Seven apps that identify mushrooms from a photo. None of them is good enough to decide whether a mushroom is safe to eat, and their makers say so themselves. Where they differ is how well they help you check. Prices and features read from the app stores on 7 November 2026.
Published by the makers of Forage, one of the seven apps below. Everything about the other apps was read from their own store listings on 7 November 2026. Where another app does a job better, this page says so.
Compared 7 November 2026
App
The question it answers
Price
Platforms
Forageours
What could this be, what is it mistaken for, and who can I ask?
Free with a limited number of scans; Pro $39.99 a year or $7.99 a month with 50 scans a month
iOS, Android
Picture Mushroom
What mushroom is this?
Free to install; Premium by in-app purchase, most often listed at $29.99
iOS, Android
Shroomifyindependent, UK
What is this, even deep in the woods without signal?
iOS $5.99 once, no subscription; Android free to install with an in-app purchase
iOS, Android
Pilze 123Swift Management AG, Basel
Which of the mushrooms of Germany, Austria and Switzerland is it?
€34.99 once on the German App Store, no subscription
iOS, Android
iNaturalistnonprofit
What is this, and does someone agree?
Free
iOS, Android, web
Seekby iNaturalist
What is this living thing, without an account?
Free
iOS, Android
ObsIdentifyObservation International, Netherlands
Which wild species did I just see in Europe?
Free
iOS, Android
How often mushroom apps get it right
☠ deadlyDeath capAmanita phalloides Deadly poisonous, and exactly the mushroom an app must never get wrong. Photo: (c) Davide Puddu, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Davide Puddu · iNaturalist
Researchers at the Victorian Poisons Information Centre in Australia gave three popular apps photos of 78 mushrooms from real poisoning enquiries, each identified by a mycologist. Picture Mushroom named 49% of them correctly, Mushroom Identificator and iNaturalist 35% each. For the poisonous mushrooms the figures were 44%, 30% and 40%. The study appeared in Clinical Toxicology in 2023, and its conclusion is plain: on their own, the apps are not reliable enough to rule out a poisonous mushroom.
A test by the Swiss consumer programme Kassensturz in 2020 came out much the same: five of seven apps failed. One named a deadly death cap as an edible giant puffball, another took the deadly panther cap for a porcini.
That says less about any single app than about the method. A photo shows a mushroom from one side, while the features that separate a death cap from an edible mushroom often sit under the cap, at the base of the stem or in the smell. Use an app to learn what to check, and let a mushroom expert decide what goes into the pan.
What each app actually covers
Eight things that matter when you identify a mushroom, and which app does which. Read from the apps' own store listings on 7 November 2026.
Forage
Picture Mushroom
Shroomify
Pilze 123
iNaturalist
Seek
ObsIdentify
Photo identification of mushrooms
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Identify by features, without a photo
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Lookalikes and poisonous doubles shown
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A second opinion from people
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Identifies without signal
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What fruits near you right now
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Map or journal of your finds
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Covers more than one region
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● yes ◐ partly ○ not listed
Shroomify: nearly 500 species; weather outlooks only in supported areas.
Pilze 123: German only; species of Germany, Austria and Switzerland; photo recognition marked experimental.
ObsIdentify: Europe and the Dutch Caribbean only.
Which app for which job
Deep in the woods, without signal
Shroomify or Pilze 123. Both work fully offline and both have a key by features. Shroomify identifies photos on the phone; Pilze 123 has the far larger list for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
A second opinion from people
iNaturalist has the largest community of naturalists. Forage has a community of foragers and puts the lookalikes right next to the result, so you know what to ask about.
A German field guide
Pilze 123: more than 4,000 species, a lookalike comparison and the addresses of mushroom experts, written by one.
Free and without an account
Seek, anywhere in the world. In Europe also ObsIdentify.
One app for the whole outing
Forage: identification with lookalikes and a community, what fruits near you this week, your spots and your harvest journal.
The seven apps, one by one
What each one is good at, and what it leaves out.
Forageours
What could this be, what is it mistaken for, and who can I ask?
Photo identification for mushrooms and plants that says how sure it is (clear, likely or uncertain), lists the features to check and puts the lookalikes next to the result, with deadly and poisonous doubles flagged on their own. If it stays uncertain, you ask the community of foragers in the app. Around that: what fruits near you this week, corrected for this year's weather and soil moisture, a map of your spots and a harvest journal. Worldwide.
What it leaves out: Identification needs a connection: without signal it keeps the photo and identifies it once you are back online. There is no key to work through by features without a photo. And like every app here, it never tells you a mushroom is safe to eat.
Free with a limited number of scans; Pro $39.99 a year or $7.99 a month with 50 scans a monthiOS, Android
Picture Mushroom
What mushroom is this?
