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Agriculture · head to head

Arable vs Soil Scout

Arable logo

Arable

Agriculture

In-field crop intelligence platform

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Soil Scout logo

Soil Scout

Agriculture

Buried wireless soil sensors with a ten to twenty year battery and no cables to the surface

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Arable requires the Mark 3 field sensor, so it is a hardware deployment rather than a software subscription; Soil Scout sensors are unserviceable once buried, so a failed or drifting unit means excavation and the confidence you place in a single reading has no easy verification.
  • They diverge on capability: Arable covers Weather monitoring, Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Arable and Soil Scout actually diverge.

Attributes where Arable and Soil Scout differ
AttributeArableSoil Scout
Starting price$29/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, HardwareWeb
Founded2014Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Agriculture).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Arable

  • Weather monitoring
  • Evapotranspiration
  • Chlorophyll index
  • Disease risk models
  • Growth stage tracking
  • Climate FieldView
  • John Deere
  • Trimble

Only in Soil Scout

  • Fully buried sensors
  • Ten to twenty year battery
  • Underground radio
  • Dual depth sensing
  • Moisture, temperature and salinity
  • Soil Scout Hub
  • Web service API
  • Long base station range

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Arable

  • In-field weather and crop monitoring from a single sensornot Soil Scout
  • Irrigation scheduling based on measured conditionsnot Soil Scout
  • Water sustainability reporting for enterprise growersnot Soil Scout
  • Weather risk management across dispersed fieldsnot Soil Scout

Soil Scout

  • A golf course monitoring greens moisture where a surface-mounted probe would be hit by mowers and playnot Arable
  • A stadium pitch under a closed roof where hand-held probing is impractical during the seasonnot Arable
  • A research plot needing consistent multi-year soil data below cultivation depthnot Arable
  • An irrigated field where a surface logger would not survive tillage or a spray boomnot Arable

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Arable

  • Requires the Mark 3 field sensor, so it is a hardware deployment rather than a software subscription
  • Pricing is not published and goes through a sales conversation
  • Aimed at enterprise growers and advisors rather than smallholders

Soil Scout

  • Sensors are unserviceable once buried, so a failed or drifting unit means excavation and the confidence you place in a single reading has no easy verification.
  • No pricing is published at all, which makes it hard to justify against commodity probes that quote openly, and per-sensor cost is well above the alternatives.
  • It measures but does not control, so tying moisture readings to actual irrigation decisions requires either manual interpretation or a separate integration project with the control system.
  • Underground radio range depends on soil type and moisture; heavy wet clay attenuates the signal and can force more base stations than the headline kilometre figure suggests.
  • The company is small and Finland-based, so outside its established golf and sports turf distribution the support, spares and installation expertise depend entirely on whether a competent local distributor exists.

Pricing, plan by plan

Arable

$29/month
  • Standard$1200/device/year
    • Weather data
    • Crop stress
    • Basic analytics
  • Premium$2400/device/year
    • Full analytics
    • Disease models
    • API access

Soil Scout

On request
  • Soil Scout$undefined/year
    • Sensors and base station quoted per site
    • Hub subscription terms quoted with the hardware
    • No individual sensor data plans required

Which should you pick?

Choose Arable if

  • You need weather monitoring.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Hardware.
  • You also want evapotranspiration.
Arable review

Choose Soil Scout if

  • You need fully buried sensors.
  • You also want ten to twenty year battery.
Soil Scout review

Questions people ask

Is Arable or Soil Scout better?
Neither clearly leads. Arable starts at $29/month and Soil Scout at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Arable or Soil Scout?
Arable starts at $29/month and Soil Scout at On request.
Does Arable or Soil Scout run on more platforms?
Arable runs on Web, Ios, Android, Hardware. Soil Scout runs on Web.
What is Arable best used for?
Arable is most often used for in-field weather and crop monitoring from a single sensor, irrigation scheduling based on measured conditions, water sustainability reporting for enterprise growers, weather risk management across dispersed fields. Of those, in-field weather and crop monitoring from a single sensor and irrigation scheduling based on measured conditions are not what Soil Scout is typically brought in for.
What can Arable do that Soil Scout cannot?
Arable covers Weather monitoring, Evapotranspiration, Chlorophyll index, Disease risk models. Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors, Ten to twenty year battery, Underground radio, Dual depth sensing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Arable: How do I get pricing for Arable?

Pricing is not published online. Customers can contact Arable directly at [email protected] or by phone at 510-992-4095, or visit their contact page at /contact to request pricing information.

Source
Soil Scout: How long do the sensors last?

Up to ten years for the Happi100 and up to twenty for the Hydra100, buried, with no battery replacement.

Arable: Is there a free trial available?

The website does not mention a free trial. Interested customers should contact the company directly to inquire about trial availability.

Source
Soil Scout: Do the sensors need mobile data plans?

No. Sensors transmit to a base station through the soil, and only the base station uses a cellular modem.

Arable: Can I get pricing without speaking to sales?

No. Pricing information is only available through direct contact with Arable via email, phone, or their contact form. There is no self-service pricing page.

Source
Soil Scout: Can it control irrigation directly?

No. It is a measurement and alerting system; controlling valves needs an integration with your irrigation controller through the API.

Soil Scout: What happens if a buried sensor fails?

You dig it up. There is no remote service option, which is the trade-off for having nothing above ground to damage.

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