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Education · head to head

Pl@ntNet vs Seek by iNaturalist

Pl@ntNet logo

Pl@ntNet

Education

Free plant identification app run by a consortium of French public research institutes

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Seek by iNaturalist logo

Seek by iNaturalist

Education

Free nonprofit wildlife and plant identification app built to be safe for children

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Pl@ntNet it offers no plant care guidance, watering reminders or disease diagnosis, unlike commercial apps built around ongoing plant care.; Seek by iNaturalist identification quality depends on how well iNaturalist community data covers a given region, so obscure or under-photographed species can be misidentified.
  • They diverge on capability: Pl@ntNet covers Photo identification, Seek by iNaturalist covers Offline identification.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Pl@ntNet and Seek by iNaturalist actually diverge.

Attributes where Pl@ntNet and Seek by iNaturalist differ
AttributePl@ntNetSeek by iNaturalist
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebiOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Free, no ads and no in-app purchases), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Education).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Pl@ntNet

  • Photo identification
  • Large species coverage
  • Multi-language support
  • Community-sourced database
  • Regional flora filtering
  • Contribution to research

Only in Seek by iNaturalist

  • Offline identification
  • No account required
  • Child-safe design
  • Species badges
  • Broad coverage
  • Community-trained model

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Pl@ntNet

  • A gardener or hiker who wants free plant identification without a subscriptionnot Seek by iNaturalist
  • A student or researcher wanting a citation-friendly, institutionally-run identification toolnot Seek by iNaturalist
  • Someone identifying plants outside English-speaking regions who needs one of its 50-plus languagesnot Seek by iNaturalist
  • A forager wanting a second opinion on a plant before relying solely on one sourcenot Seek by iNaturalist

Seek by iNaturalist

  • A parent wanting a nature app for a child without accounts, chat or data collection concernsnot Pl@ntNet
  • A hiker in an area with no signal who needs offline plant or insect identificationnot Pl@ntNet
  • A teacher running an outdoor nature scavenger hunt with a classnot Pl@ntNet
  • Anyone who wants broad wildlife identification without paying a subscriptionnot Pl@ntNet

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Pl@ntNet

  • It offers no plant care guidance, watering reminders or disease diagnosis, unlike commercial apps built around ongoing plant care.
  • Identification accuracy varies by region depending on how well local flora is represented in the community-submitted training data.
  • The interface is more utilitarian than a commercial app, reflecting its research origins rather than consumer product design.
  • It should never be relied on alone to determine whether a wild plant or fungus is safe to eat, and the project itself does not claim otherwise.
  • Because it is run by a nonprofit research consortium rather than a company, feature development and interface updates move more slowly than a funded commercial competitor.

Seek by iNaturalist

  • Identification quality depends on how well iNaturalist community data covers a given region, so obscure or under-photographed species can be misidentified.
  • It lacks the deep plant care guidance that commercial apps like PictureThis provide, since it is an identification tool, not a gardening assistant.
  • Observations made in Seek are not automatically added to the iNaturalist research database unless separately uploaded, which surprises some users expecting automatic contribution.
  • The offline model download is a meaningful app size, which matters on devices with limited storage.
  • Because there are no accounts, there is no cross-device sync of identification history.

Pricing, plan by plan

Pl@ntNet

Free
  • Pl@ntNetFree
    • Full identification for over 80,000 species
    • Available in over 50 languages
    • No account required for basic identification

Seek by iNaturalist

Free
  • SeekFree
    • Full identification for plants, insects and animals
    • Offline identification once models are downloaded
    • No account required

Which should you pick?

Choose Pl@ntNet if

  • You need photo identification.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want large species coverage.
Pl@ntNet review

Choose Seek by iNaturalist if

  • You need offline identification.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android.
  • You also want no account required.
Seek by iNaturalist review

Questions people ask

Is Pl@ntNet or Seek by iNaturalist better?
Neither clearly leads. Pl@ntNet starts at Free and Seek by iNaturalist at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Pl@ntNet or Seek by iNaturalist?
Pl@ntNet starts at Free and Seek by iNaturalist at Free.
Does Pl@ntNet or Seek by iNaturalist run on more platforms?
Pl@ntNet runs on iOS, Android, Web. Seek by iNaturalist runs on iOS, Android.
Can I use Pl@ntNet for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Pl@ntNet best used for?
Pl@ntNet is most often used 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. Of those, a gardener or hiker who wants free plant identification without a subscription and a student or researcher wanting a citation-friendly, institutionally-run identification tool are not what Seek by iNaturalist is typically brought in for.
What can Pl@ntNet do that Seek by iNaturalist cannot?
Pl@ntNet covers Photo identification, Large species coverage, Multi-language support, Community-sourced database. Seek by iNaturalist covers Offline identification, No account required, Child-safe design, Species badges.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Pl@ntNet: Is Pl@ntNet free?

Yes, entirely free with no ads or in-app purchases, run by a consortium of French public research institutes.

Seek by iNaturalist: Is Seek really free?

Yes, entirely, with no ads or in-app purchases, run by the nonprofit iNaturalist.

Pl@ntNet: How accurate is it?

Accuracy varies by region and species depending on how much community-submitted photo data exists for that flora, but it is generally strong for well-represented regions.

Seek by iNaturalist: Do I need an account?

No, Seek works fully without an account, which is a deliberate choice to make it safe for children.

Pl@ntNet: Can I use it to check if a plant is safe to eat?

No. It is an identification aid, not a safety tool, and should not be relied on alone for foraging decisions.

Seek by iNaturalist: Does Seek feed the iNaturalist research database?

Not automatically. You have to choose to upload an observation to iNaturalist.org for it to become part of the research record.

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