Planta is a genuinely good app. Its care-scheduling interface is one of the most polished in the category, and its light-meter and step-by-step task view have earned it more than 6 million users. So why do so many people search for an alternative? Almost always one reason: price. In 2026 the features most people actually want — plant identification, disease diagnosis, personalized schedules and unlimited plants — sit behind Planta Premium, which runs about $7.99/month or $35.99/year (a three-month tier sits in between at $17.99). The free tier is limited mostly to watering reminders.
Below is an honest comparison. We build and ship one of these apps (Growli), so we have skin in the game — but the goal here is to help you pick the right tool, and we'll tell you plainly where each competitor wins.
Planta alternatives at a glance
| App | Best for | Price | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Growli | Conversational AI care + diagnosis + pet safety | Free tier + Plus $44.99/yr | iOS, Android |
| Greg | Free community feed + care tracking | Free (optional paid tier) | iOS, Android |
| PictureThis | Raw plant identification | $39.99/year | iOS, Android |
| Blossom | Simple ID + care reminders | $59.99–$79.99/year — the priciest here | iOS, Android |
| Plantum | ID plus botanist consultations | $1.99–$59.99 by plan | iOS, Android |
| Planta (the app you're replacing) | Polished care scheduling & light meter | ~$35.99/year | iOS, Android |
The 5 best alternatives to Planta
1. Growli — best free all-rounder
Growli is an AI gardening assistant that combines the three things people usually cobble together from separate apps: photo identification, leaf-based problem diagnosis, and a genuine back-and-forth chat about your specific plant. Snap a photo, get a species match, then ask follow-up questions in plain English — "why are the lower leaves yellow?" — and get a reasoned answer rather than a generic care card. It also sends care reminders, frost alerts, and a daily plan.
Two things set it apart from Planta. First, its free tier — the garden plan, weather-timed care tasks, frost alerts and growing guides — never expires; photo identification and diagnosis sit on Growli Plus ($44.99 a year, with a 7-day trial on the yearly plan). Second, it carries ASPCA-cited pet-safety data across a roughly 11,700-species care library, so you can check whether a plant is toxic to cats or dogs before you buy it. It's also UK-localized to RHS guidance, which most US-built apps aren't. It holds a 4.9 App Store rating in the UK and 4.6 in the US, from a few hundred ratings — it is a new app and says so.
Pros: free tier that doesn't expire; conversational AI; symptom diagnosis; strong pet-safety data; UK/RHS localization. Cons: newer and smaller community than Planta or Greg; less of a curated "collection showcase" interface.
Start with our best plant care app roundup for the full category, or jump straight to the pet-safe plant hub if a cat or dog shares your home.
2. Greg — best for a free community
Greg has built the strongest social layer of any plant app: an active in-app feed where growers post problems and get crowd-sourced advice. Its core care tracking and unlimited plant collection are free, which makes it the most obvious like-for-like swap if Planta's subscription is your only complaint.
Pros: genuinely generous free tier; the best community; clean watering schedules. Cons: advice quality varies (it's crowd-sourced, not expert-reviewed); diagnosis is less structured than a dedicated AI tool.
3. PictureThis — best for identification only
If your main use is pointing your phone at an unknown plant and getting a fast, confident species name, PictureThis is the market leader by catalogue size. It also offers care tips and disease info, but identification is where it shines.
Pros: huge species database; very fast, accurate ID; polished onboarding. Cons: a subscription of roughly $39.99/year — actually pricier than Planta — with a trial that auto-converts; ongoing care features are thinner than Planta's. See our best plant identifier app comparison for the full ID-app field.
4. Plantum — best for expert backup
Plantum (formerly NatureID) identifies 33,000+ species, diagnoses plant health issues, and — unusually — offers online consultations with professional botanists on its paid plan. Apple lists its products from $1.99 to $59.99 with no single annual figure published, so check the current price on the listing before comparing it with Planta.
Pros: large ID database; disease diagnosis; access to human botanists; weather-aware care. Cons: the best features are paywalled; the botanist feature is the main reason to choose it over cheaper rivals.
5. Blossom — best for a simpler, prettier reminder app
Blossom identifies 30,000+ plants and leans on behavioral-design polish to nudge you into consistent watering. It includes a light meter, a water calculator that factors in pot size, and disease identification.
Pros: clean, approachable design; helpful watering calculator; solid ID. Cons: paid subscription for full features; less depth than Planta on long-term care scheduling.
