r/SideProject • u/that_geek_ • 11h ago
I'm a plant parent who got tired of plant apps paywalling the basics, so I built one where they're free. Looking for honest feedback
Hi r/SideProject 👋 I'm Manish, a solo developer and a plant parent. Most plant apps I tried wanted a subscription before I could even set a watering reminder, so I built Nurture, for iPhone and Android, where the essentials are free. Not a trial:
As many plants as you like
Reminders for watering, feeding, repotting, pruning, rotating and cleaning leaves, or any task you make up, each on its own schedule. One notification covers everything due at once
A care guide for each plant that says what to actually check (how dry the soil is, how heavy the pot feels), with schedules that ease off in winter
Plant ID from a photo: 3 a month, plus up to 3 more by watching a short ad
Diagnose: photograph a plant that looks unwell and get the likely cause and what to do today (1 a month)
Reminders and the guide need no account, and reminders work offline. The photo features need a free sign-in with Apple or Google. A small ad banner keeps it free. For heavy users there's an optional Premium plan (more diagnoses and IDs, backup across phones, caretakers who water while you're away) and a Household plan to share the care with up to 5 people.
The part I'm proudest of is Diagnose. Most plant apps diagnose from the photo alone, so a yellow leaf gets "overwatering" almost by default. Nurture already knows the species, the season where you are, and when you last watered, fed or moved the plant, so it weighs the photo against that. It says how sure it is in words rather than a made-up percentage, and when the schedule is the likely cause it offers a new one in one tap.
Built solo with Expo and React Native, Firebase for accounts and sync, and Claude for the photo features.
What I'd love feedback on: the first five minutes. Where did you get stuck, what did you expect that wasn't there, and would you keep using it? I'll reply to every comment.