Comparisons Head to head
Plantalya vs PlantIn: two all-in-one apps compared
PlantIn and Plantalya both offer identification, diagnosis and reminders. The real difference is the transparency of the advice. A criterion-by-criterion look.
In short
Our take
Both are complete apps that go well beyond simple identification. Pick PlantIn if talking to an expert matters to you and you want a light meter and watering calculator built in. Pick Plantalya if you'd rather read guides you can verify yourself, in your own language, and keep access to that information even without the app installed.
On paper, PlantIn and Plantalya look alike: photo, name, diagnosis, reminders. PlantIn is made by Vortemol Limited and covers a genuinely wide feature set — including a watering calculator, an augmented-reality light meter, and an "Ask the Botanist" expert feature, all confirmed on its own App Store listing. The real difference shows up in what you read afterward: at Plantalya, every guide cites its sources and was written for that plant, not assembled from a template.
Side by side
- PlantIn with a treatment guide
- PlantIn plus weather alerts
- PlantIn "Ask the Botanist" feature, listed on the App Store
- PlantIn Limited — plant list exists, but full guides appear to need an account or subscription
- Plantalya 503 plants, 10 languages
How we compare
We compare what can be checked: the features each app publicly documents, what its free tier actually includes, and the price shown on its own store listing. We do not measure identification accuracy, because we have no way to test it fairly, and we never publish a percentage we cannot reproduce.
Plantalya is our own app, so this page is not neutral and we will not pretend it is. What we can promise: no money changes hands with the apps compared here, there are no affiliate links, and nothing on this page was paid for.
Where PlantIn is ahead
On breadth and on human backup. Its light meter uses the camera in augmented reality rather than a simple sensor reading, its watering calculator asks about your specific conditions before answering, and "Ask the Botanist" — described on its own App Store page as consulting "nos experts en jardinage expérimentés" — can be reassuring when a plant you care about is declining and you want a second opinion. It also identifies mushrooms, which is outside what either Plantalya or most plant apps attempt.
Where Plantalya is ahead
On transparency. You can see exactly where each piece of information comes from — the Royal Horticultural Society, university extension services, Kew's Plants of the World Online, GBIF, the ASPCA — and check it yourself. Our Monstera deliciosa guide shows what that looks like in practice: figures with a source attached, not just a number. The guide also exists outside the app, on the website, without an account.
If pet safety is your specific concern, our pet-safe plants tool is built for exactly that question, sourced the same way. For a plant that's actively struggling, our plant diagnosis tool walks through likely causes.
What we haven't verified
PlantIn's own App Store description doesn't mention pet toxicity anywhere, so we're not listing it as a feature — that's an absence in the official text, not a claim we're making about what the app can't do. We also couldn't confirm a single current subscription price: the App Store listing showed several conflicting figures for the same plan (weekly, yearly, lifetime), which points to promotional pricing rather than one stable rate. Treat any specific number you see elsewhere as a snapshot, and check the store directly before subscribing.
On languages, PlantIn's App Store listing supports 19 in total, French included, which covers most of Western Europe. We didn't find an official, verified count of app-interface languages for Plantalya to compare against — our written encyclopedia, a separate product from the app, covers 503 plants across 10 languages, written by the founder.
Frequently asked questions
Is PlantIn available in French?
Yes — its App Store listing supports 19 languages including French, and the French listing itself is fully localized.
Does Plantalya offer a human expert?
No. Guides are written by the founder, and the contact page is there for questions a guide doesn't answer.
Does PlantIn mention pet toxicity?
Not in its official App Store description, as far as we found — we're not claiming the app lacks the feature entirely, only that we couldn't verify it from an official source, so we left it out of the comparison rather than guess.
Try Plantalya yourself
The fastest way to settle a comparison is to install both and keep the one you actually open.
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