PictureThis alternatives for a sick plant (2026)
The right PictureThis alternative depends on why you are leaving. If you want something free, Google Lens is free and a local plant clinic often is, and PlantNet and Seek name plants for free. If you want another plant app with a problem checker, Planta, PlantIn, Plantum and Plant Parent all have one; Plant Parent is made by the same company as PictureThis.
This page is written by the maker of Leafsight, one of the apps people switch to, so Leafsight is kept out of the table and the list and described separately below, marked as ours. The facts about the other apps come from their US App Store pages and websites on 3 November 2026 and may have changed since; Leafsight is not affiliated with any of them.
Who this is for: you use PictureThis, or tried it, and a plant in front of you looks wrong: yellow leaves, spots, pests or drooping. If you only want to name plants, PictureThis is still one of the most-used identifiers, with 1.12 million US ratings at 4.8 stars.
If the subscription is why you are leaving
Deleting PictureThis does not cancel it. Cancel in Settings, then your name, then Subscriptions, at least a day before a free trial ends, and ask Apple for a refund at reportaproblem.apple.com if you were already charged. The full steps are in How to cancel a plant app subscription on iPhone. Every app on this page bills through Apple, so the same steps cancel any of them.
For reference, PictureThis on the US App Store: PictureThis Pro $39.99 a year (a 1-week free trial is offered on the store page), $7.99 a month or $3.99 a week; a Family Plan at $49.99.
The alternatives at a glance
| Option, and who makes it | What it does with a sick plant, per its store page or site | Price, US App Store | US ratings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Lens (in the Google app), by Google | Shows web pages and photos that look like yours; a general visual search, not a plant tool | Free | Not a plant app |
| A plant clinic or Master Gardener help line, run by universities, botanic gardens and garden centres | A person looks at your photo or a sample, and can ask about roots and watering | Often free; varies by place | None |
| Planta, by Planta AB | Dr. Planta takes your symptoms and gives step by step treatment recommendations | free to download, with premium plans listed on its store page from $7.99 to $47.99 | 114,000 US ratings at 4.8 stars |
| PlantIn, by Vortemol Limited | A disease identifier and a pest identifier, in the app and in a browser; a botanist to ask, which the developer's reply on its store page says the subscription does not include | free to download, with premium plans listed on its store page from $6.99 to $49.99 | 230,000 US ratings at 4.6 stars |
| Plantum, by AIBY | A plant disease identifier that lists treatment options, plus a light meter and a water calculator | free to download, with in-app purchases listed on its store page from $1.99 to $59.99 | 120,000 US ratings at 4.6 stars |
| Plant Parent, by Glority, the maker of PictureThis | A photo of a sick plant gets a disease ID and a treatment plan; premium lists a consultation with gardening experts | free to download, with premium plans listed on its store page from $3.99 to $59.99 | 93,000 US ratings at 4.7 stars |
| PlantNet, by Cirad, a French agricultural research centre | Names wild and garden plants; its store page describes naming plants only | free, with no in-app purchases listed on its store page | 7,000 US ratings at 4.6 stars |
| Seek by iNaturalist, by iNaturalist | Names plants, animals and fungi; its store page describes naming them only | free, with no in-app purchases listed on its store page | 31,000 US ratings at 4.8 stars |
Where each one wins, and where it falls short
Google Lens. Wins: free on any phone, nothing to sign up for, and fast. Falls short: it is a general visual search, not a plant tool, so you get pages that look similar rather than an answer about your plant.
A plant clinic or Master Gardener help line. Wins: a trained person, who can ask about the roots, the soil and your watering, and can look at a sample. In the US, your state university's extension service runs one or points you to one; in the UK, RHS members can ask RHS Gardening Advice. Falls short: it takes days rather than seconds, and opening hours vary.
Planta. Wins: care schedules and reminders for a whole collection, with Dr. Planta built in for problems. Falls short: problems are one part of a care app built around schedules, so it suits a collection more than a single sick plant.
PlantIn. Wins: its disease and pest identifiers also work in a browser on its website, before you install anything, and it runs on Android. Falls short: the botanist to ask is not part of the subscription, per the developer's reply on its store page.
Plantum. Wins: identification, a problem checker and practical tools (light meter, water calculator) in one app. Falls short: problems are one feature among many, and its store page leads with naming plants rather than with what is wrong.
Plant Parent. Wins: a problem checker, care plans and an expert consultation listed on premium. Falls short: it is made by Glority, the same company as PictureThis, so it is not a change of company if billing is why you are leaving.
PlantNet and Seek. Win: free, with no in-app purchases listed, and built for naming plants; both run on iPhone, iPad and Android. Fall short: their store pages describe naming plants only, not what is wrong with one.
Where Leafsight fits (our app, kept out of the table)
Leafsight does one thing: you photograph a plant that looks wrong and get an assessment of the likely problem, how serious it looks, how sure the model is and what it cannot see (roots, soil, the room), with non-chemical steps first. A second photo later is compared with the first. It does not identify species, and it runs on iPhone and iPad only, in 8 languages.
Leafsight falls short: it won't name the plant, there is no Android or browser version, there is no person to ask, and it is new, with no ratings shown on its US App Store page yet.
Leafsight is free to download with free assessments every day, and with a free account the first result's care steps are free. After that, Leafsight Pro is $5.99 a week with a 3-day free trial, $4.99 a month, $29.99 a year or $49.99 once, or one result's steps for $2.99, one time. The price is on the screen before any trial starts.
Leafsight is new (its first version was released in September 2026) and has no ratings shown on its US App Store page yet. Every result shows how sure the model is, the full result says what one photo cannot show, and a photo assessment can be wrong: for a valuable plant, or anything you might eat, ask a garden centre or a plant clinic.
Questions
Is there a free app like PictureThis?
For naming plants, yes: PlantNet and Seek by iNaturalist are free, with no in-app purchases listed on their store pages, and Google Lens in the free Google app finds photos that look like yours. For a sick plant, the free route is a plant clinic or a Master Gardener help line, where a person looks at it. Most apps with a problem checker charge for part of it.
Which alternative is closest to PictureThis?
Plant Parent comes from the same company, Glority, and also combines naming plants with a problem checker and care plans. Planta, PlantIn and Plantum do the same from different companies. If you mainly want to name plants, PlantNet and Seek are the free options, but they don't look at problems.
How do I cancel PictureThis on an iPhone?
Open Settings, tap your name, tap Subscriptions, choose PictureThis and tap Cancel Subscription. Deleting the app does not cancel it. To avoid the first charge of a free trial, cancel at least 24 hours before it ends. If you were already charged, ask Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com; Apple decides refunds for every App Store app.
Can any app tell what's wrong with a plant from one photo?
It can give a useful first guess, not a certain answer. A photo shows the leaves, but often not the roots, the soil or how the plant has been watered, which is where many problems start. Treat any app's answer as an estimate, check the roots and soil yourself, and for a valuable plant or anything you might eat, ask a plant clinic.
Try one on the plant in front of you
The plant problem guides on this site explain the common problems in plain words, in 8 languages, free and with no app. Leafsight is free to download if you want an assessment of your own photo.