LumenLeaf vs Luxdeck

LumenLeaf turns your phone into a real PAR / PPFD grow light meter for monstera, fiddle leaf fig, pothos, snake plant, succulents, orchids, microgreens, herbs, hydroponics, grow tents and legal home cultivation — all free, offline, with no account, no ads, and no subscription. Measure photosynthetically active radiation (PAR / PPFD), Daily Light Integral (DLI), illuminance (lux / foot-candle) and color temperature (Kelvin) directly with your phone's camera and ambient light sensor. WHAT YOU CAN MEASURE - PPFD in µmol/m²/s — real-time photon flux density - DLI in mol/m²/d — daily light integral with photoperiod input - Lux and foot-candle illuminance - Color temperature in Kelvin (CCT) - Per-light-source readings: Sunlight, White LED, HPS, CMH, Fluorescent, Mixed WHY LUMENLEAF - 100% free — every feature, every plant preset, no paywalls - No account, no email, no sign-up - Works fully offline - Available in 20 languages from launch - Honest about accuracy — we tell you when you're on camera mode vs ALS estimate - No physical hardware to buy — interactive printer-paper diffuser walkthrough - Zero data collection, no analytics SDK, no advertising IDs PERFECT FOR - Houseplant parents — monstera, fiddle leaf, pothos, snake plant, calathea, ZZ - Microgreen growers - Indoor herb gardens — basil, mint, rosemary, oregano - Succulents, cacti and orchids - Hydroponic and aeroponic setups - Grow tent hobbyists - Aquarium plant keepers (v1.1) - Legal home cultivation WHAT WE MEASURE THAT OTHER APPS HIDE LumenLeaf is the only free grow light meter that openly distinguishes camera-grade readings from ambient light sensor (ALS) estimates. If your phone does not have a calibration profile, we tell you — no silent fallback that quietly halves your accuracy. HOW IT WORKS LumenLeaf uses your phone's rear camera in RAW mode (when supported) for research-grade illuminance, then converts to PPFD using light-source-specific coefficients. On phones without RAW support, we fall back to the ambient light sensor and clearly mark which mode you are on. A simple printer-paper diffuser is required — build one in under 2 minutes with our visual guide.

Luxdeck turns your iPhone camera into a light meter. Point it at a lamp, a window, or a grow light and read four things at once: illuminance in lux (or foot-candles), PPFD and DLI for plants, and the color temperature of the light in kelvin. Most light meter apps make you buy or clip on a diffuser dome before the numbers mean anything. Luxdeck reads straight from the camera, so you can pull it out and measure whenever a question comes up: is this corner bright enough for the fern, how warm is this bulb, is the desk lit well enough to work. WHAT IT MEASURES Lux and foot-candles for everyday lighting. PPFD, the light plants actually use for photosynthesis. DLI, the total light a spot receives over a day. Color temperature in kelvin, from warm tungsten to cool daylight, with a warm-to-cool scale so you can read it at a glance. BUILT TO BE HONEST Every reading carries a small badge that tells you how confident the measurement is and whether the app has been tuned for your specific phone. No hidden fudging, no pretending a phone camera is a lab sensor. WORKS ANYWHERE, KEEPS TO ITSELF Everything runs on the phone. There is no account to create, no network call, and no data leaves the device. The camera is used only to read light in the moment; frames are never stored or sent. FOR GROWERS AND EVERYONE ELSE If you keep plants, Luxdeck reads PPFD and DLI so you can match a spot to what a plant needs. If you shoot photos, set up a room, or just want to know how bright and how warm a light is, the same numbers are there without any gardening jargon in the way. Free to use. A Premium upgrade unlocks unlimited saved history and CSV export for people who log readings over time. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.luxdeckapp.com/terms