- Direction:
- Tech
Ukrainian App PlantIn Hits 35 Million Downloads, Tops U.S. Market in Its Niche
- Publication date and time:
- Reading time:
- 2 min
Q2 2025 marked a major milestone for the Ukrainian app PlantIn, which surpassed 35 million downloads globally — making it the top-ranked app in the Plant Care category on the U.S. market. It’s a remarkable achievement for a product that started just five years ago as a pet project and has now become one of the youngest companies in the Genesis ecosystem.
What is PlantIn?
PlantIn helps users identify plants and care for them. If you receive a plant as a gift but don’t know what it is, PlantIn can recognize it using its internal plant database. If the plant appears sick, the app uses AI-powered diagnostics to detect problems and provide care recommendations.
The app added 2.7 million downloads in Q1 2025 and over 600,000 in April alone. That’s a 25% year-over-year increase, up from 28 million in April 2024. With the spring-to-fall period being peak season for both downloads and user engagement, PlantIn projects the figure could reach 3 million active users by the end of the year.
From Hobby to Product
PlantIn was launched in late 2020 by brothers Mykhailo and Dmytro Hryntsi as a side project. Once it crossed 10,000 downloads, they realized the potential was much bigger — and joined forces with Genesis, gaining access to talent, funding, and product support. Today, the company has grown to a 70-person team and operates as one of Genesis’s rising startups.
The Secret Behind Its Success
COVID-19 played an unexpected role in the app’s early traction, as many people stuck at home turned to plant care as a hobby. At the time, the market was fragmented: some apps offered identification, others offered care guides — few combined both. PlantIn did. This dual functionality helped the app quickly gain traction in the U.S., Latin America, Australia, and Europe.
By summer 2023, PlantIn had already passed the 20 million download mark.
Another core strategy? Constant product iteration.
Even small changes can yield big results. Reordering screens increased purchase conversion by 14%. Changing a single word on a button boosted clicks by 5%
This agile development process has helped shape a loyal user base and active plant care community. Personalized care plans also increase user retention — plant identification happens once, but care is ongoing.
Business Model
PlantIn runs on a freemium model. Subscriptions start at $6.99/week, while a lifetime plan costs $49.99. The company doesn’t publicly disclose financials.
In 2023, the team also launched CoinIn, an app for identifying and valuing coins, which also connects collectors with potential buyers — expanding the company’s vision into new niche markets.
The article was prepared by Scroll.media
