If you’ve ever been on a walk and wondered, "What kind of tree is that?" or "Is this weed in my garden actually a flower?", PictureThis is the app you’re looking for. It’s essentially a high-tech plant expert in your phone, suitable for professional gardeners as well as people who just want to keep their desk plant alive.
The app is incredibly simple: you snap a photo of a plant, and within seconds, the AI identifies it. It claims a 98% accuracy rate across more than a million species. But it doesn’t just give you a name; it gives you a full dossier on the plant, including its history, what it symbolizes, and, most importantly, how to take care of it.
The design is clean and very easy to navigate. You don't even need to create an account to start scanning. However, there is one major "human" annoyance: the app is very aggressive about its Premium subscription. Every time you open it, you’ll likely have to close a pop-up asking you to start a free trial.
PictureThis operates on a freemium model. In the free version, you can perform a limited number of plant identifications before you hit a cap. Essentially, the free app gives you only a handful of “credits” for IDs. After you’ve used those up, you’ll need to either wait or earn more credits to keep identifying. The main way to earn extra free IDs is by watching advertisements or sharing the app on social media. For example, you might get a prompt saying you’re out of free IDs, and then be offered to watch a 30-second ad to get one or two more identifications. This system allows occasional use for free, but if you’re trying to identify multiple plants in one outing, it can become tedious.
For those who really enjoy the app, opting for PictureThis Premium unlocks the full experience. The Premium subscription costs about $30 to $40 per year (prices vary by region). There is even a weekly payment option (around $2–$3 per week), but that route ends up significantly more expensive over a year and is generally not recommended unless you only need it for a very short term. What do you get with Premium? In short: unlimited identifications, no ads, and all the advanced features unlocked. There’s no more worrying about credits or watching ads; you can identify as many plants as you want, back-to-back. Premium users also gain full access to the detailed care guides for every plant, the disease diagnosis tool without limitations, the ability to track an unlimited number of plants in your “My Garden” list, and the 24/7 expert consultation feature. The app essentially becomes an ad-free, unlimited plant encyclopedia and helper.
A word of caution: Many users have complained about the 7-day free trial. If you sign up and forget to cancel, it will automatically charge you for the full year. If you try the trial, set a reminder on your phone to cancel it on day six!
If you want something totally free and don't care about the "extra" features, Pl@ntNet is a great alternative. It’s run by scientists and has no ads, but it’s not as "pretty" or feature-rich. The trade-off is that PlantNet’s interface and features are more bare-bones – it focuses purely on identification and may sometimes give you several possible matches for a photo (since it aggregates data from a community), rather than a single definitive answer. PictureThis, by contrast, usually provides one primary ID result with a polished presentation and loads of extra context like care tips. Google Lens or apps like iNaturalist also provide a quick way to get a name, but they won't tell you how to save your dying succulents. When it comes to other commercial apps, there are a few, like PlantSnap, which offer similar photo identification services. However, PictureThis has proven to be more accurate in head-to-head tests – for example, one test found PictureThis identified plants correctly 100% of the time, whereas PlantSnap achieved about 85% accuracy.
PictureThis is easily the most polished and accurate plant app out there. It turns a boring hike into a learning experience and makes gardening feel a lot less like guesswork. As long as you can ignore the constant nudges to upgrade, it’s a fantastic tool for anyone who wants to connect a bit more with the nature around them.
You may want to check out more software, such as Fibonaci Projection Calculator or What's My Name - FREE TRIAL, which might be related to PictureThis - Plant Identifier.