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Agriculture · head to head

Arable vs Tend

Arable logo

Arable

Agriculture

In-field crop intelligence platform

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tend logo

Tend

Agriculture

Crop planning and record keeping for small diversified market farms, priced in flat tiers rather than by acre

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Tend has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Arable requires the Mark 3 field sensor, so it is a hardware deployment rather than a software subscription; Tend the free tier keeps only three years of history and 500 MB of storage, so a grower who stays on it loses the multi-season comparison that makes crop planning software worth having in the first place.
  • They diverge on capability: Arable covers Weather monitoring, Tend covers Visual crop planning.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Arable and Tend actually diverge.

Attributes where Arable and Tend differ
AttributeArableTend
Starting price$29/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer month by user count
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, HardwareWeb, iOS, Android
Founded2014Unknown

Identical on both: 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 Tend

  • Visual crop planning
  • Growing templates
  • Crop library
  • Task management
  • Harvest and inventory tracking
  • CSA and sales storefront
  • Financial reporting
  • AI credits

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 Tend
  • Irrigation scheduling based on measured conditionsnot Tend
  • Water sustainability reporting for enterprise growersnot Tend
  • Weather risk management across dispersed fieldsnot Tend

Tend

  • A three-acre market garden running weekly lettuce successions that needs the seeding calendar to generate itself from the harvest targetnot Arable
  • A cut-flower farm planning bed space against wedding orders months aheadnot Arable
  • A CSA operation managing 150 member shares alongside the planting plan that has to fill themnot Arable
  • A two-person farm replacing a spreadsheet and a whiteboard without paying a per-acre platform's minimumnot 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

Tend

  • The free tier keeps only three years of history and 500 MB of storage, so a grower who stays on it loses the multi-season comparison that makes crop planning software worth having in the first place.
  • Data retention is a paid feature at every level below Ultimate, which is an unusual thing to meter: a farm that downgrades from Pro to Free after a bad year risks losing records it may need for organic certification audits.
  • There is no machinery, telematics, soil sampling or variable-rate capability at all, so any operation that adds broadacre ground has to run a second platform rather than extend this one.
  • AI features are metered in credits rather than included, and the allowances are small at the lower tiers, so the assistant becomes something you ration rather than rely on.
  • The company is small and privately held with a narrow customer base, which means integrations outside payments and basic accounting are thin and a request for a connector to a regional distributor or certifier is unlikely to be built.

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

Tend

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1 user
    • 25 AI credits per month
    • 3 years data retention
  • Pro$30/month
    • 5 users
    • 500 AI credits per month
    • 7 years data retention
  • Ultimate$75/month
    • Unlimited users
    • 2,500 AI credits per month
    • Unlimited data retention
  • Enterprise$400/month
    • Unlimited users
    • 10,000+ AI credits per month
    • 250 GB storage and up

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 Tend if

  • You need visual crop planning.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want growing templates.
Tend review

Questions people ask

Is Arable or Tend better?
Neither clearly leads. Arable starts at $29/month and Tend at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Arable or Tend?
Tend has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Arable and Free for Tend.
Does Arable or Tend run on more platforms?
Arable runs on Web, Ios, Android, Hardware. Tend runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Tend for free?
Yes. Tend has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Arable starts at $29/month.
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 Tend is typically brought in for.
What can Arable do that Tend cannot?
Arable covers Weather monitoring, Evapotranspiration, Chlorophyll index, Disease risk models. Tend covers Visual crop planning, Growing templates, Crop library, Task management.

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
Tend: Does Tend charge by the acre?

No. Pricing is flat by user count, and there are no acreage or crop limits on any tier including the free one. That is the main reason small growers pick it over broadacre platforms.

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
Tend: Can Tend handle a CSA?

Yes, including member share management and a farm-stand storefront, though payment processing runs through a third party.

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
Tend: Is it suitable for a 500 acre grain farm?

No. There is no machinery data, no prescription writing and no as-applied reporting. It is built for high-crop-count, low-acreage operations.

Tend: What happens to my records if I cancel?

Export before you cancel. Retention limits apply per tier, and the free tier keeps three years, so downgrading is not a safe archive strategy.

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