Keeping houseplants alive isn’t always as easy as PlantTok makes it look. One week, your fiddle-leaf fig is basking in a sunny corner like it’s on vacation in Bali, and the next, it’s dropping leaves as if you personally offended it. Add in the mystery of watering schedules and the possibility of pests moving in uninvited, and suddenly, “plant parenthood” feels more like a part-time job. This is where technology swoops in. Over the past few years, the best plant care apps have become must-have tools for plant lovers. But with so many options available, which tools are worth your time (and storage space), and which are just pretty interfaces with little substance? We’ve tested seven of the most popular choices – PlantIn, PictureThis, PlantApp, Blossom, PLNT, Plantfie, and Greg. After weeks of testing and comparing each of them, here’s the full breakdown.

What Makes a Great Plant Care App?

Not every app with a leaf logo and a “remind me to water” feature deserves space on your phone. The best apps for plant care combine accuracy, usability, and features that actually help, not just overwhelm you with notifications. When we tested each app, here’s what we paid extra attention to:

• Ease of Use. An intuitive interface is everything. If you have to dig through six menus just to log a watering, you’ll probably stop using the app altogether. The best ones make adding your greenery or updating care as easy as possible.
• Accuracy. Whether it’s plant ID or disease diagnosis, the app needs to actually work. A wrong result isn’t always a disaster. If the app mistakes your pothos for a philodendron, no harm done. But misdiagnosing a fungal disease as “just dry soil”? That can cost a plant its life.
• Features That Matter. A good plant app should feel like a helpful sidekick, not like an annoying alarm clock. Things like reminders that actually adjust to your greenie’s needs, simple tools to track growth, or even a quick way to check if that weird leaf spot is trouble, make life a lot easier. The goal isn’t to pack everything humanly possible into one application, but to give you features you’ll actually use.
• Community & Guidance. Growing plants can feel lonely when things go wrong. Apps that connect you with other plant parents, share real-world tips, or even give you direct access to experts make troubleshooting less stressful (and a lot faster).
• Value for Money. Free is great, but if you’re going to pay, the premium features should feel worth it. With that in mind, let’s check out the apps that actually make plant parenting easier and a little less stressful.

The 7 Best Plant Care Apps in 2025

We downloaded, tested, and compared the most talked-about apps on both iOS and Android (plus web, where available). Here’s how they stacked up.

PlantIn

Some apps are good at identifying greenery, others at reminding you to water them. PlantIn manages to do both while also offering the kind of guidance you’d expect from a professional gardener. Snap a photo and it’ll identify plants (and even mushrooms) with surprising accuracy, then give you practical care tips instead of vague advice. It also has an excellent set of tools: a light meter, watering calculator, and personalized schedules that actually adjust to the species’s needs. And when your greenery needs help, PlantIn’s disease diagnosis and botanist advice are there to guide you. Platforms: Android, iOS, Web

Developer: Vortemol Limited Key Features:

• Plant ID
• Mushroom ID
• Care tips and reminders
• Weather notifications
• Plant health diagnosis
• Ask the Botanist (Consultation from a human botanist)
• AI Advice (AI plant tips)
• Light meter
• Water calculator
• Pot meter
• Moon calendar
• Blog
• Feed
• Guides Pros:
• Highly accurate plant and mushroom identification
• Customizable reminders
• Access to consultations with real botanists
• Seasonal passes with dedicated seasonal advice and new visuals
• The app and website are synchronized, and you can use both to care for your leafy friends Cons:
• No allergen alerts
• The offline feature is limited to mushrooms

PictureThis

PictureThis is one of the oldest and most well-known apps in the plant care space. Its real strength is fast and reliable identification. Not just of plants, but also insects, weeds, and even birds. But almost everything beyond basic reminders is hidden behind a paywall. Want the app to build a “smart schedule” for you? You’ll need to upgrade. Interested in detailed guides about watering, propagation, or repotting? Same deal – locked in the subscription. If you’re mainly looking for identification and don’t mind paying for premium, PictureThis is a strong option.  Platforms: Android, iOS, Web

