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Grow To Eat

Grow To Eat vs Planter: which garden planner is right for you?

Grow To Eat plans and runs a growing season; Planter is more focues of drawing your square foot beds.

Both apps put a drag-and-drop planner on your phone and both have a free tier that never expires. They part company after planting day. 

Grow To Eat carries 120+ edible crops against 80+ plants, each with a full growing guide, a weekly view of what needs sowing, tending and picking, and succession planting so beds keep producing after the first harvest. The sowing plan, the weekly view and every guide are free, with no cap.

Planter is built around the layout — a square-foot grid, 1,000+ illustrated plant tiles, companion checks — and the work it helps with is mostly done once the plan is drawn.

At a glance

What they share

  • ✓Drag-and-drop garden bed planner
  • ✓A planting calendar tuned to where you garden
  • ✓Companion planting guidance
  • ✓Add your own crops and varieties
  • ✓A free tier that never expires
  • ✓Native iPhone and Android apps

Where Grow To Eat differs

  • ●120+ crops with full growing guides, against 80+ plants
  • ●A weekly “what to do now” view, not just a plan you made in winter
  • ●Guides that run from propagation through harvest to preservation
  • ●Succession planting so beds keep producing after the first crop
  • ●Berries, bushes and perennials included on the free tier
  • ●Crop suggestions filtered by shade, pollinator value and difficulty

Grow To Eat vs Planter: feature comparison

Feature comparison: Planter versus Grow To Eat
Feature Planter Grow To Eat
Once the season starts
Weekly “what to do now” view–✓
Task list for what's duePartial✓
Harvest tracking–✓
Succession planting for continuous harvest–✓
A–Z guides: propagation to preservationPartial✓
What you can grow
Crops in the library80+ plants120+ edible crops
Named varieties built in1,000+No — you add your own
Perennials, berries and bushesPartial✓
Crop filters (shade, pollinators, difficulty)–✓
Where and how you use it
Personalised planting dates✓✓
Square-foot grid✓–
Gardens you can create1 free, unlimited on Premium1, with unlimited beds
PlatformsiOS, Android, Fire, webiOS, Android
What it costs
What's behind the paywallUnlimited gardens, notes, web appGarden planner, succession planting, custom crops
Free tier1 garden, calendar, custom plantsUncapped sowing plan + all guides
Yearly price$24.99€44.99
Lifetime purchase$99.99—

Prices and features checked September 2026. Planter pricing shown in USD, Grow To Eat in EUR.

A plan that keeps working after planting day

Free sowing plans and full A–Z growing guides. No credit card required.

Get your free sowing plan

The key differences explained

Planning the garden, or running it

The first job is the one Planter is built for. You lay out beds on a square-foot grid, drop in illustrated plant tiles, check companions, and end up with a plan of the plot. Premium adds notes and events, so you can record things against the plan, but the app is built around the layout rather than around the season.

Grow To Eat is built around the second half. The home screen shows your planned sowings, the next steps due and what is ready to harvest, plus which crops are worth starting this week indoors and out. Making a plan and following one are different problems, and most garden apps only solve the first.

Grow To Eat weekly view showing sowings, next steps and harvests

More crops, or more varieties

The two libraries are built to different ends. Grow To Eat has 120+ crops, and behind each one sits a full growing guide: how to propagate it, when to pot on and plant out, how to harvest, and how to store or preserve what you pick. Named varieties are left out on purpose — you add the ones you actually sow — because most gardeners grow a handful they already trust.

Planter has 80+ plants but 1,000+ named varieties, drawn as illustrated tiles you place on the grid; the library exists mainly to make the layout accurate. If you want a specific heritage variety drawn on your plan, Planter carries more of them. 

Grow To Eat sowing plan and A–Z growing guides, free with no time limit

What you get without paying — and what it costs after

Grow To Eat’s free tier includes your sowing plan, the weekly view, every growing guide, the crop filters, and perennials, berries and bushes, none of it capped. The garden planner is the Premium part. Planter’s free tier includes one garden on the square-foot grid, the planting calendar, custom plants and a seed box.

On yearly price Planter is the cheaper: $24.99 a year, or $99.99 once. Grow To Eat is €7.49 a month or €44.99 a year, with no lifetime option. The two free tiers are shaped differently — one gives you a layout, the other gives you the whole season’s plan and every guide — so the question is which half of the job you would be paying for.

Know what to do in the garden this week

Free to start on iPhone and Android. Upgrade any time.

