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3 Best Free Plant Identification Apps [Tested & Reviewed]
For plant lovers, the plant & flower identification Apps can be very useful. However, there are a lot of plant ID Apps out there. Some of them are really going to help you to identify plants instantly, and even provide practical care guides, while some will just waste your time.
For these reasons, I did this research to check and test 3 aspects of some popular plant ID Apps:
- Identification Accuracy
- Plant Care Guide
- Price
What is the best app for plant identification?
PlantSnap
PlantSnap is an easy-to-use plant identifier app. Use it for instant flower identification, tree identification, and other plant identification needs!
PictureThis
PictureThis is an AI plant identifier, which can instantly identify 10,000+ species of plants by taking pictures and provide professional care tips.
PlantNet
PlantNet is an application that allows you to identify plants simply by photographing them with your smartphone.
Let’s get started!
1.Price
PlantSnap
Free.
While the higher authorities need subscription.
PictureThis
Free.
While some extended functions like online consultation from plant experts need subscription.
PlantNet
Free.
2. Identification Accuracy
These Apps are used to identify 5 common plants chosen randomly.
- Crown Vetch
When I use these 3 Apps to identify it:
Results:
PlantSnap: right
PictureThis: not exactly right
PlantNet: not found
2. Asoka
When I use these 3 Apps to identify it:
Results:
PlantSnap: right
PictureThis: right
PlantNet: wrong
3. Hummingbird
When I use these 3 Apps to identify it:
Results:
PlantSnap: right
PictureThis: right
PlantNet: wrong
4. Dabra
When I use these 3 Apps to identify it:
Results:
PlantSnap: wrong
PictureThis: right
PlantNet: wrong
5. Trefle gros
When I use these 3 Apps to identify it:
Results:
PlantSnap: wrong
PictureThis: right
PlantNet: wrong
The final results:
3. Plant Care Guide
Except for plant identification, some Apps also can tell users how to care for the plants, including indoor & outdoor plants.
For these 3 Apps I researched:
PlantSnap
PlantSnap only shows simple information of the plant, including:
- Description
- Kingdom
- Division
- Class
- Order
- Family
But it also provides the purchase information for users to buy it from Amazon.
PictureThis
PictureThis provides much more details about the plant, which includes:
- Related Questions
- Description
- Name Story
- Interesting Facts
- Symbolism
- Characteristics
- Scientific classification (includes Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species)
- Condition Requirement
- Care Guide
- Uses
- Gallery
Among them, the Condition Requirement, Care Guide and Uses parts are very useful to plant growers.
The Name Story, Interesting Facts, Symbolism parts are very interesting if you want to know the details of the plant and have educational meanings.
PlantNet
PlantNet shows the information from Wikipedia, which can be a good reference for users, the information and its gallery. The information includes:
- Family
- Genus
- Species
- Common name(s)
- Additional information
- Uses
4. Conclusion
According to the research results shown above, the 3 plant identification Apps are different in many aspects.
For the price, the research shows that:
- PlantSnap:
Free, need subscription for high authority
- PictureThis:
Free, need subscription for extended functions like online consultation from plant experts
- PlantNet:
Free
For the identification accuracy:
- PlantSnap: 40%
- PictureThis: 80%
- PlantNet: 0%
For the plant care guides:
- PlantSnap: No
- PictureThis: Yes
- PlantNet: No





