Softwr

Agriculture · head to head

Bushel vs METER Group ZENTRA

Bushel logo

Bushel

Agriculture

Digital infrastructure for grain

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
METER Group ZENTRA logo

METER Group ZENTRA

Agriculture

Research-grade soil, plant and atmosphere sensors with the ZENTRA Cloud data platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Bushel has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Bushel pricing is not published for the agribusiness products; METER Group ZENTRA hardware costs several times what commodity soil probes cost, so a farm that only needs a rough irrigation trigger is paying for calibration accuracy it will never use.
  • They diverge on capability: Bushel covers Digital scale tickets, METER Group ZENTRA covers TEROS soil sensors.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bushel and METER Group ZENTRA actually diverge.

Attributes where Bushel and METER Group ZENTRA differ
AttributeBushelMETER Group ZENTRA
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumPer device subscription
Free tierYesNo
Founded2017Unknown

Identical on both: platforms (Web, Ios, Android), 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 Bushel

  • Digital scale tickets
  • Contract management
  • Settlement tracking
  • Delivery scheduling
  • Multi-location management
  • Price notifications
  • Offer management
  • Mobile access

Only in METER Group ZENTRA

  • TEROS soil sensors
  • Water potential measurement
  • ZL6 data loggers
  • ZENTRA Cloud
  • Threshold alerts
  • Open API
  • ATMOS weather stations

What people use each for

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

Bushel

  • Grain trading and contract workflows between farmers and elevatorsnot METER Group ZENTRA
  • Payments between agribusinesses and growersnot METER Group ZENTRA
  • Quoting and CRM for ag retailersnot METER Group ZENTRA
  • Replacing paper processes across the grain supply chainnot METER Group ZENTRA

METER Group ZENTRA

  • A university soil physics group that needs measurements defensible enough for peer reviewnot Bushel
  • An irrigation district accounting for water applied and lost across a schemenot Bushel
  • A vineyard managing deficit irrigation from water potential rather than volumetric moisture alonenot Bushel
  • An environmental consultancy monitoring a remediation or drainage site where the data may be contestednot Bushel

Where each one falls short

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

Bushel

  • Pricing is not published for the agribusiness products
  • Sold as many separate modules, including CRM, portals, Trade, Bushel Pay, quoting and loyalty
  • Its value depends on network effects across the 3,500 grain and ag retail facilities already connected

METER Group ZENTRA

  • Hardware costs several times what commodity soil probes cost, so a farm that only needs a rough irrigation trigger is paying for calibration accuracy it will never use.
  • ZENTRA Cloud is a per-device subscription, so a large sensor network carries a recurring bill that grows linearly with every probe added and is easy to underestimate at design stage.
  • The three-year subscription bundled with the ZL6 Pro means the renewal decision arrives exactly when a typical research grant has ended, which is how long-running datasets get abandoned.
  • METER sells measurement rather than recommendations; there is no irrigation scheduling engine, so someone has to turn the numbers into decisions or buy a second platform that will.
  • Installation quality dominates results with soil sensors, and a badly installed TEROS probe produces confidently wrong data, so the accuracy you paid for depends on field technique the vendor cannot supply.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bushel

Free
  • Bushel FarmFree
    • Grain contracts & settlements
    • Scale ticket access
    • Delivery scheduling
  • Bushel for Elevators$undefined/month
    • Customer portal
    • Mobile ticketing
    • Offer management

METER Group ZENTRA

On request
  • ZENTRA Cloud$undefined/year
    • Priced per activated device, pay for what you use
    • Three year subscription included with the ZL6 Pro logger
    • Cellular data included in the device subscription

Which should you pick?

Choose Bushel if

  • You need digital scale tickets.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want contract management.
Bushel review

Choose METER Group ZENTRA if

  • You need teros soil sensors.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want water potential measurement.
METER Group ZENTRA review

Questions people ask

Is Bushel or METER Group ZENTRA better?
Neither clearly leads. Bushel starts at Free and METER Group ZENTRA at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bushel or METER Group ZENTRA?
Bushel has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Bushel and On request for METER Group ZENTRA.
Does Bushel or METER Group ZENTRA run on more platforms?
Bushel runs on Web, Ios, Android. METER Group ZENTRA runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Bushel for free?
Yes. Bushel has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. METER Group ZENTRA starts at On request.
What is Bushel best used for?
Bushel is most often used for grain trading and contract workflows between farmers and elevators, payments between agribusinesses and growers, quoting and crm for ag retailers, replacing paper processes across the grain supply chain. Of those, grain trading and contract workflows between farmers and elevators and payments between agribusinesses and growers are not what METER Group ZENTRA is typically brought in for.
What can Bushel do that METER Group ZENTRA cannot?
Bushel covers Digital scale tickets, Contract management, Settlement tracking, Delivery scheduling. METER Group ZENTRA covers TEROS soil sensors, Water potential measurement, ZL6 data loggers, ZENTRA Cloud.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bushel: What subscription tiers does Bushel offer?

Bushel offers multiple tiers for farmers including Rainfall, Lite, and Essentials. Specific pricing and feature comparisons are available on their pricing page at bushelpowered.com/farmers/oldpricing.

Source
METER Group ZENTRA: Is ZENTRA Cloud included with the loggers?

A three-year subscription is included with the ZL6 Pro. Other loggers require a separate per-device subscription.

Bushel: Does Bushel offer services for agribusinesses beyond farmers?

Yes. Bushel serves agribusinesses with solutions including Customer Relationship Management, Customer Portal, Commercial Portal, Trade, Bushel Pay, Farm Management, Website Management, Professional Services, Loyalty Program, and Quoting.

Source
METER Group ZENTRA: Do I need a separate cellular data plan?

No. Cellular data is covered within the device subscription rather than billed as a separate SIM contract.

Bushel: Does Bushel offer payment processing?

Yes. Bushel Business Account includes payment processing with interest-bearing capabilities. Banking services are provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. Interest rates are variable and subject to change.

Source
METER Group ZENTRA: Will it tell me when to irrigate?

No. METER provides measurement, not scheduling recommendations. You either interpret the data yourself or feed it into a scheduling platform.

METER Group ZENTRA: Why is it more expensive than commodity soil probes?

Individual sensor calibration and documented measurement physics, which is what makes the data hold up in research, regulatory and legal contexts.

Share

Related pages

More on Bushel

More on METER Group ZENTRA

Keep looking

Other head to heads