How Much Does TruGreen Actually Cost?

TruGreen is a company that offers lawn and garden services as an annual subscription package. They send one of their own specialists to wherever you are in the United States (excluding Alaska) and they can solve a host of problems for you. While TruGreen advertises far and wide, there’s one thing its marketing campaigns never reveal: how much does TruGreen actually cost?

In today’s article I’ll give you the facts and some concrete Truegreen cost numbers we obtained the hard way – we did the research for you and received 468 TruGreen price quotes for a wide and representative range of properties of various sizes in both urban and rural locations across the United States.

• We can share that the cheapest quote we received was $239.21 for a 3,569 square foot lawn in a Chicago suburb. That was for TruGreen’s TruBasic annual lawn care plan.
• The most expensive quote for annual lawn care we received was $2,177.10 for TruGreen’s TruComplete plan on a 27,842 square foot lawn in Iowa.

Based on our research, the average TruGreen cost for annual lawn care plans ranged from $351.92 – $1,757.92.

• We found that TruGreen’s TruBasic plan was the least expensive.
• TrueGreen’s TruComplete and TruNatural plans were the most expensive options (which one cost more varied based on location).

In today’s article we’ll get into detail – sharing the average cost of every TruGreen plan and service offering for small, mid-sized, and large lawns.

Beyond this, we also are able to provide you with the average cost per square foot of TruGreen’s lawn care plans and add-on services like pest control, tree and shrub care, aeration, overseeding, and more.

This is something most other websites do not share, and we think it’s much more useful.

Having this information will allow you to accurately measure your lawn square footage using our free tool and estimate how much TruGreen might cost (without handing over your email and postal address).

Additionally, we obtained price quotes for some of the most popular alternatives to TruGreen , so you can understand and compare the price to a subscription service like Sunday or Lawnbright, and also compare TruGreen other DIY options and local lawn care companies in your area and make an informed choice.

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What Does TruGreen Offer?

When signing up with TruGreen, you can choose one of the company’s five pre-determined package deals for general lawn and garden care.

Each package caters to a different budget and needs. There’s even an option that caters to environmentally-conscious consumers who want an eco-friendly garden.

You can also choose add-on services that help you to solve particular problems relating to pest control, lawn aeration, overseeding, balancing the pH of the soil, and trimming trees and bushes.

All plans come with the TruGreen Healthy Lawn Guarantee, which is a promise from the company to make adjustments and do what is necessary to keep your lawn looking great.

The Packages

Let’s take a closer look at what you get with each of the five packages:

• TruBasic,
• TruMaintenance,
• TruHealth,
• TruComplete,
• TruNatural.

TruGreen packages	What you get
TruBasic	This basic lawn maintenance program includes 4 annual visits and you’ll receive a combination of fertilization and weed control.
TruMaintenance	Trugreen’s standard lawn plan designed to care for your lawn and treat weeds. Expect 5 annual visits instead of the 4 visits included with TruBasic.
TruHealth	The TruHealth plan will include 6 annual visits for most homeowners. In addition to fertilization and weed control treatments, this plan includes lawn-damaging insect control and pH-balancing soil treatment, tailored to your lawn.
TruComplete	This comprehensive option includes fertilization, weed treatment, insect control, and soil lime amendment. This plan includes 6 annual visits from TruExperts, plus a 7th visit for soil aeration and overseeding.
TruNatural	This plan offers lawn care that uses organic fertilizer for environmentally-conscious homeowners. Free weed-care solutions can be added upon request, but they aren’t included in the TruNatural plan

Additional Services

Besides its five primary packages, TruGreen customers can also request additional services such as:

• Pest prevention and control for lawn insects like mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, ants, grubs, and more.
• Core aeration to improve lawns that suffer from discolored patches caused by tightly compacted soil. This encourages better flow of water, oxygen, and nutrients to the roots.
• Analysis and amendment of lime content in the soil.
• Tree & Shrub Care.

You can easily select whichever option you want on the company’s website, or via phone. You can also get a quote for your lawn and/or garden via these channels.

So, How Much Does TruGreen Actually Cost?

