown in 10-degree F zones and 5-degree F half zones. The USDA calls it the standard for finding which perennials are most likely to thrive at a location.
Frost dates set the planting calendar for annual vegetables. The Almanac frost date lookup uses data from the nearest official weather station for a US ZIP or Canadian postal code. Its dates use a 30% probability threshold, so frost can still come after the listed date and the page advises checking local forecasts. The time between your last spring frost and first fall frost is your growing season.
Our guide to planting vegetables by your last frost date explains what those odds mean and counts the weeks to seed-starting and planting-out dates for 23 vegetables.
Free garden layout planners
Few garden planners stay free after a trial. Two of the planners we checked are trials only: GrowVeg offers its Garden Planner free for 7 days with no payment details, and the Almanac Garden Planner offers a free trial without stating its length. They are not in the table for that reason.
The two that keep a free version:
- VegPlotter runs in the browser with unlimited garden layouts and a yearly cap on plantings. The home page names 40 plantings a year; the pricing page shows both 40 and 20, so expect the lower number.
- Planter is free forever for 1 garden with a growing calendar and a seed box. Premium lists unlimited gardens, no ads and the web app for $24.99 a year.
Once the beds are drawn, the mulch and soil calculator gives cubic yards and bags of mulch, topsoil or compost for beds of any shape. For the lawn around them, see how much grass seed you need and how much to water your lawn. Growing indoors? The plant VPD calculator reads temperature and humidity, and the grow light cost calculator works out the electricity cost of a grow.
Photos, location and privacy
An identification app works from a photo and usually your location, and some share both. What the app store listings state:
- Seek says it does not require registration and collects no user data by default; signing in with an iNaturalist account is optional. Its privacy labels still list location and photos for app functionality.
- iNaturalist's privacy labels list precise location, name, email address, photos and user ID as linked to you.
- Pl@ntNet's privacy labels list location, photos and your name as linked to you.
Apple notes that these labels come from the developer and have not been verified by Apple. If you photograph plants in your own yard, check what the app publishes before you share an observation with an exact location.
Frequently asked questions
Which plant identification app is free without ads?
Flora Incognita says it is totally free of charge and advertising, as part of a research project of TU Ilmenau and the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry. Pl@ntNet, Seek and iNaturalist are free too; their official pages we checked do not make a statement about ads.
Can a plant identification app tell me if a plant is safe to eat?
No. Identification apps can be wrong and must not be used to decide whether a plant is safe to eat or touch. Pl@ntNet notes that many plants look alike from afar and that small details often separate two species.
Is there a garden layout planner that stays free?
VegPlotter has a free version with unlimited garden layouts and a yearly planting cap, and Planter is free forever for 1 garden. GrowVeg offers a 7 day free trial and the Almanac Garden Planner a free trial, after which they need a subscription.
How do I find my plant hardiness zone?
Enter your ZIP code in the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. The 2023 edition is based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature, in 10-degree F zones and 5-degree F half zones.
Do plant identification apps need an account?
Seek does not require registration and collects no user data by default; signing in with an iNaturalist account is optional. The other official pages we checked do not say whether identifying a plant needs an account.