Developer: Glority Global Group Ltd. Key Features:

• Plant, Insect, Bird ID (and more)
• Care tips and reminders
• Plant health diagnosis
• Plant Advisor
• Light meter
• Water calculator
• Repotting checker
• Blog
• Plant E-Books Pros:
• The ID tools are pretty accurate and fast
• Extensive data on a lot of species
• You can identify plants and browse the Plant Encyclopedia on their website Cons:
• Has two separate paid subscriptions (you won’t unlock all the features with the less expensive plan)
• The E-Books provide very basic information
• Most of the features are behind a paywall
• The app has 8 separate identifiers, which give information you can easily find for free (allergens, weeds, toxicity)

PlantApp

Not every plant app needs to reinvent the wheel. PlantApp keeps things simple but gets the basics right – and it’s surprisingly generous with its free features. You can add as many plants as you like, set reminders for watering, pruning, misting, or fertilizing, and even create a “vacation mode” schedule to share with a friend while you’re away. It supports plant and mushroom ID, and you can upload multiple photos for more accurate results. The design feels a little generic, and some parts of the app still have rough edges (we spotted the occasional placeholder text), but as a free tool, it’s hard to complain. Platforms: Android, iOS

Developer: SCALEUP YAZILIM HIZMETLERI Key Features:

• Plant, Mushroom, Toxicity, Weed ID
• Care tips and reminders
• Disease identifier
• Ask Botanist (AI plant tips)
• Water meter
• Pot meter
• Vacation mode
• Blog Pros:
• You can identify the species with one or multiple photos
• Has a vacation mode (you can create and share a care schedule for the time you’re away)
• The free version is pretty functional. We didn’t face any limits when adding plants and setting up the reminders Cons:
• Has Lorem ipsum text in the app and some other minor issues
• The design feels generic, lacks brand identity
• No clear list of perks of the subscription

Blossom

Blossom wins points for its warm, approachable design and clear care tips, but the free plan is extremely limited – only tree IDs and two reminders before you’ll need to upgrade. And every time you add a plant, you’re forced to answer a questionnaire about pot size, repotting, and other details. This could be useful for some, but it gets frustrating if you just want to quickly log your collection, especially since you can’t skip it.  Once you’re in, though, the app offers a clean interface, attractive visuals, and care content that feels accessible even to total beginners. If you’re willing to pay for the subscription, Blossom provides a polished, content-rich experience. But if you stick to the free version, you may find yourself quickly bumping up against limits. Platforms: Android, iOS

Developer: Mosaic S.r.l. Key Features:

• Plant ID
• Mushroom ID
• Care tips and reminders
• Plant health diagnosis
• Weather alerts
• Blog Pros:
• Their database has filters (plant type, hardiness zone, etc.)
• Pretty visuals
• You can use the app without creating an account Cons:
• Only 3 free plant identifications
• No clear perks for their Premium Plan

PLNT

Polished and surprisingly generous with its free version, PLNT is a newer contender that definitely deserves attention. The app combines plant ID, health diagnosis, care reminders, weather alerts, and even an AI “plant advisor” that can recommend greenies suited to your space, lighting, and skill level.  One of its standout tools is “Plant Sitter,” a vacation mode where you can set up care instructions for someone else while you’re away. The design is smooth and easy to navigate, even with an extensive plant collection. While the free version comes with ads and occasional prompts for location access, the overall experience feels great. Platforms: iOS

Developer: Mornhouse Limited Key Features:

• Plant ID
• Care tips and reminders
• Weather notifications
• Plant Doctor
• AI Advice
• Plant Sitter (Vacation mode)
• Light meter
• Watering calculator
• Plantopedia (Basically, their name for the blog)
• Guides Pros:
• Has a vacation mode to create a care schedule for your plants
• The free version is pretty functional
• The layout is easy to navigate Cons:
• You need to wait a couple of seconds before you can close the ads in the free version
• Constantly asks for location access

