Softwr

Agriculture · head to head

DroneDeploy vs Soil Scout

DroneDeploy logo

DroneDeploy

Agriculture

Drone mapping and analytics for agriculture

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Soil Scout logo

Soil Scout

Agriculture

Buried wireless soil sensors with a ten to twenty year battery and no cables to the surface

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: DroneDeploy sold as annual subscriptions rather than monthly, at $1,908 a year for the agriculture plan; Soil Scout sensors are unserviceable once buried, so a failed or drifting unit means excavation and the confidence you place in a single reading has no easy verification.
  • They diverge on capability: DroneDeploy covers Automated flight planning, Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DroneDeploy and Soil Scout actually diverge.

Attributes where DroneDeploy and Soil Scout differ
AttributeDroneDeploySoil Scout
Starting price$29/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb
Founded2013Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 DroneDeploy

  • Automated flight planning
  • Orthomosaic maps
  • NDVI analysis
  • 3D modeling
  • Progress tracking
  • DJI
  • John Deere
  • Climate FieldView

Only in Soil Scout

  • Fully buried sensors
  • Ten to twenty year battery
  • Underground radio
  • Dual depth sensing
  • Moisture, temperature and salinity
  • Soil Scout Hub
  • Web service API
  • Long base station range

What people use each for

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

DroneDeploy

  • Mapping fields with drone imagery for crop health analysisnot Soil Scout
  • Producing stand counts and plant health indices from aerial surveysnot Soil Scout

Soil Scout

  • A golf course monitoring greens moisture where a surface-mounted probe would be hit by mowers and playnot DroneDeploy
  • A stadium pitch under a closed roof where hand-held probing is impractical during the seasonnot DroneDeploy
  • A research plot needing consistent multi-year soil data below cultivation depthnot DroneDeploy
  • An irrigated field where a surface logger would not survive tillage or a spray boomnot DroneDeploy

Where each one falls short

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

DroneDeploy

  • Sold as annual subscriptions rather than monthly, at $1,908 a year for the agriculture plan
  • Images per map are capped by plan, at 1,000 on Ag Lite and 3,000 on the general individual plan
  • The Ag Lite plan is limited to the VARI index for RGB plant health rather than the full analysis set
  • Ground capture processing is excluded from every published individual plan
  • Team plans publish no price at all and require a custom quote

Soil Scout

  • Sensors are unserviceable once buried, so a failed or drifting unit means excavation and the confidence you place in a single reading has no easy verification.
  • No pricing is published at all, which makes it hard to justify against commodity probes that quote openly, and per-sensor cost is well above the alternatives.
  • It measures but does not control, so tying moisture readings to actual irrigation decisions requires either manual interpretation or a separate integration project with the control system.
  • Underground radio range depends on soil type and moisture; heavy wet clay attenuates the signal and can force more base stations than the headline kilometre figure suggests.
  • The company is small and Finland-based, so outside its established golf and sports turf distribution the support, spares and installation expertise depend entirely on whether a competent local distributor exists.

Pricing, plan by plan

DroneDeploy

$29/month
  • Individual$299/month
    • Unlimited maps
    • 3D models
    • Basic analytics
  • Business$599/month
    • Team features
    • NDVI analysis
    • API access

Soil Scout

On request
  • Soil Scout$undefined/year
    • Sensors and base station quoted per site
    • Hub subscription terms quoted with the hardware
    • No individual sensor data plans required

Which should you pick?

Choose DroneDeploy if

  • You need automated flight planning.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want orthomosaic maps.
DroneDeploy review

Choose Soil Scout if

  • You need fully buried sensors.
  • You also want ten to twenty year battery.
Soil Scout review

Questions people ask

Is DroneDeploy or Soil Scout better?
Neither clearly leads. DroneDeploy starts at $29/month and Soil Scout at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DroneDeploy or Soil Scout?
DroneDeploy starts at $29/month and Soil Scout at On request.
Does DroneDeploy or Soil Scout run on more platforms?
DroneDeploy runs on Web, Ios, Android. Soil Scout runs on Web.
What is DroneDeploy best used for?
DroneDeploy is most often used for mapping fields with drone imagery for crop health analysis, producing stand counts and plant health indices from aerial surveys. Of those, mapping fields with drone imagery for crop health analysis and producing stand counts and plant health indices from aerial surveys are not what Soil Scout is typically brought in for.
What can DroneDeploy do that Soil Scout cannot?
DroneDeploy covers Automated flight planning, Orthomosaic maps, NDVI analysis, 3D modeling. Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors, Ten to twenty year battery, Underground radio, Dual depth sensing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

DroneDeploy: What is the cost of DroneDeploy's Flight & Analysis plan for individual pilots?

The Flight & Analysis Plan costs $4,188/year billed annually for a single user license, with support for up to 3,000 images per map and email/live chat support.

Source
Soil Scout: How long do the sensors last?

Up to ten years for the Happi100 and up to twenty for the Hydra100, buried, with no battery replacement.

DroneDeploy: Does DroneDeploy have a specialized agriculture plan?

Yes. The Ag Lite Plan costs $1,908/year and is designed for agriculture pilots with up to 1,000 images per map, stand count analysis, and plant health tools.

Source
Soil Scout: Do the sensors need mobile data plans?

No. Sensors transmit to a base station through the soil, and only the base station uses a cellular modem.

DroneDeploy: How long is the DroneDeploy free trial?

DroneDeploy offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

Source
Soil Scout: Can it control irrigation directly?

No. It is a measurement and alerting system; controlling valves needs an integration with your irrigation controller through the API.

DroneDeploy: Can I cancel my DroneDeploy subscription early?

Yes. DroneDeploy billing is flexible with monthly or annual payment options (annual offers savings). Cancellations take effect at your billing cycle end. After cancellation, you retain basic data access for 30 days.

Source
Soil Scout: What happens if a buried sensor fails?

You dig it up. There is no remote service option, which is the trade-off for having nothing above ground to damage.

DroneDeploy: What is the image upload limit on DroneDeploy's Advanced Flight & Analysis plan?

The Advanced Flight & Analysis Plan has a 10,000 image upload limit and includes cut/fill analysis, thermal imaging, and unlimited Google Cloud Print mapping. This plan requires a custom quote.

Source
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