Ah, now here’s the part that you won’t find on any TruGreen marketing materials (unless you fork over your email and postal address).

Anyone who has been interested in the company’s services will know that it’s almost impossible to find price lists for its plans and services.

That’s why we did original research and obtained hundreds of quotes on TruGreen pricing to give you the most up-to-date and comprehensive data available online.

We strive to keep this information up-to-date and accurate for you as well.

Original Research to Help You Estimate Trugreen Cost for Your Property

Lawn Chick’s editorial team has manually researched Trugreen’s online pricing data, obtaining 468 unique pricing quotes on properties of various sizes in both urban and rural locations across the United States. 

We used a broad set of data in our research to try to offer our readers the most accurate and up-to-date pricing estimate for every Trugreen service offered.

Our Methodology

This data is based on the following:

• We quoted properties located in 6 different regions of the United States to account for regional pricing differences. These regions were: Northeast, Midwest, Southern, Western, Southwestern, and Southeastern.
• In each region we quoted properties that were located in or around a major metropolitan area, and we also chose a property located in or around a mid-sized metropolitan area. This helped us account for pricing differences that may stem from more urban vs more rural locations and offer more accurate regional pricing estimates. For example in our Northeastern pricing data we quoted properties in suburbs just outside of New York City, NY and more rural properties in the suburbs of Manchester, New Hampshire. 
• In each region and metropolitan area we received quotes on small, medium, and large lawns/properties to account for and highlight differences in pricing based on property size.
  • Small properties were defined as those with lawns up to 5,000 square feet (the average was 3,505 square feet). 
  • Medium properties were defined as those with lawns up to 10,000 square feet (the average was 9,183 square feet). 
  • Large properties were defined as those with lawns over 10,000 square feet (the average was 20,302 square feet).
• To get consistent data, all quotes used the same set of “concerns” in Trugreen’s online pricing tool. These were Weeds, Brown or Bare Spots, Fertilization, Tree and Shrub. We felt these were the most likely concerns homeowners would select to obtain quotes for general lawn care and landscaping services from Trugreen.

It’s worth noting that not every service was offered in every location. For example some northern properties received quotes for a potassium soil treatment that helps to protect turf from dramatic changes in temperature (something that isn’t needed in all locations).

Average Trugreen Pricing Data for Properties of Different Sizes

We obtained multiple quotes from properties in the greater metropolitan areas of the following cities to ensure a broad and representative data set for US TruGreen customers: 

Below we’ll share average pricing data for every service quoted in each of our three property size categories. 

But first, we wanted to share some general observations and key take-aways that may guide you as you consider hiring TruGreen for your lawn care (or comparing the price of TruGreen to a subscription lawn care plan, or comparing TruGreen prices to the cost of buying DIY lawn care products a-la-carte on your own.

Please note that we have included relevant and up-to-date data comparing TruGreen pricing to the price of popular alternatives for you in this article as well, so please read to the end!

A Few Key Take-Aways from Our Research Are:

• The pricing data we collected showed that the cost of an annual Trugreen service plan tends to be cheapest in the Midwestern United States. The Western and Southern United States were the regions where we observed the highest prices per square foot.
• In our research the size of your lawn was the biggest factor impacting the price per square foot of Trugreen’s annual lawn care plans. We found that the larger the lawn, the less you pay per square foot for Trugreen, making Trugreen a better value for larger properties than smaller ones, even if the total price is higher.
• Our research showed that Trugreen was significantly more expensive for homeowners with smaller lawns. Price quotes for small lawns (under 5,000 square feet) averaged about 104% higher per square foot than quotes for large lawns (over 10,000 square feet).
• In our research we found that your proximity to a major metropolitan area will impact the price you pay for Trugreen slightly, but these price differences vary by lawn size. The Trugreen cost data we collected showed that the smallest and largest lawns tend to enjoy the slightly lower prices per square foot if you live near a major city. Mid-sized lawns, on the other hand, tended to be quoted at lower prices per square foot in more rural locations – those outside smaller cities.

