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Agriculture · head to head

Datamars Livestock vs Tend

Datamars Livestock logo

Datamars Livestock

Agriculture

EID tag, weigh scale and livestock data platform behind the Tru-Test brand

From
On request
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: Datamars Livestock the software exists to sell tags, readers and scales, so its feature depth in breeding, financials and grazing planning is well short of dedicated herd management systems.; 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: Datamars Livestock covers EID and visual tag management, Tend covers Visual crop planning.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Datamars Livestock and Tend actually diverge.

Attributes where Datamars Livestock and Tend differ
AttributeDatamars LivestockTend
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotePer month by user count
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, WindowsWeb, iOS, Android

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 Datamars Livestock

  • EID and visual tag management
  • Weigh session capture
  • Average daily gain
  • Auto-drafting
  • Traceability records
  • Bluetooth reader sync
  • Treatment and animal events

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.

Datamars Livestock

  • A beef finisher drafting cattle to a target weight automatically at the crushnot Tend
  • A sheep producer tracking lamb growth rates by sire to inform ram selectionnot Tend
  • A New Zealand farm needing NAIT-compliant movement records generated from the same scans used for weighingnot Tend
  • A grazier comparing average daily gain across mobs on different paddocks or supplementsnot Tend

Tend

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

Where each one falls short

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

Datamars Livestock

  • The software exists to sell tags, readers and scales, so its feature depth in breeding, financials and grazing planning is well short of dedicated herd management systems.
  • A migration to new cloud software is scheduled from January 2026 for Tru-Test indicator and reader customers, which puts historical Data Link desktop records at risk if they are not exported deliberately before support changes.
  • Hardware lock-in is real: the automatic capture that makes the platform useful depends on Datamars and Tru-Test devices, and a farm with Gallagher scales gets a much thinner experience.
  • Software being bundled with hardware means it has never been priced or sold on its own merits, so there is no published cost, no clear upgrade path and no leverage if the bundling arrangement changes.
  • Traceability support is country-specific and uneven, so a farm outside the main New Zealand, Australian, UK and North American markets may find its national scheme is not directly supported and needs manual file preparation.

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

Datamars Livestock

On request
  • Datamars Livestock$undefined/year
    • Historically bundled with purchase of Datamars and Tru-Test hardware
    • Tag, reader and weigh indicator hardware is the actual cost
    • Cloud platform terms changing with the January 2026 migration

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 Datamars Livestock if

  • You need eid and visual tag management.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
  • You also want weigh session capture.
Datamars Livestock 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 Datamars Livestock or Tend better?
Neither clearly leads. Datamars Livestock starts at On request and Tend at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Datamars Livestock or Tend?
Tend has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Datamars Livestock and Free for Tend.
Does Datamars Livestock or Tend run on more platforms?
Datamars Livestock runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows. 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. Datamars Livestock starts at On request.
What is Datamars Livestock best used for?
Datamars Livestock is most often used for a beef finisher drafting cattle to a target weight automatically at the crush, a sheep producer tracking lamb growth rates by sire to inform ram selection, a new zealand farm needing nait-compliant movement records generated from the same scans used for weighing, a grazier comparing average daily gain across mobs on different paddocks or supplements. Of those, a beef finisher drafting cattle to a target weight automatically at the crush and a sheep producer tracking lamb growth rates by sire to inform ram selection are not what Tend is typically brought in for.
What can Datamars Livestock do that Tend cannot?
Datamars Livestock covers EID and visual tag management, Weigh session capture, Average daily gain, Auto-drafting. Tend covers Visual crop planning, Growing templates, Crop library, Task management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Datamars Livestock: Do I have to pay for the software?

It has historically been included with purchase of Datamars and Tru-Test hardware. The January 2026 cloud migration is the point at which to confirm what the ongoing terms are.

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.

Datamars Livestock: What happens to my Data Link records?

They need to be migrated to the new cloud platform. Export your historical weigh sessions before the transition rather than assuming everything carries across.

Tend: Can Tend handle a CSA?

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

Datamars Livestock: Will it work with Gallagher scales?

Not natively in the way it works with Tru-Test hardware. You lose the automatic session sync that is the main reason to use it.

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.

Datamars Livestock: Does it handle NAIT and NLIS?

Yes, for New Zealand and Australia respectively, generating movement and identification records from the same EID scans used for weighing.

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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