Try Grow To Eat free

Choose Planter if…

  • You want a square-foot grid with illustrated plant tiles
  • You want to spend as little as possible, or buy once for life
  • You want a free garden layout without paying anything
  • You plan by named variety and want a thousand to choose from
  • You want it on a desktop browser or an Amazon Fire tablet

Choose Grow To Eat if…

  • You want a weekly view of what needs sowing, doing and harvesting
  • You want full growing guides for each crop, not just a tile on a grid
  • You want succession planting so beds keep producing
  • You want harvest tracking without paying for it
  • You are still learning how to grow some of what you are planting

Grow To Eat vs Planter: the bottom line

Grow To Eat is the one to pick if you want the plan to keep working after planting day: 120+ crops with a full growing guide behind each, a weekly view of what needs sowing, tending and picking, harvest tracking and succession planting — with the sowing plan, the weekly view and every guide free and uncapped.

Planter costs less, at $24.99 a year or $99.99 once, and its square-foot grid with 1,000+ illustrated varieties is the better tool for laying out a plot and nothing else.

One of them helps you decide what goes where. The other tells you in a better way what to do about it week-by-week.

Frequently asked questions

Which is better, Grow To Eat or Planter?
Grow To Eat is the better choice for growing the food: 120+ crops with a full guide each, a weekly view of what to sow, tend and pick, harvest tracking and succession planting, none of it capped on the free tier. For drawing the beds, Planter has the square-foot grid and the 1,000+ illustrated varieties.
Is Grow To Eat free?
Yes, with no time limit and no cap on the parts you use weekly: the whole sowing plan, the weekly view of what needs doing, harvest tracking, the crop filters and all 120+ A–Z growing guides. Premium adds the drag-and-drop bed planner, succession planting and custom crops, at €7.49 a month or €44.99 a year.
Does Grow To Eat tell you what to do during the season?
That is what it is built for. The home screen carries this week's planned sowings, the next step due for everything already in the ground, and whatever is ready to harvest, plus which crops are worth starting this week indoors and out. Planter is built around making the plan, with no weekly task view once the layout is done.
What does each one cost?
Grow To Eat gives you the sowing plan, the weekly view, harvest tracking and every growing guide for nothing, and charges €7.49 a month or €44.99 a year for the bed planner, succession planting and custom crops. Planter is cheaper if you are paying: $24.99 a year, or $99.99 once. Its free tier is one garden on the grid.
Which has more plants?
Grow To Eat has 120+ crops, (Planter has 80+) each with a full growing guide behind it. Planter carries 1,000+ named varieties of those 80+ plants, drawn as illustrated tiles. More crops here, more varieties there.
Does Grow To Eat have a free garden planner?
No — the drag-and-drop bed planner is Premium. What is free is the part most people open weekly: the whole sowing plan, the weekly view, harvest tracking and all 120+ growing guides, none of it capped. Planter includes one free garden if a layout tool is specifically what you are after.
Can I use Grow To Eat without drawing my garden first?
Yes. The sowing plan, the weekly list and the growing guides all work without a layout — you pick your crops and it works out the dates from where you garden. Drawing beds is optional here, where in a layout-first app it is the starting point.
What are the best Planter alternatives?
Grow To Eat is the closest for gardeners who want growing guidance rather than a layout: a sowing plan from your location, a weekly task list and a full guide for every crop, free. GrowVeg is the closer match if you want the layout with crop rotation warnings built in.

Grow To Eat stays useful all season, not just in planning week.

Free sowing plans and growing guides. No credit card required.

Start growing free

Head-to-head comparisons

Grow To Eat vs Almanac Garden PlannerA phone app for helping you grow food day by day or a desktop garden design tool — and which one fits the way you grow your food in your garden.Read comparison →Grow To Eat vs GardenateGrow To Eat tells you what to sow now and what to step-by-step and advice for 120+ crops vs a free monthly garden calendar of what you can sow now.Read comparison →Grow To Eat vs GardenizeGrow To Eat tells you what to sow and when — 120+ crops, free vs a journal app helping you keep track of all the plants in your garden.Read comparison →Grow To Eat vs GrowVegA phone app for helping you grow food day by day or a desktop garden design tool — and which one fits the way you grow your food in your garden.Read comparison →Grow To Eat vs PlantaGrow To Eat tells you what to sow and when — 120+ crops, free vs a plant care app that waters and feeds your indoor and garden plants.Read comparison →Grow To Eat vs Seed to SpoonSimilar-sized libraries, very different reach: US zip codes against dates built from your own location.Read comparison →Grow To Eat vs SeedtimeClosely matched on features, but Grow To Eat costs about half as much with no caps on free tier features.Read comparison →Grow To Eat vs VegPlotterGrow To Eat gives you a weekly plan from sowing to harvest for free. VegPlotter is cheaper to buy, but the jobs list is monthly and ticking it off is in paid tier.Read comparison →

Last updated: September 2026