Trugreen Cost for Small Properties up to 5,000 Square Feet

The average lawn area square footage used for properties where we obtained these quotes was 3,505. The largest property was 4,915 square feet. The smallest property was 2,883 square feet.

Key Takeaways from Trugreen Pricing Data on Small Properties

In evaluating the cost of Trugreen’s five “Tru” annual lawn care service plans on small yards (up to 5,000 square feet): 

• The least expensive quote we received for a year of lawn care from Trugreen was $239.21 for the TruBasic plan on a 3,569 square foot property in La Grange, Illinois (a Chicago suburb).
• The most expensive quote we received for a year of lawn care from Trugreen was $1,142.07 for the TruNatural plan on a 4,915 square foot property in Beverly Hills, California.
• Across all Trugreen services and plans, the price per square foot was lowest in the Midwestern United States (quotes from Illinois and Iowa). The average price per square foot was highest in the Southern United States (quotes from Georgia and Tennessee).
• Across all service quotes, we found that properties located in or around major metropolitan centers like New York City, Chicago, or Atlanta were 4.12% less expensive per square foot than properties located in or around smaller metropolitan centers like Manchester, New Hampshire, Beaufort, South Carolina, or Boise, Idaho.

Mid-Sized Properties up to 10,000 Square Feet

The average lawn area square footage used for properties where we obtained these quotes was 9,183. The largest property was 9,965 square feet. The smallest property was 7,987 square feet.

Key Takeaways from Trugreen Pricing Data on Mid-Sized Properties

In evaluating the cost of Trugreen’s five “Tru” annual lawn care service plans on mid-sized yards (up to 10,000 square feet): 

• The least expensive quote we received for a year of lawn care from Trugreen was $349.41 for the TruBasic plan on a 9,088 square foot property in La Grange, Illinois (a Chicago suburb).
• The most expensive quote we received for a year of lawn care from Trugreen was $1,395.25 for the TruNatural plan on a 7,987 square foot property in Beverly Hills, California.
• Across all Trugreen services and plans, the price per square foot was lowest in the Midwestern United States (quotes from Illinois and Iowa). The average price per square foot was highest in the Western United States (quotes from California and Idaho).
• Across all service quotes on lawns of this size, we found that properties located in or around major metropolitan centers like New York City, Chicago, or Atlanta were 7.96% more expensive per square foot than properties located in or around smaller metropolitan centers like Manchester, New Hampshire, Beaufort, South Carolina, or Boise, Idaho.

Large Properties over 10,000 Square Feet

The average lawn area square footage used for properties where we obtained these quotes was 20,302. The largest property was 28,219 square feet. The smallest property was 15,496 square feet.

Key Takeaways from Trugreen Pricing Data on Large Properties

In evaluating the cost of Trugreen’s five “Tru” annual lawn care service plans on large yards (over 10,000 square feet): 

• The least expensive quote we received for a year of lawn care from Trugreen was $623.01 for the TruBasic plan on a 18,507 square foot property in Eagle, Idaho (a Boise suburb).
• The most expensive quote we received for a year of lawn care from Trugreen was $2,177.10 for the TruComplete plan on a 27,842 square foot property in Iowa City, Iowa.
• Across all Trugreen services and plans, the price per square foot was lowest in the Midwestern United States (quotes from Illinois and Iowa). The average price per square foot was highest in the Western United States (quotes from California and Idaho).
• Across all service quotes on lawns of this size, we found that properties located in or around major metropolitan centers like New York City, Chicago, or Atlanta were 4.81% more expensive per square foot than properties located in or around smaller metropolitan centers like Manchester, New Hampshire, Beaufort, South Carolina, or Boise, Idaho.

Trugreen Prices vs DIY (what’s the best value for you?)

Now let’s compare the cost of Trugreen’s TruBasic plan to a DIY lawn care plan spreading Milorganite. 

This is an apt comparison for basic fertilization because TruBasic has 4 annual applications and that’s the schedule the manufacturer of Milorganite recommends as well.

The price of Milorganite varies a bit seasonally, but for this comparison I used a price of $25 per bag. 