How to choose
Be honest about your bottleneck. If your plants keep dying and you don't know why, prioritize diagnosis and conversational help — that's Growli's wedge. If you love scrolling a feed of other people's plants, Greg's community is unmatched. If you mostly need to name mystery plants on walks, an ID specialist like PictureThis or Plantum is the tighter fit. And if you genuinely love Planta's interface and the price doesn't bother you, there's no shame in staying — it's a good app.
The one thing worth stressing: identification is now a commodity across all of these apps. In 2026 the real differentiator is what happens after the species name comes back — whether the app can reason about your specific plant, warn you if it's toxic to your pet, and adjust to your actual growing conditions. For the wider tool category — reminders, journals, planners — see our best gardening app roundup.
Related articles
- What Growli Plus costs, and what stays free — the full free-versus-Plus breakdown
- Growli vs Blossom — honest 2026 comparison — the priciest app in the category, compared
- Growli vs Greg — honest 2026 comparison — the closest care-first competitor, compared
- Growli vs Planta — honest 2026 comparison — against the best watering scheduler
- Best plant care app 2026 — the full category ranked — where every app in this guide fits
- Best gardening app 2026 — reminders, journals and planners — beyond houseplants
- Best plant identifier app 2026 — tested and ranked — if identification is your main need
- Pet-safe plant hub — ASPCA-cited toxicity for cats and dogs
- Plant care library — care guides across our species catalogue
Reviewed and updated by the Growli editorial team. For questions about anything here, open Growli and ask — or email hello@getgrowli.app.
Frequently asked questions
How much does the Planta app cost?
Planta Premium is $35.99 a year in the US and £32.99 in the UK, with a three-month tier at $17.99 and a monthly plan around $7.99. Apple's listing also shows a higher $47.99 tier, so the exact figure you see can depend on the plan offered to you. The app is free to download; the subscription is what unlocks identification, the light meter and diagnosis.
Is the Planta app free?
Only in a narrow sense. Planta is free to download and the free tier covers watering reminders and basic task logging, but plant identification, the light meter and health diagnosis are all Premium features. If those are the parts you actually wanted, Planta is effectively a paid app at $35.99 a year.
Is there a free alternative to Planta?
Partly. Growli is free to download on iOS and Android, and its free tier — the garden plan, weather-timed care tasks, frost alerts and growing guides — never expires; photo identification and diagnosis sit on the paid Plus plan, with a 7-day trial on the yearly plan. Greg offers a generous free tier built around a community feed. Both are strong swaps if Planta's subscription is your main reason for leaving.
Why is Planta so expensive?
Planta puts most of its useful features — plant identification, disease diagnosis, personalized care schedules and unlimited plants — behind Planta Premium, which runs about $7.99 per month or $35.99 per year. The free tier is mostly watering reminders, so getting real value effectively requires the subscription, which is why many people look for a cheaper or free alternative.
Is Planta worth it?
Planta is worth it if you value a polished, beautifully organized care-scheduling interface and don't mind paying around $35.99 a year. Its light meter and per-plant task view are excellent. If you'd rather not pay at all, the free tiers of Growli or Greg cover the reminder side at no cost — though Growli's photo diagnosis, like Planta's, sits on a paid plan.
What is the best free plant care app?
Growli's free tier — the garden plan, weather-timed care tasks, frost alerts and growing guides — never expires, which makes it the strongest free starting point; photo identification and diagnosis are on its paid Plus plan. Greg is the best free option if you specifically want a social community feed. Most other apps, including Planta, PictureThis, Plantum and Blossom, gate their strongest features behind a paid subscription.
Can I identify plants without paying like I do in Planta?
Mostly no — in 2026 nearly every app paywalls photo identification, and that includes Growli, where photo ID sits on the Plus plan ($44.99 a year, 7-day trial on yearly) alongside diagnosis; the free tier covers the garden plan, care tasks and frost alerts. PictureThis charges $39.99 a year, and Plantum lists products from $1.99 to $59.99 with no single annual figure. If free identification is the whole goal, PlantNet is genuinely free with no in-app purchases at all.
Which plant app is best for pet owners?
Growli is the strongest choice for pet owners because it carries ASPCA-cited toxicity data across roughly 11,700 species, so you can check whether a plant is toxic to cats or dogs before buying it. You can browse the same data on our pet-safe plant hub. Most other apps mention toxicity only in passing rather than as structured, sourced data.