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01 Jul 2025

Best plant identification apps

Plant-id apps promise to identify plants from a picture taken on your smartphone or tablet. We tested 10 of the most popular to find out which will help you identify a mystery plant

Sarah WissonSenior researcher & writer

In this article

Best Buy plant identification apps
Privacy and security
Using apps safely
How we tested plant identification apps

We’ve all been stumped for the name of a plant at times, whether shopping at a garden centre, visiting a garden or on holiday. Plant-id apps promise to identify plants from a picture taken on your smartphone or tablet.

There are lots on the App Store and Google Play, some using an artificial-intelligence database of plants, others relying on ‘experts’ or a community of users. Some are free; others require a monthly or annual subscription. Several of the apps on test also have a sharing aspect, rather like the social media photo-sharing platform, Instagram, for plants.

All the apps are available on the App Store and Google Play store.

The Which? Gardening magazine research team wanted to find out whether any of the most popular apps would prove to be a reliable garden companion.

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Best Buy plant identification apps

Which? members can log in now to see the full results and which are our Best Buy varieties. If you’re not a member, join Which? to get instant access.

App	Overall score	Price - annual/monthly	Correct genus	Correct species	Correct ID 1st or 2nd position	Ease of use	Amount/accuracy of further information
Flora Incognita	Sign up to reveal Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations Unlock table Full Access first month £5, then £11.99 per month, cancel at any time. Already a member? Log in
Google Lens
iNaturalist
iOS Lookup
Iris
LeafSnap
Obsidentify
PictureThis
Plant Identification ++
Plantify

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The more stars the better. SCORE Ignores prices and is based on correct genus 35%; correct species 35%; correct ID first or second position 10%; ease of use 10%; amount/accuracy of further information 10%.

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Privacy and security

Most people use apps every day on their phone, TV or other device. However, it might surprise you that there's currently no legally binding regulation for how apps should protect your privacy and security.

Working with cybersecurity experts Hexiosec, we didn’t find any major problems with the apps on test. However, we still found apps requesting more data than they arguably need. All apps need access to aspects of your smartphone, such as the camera to take pictures of plants. However, two apps (Plantify and Iris) wanted more than 40 data permissions, while others needed less than a quarter of that to run. Some permissions are labelled ‘risky’, such as your precise location – eight apps wanted this, when a general location would work fine. We also looked at behind-the-scenes advertising services used by the apps. Some apps used none or just a couple, but one had 16, including Amazon, Facebook and Google. So, you might find your quiet time in the garden is actually shared with a gaggle of big-tech marketing firms.

Although the plant ID apps we tested won’t leave your data exposed to hackers, some want to know more about you than you might expect. Our top tips help increase your security and privacy while using these apps, so you can just focus on gardening instead.

Using apps safely

Check: Before you download an app, check in the app store listing how much data it requires.
Passwords: Apps often allow weak passwords, so set strong ones to keep hackers out.
Limit data sharing: If you need an account, only share mandatory information. If it’s optional, the app doesn’t need it.
Revoke permissions: See what permissions an app has access to in your iOS or Android phone settings, then limit or deny access if you like.
Run updates: Apps are like gardens - they must be maintained. Always run app updates promptly. If an app hasn’t been updated in the past year, consider deleting it.
Photos: When taking photos of plants, try to avoid including people, houses or landmarks that could identify your location. This is especially relevant if you are planning on posting them to online forums.

How we tested plant identification apps

We downloaded the apps to an iPhone and Android phone and used them during summer 2025 to identify a range of plants from photos of bark, leaves, flowers and berries taken around our trial grounds. We used a range of species including trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, bulbs and wildflowers.

All plants have a two-part botanical name made up of the genus and the species, for example, Rosa rugosa or Prunus serrula. We recorded whether the apps correctly identified the genus and species of each plant, and whether the correct plant name was first or elsewhere in a list of possible plants.

We assessed each app for ease of use based on whether it was straightforward and intuitive to use and provided an on-the-go answer.