I find that I can usually find Milorganite for around $20 a bag locally at Ace Hardware (where I typically buy mine), but for the purposes of comparison I’d rather round the price up slightly to account for those seasonal and regional price fluctuations you may encounter.

It’s worth pointing out that this comparison assumes that you already own or have access to a fertilizer spreader to apply Milorganite yourself. If you don’t, you’ll have to factor in that extra cost. 

It’s also worth pointing out that the TruBasic plan includes weed control along with fertilization during their four visits. If you struggle with weeds in your lawn, this is an additional expense you’ll want to account for when looking at the DIY pricing.

For small and mid-sized lawns, however, even if you add in the cost of buying a spreader and some weed control products, you’ll still enjoy some savings to DIY your lawn care with an all purpose lawn fertilizer like Milorganite. 

But, if you have a larger property, you’ll probably see some moderate savings by hiring Trugreen, unless you can find some good bulk pricing on Milorganite.

Key Take-Aways:

• For Small Yards it’s about 80% cheaper to DIY your fertilization with Milorganite when compared to the cost of Trugreen’s TruBasic plan.
• For Mid-Sized Yards it’s about 31% cheaper to DIY your fertilization with Milorganite when compared to the cost of Trugreen’s TruBasic plan.
• For Large Yards it’s about 8% more expensive to DIY your fertilization with Milorganite when compared to the cost of Trugreen’s TruBasic plan.

But I feel that there are better DIY options for you – keep reading to learn why.

How Does TruGreen Compare to Premium Granular Fertilizer Subscriptions?

While Milorganite is familiar to a lot of people who want a basic 4x per year fertilization plan for their lawn, it’s not really a true 1:1 comparison to the TruBasic plan from Trugreen (because Trugreen also provides some weed control with this plan).

A better cost comparison may be to Jonathan Green’s annual lawn care plans, or The Andersons annual lawn care plan. 

Both are high quality fertilization plans that include some weed-and-feed products that offer homeowners both pre-emergent and post-emergent weed control for your lawn without adding any extra work for homeowners (you’ll still just spread their granular products 4x annually).

So let’s compare the cost of TruGreen to the cost of these plans:

When comparing these three options again it should be noted that with Trugreen it’s a completely hands-off service and you don’t have to own or use any equipment or handle and store any fertilizer in your garage.

Important Notes

With both the Jonathan Green Annual Lawn Care Program and The Andersons Lawn Program you’ll have to own a spreader and apply fertilizer to your lawn yourself four times per year.

While Jonathan Green’s annual plan is the least expensive plan for homeowners across the board, I should note that one of their four applications is not fertilizer, rather it’s soil food and humic acid product that provides a small pH correction (they have a plan for both acidic and alkaline soils, so you can choose the one you need for your yard’s soil). 

That makes their plan cheaper, but personally I find a lot of value in this. I use their Mag-I-Cal Plus product (included in their annual plan) on my own lawn to sweeten my New England soil and keep my pH in the sweet spot for turfgrass. 

But this product-line difference helps to explain the difference in price between Jonathan Green and The Andersons (that extra bag of fertilizer is probably a little more expensive to manufacture).

Key Take-Aways:

• For Small Yards choosing to DIY your lawn care with Jonathan Green’s annual fertilizer and weed control program is about 105% cheaper than Trugreen. The Andersons lawn program is about 75% cheaper than Trugreen.
• For Mid-Sized Yards it’s about 80% cheaper to DIY your lawn care with Jonathan Green’s annual fertilizer and weed control program than Trugreen. The Andersons lawn program is about 62% cheaper than Trugreen.
• For Large Yards you’ll save about 47% to DIY your lawn care with Jonathan Green’s annual fertilizer and weed control program instead of choosing Trugreen’s TruBasic plan. The Andersons lawn program is about 29% cheaper than Trugreen.

Comparing the Price of TruGreen’s Higher-End Organic Option to Top DIY Alternatives

What if you don’t want a traditional fertilization and weed control plan for your lawn? After all, lots of homeowners are choosing to go organic with their lawn care.

