Two solid garden planners. One is built for the UK. The other is built for New Zealand. Here is how they compare for New Zealand gardeners in 2026.
| Feature | Planting Season | GrowVeg |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free tier, $4.99 NZD/mo, $44.95 NZD/yr, or $129 NZD lifetime | $35 USD/yr auto renewing, or $50 USD for one year. No free tier after the 7 day trial |
| Lifetime option | Yes, $129 NZD once | Not offered |
| Scope | 27 modules: garden, orchard, poultry, bees, compost, seeds, pantry | Vegetable garden planning |
| Fruit tree care | Pruning windows, spray timing, chill hours, tree age | Not offered |
| Plant catalogue | 166 plants with New Zealand varieties | 408 crops, more than 21,000 varieties |
| Planting dates from | 8 new zealand growing regions | Nearest of 5,000+ weather stations |
| Works offline | Yes, full PWA | No, browser based |
| Companion planting | Built into the bed planner | Built into the planner |
| Succession and shopping list | Not yet | Yes |
GrowVeg is a mature and well regarded garden planner with a large following, and it is properly localised. It pulls live climate data from more than 5,000 weather stations, it supports southern hemisphere growing years, and it runs an Australia and New Zealand edition with its own plant guides. If what you want is a dedicated vegetable garden planner, it is a good one.
The difference is not hemispheres. It is how much of your patch the app covers, and how you pay for it.
GrowVeg plans a vegetable garden: beds, spacing, rotation, succession and a calendar built from your own layout. Planting Season does that too, and then keeps going. The same app carries your fruit trees, your chickens, ducks and quail, your beehives, your compost and worm farm, your seed store and your pantry of preserves, across 27 modules. If your place is only raised beds, that breadth may not matter to you. If it is a whole backyard or a small block, it is the difference between one tool and six.
Planting Season carries pruning windows and spray timing for every fruit tree, cane, vine and berry in its library. It warns you before you cut a canker prone tree at the wrong time of year, tells you which jobs need no spray at all, and changes the advice as the tree ages. It also checks winter chill, so you know whether a variety will fruit where you live before you buy it. GrowVeg does not do orchard management.
GrowVeg bills in US dollars: $35 USD per year on auto renewal, or $50 USD for a single year that does not renew. There is no lifetime option, no monthly option, and no free tier beyond a 7 day trial. Planting Season has a free tier that never expires, then $4.99 NZD a month, $44.95 NZD a year, or $129 NZD once for lifetime access. On a straight annual subscription GrowVeg is cheaper. Planting Season is the one you can use free forever or own outright.
Planting Season is a progressive web app that works fully offline. Install it on your phone and use it out in the yard with no signal. GrowVeg is browser based and needs a connection, which can be a problem on larger properties or in rural areas.
Being straight about it, because a comparison that only flatters itself is not worth reading.
If a large variety catalogue and precise per station dates matter more to you than fruit trees, poultry, bees and working offline, GrowVeg is the better fit. That is a real choice, not a trick question.
Yes. GrowVeg supports southern hemisphere growing years, runs an Australia and New Zealand edition with its own plant guides, and takes planting dates from your nearest of more than 5,000 weather stations. The question is scope rather than accuracy. GrowVeg plans a vegetable garden. Planting Season also covers fruit tree pruning and spray timing, poultry, bees, compost and the pantry, works fully offline, and has a free tier and a lifetime licence.
GrowVeg bills in US dollars: $35 USD per year on auto renewal, or $50 USD for a single year that does not renew, and $85 USD for two years. There is no lifetime option and no free tier, though there is a 7 day trial. Planting Season is $4.99 NZD a month, $44.95 NZD a year, or $129 NZD once, with a free tier that never expires.
No. GrowVeg is browser based and needs an internet connection. Planting Season is a progressive web app that works fully offline once installed, so you can use it out in the yard with no signal.
Scope and how you pay. GrowVeg is a dedicated vegetable garden planner with a large variety catalogue and per weather station dates. Planting Season covers the whole patch on one subscription: fruit tree care, poultry, bees, compost, seeds and preserving alongside the vegetable beds. It works offline, and it has a permanently free tier and a one off lifetime option that GrowVeg does not offer.
Start with 1 bed and 115+ plants for free. No credit card, no trial expiry.
Try Planting Season Free