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Agriculture · head to head

CropTracker Pro vs METER Group ZENTRA

CropTracker Pro logo

CropTracker Pro

Agriculture

Complete farm management and traceability

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 CropTracker Pro has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: CropTracker Pro pricing is not published; 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: CropTracker Pro covers Spray records, 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 CropTracker Pro and METER Group ZENTRA actually diverge.

Attributes where CropTracker Pro and METER Group ZENTRA differ
AttributeCropTracker ProMETER Group ZENTRA
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer device subscription
Free tierYesNo
Founded2008Unknown

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 CropTracker Pro

  • Spray records
  • Harvest tracking
  • Compliance reports
  • Label management
  • Traceability
  • QuickBooks
  • Sage
  • Weather services

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.

CropTracker Pro

  • Spray, harvest, irrigation and labour record keeping for orchardsnot METER Group ZENTRA
  • Food traceability down to block and employee levelnot METER Group ZENTRA
  • Task scheduling and crew activity monitoringnot METER Group ZENTRA
  • Food safety compliance and audit preparationnot METER Group ZENTRA
  • Fruit sizing and count estimation through computer visionnot METER Group ZENTRA

METER Group ZENTRA

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

Where each one falls short

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

CropTracker Pro

  • Pricing is not published
  • Built for fruit and vegetable growers, particularly orchards, rather than row crop or livestock operations
  • The computer vision modules such as Harvest Quality Vision and Crop Load Vision are separate products alongside the core record keeping

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

CropTracker Pro

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Basic tracking
    • 5 fields
    • Mobile app
  • Standard$39/month
    • Unlimited fields
    • Compliance reporting
    • Label database
  • Professional$99/month
    • All Standard features
    • Labor tracking
    • Inventory 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 CropTracker Pro if

  • You need spray records.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want harvest tracking.
CropTracker Pro 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 CropTracker Pro or METER Group ZENTRA better?
Neither clearly leads. CropTracker Pro 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, CropTracker Pro or METER Group ZENTRA?
CropTracker Pro has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for CropTracker Pro and On request for METER Group ZENTRA.
Does CropTracker Pro or METER Group ZENTRA run on more platforms?
CropTracker Pro runs on Web, Ios, Android. METER Group ZENTRA runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use CropTracker Pro for free?
Yes. CropTracker Pro has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. METER Group ZENTRA starts at On request.
What is CropTracker Pro best used for?
CropTracker Pro is most often used for spray, harvest, irrigation and labour record keeping for orchards, food traceability down to block and employee level, task scheduling and crew activity monitoring, food safety compliance and audit preparation. Of those, spray, harvest, irrigation and labour record keeping for orchards and food traceability down to block and employee level are not what METER Group ZENTRA is typically brought in for.
What can CropTracker Pro do that METER Group ZENTRA cannot?
CropTracker Pro covers Spray records, Harvest tracking, Compliance reports, Label management. METER Group ZENTRA covers TEROS soil sensors, Water potential measurement, ZL6 data loggers, ZENTRA Cloud.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CropTracker Pro: What is the base pricing for CropTracker?

CropTracker's base pricing starts at $3,300 USD per year, which includes the first 10 users.

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.

CropTracker Pro: What features are included in the standard CropTracker plan?

The platform includes punch clock labor tracking, spray record keeping, irrigation management, harvest tracking, quality control and GAP audits, shipping and receiving management, and AI-powered vision tools for harvest quality and crop assessment.

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.

CropTracker Pro: Does CropTracker offer enterprise-level solutions?

Yes, CropTracker offers enterprise-level software solutions with custom features including account linking, API integrations, and tailored reporting. Enterprise pricing varies based on client needs.

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.

CropTracker Pro: Are pricing tiers broken down by features?

The pricing page indicates tiered plans exist but does not detail specific tier names or feature breakdowns. Contact CropTracker for information on pricing by features.

Source
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.

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