Is Terraware free?
Yes. Terraformation describes Terraware as free and open source.
Terraware's ready-made workflow, or a system shaped around yours
Terraware is free, open source and covers a forestry project from seed collection to funder reporting. Restoration Scope is configured around the way each project already works. The question is whether your work fits a ready-made workflow.
Terraware and Restoration Scope at a glance
| Terraware | Restoration Scope | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A free, open-source forest management platform from Terraformation. | A restoration data platform configured around your project, with a field app, maps and portals. |
| Cost | Free. | Priced per project after a scoping call. No public price list. |
| Setup | Built-in workflows for seed banking, nursery, planting and monitoring, filled with your sites, species and records. | Configured with our team around your project. Someone on your side owns the workflow. |
| Seeds and nurseries | Seed collection, seed bank and nursery inventory built in. | Nursery and species records, set up the way your team tracks them. |
| Monitoring | Planting sites, survival monitoring and reports, combining ground data and remote sensing. | Site visits and survival records linked to each site, with geospatial data layers. |
| Offline capture | Android and iOS apps capture seed collections and monitoring observations offline. Nursery changes need a connection. | The Field App works offline: points, lines, polygons and photos. |
| Funder reporting | A Funder Portal, launched in December 2025, for funders of Terraformation's projects. | Donor portals for your own funders, per donor or programme, from the same records. |
Checked against Terraware's own pages on October 17, 2026: Terraware, Funder Portal announcement, Plant monitoring, Seedling inventory, Mobile app.
Where each fits
Pick Terraware when
- You want a complete tool now, at no cost.
- Your work follows the seed-to-planting path its workflows are built around.
- You work with Terraformation and your funders use its Funder Portal.
Pick Restoration Scope when
- Your workflow does not match a ready-made template: carbon projects with land agreements, farmer agroforestry, multi-partner programmes.
- You want to keep tools your partners already use, such as Kobo or Google Sheets.
- You report to your own donors and want portals in your name.
Questions teams ask
Is Restoration Scope a Terraware alternative?
If Terraware’s workflows fit your work, it is hard to beat on cost. Restoration Scope suits projects whose workflow, partners or data sources need a system configured around them.
How do the funder portals differ?
Terraware's Funder Portal is for funders of Terraformation's projects. Restoration Scope builds donor portals for your own donors and programmes, from the records your team keeps.
Does Terraware work offline?
Partly. Its mobile apps capture seed collections and monitoring observations offline; nursery inventory changes need a connection. The Restoration Scope Field App works offline.
Restoration Scope publishes this comparison. Something out of date? Write to info@restorationscope.com.