If you have kids, pets, or simply want to keep things natural, you have that option with Trugreen, but there are now other great options as well. 

With top alternatives like Sunday (my top pick in the natural lawn care subscription space) and Lawnbright (another natural brand I’ve used personally and have a ton of respect for), there are really good alternatives to Trugreen in the organic lawn care space as well.

Let’s compare the price of Trugreen’s TruNatural plan to top DIY organic options Sunday and Lawnbright to see where you may find the best value.

Right off the top – when you compare the price of natural lawn care plans it’s clear that going the DIY route has a big edge and will be much cheaper than hiring Trugreen for their TruNatural plan.

What’s more – for homeowners with a small or mid-sized yard, the only equipment you’ll need to apply Sunday or Lawnbright fertilizer and soil amendments is a garden hose (something you probably already own). 

Their liquid fertilizers don’t require that you own a traditional lawn fertilizer spreader, so you’re not giving up any precious real estate in your garage or storage shed if you choose one of them.

A few things to note on the pricing data above:

1. It may seem like a mistake that Sunday’s price quote was lower for the largest lawn. It’s not. For large properties they have developed an organic granular fertilizer that they send instead of their standard liquid fertilizer pouches. It’s high quality, but because of differences in weight and the packaging costs, it works out to be a bit cheaper. The downside is that you’ll need to buy or borrow a spreader, but the savings makes that easy to do.
2. Sunday allows you to customize your quote based on precise square footage measurements, so we were able to provide a true 1:1, apples-to-apples comparison with the average square footage used to obtain the quotes we received for Trugreen in our pricing research. We couldn’t do that with Lawnbright or the other Trugreen alternatives discussed in this article.
3. Lawnbright’s online booking system only offered us a square footage range, and even then only up to 10,000 square feet. If your lawn is any bigger than this, you’ll need to get a customized quote directly from Lawnbright. We’ve spoken with Craig, the owner, on several occasions and he really knows his stuff. As a small family business, Lawnbright is great to work with, so if you don’t mind the extra time to get a custom quote, you’ll probably have a great experience doing so. But if you have a larger lawn, this is a bit less convenient than other options.

Key Take-Aways:

• For Small Yards who want an organic option, choosing to DIY your lawn care with Sunday is the best choice. Their product and service is top-notch, and because they let you dial in your order to a square footage value under 5,000 there’s zero waste (you’re not paying for anything you don’t need). Sunday’s Grow & Renew plan is about 87% cheaper than Trugreen’s TruNatural plan in an apples-to-apples comparison.
• For Mid-Sized Yards Lawnbright’s Prevent and Repair plan was priced about 85% cheaper than Trugreen’s TruNatural plan, and seemed to be the best value, though it’s worth noting that their quote was based on a range of 5,500 to 10,000 square feet and Sunday’s quote was a true 1:1 comparison to Trugreen’s at 9,140 square feet. Sunday was still a great value here, with their popular Grow & Renew plan coming in 74% cheaper than Trugreen’s TruNatural plan, but Lawnbright’s quote was the best.
• For Large Yards Sunday recently added a quality OMRI-listed organic granular fertilizer to their product line, and for larger yards this is what they recommend (since hose-end sprayer applications aren’t always practical for properties of this size). Their quote for a large property offered significant savings, with their Grow & Renew quote coming in about 114% cheaper than Trugreen’s TruNatural plan. If you have a large property and want to go organic, Sunday is the obvious choice.

What Do Customers Have to Say About TruGreen?

In theory, the all-encompassing collection of services that the company offers sounds excellent.

In reality, however, it might not all run as smoothly as described on the company website. It seems that many present and past customers of TruGreen gave mixed reviews about their experiences.

After taking a look at reputable business review websites like Yelp, TrustPilot, and Consumer Affairs, you’ll see that not all customers walked away happy.

Here are a few screenshots from these review sites to give you a sense of how TrueGreen is rated by customers:

And here’s another:

However, others only had good things to say about TruGreen.

Most of the complaints TruGreen clients made related to a lack of communication when they were experiencing problems with the service.

