Rock Identifier App

What the rock identifier app does

1. Take or choose a photo. The app checks it is sharp enough before sending it, so a blurry shot never costs you an identification.
2. Get the answer first. The most likely name, a high, medium or low confidence level, and what else it could be.
3. Confirm it. Quick facts such as hardness, plus simple tests — streak, scratch, magnet — that tell look-alikes apart. Tests that grind, heat or create dust are never suggested, and a scratch test always comes with a warning to use a hidden spot.
4. Keep it. Every identification is saved in My finds with its photo, so you can look back at your collection.

Think a result is wrong? Tap Something wrong? under it — the report comes straight to us.

Identify crystals, gemstones, minerals and fossils too

It is one app for the whole collection, not just rocks. The same camera flow works as a crystal identification app, a gemstone identification app, a mineral identification app and a fossil identifier — and for tumbled or polished stones, where colour and pattern matter more than crystal shape.

• Crystals: amethyst, quartz, fluorite and many more — see how the crystal identifier reads colour, lustre and crystal habit.
• Gemstones: cut and rough, with the common look-alikes listed — the gemstone identifier explains what a photo can and can't prove.
• Minerals: streak, cleavage and lustre in plain English — see the mineral identifier.
• Fossils: ammonites, trilobites, shark teeth — and how to tell a fossil from a lookalike rock with the fossil identifier.
• Stones: beach pebbles and tumbled stones — the stone identifier covers how polish changes what you can see.

Is the rock identifier app free?

The download is free and so is your first identification — the full version, including the value and rarity estimate, authenticity clues and care guide, so you see exactly what Pro gives you before deciding. Photos that are too blurry or show nothing identifiable don't use it up.

After that, Pro covers 100 identifications a day (600 a month) with the full report on every find. It is a Google Play subscription — in the US, $3.99 a week, $14.99 a month or $49.99 a year (prices are set per country, so the app shows yours). It renews until you cancel, and you can cancel any time in Google Play → Subscriptions. The website is billed separately: a website plan doesn't unlock the app, and an app plan doesn't unlock the website.

How to choose the best rock identifier app

Whichever app you end up using — ours or anyone else's — the same five questions separate the useful ones from the disappointing ones:

• Does it admit uncertainty? Some minerals are genuinely indistinguishable in a photo. An identifier that always answers confidently is guessing; look for a confidence level and honest “could also be” alternatives. In our October 2026 test of 76 specimens, all 24 identifications our engine scored 90 or higher were correct — and on the specimens a photo could not settle, it said so instead of bluffing.
• Does it teach you to confirm? A photo is a hypothesis; the hardness test and streak test are the proof. Good apps hand you those next steps.
• What does free actually get you? Check how many identifications you get before the paywall, what each plan costs, and how easy it is to cancel.
• How wide is its knowledge? Rocks, crystals, gems, minerals and fossils — or just tumbled crystals?
• Can you learn more than a name? A bare label is a dead end; a linked field guide — formation, value, care, look-alikes — is what makes an identification stick.

App or website — which should you use?

Both use the same identification engine. The app is faster in the field — open, point, identify — and keeps every find with its photo in one place. The website needs no install, works on iPhone and computers, and gives 3 free identifications in total: open the rock identifier or crystal identifier and tap the upload box to use your camera.

Frequently asked questions