iNaturalist is a great app when you're on a walk and wonder, "What kind of flower is that?" or "What is that strange bug on the wall?". It's a unique social network and citizen science project that connects people with the natural world around them. Whether you're a curious hiker or a seasoned naturalist, you can use the app to record and share your observations of biodiversity, and in turn, get help identifying what you have seen.
The whole process is really simple, as you just take a picture of a plant, animal, insect, or fungus and upload it to the iNaturalist app as an "observation." As soon as you do, the app's powerful vision AI will analyze the photo and give you a list of suggestions for what it might be. You can then share your observation with a global community of over 400,000 iNaturalist users. The community around the app includes hobbyists, dedicated experts, and professional scientists, and all of them can look at your photo and either agree with the AI's suggestion or provide you with a more accurate identification.
What makes iNaturalist truly special is that it's more than just an identification app, because it also works as a massive collaborative project that contributes to real science. When enough community members agree on an identification, your observation becomes "Research Grade." This means that your data, like what you saw, when you saw it, and where, gets added to massive global scientific databases. So, by simply taking a picture of a bug in your backyard, you are helping scientists track biodiversity, study the effects of climate change, and make important conservation decisions. You can download iNaturalist for free on iOS and Android, and there's also a web service you can open on your browser.
Why should I download iNaturalist?
iNaturalist is a great app to learn about the nature around you, and it can turn any walk in the park, hike in the woods, or even a moment in your own garden into a fun discovery for you and your kids. You can take a photo of almost any wild plant or animal you encounter, and the app will give you the tools to figure out what it is. It's an incredible way to become more aware of the biodiversity in your local area and to put a name to the plants and creatures you see every day.
When you upload a photo to iNaturalist, you get instant identification suggestions from the app's AI engine, which has been trained on millions of images from the iNaturalist database. It analyzes your picture and provides a list of the most likely species. This often gives you a very accurate identification right away and is a fantastic starting point, even if you have absolutely no idea what you're looking at.
By using iNaturalist, you can tap into a community of experts and fellow nature lovers. After the AI gives its suggestion, your observation is shared with a network of real people who can help define your finding. It can be anyone, from a knowledgeable hobbyist to a professional biologist, who'll often include interesting facts about the species. This way, iNaturalist is not just giving you a name of the species you've found, you're also learning from a passionate and helpful community.
Any observation you upload to iNaturalist can become valuable data for real scientific research. This is the incredible "citizen science" aspect of the app, so when the community confirms your observation, it is upgraded to "Research Grade." This data is then used by scientists all over the world, and your photo of a butterfly could help researchers map its migration patterns. You can read more here about how you're actively contributing to science just by using the app.
Every single finding you send to iNaturalist is automatically saved to your personal profile, complete with your photo, the date, and the location on a map. Over time, this builds into a stunning and personal record of all the different species you've encountered on your travels and in your own neighborhood. It's a fantastic way to look back on your nature finds and see how your identification skills have grown. There are also projects and challenges in your local area that you can join and work with others to contribute to specific goals. iNaturalist is available on iOS and Android and through a web-based service.
Is iNaturalist free?
Yes, iNaturalist is completely free as it's a non-profit joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society. The platform is committed to being free and accessible to everyone, so there are no advertisements or premium features locked behind a paywall.
What operating systems are compatible with iNaturalist?
You use iNaturalist through its website, but the main part of the service, which is making observations out in the field, happens on mobile phones. You can get the iNaturalist app for free on iOS 12.0 or later, and Android 6.0 and up.
What are the alternatives to iNaturalist?
PlantNet is a plant identification app that uses visual recognition software to help you recognize specific trees, flowers, grasses, and more from a photo. It's a citizen science project that is backed by a consortium of French scientific research institutes and has a massive and accurate database of botanical life. If you are interested in identifying plants, it is an incredibly powerful app that you can use for free. PlantNet is available as a web-based service and as a mobile app for both iOS and Android.
Seek by iNaturalist is the official kid-friendly and privacy-focused companion app to iNaturalist. It's made by the same team and uses the same powerful AI vision technology, but it's designed to be much more of a game. You simply point your phone's camera at a living thing, and Seek will try to identify it in real time, without even uploading the photo. It does not require you to create an account and does not publicly share your observations or precise location, making it a very safe choice for children. The app encourages discovery by awarding badges for finding different types of species. Seek is entirely free, and you can download it on iOS and Android mobile devices.
PictureThis - Plant Identifier is another very popular plant identification app that helps you take care of your plants and garden. After its AI identifies a plant, it then provides you with a wealth of information about how to care for that specific plant, including watering schedules, sunlight needs, and soil preferences. You can also use it to diagnose plant diseases and pest problems from a photo and get potential solutions. PictureThis has a free version that limits the number of free identifications. To get unlimited identifications and access the detailed plant care guides, you need to subscribe to a paid premium plan. PictureThis works on iOS and Android.