Plantfie

Plantfie feels almost like a collectible game. Every plant you identify gets added to your personal “Pokémon-style” list, which makes tracking your collection a little more fun. Gotta identify them all! If the app can’t find an exact match for the species, you can even create your own custom entry with notes and photos, which isn’t something most apps allow. On top of that, Plantfie includes disease diagnosis, reminders, a light meter, and even access to human botanists for personalized advice. You can also leave comments on plant pages to ask for help or share photos, which adds a subtle but functional community layer. The downsides are that its database isn’t as extensive as some competitors', and it doesn’t offer any AI-powered advice. Platforms: iOS

Developer: Colorbits Limited Key Features:

• Plant ID
• Care tips and reminders
• Disease diagnosis
• Ask the botanist
• Light meter
• Water calculator
• Blog Pros:
• While the app doesn’t have a separate feed section, you still can leave comments on plant pages to ask for help or share your plant’s photo
• The database has search filters
• The blog is full of plant-related articles Cons:
• No AI-assistance
• The plant database is more limited compared to other apps

Greg

Greg is a fun plant app, but it’s a bit clunky if you want smooth care tracking. To add a plant, you first need to identify it. There’s no way to browse or pick from a database like other apps, which makes the flow feel a bit awkward. Free users don’t get any reminders at all, and the task tracking features require a subscription. They’re also launching a plant shop inside the app, but for now, it’s only accessible to subscribers. On the fun side, you can switch between dark and light modes (though it’s not consistent), and the leaderboard adds a little competitive spark to plant care. Overall, it feels a bit limited as a standalone tool. Platforms: Android, iOS

Developer: GREGARIOUS, INC Key Features:

• Plant ID
• Care tips and reminders
• Plant Shop
• Feed Pros:
• You can switch between dark and light mode inside the app
• A lot of plant data you can enter 
• Has a fun leaderboard for competitive plant parents Cons:
• Feels a bit limited as a standalone care tool
• The care tracking and reminders are behind a paywall
• The light and dark modes don’t work consistently; some screens are only dark

Best Plant Apps Comparison Table

If you’re more of a “see it at a glance” type, we’ve put all the key info in one handy table. Ratings, price, how easy the app is to use, and which languages it supports – everything you need to quickly compare the apps side by side.

Hands-On Test: Best Plant App for Sick Plants and Care

We don’t just scroll around these apps for five minutes and call it a review. Each app goes through real testing – we add plants, set reminders, try the health check tools, and pay attention to where things run smoothly (or don’t). We make sure the results reflect what you’d actually experience at home. That way, you can trust that if we say an app makes plant care easier, it really does.

Reminder Test

Getting reminders right sounds simple, but it’s where a lot of apps trip up. If the schedule isn’t flexible enough, you’ll either drown your plant or forget it altogether.  💡 Quick note: notifications won’t pop up unless you’ve enabled them in your phone settings, so don’t forget that step when trying these apps. Here’s how each app handled reminders in our test:

• PlantIn: This one impressed us. Once you add a plant to your “space,” the app can generate a smart schedule that accounts for species, season, light, and even local rainfall (outdoor species are automatically marked watered if it rains). You can set reminders for watering, misting, fertilizing, pruning, and repotting. You can follow PlantIn’s recommendations or add your own schedule, and every reminder can be snoozed or deleted.
• PictureThis: Offers basic watering and fertilizing reminders, but the “smart schedule” that adjusts to your plant is locked behind a subscription. Customization feels more limited compared to PlantIn.
• PlantApp: The good news: you can set all the main reminders (watering, misting, fertilizing, pruning, rotating) for free, and there doesn’t seem to be a cap. We loaded up seven plants with full schedules and hit no limit. The downside: there’s no smart scheduling. You’ll need to figure out the timing yourself, which might overwhelm beginners.
• Blossom: Offers weather alerts and even a questionnaire to help shape a schedule, but the free version only lets you set two reminders in total, which barely covers a single plant. Paid users can unlock more flexibility, with watering, repotting, and fertilizing reminders – either recommended by the app or fully custom.
• PLNT: Not the smoothest experience. It constantly asks you to enable notifications, and the plant setup flow is clunky (even selecting an answer felt unclear sometimes). To make things worse, you can’t manually set light info. You’re forced to use their light meter, which is a premium-only feature. On the plus side, it supports custom reminders where you can name tasks and pick icons (say, “check for pests” or “wipe leaves”).
• Plantfie: Automatically generates a care schedule when you add a greenie, which is great. You can still tweak it if you want, though. But you can only add three plants for free. Reminders cover watering, misting, fertilizing, pruning, and repotting, but make sure you enable phone notifications or you won’t get them.
• Greg: By far the most limited for free users. You can add plants, but you can’t actually set or complete care reminders unless you pay. Smart scheduling and fertilizing alerts exist, but they’re locked behind the subscription.

