# Soil Explorer vs LeafByte

The clearest difference is review sentiment: LeafByte at 100% against Soil Explorer's 0%. LeafByte also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.1) and update cadence (every 5 months vs every 11 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

LeafByte holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 13 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Soil Explorer's written reviews are positive against 100% of LeafByte's.

Soil Explorer ships an update every 11 months, LeafByte every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Soil Explorer | LeafByte |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.1 (9 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/soil-explorer/id996159565/reviews) | **[4.8 (13 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/leafbyte/id1362985339/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 9 | **13** |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 11 months | **Every 5 months** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 172 MB | 21 MB |
| Requires iOS | 14.7 | **9.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Purdue University](https://appshunter.io/developer/371741257) | [Abigail Getman-Pickering](https://appshunter.io/developer/1362985338) |

## What reviewers say

### Soil Explorer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/soil-explorer/id996159565)

Discover detailed soil property and landscape maps for U.S. states and global soil distributions. Understand how map features relate to real-world observations. This educational tool uses data from USDA and USGS to illustrate complex soil-landscape relationships.

**Highlights:** Detailed soil property maps, Landscape visualizations, Global soil distribution maps, Field observation correlation, USDA NRCS data integration, USGS data integration

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### LeafByte

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/leafbyte/id1362985339)

This application allows users to quickly and accurately measure leaf area and herbivory by taking photos. It supports various leaf types and conditions, and saves data to spreadsheets. Features include freehand drawing for reconstruction and automatic skew correction.

**Highlights:** Measure leaf area and herbivory, Save data to spreadsheets, Analyze leaves of any size, Reconstruct missing leaf margins, Measure dark or light plant material, Read barcodes, Correct photo skew

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Soil Explorer free?

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

### Is LeafByte free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Soil Explorer or LeafByte?

LeafByte is rated higher. Soil Explorer averages 4.1 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while LeafByte averages 4.8 from 13 ratings.

### Do Soil Explorer or LeafByte have ads?

Neither Soil Explorer nor LeafByte shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Soil Explorer or LeafByte?

Soil Explorer ships an update every 11 months, and LeafByte every 5 months. Most recently, Soil Explorer was updated on October 24, 2026 and LeafByte on October 29, 2026.

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