Privacy policy
Last updated June 1, 2026
The short version
Plants by Zone is a free, content-only website. We don't run user accounts, we don't sell data, and we don't use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. The few times your data leaves your browser are described below.
ZIP-code zone finder
When you enter a ZIP code to find your hardiness zone, that ZIP is sent directly from your browser to a third-party lookup service (phzmapi.org) to return the matching USDA zone. We don't store the ZIP codes you enter, and they aren't tied to your identity.
Contact form
If you use our contact form, the name, email, and message you submit are sent to a third-party form-processing service so we can read and reply. We use that information only to respond to you, and we don't add you to any mailing list.
Hosting and server logs
The site is hosted on Vercel, which — like virtually all web hosts — may automatically record standard technical request data (such as IP address and browser type) for security and reliability. This is ordinary infrastructure logging.
Analytics
We use Vercel Web Analytics and Speed Insights to understand which pages are popular and how fast the site loads. These are privacy-friendly and cookieless — they measure aggregate, anonymized page views and performance, and do not use cookies or track you across other websites or build a profile of you.
Images
Plant and zone photos are served from Wikimedia Commons and Unsplash. Loading those images involves a request to those services in the normal way browsers fetch images.
Cookies
We don't set advertising or tracking cookies. Any storage used is limited to what's needed for the site to function.
Your choices
You can browse the entire site without entering a ZIP code or using the contact form. If you have a question about this policy, please reach us through our contact page.