Houseplants that are genuinely hard to kill

26 of 100 species in this database qualify

26 of our 100 species qualify. Golden barrel cactus ranks first on lowest difficulty score first. Typical prices run $6 to $250.

What this list actually means

Every plant here scores 1 of 5 on our difficulty scale, and that score has a stated derivation rather than being a vibe. "Hard to kill" here means it survives a missed fortnight and a mediocre window. It does not mean it survives a pot with no drainage hole, which kills all of them.

Ranked by difficulty, water interval days, light min — lowest difficulty score first, then longest tolerable gap between waterings. Ordering is derived from database fields and we do not accept payment for placement. Our pre-publish check rejects commission, payout, EPC and CPC as sort fields, so that promise is enforced rather than merely stated.

#	Plant	Light floor	Water	Pet safe	Difficulty	Typical price
1	Golden barrel cactus Echinocactus grusonii	Direct	18–35d	Yes	Easy	$15–90
2	Aloe vera Aloe vera	Bright indirect	14–28d	No	Easy	$10–30
3	Ponytail palm Beaucarnea recurvata	Medium	14–30d	Yes	Easy	$25–90
4	Ladyfinger cactus Mammillaria elongata	Bright indirect	14–30d	Yes	Easy	$8–25
5	ZZ plant Zamioculcas zamiifolia	Low	14–21d	No	Easy	$18–40
6	Zebra haworthia Haworthiopsis attenuata	Medium	14–24d	Yes	Easy	$8–25
7	Spineless yucca Yucca gigantea	Medium	14–24d	No	Easy	$30–90
8	Ox tongue Gasteria bicolor	Medium	14–24d	Yes	Easy	$8–25
9	Snake plant Dracaena trifasciata	Low	14–21d	No	Easy	$15–45
10	Elephant bush Portulacaria afra	Bright indirect	10–21d	Yes	Easy	$10–35
11	Cast iron plant Aspidistra elatior	Low	10–14d	Yes	Easy	$25–60
12	Chinese evergreen Aglaonema commutatum	Low	9–16d	No	Easy	$15–60
13	Baby rubber plant Peperomia obtusifolia	Medium	9–14d	Yes	Easy	$12–30
14	Pothos Epipremnum aureum	Low	7–14d	No	Easy	$10–25
15	Kentia palm Howea forsteriana	Low	8–14d	Yes	Easy	$60–250
16	Lady palm Rhapis excelsa	Low	8–14d	Yes	Easy	$50–200
17	Ripple peperomia Peperomia caperata	Low	7–14d	Yes	Easy	$8–25
18	Heartleaf philodendron Philodendron hederaceum	Low	7–12d	No	Easy	$10–30
19	Satin pothos Scindapsus pictus	Low	7–12d	No	Easy	$15–45
20	Dragon tail plant Epipremnum pinnatum	Low	7–12d	No	Easy	$15–50
21	Mistletoe cactus Rhipsalis baccifera	Medium	7–14d	Yes	Easy	$15–45
22	Spider plant Chlorophytum comosum	Medium	7–10d	Yes	Easy	$10–25
23	Arrowhead vine Syngonium podophyllum	Low	6–11d	No	Easy	$10–30
24	Lucky bamboo Dracaena sanderiana	Low	5–10d	No	Easy	$8–30
25	Inch plant Tradescantia zebrina	Medium	5–9d	No	Easy	$8–20
26	Turtle vine Callisia repens	Medium	4–9d	No	Easy	$6–20

Prices are hand-verified ranges, not live figures, and move with pot size more than anything else. No affiliate links appear on this page because we have no merchant relationships yet; when that changes, disclosure appears before the first one.

Why golden barrel cactus tops the list

Scores 1 of 5: water it monthly in summer and barely at all in winter, and it will outlive you. Overwatering in a cold room is the only thing that kills it. It takes direct light as a floor and water every 18–35 days, and it is reasonably easy to find at $15–90.

Full entry for golden barrel cactus — care fields with sources, toxicity with every authority we consulted, and propagation.

Commonly recommended for this, and shouldn't be

Every one of these is sold everywhere and appears on other lists for this purpose. Each fails on a field in our own database, stated below.

Prayer plant Maranta leuconeura

scores 3 of 5 — unfussy about light, but crisps at the edges below about 50% humidity and reacts badly to hard tap water..
English ivy Hedera helix

scores 3 of 5 — easy to grow and easy to root, but spider mites find it reliably in dry indoor air and can strip it in a month..
Flamingo flower Anthurium andraeanum

scores 3 of 5 — easy to keep alive, hard to keep flowering. It needs high humidity and bright light together, which most rooms give one of..
African violet Streptocarpus ionanthus

scores 3 of 5 — it flowers for months in a north window, but cold water on the leaves marks them permanently and it must be watered from below..

None of these are bad plants. They are bad plants for this, and the difference is the whole point of the list. Buying one for the wrong spot is the commonest way people conclude they cannot keep houseplants.

Other lists

Every list →

Sources

This database's own care records for the 26 species listed — light floor, watering interval, humidity, difficulty and mature size are the fields the ranking uses. Each species entry cites its own authorities.
ASPCA Animal Poison Control — toxicity classification, cited per species on each entry
North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox — poison severity where published
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Plants of the World Online — accepted names and families
Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder — cultivation and pest records

Compiled and edited by Tony Valcarcel · 2026-09-12
Ranking is derived from database fields. We do not accept payment for placement, and the pre-publish check rejects payout as a sort field. How this is sourced.