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Agriculture · head to head

DroneDeploy vs Tend

DroneDeploy logo

DroneDeploy

Agriculture

Drone mapping and analytics for agriculture

From
$29/month
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: DroneDeploy sold as annual subscriptions rather than monthly, at $1,908 a year for the agriculture plan; 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: DroneDeploy covers Automated flight planning, Tend covers Visual crop planning.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DroneDeploy and Tend actually diverge.

Attributes where DroneDeploy and Tend differ
AttributeDroneDeployTend
Starting price$29/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer month by user count
Free tierNoYes
Founded2013Unknown

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 DroneDeploy

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

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.

DroneDeploy

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

Tend

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

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

DroneDeploy

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

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 DroneDeploy if

  • You need automated flight planning.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want orthomosaic maps.
DroneDeploy 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 DroneDeploy or Tend better?
Neither clearly leads. DroneDeploy starts at $29/month and Tend at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DroneDeploy or Tend?
Tend has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for DroneDeploy and Free for Tend.
Does DroneDeploy or Tend run on more platforms?
DroneDeploy runs on Web, Ios, Android. 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. DroneDeploy starts at $29/month.
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 Tend is typically brought in for.
What can DroneDeploy do that Tend cannot?
DroneDeploy covers Automated flight planning, Orthomosaic maps, NDVI analysis, 3D modeling. Tend covers Visual crop planning, Growing templates, Crop library, Task management.

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
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.

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
Tend: Can Tend handle a CSA?

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

DroneDeploy: How long is the DroneDeploy free trial?

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

Source
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.

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
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.

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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