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Agriculture · head to head

Cropio vs Lely Horizon

Cropio logo

Cropio

Agriculture

Satellite-based farm management system

From
Free
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

  • Only Cropio has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Cropio cropio has been retired as a standalone brand: cropio.com redirects to operations.cropwise.com, which states in its own words that "Cropio has evolved to Cropwise Operations."; 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: Cropio covers Satellite field monitoring, 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 Cropio and Lely Horizon actually diverge.

Attributes where Cropio and Lely Horizon differ
AttributeCropioLely Horizon
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiWeb, iOS, Android, Windows
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 Cropio

  • Satellite field monitoring
  • Vegetation indices (NDVI, NDRE)
  • Weather forecasting
  • Scout management
  • Crop rotation tracking
  • Field work planning
  • Yield forecasting
  • Multi-farm 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.

Cropio

  • Remote field monitoringnot Lely Horizon
  • Crop health assessmentnot Lely Horizon
  • Yield predictionnot Lely Horizon
  • Scout team managementnot Lely Horizon
  • Agribusiness operationsnot 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 Cropio
  • A farm adding Vector automatic feeding that wants ration delivery driven by the same cow data as milkingnot Cropio
  • A dairy manager tracking transition cow health across two sites from one accountnot Cropio
  • A Lely advisor benchmarking a client's robot utilisation against comparable farms before recommending a fourth boxnot Cropio

Where each one falls short

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

Cropio

  • Cropio has been retired as a standalone brand: cropio.com redirects to operations.cropwise.com, which states in its own words that "Cropio has evolved to Cropwise Operations."

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

Cropio

Free
  • BasicFree
    • Up to 100 hectares
    • Satellite imagery
    • Basic vegetation indices
  • Professional$2/hectare/year
    • Unlimited hectares
    • All vegetation indices
    • Scout task management
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Everything in Professional
    • Custom integrations
    • API access

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 Cropio if

  • You need satellite field monitoring.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want vegetation indices (ndvi, ndre).
Cropio 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 Cropio or Lely Horizon better?
Neither clearly leads. Cropio starts at Free and Lely Horizon at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cropio or Lely Horizon?
Cropio has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Cropio and On request for Lely Horizon.
Does Cropio or Lely Horizon run on more platforms?
Cropio runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. Lely Horizon runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
Can I use Cropio for free?
Yes. Cropio has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Lely Horizon starts at On request.
What is Cropio best used for?
Cropio is most often used for remote field monitoring, crop health assessment, yield prediction, scout team management. Of those, remote field monitoring and crop health assessment are not what Lely Horizon is typically brought in for.
What can Cropio do that Lely Horizon cannot?
Cropio covers Satellite field monitoring, Vegetation indices (NDVI, NDRE), Weather forecasting, Scout management. Lely Horizon covers Per-cow milking data, Health and fertility alerts, Work list generation, Feed management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cropio: How is Syngenta Cropwise priced?

Syngenta Cropwise does not publish pricing information on its website. Pricing is determined through direct contact with Syngenta.

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.

Cropio: How do I access Syngenta Cropwise tools?

The platform includes tools like Cropwise Commodity Pro, Cropwise Imagery, and Cropwise Sustainability. Existing customers can access these through the NA Customer Portal, while new customers should contact Syngenta Digital.

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.

Cropio: Is Cropwise a free platform?

Syngenta describes Cropwise as a platform of integrated tools and services to optimize farming operations, but does not specify whether it is free, subscription-based, or part of a broader service package.

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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