Grove vs Planta
Planta is the most downloaded houseplant care app on the App Store - but if you grow vegetables, run a kitchen garden, or want more than indoor plant reminders, it quickly runs out of road. It charges $35.99 per year for features that Grove includes free, focuses almost entirely on potted houseplants, and has no tools for planning a bed, tracking harvests, or connecting with fellow gardeners.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Grove | Planta |
|---|---|---|
| Free core plan | Yes | No |
| Visual bed planner | Yes | No |
| Frost-zone planting calendar | Yes | No |
| Outdoor / vegetable garden focus | Yes | No |
| Weather-aware reminders | Yes | Fixed schedule only |
| Harvest value tracker | Yes | No |
| Local community feed | Yes | No |
| Seed & seedling marketplace | Yes | No |
| Garden journal | Yes | Yes |
| Works in Canada & internationally | Yes | Yes |
| Annual subscription required | No | Yes |
Why Grove
Where Grove pulls ahead
Built for outdoor vegetable gardeners
Planta was designed for people with houseplants on windowsills. Its watering algorithms, care schedules, and plant database are tuned for pots and indoor light conditions. Grove is built for people who grow outdoors - raised beds, in-ground rows, frost dates, companion planting, and harvest yields. If you grow tomatoes, not fiddle-leaf figs, Grove is the right tool.
Free forever - no $36/year subscription
Planta's full feature set costs $7.99/month or $35.99/year, and the free tier is thin enough that most users hit the paywall quickly. Grove's six core tools - bed planner, planting calendar, watering reminders, journal, marketplace, and community feed - are free with no time limit. Grove+ adds premium features for those who want them, but the fundamentals never cost a cent.
A neighbourhood gardening community
Planta has no community layer whatsoever. Grove connects you to the gardeners literally next door - see what's growing on your street, ask questions from people dealing with the same soil and weather, and trade spare seedlings without a trip to the garden centre.
Harvest tracking that shows real savings
Planta doesn't track harvests at all. Grove's harvest value tracker lets you log what you pick and calculates the grocery-store equivalent - so you can see exactly how much your garden saves you season over season. It's one of the most satisfying features for anyone who takes their kitchen garden seriously.
Where Planta falls short
No tools for outdoor gardens
There's no bed planner, no frost-zone calendar, and no concept of rows, beds, or containers. Planta's entire product is built around care schedules for potted plants sitting indoors. Outdoor vegetable gardeners will find almost nothing useful beyond a basic reminder system.
Aggressive pricing for thin value
At $35.99/year, Planta is one of the priciest apps in the gardening category. User reviews consistently flag the price as unjustified - particularly for succulents and orchids where the watering algorithm is widely reported to over-water. Many users cancel within the first month.
Fixed watering schedules with no weather awareness
Planta generates a care schedule and sticks to it regardless of what the weather is doing outside. Grove checks your local forecast and skips reminders when rain is on the way - a small but meaningful difference if you're tired of getting a 'water your tomatoes' nudge on the morning it pours.
The verdict
Planta earns its reputation as a houseplant care app. But for anyone growing vegetables, herbs, or running a kitchen garden outdoors, it's the wrong tool. Grove gives you a visual bed planner, frost-zone calendar, weather-smart reminders, harvest tracker, and a local community - all free, all built for outdoor growing.
Try Grove free - see the difference.
Join the waitlist and your first month of Grove+ is on us. No credit card needed.