# vTree vs Urban Trees

The clearest difference is rating: vTree at 3.3 against Urban Trees's 2.3. vTree also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (37% vs 17%). Urban Trees's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 11 months) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Urban Trees sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. vTree asks for nothing beyond the download.

vTree holds the better App Store score, 3.3 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: vTree has 46 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 37% of vTree's written reviews are positive against 17% of Urban Trees's.

vTree ships an update every 11 months, Urban Trees every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | vTree | Urban Trees |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.3 (46 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/vtree/id576191197/reviews)** | [2.3 (9 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/urban-trees/id1483392329/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **46** | 9 |
| Positive reviews | **36.5% of reviews** | 16.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 11 months | **Every 2 weeks** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free** |
| Size | 10 MB | 39 MB |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | **13.2** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [John Peterson](https://appshunter.io/developer/1175417672) | [Harald Lamer](https://appshunter.io/developer/1309441808) |

## What reviewers say

### vTree

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/vtree/id576191197)

Identify woody plants across North America with detailed fact sheets, thousands of images, and location-based filtering. Get expert help from "Dr. Dendro" for tricky identifications.

**Highlights:** 969 North American woody plants, Thousands of color images, Location-based species filtering, Search by keyword, Identify via attribute questions, Expert identification help

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Comprehensive database
- 👍 Good for non-photo ID
- 👍 Informative descriptions
- 👍 Identifies location and altitude
- 👍 High-quality photos (when they load)

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🐛 App won't open
- 🐛 Downloads to 123% and freezes
- 🐛 Stuck on "downloading species"
- 🐛 Limited species offered

**Reported bugs**

- Eternally spinning “loading species” then crashes
- Won’t open, downloads to 123% then freezes
- Stuck “downloading species”
- Crashes when updating location off grid
- Missing photos

**Requested features**

- Allow offline use by downloading all fact sheets
- Update app for newer iPhone screen sizes
- Editable list of recently identified trees
- Search trees by leaf
- Break down database into regions/states


### Urban Trees

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/urban-trees/id1483392329)

Identify trees in supported cities using augmented reality. Point your device at a tree to see its species label, or view nearby trees on a map. Access Wikipedia details for each species.

**Highlights:** Augmented reality tree identification, Species labels displayed via AR, Map view of nearby trees, Access to Wikipedia species details, Supported by open city data, Apple Watch integration

**Features:** Apple Watch app

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Small Tip | $0.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is vTree free?

vTree is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Urban Trees free?

Urban Trees is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, vTree or Urban Trees?

vTree is rated higher. vTree averages 3.3 out of 5 from 46 ratings, while Urban Trees averages 2.3 from 9 ratings.

### Do vTree or Urban Trees have ads?

Neither vTree nor Urban Trees shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, vTree or Urban Trees?

vTree ships an update every 11 months, and Urban Trees every 2 weeks. Most recently, vTree was updated on October 11, 2026 and Urban Trees on October 15, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*