GardenDraft vs Garden Planner 3
Garden Planner 3 from Small Blue Printer is a desktop landscape design tool. The key difference is scope: Garden Planner draws a space, and it has no planting calendar of any kind.
| GardenDraft | Garden Planner 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 1 garden, 3 beds, no card | No — 15-day trial, exports watermarked |
| Platform | Web on any device, built for touch | Windows and macOS desktop only |
| Planting dates | NOAA climate normals for your ZIP, station named | None — no calendar, zone, or frost feature |
| 3D view | Beds and plants at real height and spread, colored by growth phase | Yes |
| Companion + succession | Companion reasons and succession chains | Not a feature |
| Where your plans live | Your account; PDF and calendar-feed export | Local files on your own computer |
Where GardenDraft is the stronger pick
- Planting dates at all. Garden Planner has no calendar, frost, or zone feature.
- A free tier you can keep using, rather than a 15-day trial with watermarked exports.
- It opens on a phone, in the garden.
- Companion reasons, succession chains, journal, harvest log, and seed inventory.
The bottom line
If your question is when to sow and when to transplant, Garden Planner 3 does not answer it. GardenDraft does, free, on any device.
Free on one garden — no credit card. Comparison last reviewed 2026-08-03.
New to planning a garden?
Free GardenDraft guides for your first season: