Seattle Tree Walks vs iNaturalist
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Seattle Tree Walks
Discover Seattle's urban forest with self-guided tree walks. Learn about local trees, their history, and environmental impact. Explore over 15 routes at your own pace, perfect for nature enthusiasts and curious minds.
- Self-guided tree walks
- Explore urban forest
- Learn tree identification
- Discover historical connections
- Understand climate impact
- Over 15 routes available
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In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Trees for Seattle launches our new Tree Walk mobile app! Now you can explore Seattle’s urban forest from the safety of your living room or while on your own neighborhood stroll. This is an opportunity to learn more about the trees that make Seattle’s urban forest both unique and important with our self-guided, easy to use, mobile app. Whether you’re a budding botanist or simply interested in how Seattle’s trees contribute to a safer, healthier, more vibrant city, you’ll find an engaging Tree Walk to explore at your own convenience. For many years, dedicated volunteers from our Tree Ambassadors program have shared their extensive knowledge by creating and leading tours of the valuable and notable trees in neighborhoods across Seattle. These informative and engaging tours are the foundation of Seattle Tree Walks. Users can choose from over 15 different routes, with more options to come over the next several months. In addition to gaining some basic tree identification skills, you can explore the deep historical and cultural connections between trees and people, understand how trees are impacted by climate change, and much more. Trees for Seattle is the umbrella program for all of the City of Seattle's urban forestry efforts. Our commitment is to ensure that Seattle's urban forest is healthy, vital, and growing.
iNaturalist
Identify plants, animals, and fungi using your camera or imported photos. Get AI-powered species suggestions and connect with a global community of nature enthusiasts to learn more about the natural world and contribute to scientific conservation efforts.
- AI species identification
- Record species observations
- Contribute to scientific data
- Explore biodiversity
- Connect with nature enthusiasts
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Your photos of plants, animals, fungi, and more can help protect nature all around the world. iNaturalist is free, nonprofit, and community-powered. iNaturalist helps millions of people learn about and document the nature around them. Point your camera at plants, animals, and fungi to get instant identification suggestions, then share your photos or sound recordings as an "observation." Then, see your observation get reviewed by a global community of knowledgeable nature-lovers to turn it into a useful data point for science and conservation efforts. Your everyday moments of curiosity can directly contribute to protecting nature, and you don't need any previous experience or knowledge to get started. iNaturalist is a mission-driven nonprofit dedicated to connecting people to nature and advancing biodiversity science and conservation, and is freely available thanks to the generous support of our community. KEY FEATURES • Identify species from anywhere in the world • Contribute to science by sharing your observations • Keep a record of species you see • Explore and protect biodiversity • Connect with and learn from other nature enthusiasts
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: iNaturalist at 4.1 against Seattle Tree Walks's 3.7. iNaturalist also leads on ratings volume (723 vs 18) and chart position (#113 vs unranked). Seattle Tree Walks's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs fortnightly) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.1). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
iNaturalist holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iNaturalist has 723 ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of Seattle Tree Walks's written reviews are positive against 49% of iNaturalist's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Seattle Tree Walks ships an update every 2 days, iNaturalist fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Seattle Tree Walks | iNaturalist |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (18 ratings) | 4.1 (723 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better | 48.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 18 | 723 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #113 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 47 MB | 220 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | City of Seattle | iNaturalist |
Customer experience
Seattle Tree Walks
iNaturalist
Bugs and requests
Seattle Tree Walks
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
iNaturalist
Reported bugs
5 issues- App freezes when suggesting IDs on audio clips
- Inconsistent tap responsiveness in search menu
- Observation time not accurately filling based on upload time
- Map showing incorrect observation locations
- Crashes and performance issues on some devices
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to type in address/coordinates for location
- Option to add observations to projects during upload
- Batch editing/uploading of observations
- More precise search filters (e.g. aquatic, parasitic, migratory)
- Bring back colored observation markers on map
In-app purchases
Seattle Tree Walks
No in-app purchases
iNaturalist
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Seattle Tree Walks free?
Is iNaturalist free?
Which has better reviews, Seattle Tree Walks or iNaturalist?
Do Seattle Tree Walks or iNaturalist have ads?
Which is updated more often, Seattle Tree Walks or iNaturalist?
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