Problems also arose from the fact that the service is automatically renewed each year. This means that you have to keep paying for it (even if you don’t want to continue) unless you confirm in advance that you’re no longer interested in the service.

Some customers also had difficulties when they found additional services had been added to their bills incorrectly. This is understandable given what TruGreen actually cost them.

Positive reviews usually highlighted the efforts of outstanding employees. Those TruExperts who went the extra mile and took the time to offer extra advice and insights to customers.

Some customers were also very pleased with the effectiveness of certain pest control services, like the TruCare Mosquito Defense offering.

Final Thoughts About the Cost of TruGreen (and if it’s worth the money)

Trugreen is a popular lawn care option for homeowners across the country for a reason. 

For homeowners who want a hands-off approach to lawn fertilization and weed control, this national brand has the infrastructure and network to deliver a good product.

They also offer a range of add-on services from aeration, to overseeding, to insect and pest control treatments.

That said, our research has shown clear evidence that for lawn care treatments, homeowners can save a lot of money by choosing one of many popular DIY lawn care options instead of Trugreen. 

To summarize these options:

• Instead of paying for Trugreen’s TruBasic plan, homeowners with lawns under 10,000 square feet can save 31-80% by fertilizing four times annually with Milorganite granular fertilizer.
• Instead of paying for Trugreen’s TruBasic plan, homeowners with lawns of any size will save 29-105% by choosing either Jonathan Green or The Andersons annual lawn care programs, which require just four annual applications of granular products that include weed control.
• Instead of paying for Trugreen’s TruNatural plan, homeowners with lawns of any size will save 74-115% by choosing an annual lawn care subscription from Sunday.

So really, when you pay for Trugreen or evaluate its “true” cost (see what I did there?), you need to understand that you’re paying a lot for the service and the convenience of not having to handle, store, or apply lawn fertilizer on your own.

While this convenience is clearly important for many homeowners based on Trugreen’s size and market share, I believe that as more people look for ways to cut costs and reduce expenses, the time savings offered by hiring Trugreen may become less appealing when compared to the minimal time required to DIY your lawn fertilization and weed control.

I mean, if you assume it will take you 30 minutes to walk your yard with a spreader, that’s two hours a year that you’re saving by going with Trugreen over Jonathan Green. 
Is that really worth paying anywhere from 47-105% more? I know for me it isn’t (but hey, I actually like doing this stuff!).

As you decide which option will work best for you, your family, and your property – I hope that the research, pricing data, and analysis we’ve provided here will help guide your decision and make it a little easier.

My final take-away (and give-away)

My recommendation for most homeowners – particularly homeowners interested in natural lawn care that’s safe for kids and pets – is to take a few minutes to get a custom quote from Sunday. 

I’ve personally tested their annual lawn care plan and was very impressed, ranking it as my favorite lawn care subscription. 

Sunday is also my top trugreen alternative for those seeking a quality option that doesn’t require much time or maintenance.

And before you go – if you’re still in the planning and learning phase and are interested in DIY lawn care, you may be interested in my popular lawn care cheat sheet (it’s free). 

It offers you a game-plan for a full year of lawn care, including a schedule you can follow for an amazing low-maintenance lawn you’ll be proud of. Grab it right here.

Notes About This Article

• This article was originally published on July 17, 2020, but it is regularly updated by Lawn Chick founder and owner Sarah Jameson and our managing editor to maintain its accuracy and usefulness for our readers.
• Our original article cited 2020 pricing research by Consumer Affairs and by the This Old House blog. These sources shared single price quotes for a 5,000 square foot and 22,000 square foot lawn respectively. We’ve chosen to remove this pricing data from the body of the article because it is out dated. We feel that sharing our own comprehensive research, completed during the fall of 2023, offers more value to our readers. In updating this article we manually obtained 468 TruGreen price quotes from a wide range of properties of different sizes and in different locations across the United States. We feel (and hope you agree) that this data offers our readers a much more accurate and up-to-date understanding of how much TruGreen currently charges for their services. You can read our editorial policy and publishing principles to understand our approach to publishing and updating the content you will find on LawnChick.com.