Comparison

Philips Hue vs Seed Buddy

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Philips Hue

Control and customize your smart lights and accessories from anywhere. Organize lights into rooms, set moods with pre-designed or custom scenes, and automate your lighting to fit your daily routine. Enhance home security with motion detection and real-time monitoring.

Highlights
  • Organize lights by rooms/zones
  • Remote light control
  • Hue scene gallery
  • Home security features
  • Natural light automation
  • Sync lights with media
  • Voice control integration
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

The official Philips Hue app is the most comprehensive way to organize, control, and customize your Philips Hue smart lights and accessories. Organize your smart lights Group your lights into Rooms or Zones — your entire downstairs floor or all the lights in the living room, for example — that mirror the physical rooms in your home. Easily control your lights — from anywhere Use the app to control your lights anywhere you have an internet connection. Explore the Hue scene gallery Created by professional lighting designers, the scenes in the scene gallery can help you set the mood for any occasion. You can even create your own scenes based on a photo or your favorite colors. Set up bright home security  Make your home feel safer, no matter where you are. The Security Center lets you program your Secure cameras, Secure contact sensors, and indoor motion sensors to send you alerts when they detect activity. Trigger light and sound alarms, call the authorities or a trusted contact, and monitor your home in real-time. Get the best light for any moment of the day Let your lights change automatically throughout the day with the Natural light scene — so you feel more energized, focused, relaxed, or rested at the right times. Just set the scene to watch your lights change with the sun’s movement, transitioning from cool blue tones in the morning to warmer, relaxing hues for sunset. Automate your lights Make your smart lights work around your daily routine. Whether you want your lights to gently wake you up in the morning or greet you when you get home, setting up customizable automations in the Philips Hue app is effortless. Sync your lights to TV, music, and games Make your lights flash, dance, dim, brighten, and change color in sync with your screen or sound! With the Philips Hue Play HDMI sync box, the Philips Hue Sync for TV or desktop apps, or Spotify, you can create totally immersive experiences. Set up voice control Use Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant to control your smart lights with voice commands. Turn lights on and off, dim and brighten, or even change colors — completely hands-free. Use Siri Shortcuts for quick control Use the Shortcuts app to create shortcuts that you can place into widgets on your Home Screen for even faster control of your lights. Turn lights on or off, adjust their brightness and temperature, or set scenes — all without even opening the app. Learn more about the official Philips Hue app: www.philips-hue.com/app. Read the Philips Hue Privacy Notice at www.philips-hue.com/privacy. Note: Some features in this app require a Philips Hue Bridge.

About

Seed Buddy

Never forget what you planted again. This app uses NFC stickers to label your plants, providing instant access to names, photos, and growing notes via your phone. Plan your seed trays with custom layouts and export your garden collection.

Highlights
  • Smart NFC plant labels
  • Instant plant profile scanning
  • Customizable seed tray planner
  • Photo storage for plant details
  • Export garden collection (CSV, HTML)
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Ever stuck a lolly stick in a pot and watched the rain wash the name away? Seed Buddy fixes that forever for the price of a packet of lolly sticks. Write your plant's identity to a cheap NFC sticker, stick it on a pot, raised bed, or greenhouse shelf, and walk away. Months later, hold your phone near the tag -- instantly see the plant's name, photos, and all your growing notes. No squinting at faded handwriting. No guessing. SMART NFC PLANT LABELS Create a plant with a name, photos, and freeform notes -- sowing dates, feeding schedules, whatever you need. Then tap "Write NFC Tag" and hold a sticker to your phone. Done. Write as many tags as you like for the same plant -- one for the pot, one for the seed packet, one for the allotment map on the shed wall. SCAN AND GO Walking the garden wondering "what did I plant here?" Hold your phone near any Seed Buddy tag. The plant's full profile appears instantly -- photos, notes, everything. Just tap and know. SEED TRAY PLANNER Planning your spring propagation? Create a seed tray with custom rows and columns, then tap cells to assign plants. Each plant gets its own colour, so you can see at a glance what's growing where. Add or remove rows and columns as your plans change. Perfect for windowsill trays, heated propagators, or mapping out an entire greenhouse shelf. PHOTOGRAPH EVERYTHING Snap photos of seed packets, plant labels, or the plants themselves. Every photo is stored right alongside the plant's notes, so you always have the variety name, sowing instructions, and spacing details to hand -- even when you're standing in the garden with muddy gloves. EXPORT YOUR COLLECTION Share your tray layouts as a CSV spreadsheet (filter by tray, see every cell's row and column) or a beautifully formatted HTML report with embedded photos and colour-coded tray maps. Email it, AirDrop it, or save it to Files. Great for keeping records, sharing plans with fellow gardeners, or printing for the potting bench. 100% PRIVATE. 100% FREE. No ads. No account. No internet connection required. No data ever leaves your device. Seed Buddy works entirely offline -- your garden is your business. PERFECT FOR - Allotment holders juggling dozens of varieties - Greenhouse growers tracking propagation trays - Balcony gardeners making the most of every pot - Anyone who's ever forgotten what they planted Cheap NFC stickers (NTAG215) are available online for pennies. Stick them anywhere -- they're waterproof, frost-proof, and never fade.

Screenshots

Philips Hue4 screens
Seed Buddy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Philips Hue at Free against Seed Buddy's $1.99. Philips Hue also leads on ratings volume (118K vs 1) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly). Seed Buddy's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Philips Hue is free to download; Seed Buddy costs $1.99 up front. Philips Hue sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Seed Buddy asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Seed Buddy holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Philips Hue has 118K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Philips Hue ships an update every 2 weeks, Seed Buddy monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Philips Hue versus Seed Buddy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhilips HueSeed Buddy
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.7 (118K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings118K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#202 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size248 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSignify Netherlands B.V.Patrick Strobel

Bugs and requests

Philips Hue

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Lights not responding to app commands
  • Scenes and automations not working as expected
  • Frequent app crashes and freezes
  • Inability to log in or sync with account
  • Erratic behavior after software updates

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to control lights individually in a room
  • More dynamic and customizable lighting scenes
  • Seamless integration between multiple Hue bridges
  • Improved automation and scheduling options
  • Restore removed timer and widget functionality

Seed Buddy

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Philips Hue

Subscriptions9
  • Motion Aware Monthly Plan$0.991 Month
  • Sync TV-app for LG (1 Month)$2.991 Month
  • Secure Basic for 1 camera$3.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • Secure Basic for 2 cameras$7.991 Month
  • Secure Plus$9.991 Month
  • Motion Aware Yearly Plan$9.991 Year
  • Secure Basic for 1 camera$39.991 Year
  • Secure Basic for 2 cameras$79.991 Year
  • Secure Plus$99.991 Year
One-time1
  • Sync TV-app for LG (Lifetime)$129.99
None

Seed Buddy

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Philips Hue free?
Philips Hue is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Seed Buddy free?
Seed Buddy costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Philips Hue or Seed Buddy?
Seed Buddy is rated higher. Philips Hue averages 4.7 out of 5 from 118K ratings, while Seed Buddy averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Philips Hue or Seed Buddy have ads?
Neither Philips Hue nor Seed Buddy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Philips Hue or Seed Buddy?
Philips Hue ships an update every 2 weeks, and Seed Buddy monthly. Most recently, Philips Hue was updated on November 4, 2026 and Seed Buddy on October 28, 2026.

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