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Agriculture · head to head

CattleMax vs Lely Horizon

CattleMax logo

CattleMax

Agriculture

Cattle herd management software

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lely Horizon logo

Lely Horizon

Agriculture

Dairy herd management software billed per lactating cow that only runs a Lely robot barn

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: CattleMax priced by active animal count, so the bill grows with the herd rather than with usage; Lely Horizon billing is per lactating cow, so the software cost grows with the herd indefinitely and a farm that expands from 120 to 200 cows takes a permanent software cost increase it did not budget when it bought the robots.
  • They diverge on capability: CattleMax covers Individual animal records, Lely Horizon covers Per-cow milking data.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CattleMax and Lely Horizon actually diverge.

Attributes where CattleMax and Lely Horizon differ
AttributeCattleMaxLely Horizon
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Windows, Ios, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android, Windows
Founded2003Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (On request), 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 CattleMax

  • Individual animal records
  • Breeding management
  • Calving records
  • Health & treatment tracking
  • Weight management
  • EPD/genetic data
  • Custom reporting
  • Photo management

Only in Lely Horizon

  • Per-cow milking data
  • Health and fertility alerts
  • Work list generation
  • Feed management
  • Farm Management Support
  • Multi-site view
  • Mobile alerts
  • Reporting and benchmarking

What people use each for

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

CattleMax

  • Cow-calf herd records and reproduction trackingnot Lely Horizon
  • Weights, treatments and performance history per animalnot Lely Horizon
  • Registered cattle records for breed association reportingnot Lely Horizon
  • Unlimited users on one operation's accountnot Lely Horizon

Lely Horizon

  • A 180-cow dairy running four Astronaut robots that needs the attention list to replace walking the barn twice a daynot CattleMax
  • A farm adding Vector automatic feeding that wants ration delivery driven by the same cow data as milkingnot CattleMax
  • A dairy manager tracking transition cow health across two sites from one accountnot CattleMax
  • A Lely advisor benchmarking a client's robot utilisation against comparable farms before recommending a fourth boxnot CattleMax

Where each one falls short

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

CattleMax

  • Priced by active animal count, so the bill grows with the herd rather than with usage
  • The Registered plan costs more than Commercial at every band, from $16 against $12 a month
  • Operations above 2,000 animals move to custom pricing
  • Support is Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm Central only
  • Cows and calves count separately toward the animal limit

Lely Horizon

  • Billing is per lactating cow, so the software cost grows with the herd indefinitely and a farm that expands from 120 to 200 cows takes a permanent software cost increase it did not budget when it bought the robots.
  • Horizon is not optional: the barn equipment depends on it, so the subscription cannot be cancelled in a difficult year the way a discretionary analytics tool can, which removes any negotiating position at renewal.
  • It manages Lely equipment and effectively nothing else, so a farm running a Lely robot alongside a conventional parlour or another manufacturer's feeder ends up with two systems and no combined cow record.
  • The migration from the older T4C system was compulsory and rebuilt the interface and reporting, and farms that had years of T4C reports and custom lists found the equivalents either missing or shaped differently, costing retraining time.
  • Everything is bought and supported through the local Lely Center, so pricing, response time and the quality of advice vary by dealer with no published rate card, and a farm with a weak local centre has no practical alternative supplier.

Pricing, plan by plan

CattleMax

On request
  • Commercial Plan$15/month
    • For herds focusing on cow-calf market
    • Track reproduction and performance data
    • Unlimited users
  • Commercial Plan Annual$12/month
    • Same as Commercial Plan
    • 20% discount when billed annually
  • Registered Plan$20/month
    • For herds focusing on selling registered cattle
    • Collect data for breed association
    • Unlimited users
  • Registered Plan Annual$16/month
    • Same as Registered Plan
    • 20% discount when billed annually

Lely Horizon

On request
  • Horizon Basic$undefined/month
    • Core robot operation and monitoring
    • Per lactating cow subscription
    • Invoiced digitally by the local Lely Center
  • Horizon Control$undefined/month
    • Adds herd management and fertility tooling
    • Per lactating cow subscription
  • Horizon Advance$undefined/month
    • Adds analysis, benchmarking and advisor tooling
    • Per lactating cow subscription

Which should you pick?

Choose CattleMax if

  • You need individual animal records.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Ios, Android.
  • You also want breeding management.
CattleMax review

Choose Lely Horizon if

  • You need per-cow milking data.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
  • You also want health and fertility alerts.
Lely Horizon review

Questions people ask

Is CattleMax or Lely Horizon better?
Neither clearly leads. CattleMax starts at On request and Lely Horizon at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CattleMax or Lely Horizon?
CattleMax starts at On request and Lely Horizon at On request.
Does CattleMax or Lely Horizon run on more platforms?
CattleMax runs on Web, Windows, Ios, Android. Lely Horizon runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
What is CattleMax best used for?
CattleMax is most often used for cow-calf herd records and reproduction tracking, weights, treatments and performance history per animal, registered cattle records for breed association reporting, unlimited users on one operation's account. Of those, cow-calf herd records and reproduction tracking and weights, treatments and performance history per animal are not what Lely Horizon is typically brought in for.
What can CattleMax do that Lely Horizon cannot?
CattleMax covers Individual animal records, Breeding management, Calving records, Health & treatment tracking. Lely Horizon covers Per-cow milking data, Health and fertility alerts, Work list generation, Feed management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CattleMax: What are CattleMax's pricing tiers?

CattleMax offers two plan types with identical tier structures by active animals (up to 50, 100, 250, 500, 750, 1,000, 1,500, or 2,000+). Commercial Plan costs $15/month ($12/month annual). Registered Plan costs $20/month ($16/month annual). All plans include unlimited users, free support, and bank-level security.

Source
Lely Horizon: How is Lely Horizon priced?

As a subscription per lactating cow milked by the Astronaut robots, in Basic, Control and Advance tiers. Lely does not publish rates; the local Lely Center quotes them.

CattleMax: What is the difference between CattleMax Commercial and Registered plans?

Commercial Plan is for herds focusing on the cow-calf market. Registered Plan is for herds focusing on selling registered cattle and collecting breed association data. Both include unlimited users and identical security/support features.

Source
Lely Horizon: Can I run Horizon without Lely robots?

No. It is the control and management layer for Lely equipment and has no meaningful function without it.

CattleMax: Can I try CattleMax before paying?

Yes, CattleMax offers a 21-day free trial with no credit card required. The trial includes full access to all plan features for evaluation.

Source
Lely Horizon: What happened to T4C?

Horizon replaced it. Migration was required rather than optional, and reporting was rebuilt rather than ported.

Lely Horizon: Does the subscription end when the robot is paid off?

No. It continues for as long as the robots are milking, which is the cost most robot business cases understate.

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