Facts verified July 2026 · we link our sources
PlotToTable vs GrowVeg Garden Planner.
An honest comparison, including the rows they win. GrowVeg Garden Planner: $35/yr auto-renewing (or $50 one year non-recurring, $85 for two). 7-day trial, no permanent free tier. PlotToTable: free plan forever, Premium $7.99/mo, $59/yr, or $129 once for life.
Feature by feature
The table. We win 9, they win 3.
| Feature | PlotToTable | GrowVeg Garden Planner |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | What your family eats; we compute the garden backward | A blank grid you draw plants onto |
| Free tier | Full plan free, forever, no card | 7-day trial only |
| Keep your plans if you stop paying | Yes, forever (it's a pledge) | No — plans lock when the subscription ends |
| Planting dates | Your ZIP code's frost dates | Zone-based dates |
| Fell behind? Replan | One click recalculates from today | Manual date dragging |
| Plant counts for your household | Computed from servings per week | You decide how many to draw |
| Bed layout editor | Auto-generated bed map (no drawing needed) | Best-in-class manual drag-and-drop |
| Variety database | 137 crops, engine-verified data + add your own | 21,000+ varieties |
| Crop rotation memory | Not yet | Yes, multi-year |
| Live neighborhood pest alerts | Yes, free (community Pest Radar) | No |
| Grocery-savings math | $-value per crop and per plan, tracked against your real harvests | No |
| One-time-purchase option | $12 single plan or $129 lifetime | Subscription only |
Credit where due
What GrowVeg Garden Planner does well.
- The best drag-and-drop bed layout editor in the category, with shadow-casting sun visualization.
- The deepest variety database anywhere: about 408 species and over 21,000 varieties.
- Multi-year crop rotation warnings that remember what grew in each bed.
- 15+ years of polish, a huge video library, and well-liked human support.
What their users say
The complaints, sourced.
“If you cancel your subscription, you lose access to your garden plans.”
— suburbanhobbyfarmer.com review (echoed across every third-party writeup)
“As soon as your weather or location steers you off the dates, the whole schedule is thrown off... it made me constantly feel behind, off-schedule, and a little stressed.”
— permies.com forum, long-term user
“The actual layout part where you drop your plants and draw your garden is a little clunky.”
— permies.com forum
“Can feel overwhelming for someone with a very small, simple garden.”
— eathealthy365.com review
The honest verdict
If you love designing beds visually and want the biggest variety database in the world, GrowVeg is genuinely excellent and has earned its 15 years. If you want to know what to plant, how much, and when for your exact ZIP code, without drawing anything, and you want your plans to stay yours even if you stop paying, that's the job PlotToTable was built for.
Common questions
Is PlotToTable really free where GrowVeg is not?
Yes. PlotToTable generates a complete plan (plant counts, sow dates, bed map, calendar) free with no card and no trial clock; the first 3 crops come in full detail. GrowVeg offers a 7-day trial, then $35 to $50 a year.
What happens to my plans if I cancel?
On PlotToTable, nothing: every plan you made stays viewable forever, and $12 one-time plans never expire. GrowVeg locks access to your plans when the subscription lapses, which is the single most repeated complaint about it.
Is GrowVeg's layout editor better?
For manual bed design, yes: it is the best drag-and-drop editor in the category. PlotToTable skips drawing entirely and generates the layout from spacing math, which most beginners prefer and power users can still print and adapt.
Competitor pricing and features verified July 2026 from their public pages and user reviews; they change things, so check their site for current terms. Other comparisons: vs Seedtime
Try the difference in 60 seconds.
Five questions, no email, no card. If it's not for you, you lost a minute.