A dedicated mushroom identifier with nearly 25,000 ratings in the US App Store (4.7 on average) and, per its premium listing, more than 150,000 species. It offers several similar species to compare, warns about some toxic ones, tracks your foraging sites and suggests seasonal mushrooms for your location. 18 languages. In the 2023 study below it was the most accurate of the three apps tested.
What it leaves out: Photo identification only: no key by features and no people to ask. In that study it still named fewer than half of the specimens correctly.
Free to install; Premium by in-app purchase, most often listed at $29.99iOS, Android
Shroomify
What is this, even deep in the woods without signal?
An independent field guide that works fully offline: photo identification on the phone, a key by features (cap, gills or pores, size, how it grows), nearly 500 species with over 1,100 photos, and species accounts that cover what to check and the lookalikes. Results are ranked by what is recorded in your area this month. A quiz on deadly doubles and a logbook stored on the device. No ads, no subscription.
What it leaves out: No people to ask and no map of spots, and nearly 500 species is a fraction of what the larger guides cover. Weather outlooks need a connection and exist only in supported areas.
iOS $5.99 once, no subscription; Android free to install with an in-app purchaseiOS, Android
Pilze 123
Which of the mushrooms of Germany, Austria and Switzerland is it?
A full field guide in German, written by a mushroom expert certified by the German Mycological Society: more than 4,000 mushrooms and lichens, over 15,000 photos stored offline, a key with 21 categories and more than 100 features, a lookalike comparison, GPS spots and notes, and the addresses of mushroom experts and inspectors in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
What it leaves out: German only and limited to the mushrooms of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The app itself calls its photo recognition an experimental feature. No season view, no people to ask.
€34.99 once on the German App Store, no subscriptioniOS, Android
iNaturalist
What is this, and does someone agree?
Free and nonprofit, with the largest naturalist community anywhere: your observation is reviewed by people, and identifications enough of them agree on become research grade data. Suggestions for plants, animals and fungi worldwide, and a record of everything you have seen.
What it leaves out: Not made for foragers: no edibility context, no season, no warning about poisonous doubles with the result. In the 2023 study it named 35% of the specimens correctly.
FreeiOS, Android, web
Seek
What is this living thing, without an account?
iNaturalist's private sibling: point the camera and it suggests a species, with no registration and your location obscured by default. Badges and challenges make it a good start for families.
What it leaves out: Suggestions only: no review by people unless you sign in and post to iNaturalist, no lookalike warnings, no season.
FreeiOS, Android
ObsIdentify
Which wild species did I just see in Europe?
Free identification of wild plants, animals and fungi, trained on millions of observations from Observation.org and its Dutch and Belgian sister sites. Badges, challenges and groups; with an account, a find can be uploaded to Observation.org and checked there again.
What it leaves out: Europe and the Dutch Caribbean only, per its own listing. No lookalike comparison, no season, no edibility context.
FreeiOS, Android
Questions people actually ask
What is the best mushroom identification app?
No app is safe enough to tell you a mushroom is edible, so the best one is the one that helps you check. Picture Mushroom was the most accurate of three apps in a 2023 study, at 49%. Shroomify and Pilze 123 work offline and let you identify by features. iNaturalist has the largest community to review a find. Forage puts the lookalikes and poisonous doubles next to the result and adds a community of foragers and what fruits near you this week.
How accurate are mushroom identification apps?
Not accurate enough to eat by. In a study published in Clinical Toxicology in 2023, three popular apps named between 35% and 49% of 78 mushrooms correctly, and between 30% and 44% of the poisonous ones. A Swiss consumer test in 2020 failed five of seven apps.
Is there a free mushroom identification app?
Yes. iNaturalist and Seek are free worldwide, ObsIdentify is free in Europe. Forage is free with a limited number of scans, and Picture Mushroom is free to install with a paid premium tier. Shroomify on iOS and Pilze 123 are one-off purchases without a subscription.
Which mushroom app works offline?
Shroomify identifies photos offline and its key works without signal too. Pilze 123 works offline as a field guide, and Seek suggests species without a connection. Forage keeps your photo and identifies it once you are back online. Picture Mushroom's listing does not say.
Can I eat a mushroom if an app says it is edible?
No. Every app here says so itself. Take the whole mushroom, including the base of the stem, to a mushroom expert, a mushroom inspection service or your local mycological society, and only eat it once they have confirmed it. If you suspect poisoning, call your poison control center or emergency services right away.
All information without guarantee. This text is orientation on season and habitat, not an identification guide, and it makes no claim about whether any specific plant or mushroom is edible. Many species have toxic, some deadly, lookalikes. Never eat or use anything that has not been identified with certainty by an expert, such as a qualified mushroom inspector. We accept no liability for any harm arising from the use of this information. If you suspect poisoning, call your local poison control center or emergency services right away. Mind conservation law and property rights.
