# Indigene

15 Hacker News commenters recommended Indigene and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free, open-source web app recommending native plants for your exact spot, with no account or ads. Common caveat: coverage is limited, and some regions give poor results.

## Why people recommend it

- Useful plant propagation and relocation advice (3 comments): "they’ve been very useful before and sometimes after planting when it becomes clear you might have to relocate a plant" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49205574)) "I already love the info I get from the propagation section" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50110724)) "those are incredibly helpful" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49204668))
- Finds ecosystem-positive plants for degraded land (2 comments): "It's a spot and condition-specific tool that lets unfamiliar people discover the most ecosystem-positive specimens they could plant." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50133799)) "For people with degraded ecology though this is a great resource." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50108026))
- Explore regions beyond your own (2 comments): "The most fun I had with Indigene was when I decided to add French ecoregions so my parents could use the app too." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49201145)) "regions are there for you to explore everything, not just where you are" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50114318))

## What people warn about

- Limited or unreliable regional coverage (4 comments): "im not getting the impression that your system is reliable in that area yet" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50102721)) "given how limited the coverage is, you could save people a lot of time with a map" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50102393)) "It's broken. Pick by region is a dead end if that's not your region." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50105197))
- Map and zoom options missing (3 comments): "I specifically limited map levels to reduce the app's size and that's a big downside." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50111184)) "I can't find a map of the region's boundary. It's not at all clear to me how far north or south the region extends." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49201805)) "No zip code input, no zoom out." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50104616))

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Indigene", https://hackerapproved.com/p/indigene/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).