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Agriculture · head to head

Davis Instruments WeatherLink vs Planet Labs

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
Planet Labs logo

Planet Labs

Weather

Daily satellite imagery for environmental monitoring

From
On request
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: 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.; Planet Labs planet publishes no price for its monitoring subscriptions: no rate per square kilometre, no minimum area and no commitment length appears on the product page
  • They diverge on capability: Davis Instruments WeatherLink covers Per-station cloud dashboards, Planet Labs covers Daily satellite imagery.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Davis Instruments WeatherLink and Planet Labs actually diverge.

Attributes where Davis Instruments WeatherLink and Planet Labs differ
AttributeDavis Instruments WeatherLinkPlanet Labs
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer device per monthquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Api
CategoryAgricultureWeather
FoundedUnknown2010

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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 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

Only in Planet Labs

  • Daily satellite imagery
  • Change detection
  • Agriculture monitoring
  • Forest tracking
  • Climate data
  • API access
  • GIS platforms
  • Cloud services

What people use each for

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

Davis Instruments WeatherLink

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

Planet Labs

  • Daily satellite imagery monitoring of a defined area of interestnot Davis Instruments WeatherLink
  • Detecting change in land use, agriculture and infrastructure over timenot Davis Instruments WeatherLink
  • Feeding satellite imagery into analytics and machine learning pipelinesnot Davis Instruments WeatherLink

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Planet Labs

  • Planet publishes no price for its monitoring subscriptions: no rate per square kilometre, no minimum area and no commitment length appears on the product page
  • Access is sold only through a subscription scaled by sales to the customer's stated needs, so there is no self service purchase
  • Every pricing route on the page is a contact sales button

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Planet Labs

On request
  • ExplorerFree
    • Limited imagery
    • Basic tools
    • Entry tier
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Full archive
    • API access
    • Custom analytics

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Planet Labs if

  • You need daily satellite imagery.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want change detection.
Planet Labs review

Questions people ask

Is Davis Instruments WeatherLink or Planet Labs better?
Neither clearly leads. Davis Instruments WeatherLink starts at Free and Planet Labs at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Davis Instruments WeatherLink or Planet Labs?
Davis Instruments WeatherLink has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Davis Instruments WeatherLink and On request for Planet Labs.
Does Davis Instruments WeatherLink or Planet Labs run on more platforms?
Davis Instruments WeatherLink runs on Web, iOS, Android. Planet Labs runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Davis Instruments WeatherLink for free?
Yes. Davis Instruments WeatherLink has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Planet Labs starts at On request.
What is Davis Instruments WeatherLink best used for?
Davis Instruments WeatherLink is most often used for an orchard running frost protection that needs one-minute temperature data to decide when to start wind machines, a vineyard driving disease models from on-site rather than airport weather, a research station exporting long historical records from several instruments, a grower sharing a public station page with neighbours and a spray contractor. Of those, an orchard running frost protection that needs one-minute temperature data to decide when to start wind machines and a vineyard driving disease models from on-site rather than airport weather are not what Planet Labs is typically brought in for.
What can Davis Instruments WeatherLink do that Planet Labs cannot?
Davis Instruments WeatherLink covers Per-station cloud dashboards, Custom charting, Data export, Shareable public links. Planet Labs covers Daily satellite imagery, Change detection, Agriculture monitoring, Forest tracking.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Planet Labs: How can I access Planet Labs satellite imagery pricing?

Planet Labs offers flexible and transparent pricing but does not publish rates on their public website. Visit planet.com/pricing/, contact their sales team via the Contact Sales link, or log into the Planet Insights Platform to view pricing.

Source
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.

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

Per device. Every station you own needs its own 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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