Gone are the days when you would see a plant you didn’t know about and had to go through all possible mediums to find out about it. These days, all you need is one of the best plant identification apps on your smartphone, and you’ll have your answer in a matter of seconds.
Here’s a list of the ten best plant identification apps for gardeners, hikers, and houseplant enthusiasts.
1. iNaturalist
Download on: Android & iOS Price: Free
Launched in 2008 by the National Geographic Society and California Academy of Sciences, the iNaturalist app is one of the most extensive free plant identification apps available.
Users looking to identify plants are connected with a community that comprises over 400,000 naturalists and renowned scientists.
How does it work?
You simply need to upload snaps of plants you want to get identified, and the other users, along with image recognition technology, confirm identification.
The identified species are added to scientific data repositories that help scientists in their studies. Apart from plants, the database also includes species of butterflies, insects, animals, etc.
2. PlantSnap
Download on: Android & iOS Price: Free or Paid
Available in 30+ languages and capable of identifying over 600,000+ species, PlantSnap and the social media app, Snapchat, partnered up to help plant lovers with plant identification.
While it offers a free version that limits the number of plant snaps you can use (10 identifications per day), the paid version has some of its best features. With a click, you can easily identify ornamental plants, mushrooms, cacti, succulents, and flowers.
How does it work?
With a snap of a part of the plant, the app identifies it in a couple of seconds. It also provides information about the plant, its origin, genus, fruit, flowers, and size at maturity. It recognizes a majority of all known trees and plant species.
3. PlantNet
Download on: Android & iOS Price: Free
The PlantNet app is one of the top plant identifier apps, describing itself as a ‘citizen science project on biodiversity.’ This free plant identification app is available in English and French.
Users of the app can join groups to identify plants and submit their plant photos to an extensive database. A good feature of this app is that it also identifies vegetative grass-like weeds, essential to maintain local biodiversity.
How does it work?
The app helps you identify plants using a database of user-submitted photos. Once a plant is identified, other similar plants are displayed for the user to confirm their choice, which adds to the database and helps other users.
4. PictureThis
Download on: Android & iOS Price: Paid
A complete plant encyclopedia, this app calls itself “a botanist in your pocket.” Combining advanced AI (Artificial Intelligence), it has identified over 27 million plant species, stating a 99% accuracy.
The additional features of this app involve a social network for its users, a listing of plants that are toxic to pets, and plant care tips.
How does it work?
The app offers a 7-day free trial, following which the user is automatically signed up for a one-year subscription; it is not a free plant identifier app. It identifies the plant species from your photo of the plant. The AI also helps diagnose diseases and pests of houseplants and offers suggestions for treatment.
5. LeafSnap
Download on: Android & iOS Price: Free
Experts from the Smithsonian Institution, University of Maryland, and Columbia University collaborated to develop this high-tech AI app that identifies any foliage.
This app’s unique feature is that it identifies plants by the snaps of their leaves. The app’s database includes good, high-resolution images of flowers, fruits, leaves, seeds, bark, and petiole. It provides unlimited plant identification.
How does it work?
Apart from identifying plants, users can access a large plant database that gets constantly updated and learn more about the species they discover. The app also helps you maintain a plant journal with photos from your collection, receive plant care reminders, and keep track of the plants in your collection.
6. FlowerChecker
Download on: Android & iOS Price: Pay per identification
This unique app identifies plants with experts’ analysis, not computer-based or AI techniques. Rather than charging per month, FlowerChecker charges 1 USD for every correct identification.
How does it work?
Once you post a picture of an unknown plant (could be even lichen, fungi, or moss), a team of international experts analyzes it and post the identification result on the app. Since experts verify the results, most responses get posted within an hour, and a fee is charged.
The first three identifications are free, and a fee is charged only for each correct answer. However, no fee is charged if the team cannot identify correctly.
7. Plantix
Download on: Android & iOS Price: Free
Plantix is a useful app for gardeners and farmers and is a cross between a forum and social media platform. Apart from identifying plants, one of its notable features is it also identifies plant diseases and problems and is rightly nicknamed “your crop doctor.”
Users can connect with other users globally and locally for regional and local plant information.
How does it work?
Based on the photo you upload of the plant, the app helps you identify the species. It also helps diagnose and treat plants based on the patterns that the specific disease leaves behind. You can also access best farming practices, a fertilizer calculator, and preventive measures
8. GardenAnswers
Download on: Android & iOS Price: Free or Paid
This revolutionary plant identification app has over 3 million users and helps identify over 20,000 plants, pests, and diseases.
You can get expert advice and answers if you have any gardening questions. Purchasing their premium subscription provides more accurate results.
How does it work?
Take a snap of any plant on your phone, and you’ll get an instant answer about which species it is. The app also lets you find if the plant has a pest, disease, or infestation, along with plant-care advice from gardening experts.
9. What’s That Flower
Download on: Android & iOS Price: Free or Paid
If you forgot to click a photo of the plant, you could still get it identified through this app’s questionnaire. It specializes in identifying flowers, and the questions include the number of petals and color of the bloom, plant characteristics, and the growing environment.
It can identify more than 600 flower varieties and even tell you if they’re poisonous or not.
How does it work?
While you can use the photo recognition tool for easy identification, you can fill out the questionnaire in case you forgot to take a snap. It helps by narrowing down your options of what the plant is from the 1,000 plant varieties.
10. Garden Compass
Download on: Android & iOS Price: Pay per identification
A team of gardening experts worldwide helps identify plants and plant diseases. The experts will identify the plants for you and suggest where and how to grow them.
How does it work?
In addition to plant identification, the app also gives users reminders about gardening tasks that need attending. It charges 1 USD per correct identification. For a premium membership at a monthly cost, you can access many additional features.
Final Thoughts
The expertise available from the vast community of biologists, naturalists, and scientists on iNaturalist pushes for it to be the best plant identifier app above all. So whether you’re an avid gardener, a hiker curious about plants around you, or a houseplant enthusiast, you must try one of these plant identifier apps to know how well it works.
