A From Seed to Spoon alternative for iPhone
This is an unusual comparison, because both apps are actually free. From Seed to Spoon is the broader product with over a million downloads across three platforms. Niwa is narrower and built specifically around the square foot grid. Here is the real difference.
Use From Seed to Spoon if you are on Android, want plant and pest identification from a photo, like having an AI chatbot to ask questions, or care about the health-benefit and recipe angle it is built around.
Use Niwa if your planning revolves around laying out raised beds on a square foot grid, you want plants-per-square counted for you and companion conflicts drawn between cells, and you need it to work without a connection.
Side by side
| Niwa | From Seed to Spoon | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, optional in-app purchases | Free |
| Platforms | iPhone only (iOS 18+) | iOS, Android, web |
| Downloads / rating | New app · 4.8 from 13 ratings | 1M+ · 4.8 iOS, 4.4 Android |
| Works offline | Yes, fully | Needs a connection |
| Account required | No | Yes |
| Square foot grid with auto plant counts | Core feature | Layout planner shows plants per square foot |
| Companion conflicts drawn between cells | Green/red dots on the grid | Companion guides per plant |
| Location-based planting dates | Yes, per crop timeline | Yes |
| Plant & pest identification | No | Yes |
| AI advice chatbot | No | Yes (Growbot) |
| Organic pest treatment info | No | Yes |
| Recipes & health-benefit filtering | No | Yes |
| Plant diary with photos | Yes | Yes |
| Seed inventory | Yes | Partial |
| Plant library size | 200+ plants incl. 77 flowers | Large, food-focused |
Where From Seed to Spoon is clearly ahead
- It's on Android. That alone settles it for a large share of gardeners.
- Maturity and scale. A million-plus downloads means years of bug-fixing and a much larger body of feedback behind it. Niwa launched in 2026 and shows it in places.
- Diagnosis, not just planning. Photo identification of plants and pests, plus organic treatment advice, covers the part of the season after planting — which Niwa does not touch at all.
- Growbot. An AI assistant for the questions that don't fit a database.
- The food angle. Filtering crops by health benefit and linking to recipes is genuinely distinctive.
Where Niwa is ahead
- The grid is the product. Square foot cells with automatic counts printed on them — ×16 carrots, ×4 lettuce — rather than a layout tool that also knows about spacing.
- Companion conflicts are visual and immediate. A red dot on the border between two squares, at the moment you place the second plant.
- Fully offline. No signal needed. If your plot is rural or your allotment has no coverage, this is the deciding feature.
- No account. Open it and start; nothing is uploaded anywhere.
- Ornamentals included. 77 flowers and 28 fruits alongside the vegetables, where Seed to Spoon concentrates on food crops.
They complement each other more than they compete. Several gardeners use Seed to Spoon for identification and mid-season troubleshooting and a grid planner for the spring layout. Both are free, so running both costs nothing.
Which to install
| If you… | Pick |
|---|---|
| Use Android or want a web version | From Seed to Spoon |
| Want to photograph a sick plant and get an answer | From Seed to Spoon |
| Want the largest, most battle-tested free option | From Seed to Spoon |
| Plan strictly by square foot method | Niwa |
| Garden somewhere with no signal | Niwa |
| Don't want to create an account | Niwa |
| Plan flowers and ornamentals as well as food | Niwa |
Other options
- Planter — Apple-platform app, free tier, 2,300+ ratings
- Almanac Garden Planner — subscription web planner
- GrowVeg — $35/year, same engine as the Almanac planner
Both are free — try the one built for the grid.
Square foot cells, companion dots and offline planning on iPhone.
Questions gardeners ask
Is From Seed to Spoon free?
Yes. From Seed to Spoon is free to download and use on iOS, Android and as a web app, and it has passed a million downloads with a 4.8 rating on iOS. It is one of the genuinely free garden planners rather than a trial that converts to a subscription.
Compare with the paid plannersWhich free garden planner app is best?
It depends on your platform and how you plan. From Seed to Spoon is the broadest — iOS, Android and web, with pest identification and an AI advice chatbot. Planter is the most polished on Apple devices and has a very large plant variety database. Niwa is the most focused on square foot bed layout, with automatic plants-per-square counts and companion conflicts drawn on the grid, and it is the only one of the three that works fully offline.
Compare with PlanterIs 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