Education · alternatives
Alternatives to Pl@ntNet
19 education tools sit alongside Pl@ntNet in this directory. Below is what separates each from Pl@ntNet on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 19
- With a free tier
- 16
- Cheaper to start
- -
- Pl@ntNet starts at
- Free
Why people look past Pl@ntNet
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Pl@ntNet entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is only one tier
Pl@ntNet publishes a single plan, Pl@ntNet at Free. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Commercial plant identification app with a short free trial that converts to an annual subscription
- No free tier, where Pl@ntNet has one.
- Sold on a Per year, sold via a short free trial that auto-renews model rather than Free, no ads and no in-app purchases.
Free nonprofit wildlife and plant identification app built to be safe for children
Priced and rated the same as Pl@ntNet on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Free bird identification app from Cornell Lab of Ornithology using photo, sound and step-by-step ID
Priced and rated the same as Pl@ntNet on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Vocabulary and spaced repetition language app built around video clips of native speakers
- Sold on a Free with a Pro subscription model rather than Free, no ads and no in-app purchases.
Camera based maths solver that shows step by step working, owned by Google since 2022
- Sold on a Free with a Plus subscription model rather than Free, no ads and no in-app purchases.
Piano-only learning app from JoyTunes using microphone listening, no MIDI keyboard required
- Publishes an entry price of $119.99/year, where Pl@ntNet does not.
- Sold on a Per user per year or month model rather than Free, no ads and no in-app purchases.
- 2 tiers to Pl@ntNet's 1.
Every Pl@ntNet alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pl@ntNet (this page) | Free | Free, no ads and no in-app purchases | 1 | |
| PictureThisIf you want built-in plant care reminders and disease diagnosis and are willing to pay a subscription | On request | Per year, sold via a short free trial that auto-renews | 1 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Seek by iNaturalistIf you want identification across wildlife more broadly, not just plants | Free | Free, no ads and no in-app purchases | 1 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Merlin Bird IDIf your identification need is birds rather than plants | Free | Free, no ads and no in-app purchases | 1 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Memrise | Free | Free with a Pro subscription | 1 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Photomath | Free | Free with a Plus subscription | 1 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Simply Piano | Free, then $119.99/year | Per user per year or month | 2 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Elevate | Free | Free with a Pro subscription | 1 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Stellarium | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Flowkey | Free, then $119.99/year | Per user per year or month | 2 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Lumosity | Free | Free with a subscription | 1 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Sky Guide | Free | Free download with Plus and Pro subscription upgrades | 3 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Busuu | Free | Free with a Premium subscription | 1 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Star Walk 2 | Free | Freemium, low-cost ad-free subscription upgrade | 2 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Yousician | Free, then $9.99/month | Per user per month or year | 2 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Melodics | Free, then $9.99/month | Per user per month or year | 2 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| eBird | Free | Free, no ads and no in-app purchases | 1 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Anki | Free | Open source, no licence fee except a paid iOS app | 1 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| SkySafari | On request | One-time purchase per tier | 3 | vs Pl@ntNet |
| Jackrabbit Class | $49/month | Per month by student count | 6 | vs Pl@ntNet |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Pl@ntNet badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (16)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Seek by iNaturalist , Free
- Merlin Bird ID , Free
- Memrise , Free
- Photomath , Free
- Simply Piano , Free, then $119.99/year
- Elevate , Free
- Stellarium , Free
- Flowkey , Free, then $119.99/year
What you would be giving up
Pl@ntNet is most often brought in for a gardener or hiker who wants free plant identification without a subscription, a student or researcher wanting a citation-friendly, institutionally-run identification tool, someone identifying plants outside english-speaking regions who needs one of its 50-plus languages, a forager wanting a second opinion on a plant before relying solely on one source. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Pl@ntNet is broadly right and the question is cost, the Pl@ntNet pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Education category lists everything the directory holds, and best education tools ranks them.
Pl@ntNet runs on ios, android, web. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Pl@ntNet alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Pl@ntNet?
- 19 other education tools are listed in this directory, led by PictureThis, Seek by iNaturalist, Merlin Bird ID, Memrise. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Pl@ntNet?
- 16 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Seek by iNaturalist, Merlin Bird ID, Memrise, Photomath, Simply Piano.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Pl@ntNet?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Pl@ntNet?
- Pl@ntNet is most often brought in for a gardener or hiker who wants free plant identification without a subscription, a student or researcher wanting a citation-friendly, institutionally-run identification tool, someone identifying plants outside english-speaking regions who needs one of its 50-plus languages, a forager wanting a second opinion on a plant before relying solely on one source. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Pl@ntNet?
- None of the education tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Pl@ntNet alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Education, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Pl@ntNet against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Pl@ntNet covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every education tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Education category, 19 tools beside Pl@ntNet. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.