Online landscape design service with human designers, full plans, plant lists, and contractor matchmaking.
Real redesign: Rustic front yard. Drag to compare.
Price
$19
per month, 250 designs
Turnaround
Under 2 minutes
Unlimited re-rolls on every plan
Best at
Unlimited iterations on your own photo, before you spend a peso on plants
Yardzen, as it looks today.
Price
$995–$3,495
one-time, per project
Turnaround
5–10 business days
Per design round
Best at
A build-ready plan with a climate-specific plant list and vetted contractors
The short answer
Yardzen wins if you want one finished, build-ready plan from a human designer and have $1,000+ to spend. AI Garden Design wins if you want to explore many styles quickly, iterate without limits, or preview many looks cheaply before committing to a build.
Yardzen is the best-known online landscape design service in the US. You pay a fixed fee, fill out a brief, and a licensed landscape designer delivers a custom 2D plan, 3D renderings, a plant list, and a list of local contractors who can build it. It is a one-time service, not a tool, you get a finished design, not the ability to iterate on your own.
After you choose a package and submit photos and a brief, a Yardzen designer develops your design and delivers it within 5 to 10 business days. Revision rounds depend on the package: none on Essential, one on Classic, two on Signature and Premium. The final deliverable is a presentation-grade package you hand to a contractor for the build.
Where the money goes
Yardzen sells finished packages, not access to a tool. The number you pay decides how much of your yard gets designed and whether you get a photoreal render or a flat plan, so it is worth knowing where the tiers break before you pick one.
The entry package is the one most people regret. Essential is 2D only: you get a plan view with plants labelled, which is enough for a contractor to quote from and almost useless for deciding whether you actually want it. The photorealistic render, the thing that makes you feel something about your own yard, starts at Classic. That is the real floor for a homeowner who has not made up their mind yet.
What every tier does include is the part AI cannot do at all: a plant list picked for your climate zone and your light, sourced from nurseries that stock it, plus a shortlist of local contractors who have built Yardzen plans before. That is a genuine service and it is why the price is what it is.
What no tier includes is the build. The plan is a document. Installing it runs anywhere from a few thousand for planting to well past $50,000 for hardscaping, decking and lighting, and Yardzen has no control over what your local crews quote. Budget the design as a rounding error on the project, not as the project.
$995
Essential. 2D plan and plant list, no photorealistic render. Fine if you already know what you want and just need a document to build from.
$1,395
Classic. The first tier with a render. This is where most homeowners land and the honest starting price for the service.
$1,995
Signature. More design attention, more revision, a fuller treatment of the whole property rather than one zone.
$3,495
Premium. Adds exterior home design: paint, materials, facade, not just the ground around it.
The useful way to hold both: a year of AI Garden Design costs less than the cheapest Yardzen tier and lets you test forty directions on your own photo. Yardzen costs more and ends with a plan a crew can actually build. Explore first, then pay a human to make it real.
Every row is a real difference, not a checkbox. Where Yardzen is genuinely stronger, the table says so.
| Feature | AI Garden Design | Yardzen |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Photorealistic AI redesign of your actual photo | Custom plan + 3D rendering + plant list from a human designer |
| Pricing | $19/month yearly ($228/yr) for 250 designs on Personal, $69/month yearly ($828/yr) for 1,000 designs and commercial license on Pro | $995 to $3,495 depending on package |
| Turnaround | Under two minutes per redesign, unlimited iterations on every plan | 5 to 10 business days per design round |
| Iterations | Unlimited, try every style, every space, every variation | 0 to 2 revision rounds depending on package |
| Plant list | Suggested plant guide per style | Full custom plant list specified to your climate and zone |
| Contractor sourcing | Not included | Yes, vetted local contractor matchmaking |
| Permits / site plans | Not included | Not included; some packages add construction documents |
| Entry price | $19/mo yearly, cancel anytime | No, pay before any design work begins |
Not renders of someone else's garden. Drag the handle to see the original photo turn into the redesign.
Upload a photo and get a photorealistic redesign in under two minutes. Try as many styles as you like before deciding whether Yardzen is worth it.
Redesign my gardenFor exploring ideas and previewing styles, yes, and far more cheaply. For a build-ready plan with a custom plant list specified to your climate and a vetted local contractor, no. Most users pair the two: use AI Garden Design to lock in the look, then commission Yardzen or a local landscape designer for the build documentation.
Yardzen is typically priced between DIY tools and a local landscape designer, and bundles convenience (online brief, fixed timelines, contractor matching) that a local designer may not. A local designer adds site visit, soil knowledge, and direct accountability. AI Garden Design fits below both as the fastest, lowest-cost option for visualisation and idea exploration.
Yes. A common workflow is to generate three or four AI Garden Design redesigns to clarify the style direction, then submit those as inspiration with the Yardzen brief. It saves the designer time and makes it more likely the first draft hits the brief.
AI Garden Design vs Tilly Design
The online landscape design service acquired by Bower & Branch in 2024, now sold as Design Studio with the plants for sale alongside the plan.
AI Garden Design vs iScape
Augmented reality landscape design app that lets you drag plants and elements onto a live camera view of your yard.
AI Garden Design vs a Local Landscape Designer
Hiring a local landscape designer for a site visit, custom plan, and ongoing project oversight.
AI Garden Design vs HomeDesignsAI
AI design tool covering both interior and exterior, with a broader product surface and similar AI redesign workflow.
AI Garden Design vs SketchUp
Free 3D modelling tool widely used by hobbyists and pros for landscape and garden design.
If you want the full list of options rather than a head-to-head, the alternatives page covers every tool and service in this category.
All alternatives to Yardzen →