1. Mycro Grow Log
Free · no install · no account · full platform in $99 founding early access
Our own tool, so take the placement with the appropriate salt — but it's the only option here that's a free grow log you open in any browser with nothing to install and no sign-up. Add a batch, advance it through inoculate → colonize → fruit → harvest, and it auto-computes biological efficiency, days in stage, an overdue-colonization flag and your contamination rate. The grow engine behind it is open-source (MIT).
- Good for: small commercial gourmet/functional farms; anyone who works partly at a laptop and wants the numbers without paying for a top tier or installing an app.
- Trade-off: no native app (it's mobile web), no offline mode yet, and cross-device cloud sync is in early access rather than shipped.
2. MycoFile
Hobby free (15 items) · Pro $4/mo (75 items) · Farm $25/mo+ (unlimited, web app)
MycoFile is a well-reviewed native iOS/Android grow tracker with end-to-end encryption on every tier and QR label printing and scanning — print a code per jar/bag and scan to pull up the grow. If you log from your phone and want a polished app, it's a strong pick. The main thing to know: its web app is Farm-tier only ($25/mo+), and the cheaper tiers cap active grows (15 free, 75 Pro).
- Good for: phone-first growers who want QR labels, encryption and a refined mobile UX.
- Trade-off: web/desktop access requires the $25/mo Farm tier; active-item caps on free/Pro.
3. MycoHub
Free (with ads) · $9.99 lifetime Starter · Pro/Farm subscriptions
MycoHub is offline-first with no account and no cloud — your data never leaves the device. It's deep on the hobby workflow: lineage/genealogy trees, a strain library, QR labels, photo logs and multi-flush harvests, and it offers a rare one-time $9.99 lifetime option. If "share nothing" privacy is a hard requirement, it's purpose-built for that.
- Good for: home/hobby growers who want a private, fully offline phone app and a one-time price.
- Trade-off: no cloud sync or desktop by design, so it doesn't fit a farm running across devices or people.
4. Paper grow log book
~$8–$15 one-time (e.g. printed batch-template notebooks)
A printed log book with batch templates works, never needs charging, and is pleasant to write in at the bench. It's a fine choice for a handful of grows. The limits are obvious: nothing is calculated for you, nothing is searchable, and you can't trend biological efficiency across a season without copying it all into something else eventually.
- Good for: a few grows, or growers who simply prefer pen and paper.
- Trade-off: no math, no search, no trends; you'll outgrow it as volume rises.
5. Spreadsheet (Google Sheets / Excel)
Free
Where most growers start, and reasonably so — it's free, flexible and already open on your laptop. It holds up for a while, then the cracks show: you re-enter formulas, it's easy to fumble a BE calculation, and it won't flag an overdue colonization or tally contamination by cause on its own. When the spreadsheet starts costing you more time than it saves, that's the signal to move to a purpose-built log.
- Good for: getting started for free; growers who like total control over their columns.
- Trade-off: all the math and alerts are manual; error-prone and tedious as you scale.
How to choose
- Want it free and in a browser, no install? Start with Mycro's Grow Log.
- Log from your phone and want QR labels + encryption? MycoFile.
- Need fully offline and private, with a one-time price? MycoHub.
- Only a few grows, or you love paper? A log book is fine.
- Just experimenting? A spreadsheet — until the manual math gets old.
For a small commercial gourmet or functional farm specifically, the deciding factors are usually: can you open it on a laptop without paying up, does it do biological efficiency and contamination rate for you, and can you trust the math. That's the gap Mycro is built to fill.
Try the free Grow Log in your browser
No app store, no account. Sample batches are already loaded — add one, advance it to harvest, and watch it auto-calculate biological efficiency and contamination rate.
Open the free Grow Log Get early access →Comparison reflects publicly available information at the time of writing and may not capture every feature, tier or recent change — verify current details on each vendor's own site. Mycro is for legal culinary & medicinal mushroom cultivation only. Not affiliated with MycoFile or MycoHub.