Comparison

GrowPilot.guide vs DrainMaster Plus

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

Head to head
About

GrowPilot.guide

Features
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Grow diary for legal home growing: watering, feeding, pH and EC in one place. Plant analysis by photo, harvest reminders for your strain and over 200 grow guides. Running a clean grow takes more than a notebook. GrowPilot.guide keeps up with you. GROW DIARY Watering, feeding, growth stage, pH: everything goes into one diary. No juggling three apps, spreadsheets or scraps of paper. PHOTO CHECK Leaves looking off? Snap a photo and get an analysis. Deficiencies, pests and stress are spotted early, before a whole grow goes wrong. OUTDOOR WEATHER PUSH Growing outdoors? During the outdoor season, a push every morning for your exact location. Frost, heat, heavy rain: you know before your plant feels it. INDOOR HARVEST REMINDER GrowPilot.guide knows the flowering time of your strain and lets you know when harvest could be near. No guesswork, no calendar stress. PH AND EC Log pH and EC, keep the optimal ranges in view and see right away when a value is out of range. GROW GUIDES From germination to harvest, for first-timers and for growers with twenty runs behind them. COMMUNITY, IF YOU LIKE Public grow diaries, follow real grows, show your own results. PRO FEATURES Analysis history, more active grows and extended plant analysis, as a monthly subscription via in-app purchase. Available in German, English, Spanish, Dutch and French. GDPR compliant. PLEASE NOTE GrowPilot.guide is a diary and guide for legal home cultivation only, where permitted under the laws of your country or region. No cannabis is sold in the app, and the app does not promote consumption. For adults 18+ only. Terms: https://growpilot.guide/agb Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

DrainMaster Plus

Features
Read full description

DrainMaster Plus shows you whether your plants get the right water and feed. Measure what goes into the pot and what drains out, and the app warns you early when salt builds up or the pH drifts. Every plant gets its own journal. Track electrical conductivity (EC), pH and temperature of your feed (nutrient solution) and of the water that drains out (runoff), in µS/cm, mS/cm or PPM (TDS). Calculators for humidity (VPD chart), light (DLI) and EC to PPM, a nutrient calculator for mixing and a grow journal (grow log, plant diary) with photos. For soil, coco coir, hydroponics, houseplants and indoor growing. Live readings over Bluetooth from compatible meters (pH meter, EC meter, pH pen). MEASURE • Guided measurement in a few steps or quick measurement • EC, pH and temperature for input and runoff • Bluetooth: live values directly from Apera meters (e.g. PC60-Z, PH60-Z, EC60-Z) • Display in µS/cm, mS/cm or PPM UNDERSTAND • Recommendations per plant to spot overfeeding, salt buildup and pH problems early • History and charts for every plant • Timeline with germination, stage changes, photos and notes • AI assistant: ask questions about your plant, the answers take its measurements into account (uses coins) TOOLS • VPD, DLI and EC/PPM calculators • Nutrient mixer COMMUNITY • Blog with posts and comments, translated automatically • Report content, block users, moderation with the option to appeal YOUR DATA • Works offline too, measurements and plants are stored on your device • Backup export and import • Optional DrainMaster Cloud: sync and automatic backup on up to 5 devices, 5 GB of storage for photos and 60 coins per month for AI features In 10 languages: German, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Arabic. Suitable for houseplants, hobby gardens, hydroponics and small professional setups. DRAINMASTER CLOUD (SUBSCRIPTION) DrainMaster Cloud is a monthly subscription that renews automatically. The price is shown in the app before purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. The subscription renews unless it is cancelled in your account settings at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Terms of Use: Apple's standard Terms of Use (EULA) apply: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://drain-master.de/datenschutz/

Screenshots

GrowPilot.guide4 screens
DrainMaster Plus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: GrowPilot.guide at none against DrainMaster Plus's 5. On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. DrainMaster Plus sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. GrowPilot.guide asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GrowPilot.guide ships an update every 6 days, DrainMaster Plus every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference Ā· 5 level
GrowPilot.guide versus DrainMaster Plus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGrowPilot.guideDrainMaster Plus
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.616.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB82 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperBenjamin Riedel – GrowPilot.guidekobosil.me Development

In-app purchases

None

GrowPilot.guide

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

DrainMaster Plus

Subscriptions1
  • DrainMaster Cloud Monthly$3.991 Month
One-time4
  • 50 Credits$1.99
  • 150 Coins$3.99
  • 400 Coins$8.99
Show 1 more
  • 1000 Coins$17.99

Questions

Is GrowPilot.guide free?
GrowPilot.guide is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is DrainMaster Plus free?
DrainMaster Plus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do GrowPilot.guide or DrainMaster Plus have ads?
Neither GrowPilot.guide nor DrainMaster Plus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, GrowPilot.guide or DrainMaster Plus?
GrowPilot.guide ships an update every 6 days, and DrainMaster Plus every 2 weeks. Most recently, GrowPilot.guide was updated on October 25, 2026 and DrainMaster Plus on October 30, 2026.

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