Plant Health Test

Next, we tested how well these apps could diagnose plant problems. We picked five common issues that houseplant owners run into (root rot, spider mites, yellow leaves, powdery mildew, and overwatering) and checked how many each app could identify, plus whether they gave useful solutions.

• PlantIn: 5/5 accurate. Hands-down the best in this round. It nailed all five issues we tested, and it gave clear guidance on how to fix each one. On top of that, their “Ask the Botanist” feature lets you send a photo to a real expert and get personalized advice.
• PictureThis: 4/5. Solid performance. It identified most of the issues correctly and usually offered quick care tips, though the advice sometimes leaned on the generic side.
• PlantApp: 3/5. Managed to catch some of the problems, but it wasn’t consistent. Sometimes the diagnosis was spot on, other times it felt too vague to be useful. 
• Blossom: 3/5. Accurate on a couple of issues, but the advice was a bit limited. Plus, you need to pay for the premium version to use the feature. Good app design, but in terms of plant health features, it left us wanting more.
• PLNT: 2/5. Struggled with accuracy. It could identify one or two of the issues, but often missed the mark or provided too general advice. We wouldn’t recommend relying on it as your main plant doctor.
• Plantfie: 4/5. Better than some other apps, but still not the most reliable one. What makes it interesting, though, is the ability to comment on plant entries and ask other users for input. That community layer partly makes up for the weaker automated diagnosis.
• Greg: Skipped this test, since it doesn’t have a diagnosis feature.

How to Choose the Right Plant App for You

Not all the tools from Google Play and the App Store are the same, and the best app for your plants really depends on how you actually care for your greenies day to day. Here are a few things to think about:

• **What do you actually need help with? **Be honest with yourself. If you constantly forget watering day, go for an app that’s great with reminders (and lets you snooze them when life gets messy). If you spend more time googling “brown spots on monstera” than enjoying your plants, you’ll want an app with strong diagnostic tools instead.
• Check your platform. Some apps look amazing… until you realize they’re iOS-only. Don’t fall in love with a slick feature list if you can’t even download it on your phone.
• Decide on a budget. Most apps let you try for free, but the free versions can be pretty limited. If you find yourself actually using it, a yearly plan is often cheaper (and less annoying) than paying weekly or monthly.
• Consider extra perks. Vacation mode can save your collection while you’re away, journals make it easy to track growth, and some apps even have communities for sharing tips. Not essential, but they can make the app actually fun to use. The key is to match the app to your plant habits. If you know you’ll ignore constant reminders, pick one that leans on identification tools. If you travel a lot, vacation mode could be a lifesaver. 

FAQ

What Is the Best Plant Care App in 2025?

From our tests, PlantIn is the best plant care app, as it came out strongest overall. It’s accurate, practical, and consistent across features. But depending on your needs, the others picks from this list may be a good fit as well!

Which App Tells You What Is Wrong With Your Plant?

All apps on the list (except Greg) have a diagnosis tool, though some require a subscription.

What Is the Best Plant App for Sick Plants?

PlantIn proved to be the most reliable in our tests. You can also use the app to reach out to a real human expert for tailored advice. 

Are There Any Free Plant Care Apps?

Yes, all the apps we covered are technically free to download. They run on a freemium model: you’ll get a basic set of tools at no cost, but the more advanced features (like unlimited IDs, disease diagnosis, or detailed care plans) are usually paywalled. Each app’s restrictions differ.