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Agriculture · head to head

Baseline Irrigation vs Davis Instruments WeatherLink

Baseline Irrigation logo

Baseline Irrigation

Agriculture

Two-wire commercial irrigation control where the cloud subscription tier applies to every controller you own at once

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Davis Instruments WeatherLink logo

Davis Instruments WeatherLink

Agriculture

Cloud service for Davis weather stations, priced per device per month with a genuinely usable free tier

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Davis Instruments WeatherLink has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Baseline Irrigation all controllers belonging to a company are set to the same BaseManager subscription level, so one complex site needing the higher tier raises the cost across every controller in the portfolio rather than just that site.; Davis Instruments WeatherLink pricing is per device, so a grower with a dozen stations pays a dozen subscriptions, and at Pro+ that is over 1,200 US dollars a year in software on top of hardware that already cost several thousand.
  • They diverge on capability: Baseline Irrigation covers BaseStation 3200, Davis Instruments WeatherLink covers Per-station cloud dashboards.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Baseline Irrigation and Davis Instruments WeatherLink actually diverge.

Attributes where Baseline Irrigation and Davis Instruments WeatherLink differ
AttributeBaseline IrrigationDavis Instruments WeatherLink
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotePer device per month
Free tierNoYes

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 Baseline Irrigation

  • BaseStation 3200
  • BaseStation 1000
  • biSensor soil moisture
  • WeatherAccess scheduling
  • BaseManager
  • AppManager
  • Two-wire diagnostics
  • Flow management

Only in Davis Instruments WeatherLink

  • Per-station cloud dashboards
  • Custom charting
  • Data export
  • Shareable public links
  • Third-party uploads
  • Mobilize agricultural views
  • Integrated pest management models
  • Network map

What people use each for

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

Baseline Irrigation

  • A university grounds department running two-wire loops across a campus that needs fault location without diggingnot Davis Instruments WeatherLink
  • A city parks department under a water ordinance that must run WaterSense-compliant weather-based schedulingnot Davis Instruments WeatherLink
  • A property manager with 40 sites who needs one login rather than a controller key per locationnot Davis Instruments WeatherLink
  • A site with a history of mainline breaks where flow shutdown prevents a five-figure water bill overnightnot Davis Instruments WeatherLink

Davis Instruments WeatherLink

  • An orchard running frost protection that needs one-minute temperature data to decide when to start wind machinesnot Baseline Irrigation
  • A vineyard driving disease models from on-site rather than airport weathernot Baseline Irrigation
  • A research station exporting long historical records from several instrumentsnot Baseline Irrigation
  • A grower sharing a public station page with neighbours and a spray contractornot Baseline Irrigation

Where each one falls short

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

Baseline Irrigation

  • All controllers belonging to a company are set to the same BaseManager subscription level, so one complex site needing the higher tier raises the cost across every controller in the portfolio rather than just that site.
  • WaterSense-compliant WeatherAccess operation on the 3200 requires an active BaseManager Plus subscription, which means a rebate or ordinance obligation depends on a recurring payment rather than the hardware you installed.
  • Baseline has been part of HydroPoint since 2016 and sits alongside the WeatherTRAK line, so buyers should ask directly which of the two product families gets new development, because they overlap.
  • No pricing is published for controllers or subscriptions, so estates cannot budget a multi-site rollout without a distributor quote per site.
  • Remote access needs Ethernet, Wi-Fi or a cellular modem at each controller, and cellular adds a data cost per site that is easy to leave out of a rollout budget for forty locations.

Davis Instruments WeatherLink

  • Pricing is per device, so a grower with a dozen stations pays a dozen subscriptions, and at Pro+ that is over 1,200 US dollars a year in software on top of hardware that already cost several thousand.
  • The free tier only uploads to third parties every 15 minutes, which is too coarse for frost protection and short-interval spray decisions, so the tier that exists is not the tier a commercial grower can use.
  • Davis directs bulk device management to a sales conversation rather than publishing a volume discount, so large networks cannot budget from the public rate card.
  • Three-year commitments are the only way to reach the lower per-device rate, which locks a grower into a platform for longer than a station deployment plan often survives.
  • The hardware is durable enough to outlive several software generations, and owners of older Vantage stations have repeatedly had to buy new data loggers or gateways to stay compatible with the current cloud, turning a maintenance-free instrument into a recurring purchase.

