A Planter app alternative for iPhone
Planter is the strongest direct comparison Niwa has — same platform, similar philosophy, and a genuinely good app with a much longer track record. The real differences come down to price, offline use and how each one handles the grid.
Planter is more mature, runs on more devices and has a far bigger variety database. Niwa is free without a premium tier gating the planner, works with no connection, and needs no account. If you plan on an iPad or Mac, Planter wins on availability alone.
Being upfront about the size difference
Planter has over 2,300 ratings at 4.7 stars and years of releases behind it. Niwa launched in 2026 and has 13 ratings at 4.8. Those numbers are not comparable, and anyone telling you a brand-new app is more reliable than an established one is selling something. What a new app can offer is a narrower focus and no legacy pricing model — which is the actual case here.
Side by side
| Niwa | Planter | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free to download | Free tier; premium $4.99/mo, $24.99/yr, $49.99 lifetime |
| Devices | iPhone only, iOS 18+ | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro, web |
| Ratings | 4.8 from 13 | 4.7 from 2,300+ |
| Works offline | Yes, fully | Partially; syncs across devices |
| Account required | No | For sync |
| Square foot grid | Yes, auto counts per square | Yes |
| Companion / combative data | Dots drawn between cells | Companion and combative lists |
| Planting calendar from frost dates | Yes, per-crop timeline | Yes |
| Plant database | 200+ plants incl. 77 flowers | 100+ crops, thousands of varieties |
| Custom plants | No | Yes |
| Non-rectangular beds (round, oval, towers) | No | Yes |
| Intercropping support | No | Yes |
| Pest & disease information | No | Yes |
| Seed box / inventory | Yes | Yes |
| Plant diary with photos | Yes | Journal features |
Where Planter is better
- It runs everywhere Apple does. iPad and Mac support is a real advantage for planning at a desk on a bigger canvas.
- Thousands of varieties. If you care about the difference between two named tomato cultivars, its database goes deeper than Niwa's.
- Custom plants. You can add crops that aren't in the library. Niwa cannot.
- Bed shapes beyond rectangles. Round beds, oval beds and towers.
- Track record. Years of updates and thousands of users behind it.
- Cross-device sync. Plan on the Mac, check on the phone.
Where Niwa is better
- No premium tier over the planner. The grid, the library and the calendar work without paying.
- Genuinely offline. Everything ships on device, so no signal is fine.
- No account at all. The trade-off for no sync is that nothing leaves the phone.
- Conflicts drawn on the grid. Companion information as coloured dots between adjacent squares rather than as lists you consult per plant.
- More ornamentals. 77 flowers, useful if you plan borders and cut-flower beds as well as vegetables.
The honest recommendation: if you already pay for Planter and it works, there is no strong reason to switch. If you are choosing now, both free tiers cost nothing — install both, plan the same bed twice, and keep whichever one you finish faster.
Which to install
| If you… | Pick |
|---|---|
| Plan on an iPad or Mac | Planter |
| Need specific named varieties or custom plants | Planter |
| Have round beds, towers or unusual shapes | Planter |
| Want the most established option | Planter |
| Want a planner that is free without a premium tier | Niwa |
| Garden without a signal | Niwa |
| Prefer no account and no cloud | Niwa |
| Plan rectangular raised beds by square foot | Niwa |
Other options
- From Seed to Spoon — free, and on Android too
- Almanac Garden Planner — subscription web planner with plot design
- GrowVeg — $35/year, same engine as the Almanac planner
Free, offline, and no account.
If the premium tier is what's stopping you, try this instead.
Questions gardeners ask
How much does the Planter app cost?
Planter is free to download with a premium tier. Its listed in-app purchases are $4.99 monthly, $24.99 annually, an $11.99 annual option, and $49.99 for lifetime access. The free tier is usable for planning a first garden.
Compare the fully free optionsDoes Planter work on iPad and Mac?
Yes. Planter runs on iOS 16.6 or later, iPadOS, macOS 13.5 or later and visionOS, and there is a web version too. Niwa is iPhone-only and needs iOS 18 or later, so if you plan on an iPad or a Mac, Planter is the better fit.
What Niwa runs onIs Niwa free to use?
Yes. Niwa is free to download from the App Store, and the core planner — the garden grid, the plant library and the planting calendar — works without paying. Optional in-app purchases unlock additional features.
See it on the App StoreHow many plants fit in one square foot?
It depends on the crop's spacing requirement. A plant needing 3 inches fits 16 per square foot, 4 inches fits 9, 6 inches fits 4, and 12 inches fits 1. Large plants such as vining tomatoes or zucchini need more than one square each. Niwa works this out for you and prints the count straight onto the grid cell.
Plants per square foot calculatorCan Niwa plan a raised bed of any size?
Yes. You set the bed dimensions — 4×4, 4×8, 2×8 or a custom size — and Niwa draws the square foot grid to match. You can keep several beds and several gardens in the app at once and switch between them.
Raised bed plannerHow does Niwa know when I should plant?
Niwa uses your location to find your average last spring frost and first autumn frost, then works backwards from those dates for every crop in your bed. Each plant gets its own sow-indoors, transplant and harvest window on a month-by-month timeline, so the dates are yours rather than a generic zone table.
How the planting calendar worksDoes Niwa warn me about bad companion plants?
Yes. As you place plants on the grid, Niwa puts a green dot between neighbouring squares that benefit each other and a red dot between squares that are better kept apart, so you see the conflict while you are still planning.
Companion planting in NiwaHow much soil do I need to fill a raised bed?
Multiply length × width × depth in feet to get cubic feet, then divide by 27 for cubic yards. A 4×8 bed at 12 inches deep needs 32 cubic feet, roughly 1.2 cubic yards or sixteen 2-cubic-foot bags.
Raised bed soil calculatorDoes Niwa work offline, and do I need an account?
The whole plant library and all your layouts are stored on the device, so the app works with no signal — useful on an allotment. There is no account to create and your garden data is never uploaded to a server.
See what's includedWhich growing zones and countries does Niwa support?
Niwa works worldwide. It recognises USDA hardiness zones in the United States and derives frost dates from your location elsewhere, including the UK, Canada, Australia and Europe.
Find your frost dates and zoneHow is Niwa different from other garden planner apps?
Three things: it is a native iPhone app rather than a desktop planner viewed in a mobile browser, it shows companion-planting conflicts on the grid as you place plants instead of in a separate chart, and it works fully offline with no account.
Compare Niwa with other plannersIs Niwa available on Android?
Not yet. Niwa is a native iPhone app and needs iOS 18.0 or later. An Android version is not currently available.
Read the gardening guides in the meantime