The shortlist
4 things that do it.
A mushroom identifier app and online encyclopedia that the vendor calls an AI mushroom expert in your pocket, covering 5,000+ mushroom species.
- Free
- The homepage says you can identify thousands of mushrooms for free. Its FAQ also mentions a Premium subscription, and the price is not on the pages we read.
- Paid
- price not checked
- Best at
- Photo identification on your phone, from a new picture or one in your gallery, with a species database behind it.
- The catch
- Its terms of use say its content cannot be used as any basis for eating any mushroom or plant. The homepage itself shows no such warning.
- ios
- android
A camera app from iNaturalist that uses image recognition to identify wildlife, plants and fungi.
- Free
- Not verified: the page says no registration is involved but does not state a price.
- Paid
- price not checked
- Best at
- Casual identification with no registration, based on observations identified by the iNaturalist community.
- The catch
- It covers all nature, not only mushrooms, and the page gives no edibility or foraging guidance. The page does not state a price.
- ios
- android
A website for identifying mushrooms and fungi online from up to 4 photos, which shows similar species and a warning if the mushroom could be poisonous.
- Free
- Quick ID has a limited free allowance plus 1 free follow-up question per identification; Advanced Analysis is not included free.
- Paid
- from $4.99 once (25 credits)
- Best at
- Working in a phone or computer browser, with a clear safety warning and photo guidance for lookalikes such as the death cap.
- The catch
- Advanced Analysis is paid only, and the free Quick ID allowance is described only as limited.
- web
A web identifier that returns a ranked list of likely species from photos, with toxicity and lookalike warnings.
- Free
- A free tier exists, but the allowance is stated differently across the homepage and pricing page: 2 scans free, 30 free credits, and 3 free lifetime identifications.
- Paid
- from $4.99 per month (Starter)
- Best at
- Asking for several photo angles (cap, stem, gills, base) and flagging dangerous lookalikes.
- The catch
- Its own pages disagree on the free allowance (2 scans, 30 credits, or 3 lifetime identifications). It is a separate company from the other site with a similar name.
- web
How they compare
Which one suits you, and why.
If you want a dedicated mushroom app on your phone
Picture Mushroom is a mushroom identifier for iOS and Android with a database of 5,000+ species. The vendor describes it as an AI mushroom expert in your pocket. You can identify a mushroom from a new picture or one already in your gallery, and the homepage says you can identify thousands of mushrooms for free.
The catch is that the price is unclear and the safety message is easy to miss. The FAQ mentions a Premium subscription, but the price is not verified, because it is not shown on the vendor pages we read. The homepage itself shows no warning about eating mushrooms. The terms of use do, and we cover that below.
If you want a general nature app that includes fungi
Seek by iNaturalist is a camera app that uses image recognition to identify wildlife, plants and fungi. It needs no registration and draws on observations identified by the iNaturalist community. That suits you if mushrooms are one interest among many.
Because it covers all nature, it is a generalist and not a mushroom specialist. Its page gives no edibility or foraging guidance. It does not state a price either, so whether it is free is not verified.
If you want a browser tool with a clear safety warning
Mushroom Identifier at mushroomidentification.online is a website that works on a phone or computer without a download. You can upload up to 4 photos. It shows similar species and displays a warning if the mushroom could be poisonous. It also gives photo guidance for lookalikes such as the death cap.
It is web only, and Advanced Analysis is paid only. The free Quick ID allowance is described only as limited, plus 1 free follow-up question per identification. It offers one-time purchases with no subscription or auto-renewal.
If you want a monthly plan with a free trial
Mushroom Identifier at mushroomidentifiers.com is a separate company from the site above, despite the similar name. It returns a ranked list of likely species from photos, with toxicity and lookalike warnings. It asks for several photo angles (cap, stem, gills, base) and flags dangerous lookalikes. Plans start at $4.99 per month, and each includes a 7-day free trial and a 14-day money-back guarantee. The first month is $2.49 after the trial.
Its own pages disagree on the free allowance, so the real amount is not verified. They give it as 2 scans, 30 credits, or 3 lifetime identifications. It is web only.
What the paid options cost
The two paid web tools count usage differently. At mushroomidentification.online, a credit pack costs $4.99 once for 25 credits, with Quick ID at 5 credits and Advanced Analysis at 10 credits per use. Monthly access is $14.99 once and yearly access is $29.99 once.
At mushroomidentifiers.com, the Starter plan gives 120 credits a month, which it describes as 12 IDs a month. Explorer is $9.99 per month and gives 55 IDs. Pro is $19.99 per month and gives 120 IDs.
Paying is only worth it if you want more identifications or extra analysis. For example, mushroomidentification.online charges $29.99 once for 12 months of unlimited Quick ID and Advanced Analysis. A paid plan does not make a result safe to eat.
What to watch for
The catches worth knowing first.
Three of the four vendors here warn against eating a mushroom on the strength of its result. Seek's page gives no such warning. Picture Mushroom's terms of use say its content cannot be used as any basis for eating any mushroom or plant, and that the risks and responsibility are borne by you. That wording is in the terms, not on the homepage.
mushroomidentification.online says results are for informational and educational purposes only, may be inaccurate, and should never be relied on to decide whether a wild mushroom is safe to eat, cook, touch or handle. mushroomidentifiers.com says to treat every result as a working hypothesis and to confirm it with a spore print, a trusted field guide or a qualified mycologist before handling or eating a wild mushroom.
Check the free allowance on mushroomidentifiers.com before you rely on it, since its pages state it three different ways.
The same shortlist, as a table
| Thing | Free tier | Paid from | Platforms | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Picture Mushroom | The homepage says you can identify thousands of mushrooms for free. Its FAQ also mentions a Premium subscription, and the price is not on the pages we read. | not checked | ios, android | Its terms of use say its content cannot be used as any basis for eating any mushroom or plant. The homepage itself shows no such warning. |
| Seek by iNaturalist | Not verified: the page says no registration is involved but does not state a price. | not checked | ios, android | It covers all nature, not only mushrooms, and the page gives no edibility or foraging guidance. The page does not state a price. |
| Mushroom Identifier (mushroomidentification.online) | Quick ID has a limited free allowance plus 1 free follow-up question per identification; Advanced Analysis is not included free. | $4.99 once (25 credits) | web | Advanced Analysis is paid only, and the free Quick ID allowance is described only as limited. |
| Mushroom Identifier (mushroomidentifiers.com) | A free tier exists, but the allowance is stated differently across the homepage and pricing page: 2 scans free, 30 free credits, and 3 free lifetime identifications. | $4.99 per month (Starter) | web | Its own pages disagree on the free allowance (2 scans, 30 credits, or 3 lifetime identifications). It is a separate company from the other site with a similar name. |
How we checked
What we read, and what we haven't tested yet.
On 2026-10-09 we read Picture Mushroom's homepage, FAQ and terms of use, Seek's page on the iNaturalist site, and the homepages and pricing pages of two separate web identifiers. ObsIdentify mentions only wild animals and plants, and Mushroom Observer needs a login, so neither is listed. Nothing was tested hands-on, and we did not verify accuracy.
If none of these fit
The manual way.
If this is about eating, the vendors' own warnings point away from an app and towards a spore print, a trusted field guide or a qualified mycologist. If you want to identify other things, see our pages on an app that identifies plants and an app for identifying bugs.