Crops › Best apps
The best grow-your-own apps in the UK, 2026
Eight apps, what each is for, and where each falls down. Including ours.
Right, cards on the table. I make one of these apps, so you'd expect me to say mine's the best. What I'll do instead is tell you what each one is actually for, cuz they're not all trying to do the same job. Some are planners, and good ones. Some name plants from a photo. One or two, like ours, try to follow you through the whole season, from the packet to the plate, you know what I mean?
Prices and free tiers are what the stores showed on 3 September 2026. They change. Check before you pay for anything.
At a glance
| App | Free tier | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| GrowMore CookMore Us. iPhone and Android. | Pest and disease library, basic growing guides, sample recipes, three packet scans. | Harvest £29.99 a year, Bumper Harvest £39.99 a year (adds the visual planner). |
| GrowVeg Garden Planner Growing Interactive, UK. Web first, apps for tablet and phone. | Seven-day trial, no card needed. | Yearly subscription (about £25 to £30; check their site). |
| Veg Plotter UK indie. Web and apps. | Free up to 20 plantings a year. | Small yearly fee above that. |
| RHS Grow The Royal Horticultural Society. iPhone and Android. | Free. | None. |
| Growli UK indie. iPhone and Android. | Free tier. | Subscription. |
| Leaftide UK indie. iPhone and Android. | Free tier. | Subscription. |
| Planta Sweden. iPhone and Android. | Free with limits. | Subscription. |
| PictureThis and PlantNet Plant identification apps. | PlantNet is free. PictureThis has a trial then a subscription. | PictureThis is one of the priciest apps in the category. |
Checked 3 September 2026. Links to other apps are plain links; we don't earn from them.
What each one is for
GrowMore CookMore
Best at: The whole season in one app: scan a packet, sow it, track it, get told when it's ready, then cook it. The club's grow-again votes on varieties.
Doesn't do: No plant identification, nothing for houseplants. It's a veg and fruit app.
GrowVeg Garden Planner
Best at: The most detailed bed layout tool there is. Drag plants onto a plan, it works out spacing and rotation. Licensed to the Old Farmer's Almanac in the US.
Doesn't do: It's a planner, not a companion. No recipes, no packet scanning, no club. The apps lean on the web version.
Veg Plotter
Best at: Simple, fast plot planner with a proper UK sowing calendar. Well liked, no fuss.
Doesn't do: Planning only. Nothing for the kitchen side, no scanning, no community.
RHS Grow
Best at: Plant care reminders and the RHS plant database behind it. Good for ornamentals.
Doesn't do: No grow-your-own planner, no sowing calendar for veg, no recipes. Reviewers weren't kind to the first version.
Growli
Best at: A planner with weather tie-ins and a friendly, modern feel. Newer, moving fast.
Doesn't do: Smaller crop library, no packet scanning, no cooking side. Their own 'best apps' page rates them first, which tells you something.
Leaftide
Best at: Clean planner, UK dates, decent guides.
Doesn't do: Same story: planner only, no harvest-to-kitchen, no club numbers.
Planta
Best at: Houseplant care, watering reminders, light meter. Millions of users. Apple has featured it more than once.
Doesn't do: Houseplants, not veg. It won't tell you when to sow broad beans in Sunderland.
PictureThis and PlantNet
Best at: Point the camera at a leaf and it names the plant. PlantNet is run by a research consortium and is genuinely free.
Doesn't do: Identification only. Neither plans a plot or knows your frost dates.
How to choose
You want to lay out beds on a screen. GrowVeg. Nothing else comes close for layout, and I'd say that if I was paid to say otherwise.
You want a simple free planner. Veg Plotter's free tier will do most allotments.
You want to name a plant you don't recognise. PlantNet. Free, and run by scientists.
You want one app for the whole thing. Scan the packet, sow it, track it, know when it's ready, cook it, and see what club gardeners actually grew again. That's what we built GrowMore CookMore for. Nobody else in this list does the kitchen end.
If I've got something wrong about somebody else's app, tell me and I'll fix it. Same goes if you think I've been soft on ours.
Plan the plot, track every sowing, cook the harvest
Sowing reminders and harvest forecasts for your own frost dates, the Seed Tin, Scan Centre for any label or packet, and the Potty Mouth Garden Club. Free to start.
Allotment keeper in the North East of England, the voice behind the Tony C Smith YouTube channel, and the gardener who built GrowMore CookMore. Club numbers on this page update as members log their plots. Last updated 3 September 2026.