Credit first, because it is earned
Microgreen Manager is built by Spencer and Garrett Corwin, a software engineer and a microgreen farmer, bootstrapped and independent. That combination shows. Crop customization, blends, recurring orders, a daily task dashboard, calendar, team permissions, QR tray labels, farm reports and lost tray tracking are all there and all sensible. They also give away a tray calculator, a price calculator, a seed density calculator and an Excel production planner, which is more generosity than most tools in this space manage.
They have also shipped an MCP server, so you can point Claude or ChatGPT at your own farm data. Nobody else in microgreens has done that. If that is the thing you want, they are the only ones offering it and we will not pretend otherwise.
The question that separates these two:
Where are you when you need the software? If the answer is at a desk, planning next month, either of these will serve you. If the answer is in the grow room at 6am with wet hands and a tray that looks wrong, that is a different tool.
Side by side
| Feature | Grown Like A Pro | Microgreen Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Where they overlap | ||
| Crop planning and seeding schedules | Yes | Yes1 |
| Blends and mixes | Yes | Yes1 |
| Customer orders and recurring orders | Yes | Yes1 |
| QR tray labels | Yes | Yes1 |
| Team members with permissions | Yes | Yes1 |
| Seed density calculator | Yes, inside the app | Yes, free tool on their site1 |
| Client records | Yes | Basic CRM1 |
| Things their site lists as coming soon | ||
| Native phone app | Android, shipping today on Google Play. iOS is in App Store review, not available yet | Listed as coming soon1 |
| Notifications and reminders | Watering and stage reminders, today | Listed as coming soon1 |
| Inventory management | Seed, soil, fertilizer, containers | Listed as coming soon1 |
| Cleaning records | Yes, with timestamps | Listed as coming soon1 |
| Customer communication tools | Email and SMS with templates | Listed as coming soon1 |
| Pricing and profitability tracking | Cost per tray, today | Listed as coming soon1 |
| Where we go further | ||
| AI photo diagnosis of a struggling tray | Yes, from Solo up | Not advertised2 |
| AI grow assistant you can just ask | Glappy, built in | MCP server for your own AI client1 |
| Bluetooth temperature and humidity sensors | Logged per tray | Not advertised2 |
| Light intensity (PPFD) measurement | From your phone | Not advertised2 |
| Sprouts: jars, soak and rinse cycles, fridge life | Yes, built in | Not advertised2 |
| Mixed tray sizes sharing one rack slot | Yes, each tray tracked separately | Not advertised2 |
| Invoicing and QuickBooks sync | Yes | Not advertised2 |
| GPS delivery route optimization | Yes, Pro | Not advertised2 |
| Getting started | ||
| Free plan that never expires | Yes, 8 active trays | Free trial, no card required1 |
| Entry paid price | $3.00/mo | Not published on their site2 |
1 Microgreen Manager details reproduce information published on microgreenmanager.com, reviewed , including the features their own site marks as coming soon. 2 "Not advertised" means we could not find the capability described publicly on that date. It does not mean it is absent or not being built. Their roadmap is public and moving, so please verify current details directly with them.
The honest read
A lot of what separates these two right now is simply timing. Their site openly lists inventory, cleaning records, notifications, mobile and profitability tracking as coming soon. Those are not gaps in judgment, they are a roadmap, and a two person team shipping steadily will close some of them.
What that means practically is that you are choosing between what one tool does today and what the other intends to do. That is a fair trade if their planning dashboard fits how you work and you are happy to wait. It is a poor trade if the thing you need is a reminder at 7am, because you cannot run this week on a roadmap.
So it comes down to one thing:
Which of those coming soon items would you actually be waiting for? If the answer is none of them, they may well be the better fit for you. If the answer is two or three, you already know what that costs you every week until they land.
The free tier makes this cheap to settle
They offer a free trial with no card. We offer a free plan that does not expire, 8 active trays, no card either. So you can run the same week through both and decide with your own hands rather than from a table someone else wrote.
The verdict
Choose Microgreen Manager if you want a focused web planning dashboard, you like supporting a small independent team, and the MCP server appeals because you already work with Claude or ChatGPT. It is a genuinely good tool and that AI integration is ahead of the market.
Choose Grown Like A Pro if you want a real phone app in the grow room, reminders and inventory and cleaning records today rather than later, help identifying a problem tray from a photo, and sprouts tracked alongside your trays.
Either way, start on something free and let a real grow week decide it.
Questions people ask
Does Microgreen Manager have a mobile app?
Their site lists a native mobile app as coming soon as of August 7, 2026, and the product is web based today. Grown Like A Pro ships a native Android app on Google Play alongside its web version. Our iOS app is in App Store review and is not available yet, so on an iPhone today both products are web apps.
Which one has watering reminders?
Grown Like A Pro sends watering and growth stage reminders today. Microgreen Manager lists notifications and reminders among its coming soon features as of August 7, 2026.
What does Microgreen Manager cost?
We could not find pricing published on their site on August 7, 2026. They advertise a free trial with no credit card required. Grown Like A Pro is free for 8 active trays, then $3.00/month for Solo, $12.99 for Grower and $19.99 for Pro.
Can either one connect to ChatGPT or Claude?
Microgreen Manager offers an MCP server so you can connect your own AI client to your farm data, which is genuinely useful and unusual. Grown Like A Pro takes the other approach and builds the assistant in, so Glappy answers inside the app without you configuring anything.
Which is better for someone just starting out?
Both let you start without paying. Grown Like A Pro's free plan does not expire and covers 8 active trays, so there is no clock running while you learn.
Keep comparing
Eight free trays. No card. No clock.
Run a real week through it and let the mornings decide.
Try Grown Like A Pro Free