Pricing, plan by plan

Baseline Irrigation

On request
  • BaseManager$undefined/year
    • Subscription tier determines available remote features
    • All controllers in a company are set to the same subscription level
    • BaseManager Plus required for WaterSense-compliant WeatherAccess operation

Davis Instruments WeatherLink

Free
  • BasicFree
    • Data viewing and export
    • Custom charting and network map
    • Mobile app access
  • Pro$3.95/month
    • Per device, billed annually
    • 3.35 USD per device per month on a 3 year plan
    • 6 shareable links
  • Pro+$8.95/month
    • Per device, billed annually
    • 7.65 USD per device per month on a 3 year plan
    • 10 shareable links

Which should you pick?

Choose Baseline Irrigation if

  • You need basestation 3200.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want basestation 1000.
Baseline Irrigation review

Choose Davis Instruments WeatherLink if

  • You need per-station cloud dashboards.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want custom charting.
Davis Instruments WeatherLink review

Questions people ask

Is Baseline Irrigation or Davis Instruments WeatherLink better?
Neither clearly leads. Baseline Irrigation starts at On request and Davis Instruments WeatherLink at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Baseline Irrigation or Davis Instruments WeatherLink?
Davis Instruments WeatherLink has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Baseline Irrigation and Free for Davis Instruments WeatherLink.
Does Baseline Irrigation or Davis Instruments WeatherLink run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Davis Instruments WeatherLink for free?
Yes. Davis Instruments WeatherLink has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Baseline Irrigation starts at On request.
What is Baseline Irrigation best used for?
Baseline Irrigation is most often used for a university grounds department running two-wire loops across a campus that needs fault location without digging, a city parks department under a water ordinance that must run watersense-compliant weather-based scheduling, a property manager with 40 sites who needs one login rather than a controller key per location, a site with a history of mainline breaks where flow shutdown prevents a five-figure water bill overnight. Of those, a university grounds department running two-wire loops across a campus that needs fault location without digging and a city parks department under a water ordinance that must run watersense-compliant weather-based scheduling are not what Davis Instruments WeatherLink is typically brought in for.
What can Baseline Irrigation do that Davis Instruments WeatherLink cannot?
Baseline Irrigation covers BaseStation 3200, BaseStation 1000, biSensor soil moisture, WeatherAccess scheduling. Davis Instruments WeatherLink covers Per-station cloud dashboards, Custom charting, Data export, Shareable public links.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Baseline Irrigation: Can different sites have different BaseManager tiers?

No. All controllers belonging to a company are set to the same subscription level, which is the main pricing surprise in a multi-site rollout.

Davis Instruments WeatherLink: Is WeatherLink free?

There is a permanently free Basic tier with charting and export, but third-party uploads run only every 15 minutes and there are no shareable links.

Baseline Irrigation: Who owns Baseline now?

HydroPoint Data Systems acquired it in 2016. It is a product line inside HydroPoint rather than an independent Boise company.

Davis Instruments WeatherLink: What does the paid tier actually add?

Faster upload intervals, five minutes on Pro and one minute on Pro+, plus shareable public links. The faster cadence is what matters for frost and spray timing.

Baseline Irrigation: Do I need a subscription for WaterSense compliance?

On the BaseStation 3200 operating in WeatherAccess mode, yes, an active BaseManager Plus subscription is part of meeting the criteria.

Davis Instruments WeatherLink: Is pricing per account or per station?

Per device. Every station you own needs its own subscription.

Baseline Irrigation: How does the controller reach the cloud?

Ethernet, Wi-Fi or a cellular modem at each site, with the cellular data cost separate from the subscription.

Davis Instruments WeatherLink: Can I get the data out via an API?

Yes, Davis publishes a WeatherLink API, but practical use depends on your account tier and station model, so confirm before designing around it.

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