vTree vs Service Forester's Toolkit
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
vTree
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.
- 969 North American woody plants
- Thousands of color images
- Location-based species filtering
- Search by keyword
- Identify via attribute questions
- Expert identification help
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Virginia Tech Tree Identification brings the award winning Virginia Tech digital dendrology material to your iPhone. It contains fact sheets for 969 woody plants from all over North America with an in-depth description, range map and thousands of color images of leaves, flowers, fruit, twigs, bark and form. Users can narrow the species list for any location in North America using the phone's GPS or any entered address or zip code. Basically the application can become "The Woody Plants of Where You Are Standing." For example, it can become "The Woody Plants of Southwestern Oregon," "The Woody Plants of Central Park," or "The Woody Plants of 37.108 lat., -80.452 long., elevation 2118." Users can further narrow the species list by answering a series of very simple tree attribute questions such as where the plant is growing, leaf shape, leaf arrangement, flower color or fruit type. The species list can also be narrowed by typing a keyword such as oak, Abies, red or palm. For example, if "oak" is typed, only oaks found in the defined area will be listed. A feature also allows you to send any tree related question to "Dr. Dendro," a tree expert in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation at Virginia Tech. You can send a tree description or pictures of your plant and experts will help with identification. KEY FEATURES •969 woody plants from all over North America. •Over 6,400 color photographs of leaves, flowers, fruit, twig, bark, form, and range map for each species. •In depth description of all plant parts. •Narrows species list based on your location and elevation using the device's GPS or user entered location. •Search for species by a key word, e.g. maple. •Identify species by answering a series of simple questions. A picture is displayed showing what is being asked. •Navigate between species with a push of a button. •Send a tree question to "Dr. Dendro," a tree expert at Virginia Tech. VIRGINIA TECH TREE IDENTIFICATION DIGITAL MATERIAL Visit our web sites at: http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu Woody Plants in North America, 2012, Kendall/Hunt Publishing is a multimedia tutorial on DVD covering 920 woody plants with over 23,000 color photographs of leaves (summer and fall), flowers, fruits, twigs, bark and form for each plant. The software displays multiple images of all plant parts so user can develop a "feel" for normal field variation. A customizable self-quizzing section allows users to evaluate their progress in plant identification. For more features on this software, visit: http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/wpina.htm NOTES The 650 MB database of tree photographs and text is downloaded from our server. We recommend you install Virginia Tech Tree Identification using a fast WIFI connection. A cellular connection will generally be too slow. Text and photography by John R. Seiler, John A. Peterson Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Tech and Ed Jensen, Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University.
Service Forester's Toolkit
A pocket guide for foresters and natural resource professionals, offering quick reference for essential field measurements. It includes data on basic forest and land measurements, tree measurements, volume tables, and site index charts.
- Basic forest and land measurements
- Tree measurements
- Volume tables
- Site index charts
- Pocket-sized reference
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The Service Forester's Handbook and the everyday field calculations, together in one app that works with no signal. Run a timber cruise, scale a log, look up a volume table, or check a site index curve from the truck or the back forty. Built for service foresters, consulting foresters, loggers, forestry students, and landowners who need a quick, dependable answer in the field. CRUISE AND MEASURE - Timber cruise by prism (BAF) or fixed-radius plot, with per-acre stand estimates, including per-acre board feet (Doyle), that update as you tally. - Basal area, trees per acre, and tree spacing. TREES AND LOGS - Stem volume in cubic feet, plus diameter or height at any point on the stem, from DBH, total height, and form class. - Board-foot (MBF) log rules: Doyle, Scribner, and International 1/4-inch. SITE, SOIL, AND MORE - Site index curves by species and region. - Soil texture from the USDA texture triangle. - Surveying corrections, unit conversions, and forestry financial tools. THE HANDBOOK, OFFLINE - The Service Forester's Handbook reference on your device: its tables, curves, and charts, including cordwood, stocking, and log-grade tables. - Values are drawn from the USDA Service Forester's Handbook. BUILT FOR THE FIELD - Field-Bright mode for a high-contrast screen in direct sun. - Switch between imperial and metric units. - Adjustable text size and one-tap favorites for the pages and tools you use most. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT - No account, no ads, no tracking, and no internet connection required. Nothing leaves your device. Service Forester's Toolkit is published by the University of Georgia and Southern Regional Extension Forestry.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Service Forester's Toolkit at free against vTree's paid. Service Forester's Toolkit also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 11 months) and rating (3.6 vs 3.3). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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.
Service Forester's Toolkit holds the better App Store score, 3.6 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 46 and 16 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 37% of vTree's written reviews are positive against 42% of Service Forester's Toolkit's.
vTree ships an update every 11 months, Service Forester's Toolkit weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and July 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | vTree | Service Forester's Toolkit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (46 ratings) | 3.6 (16 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 36.5% of reviews | 41.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 46 — better | 16 |
| Update frequency | Every 11 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | John Peterson | Wiliam Hubbard |
Customer experience
vTree
Service Forester's Toolkit
In-app purchases
vTree
No in-app purchases
Service Forester's Toolkit
No in-app purchases





