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Agriculture · head to head

Datamars Livestock vs Farmbrite

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
Farmbrite logo

Farmbrite

Agriculture

Farm record keeping, livestock and crop management for small and mid-sized operations

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Farmbrite tiers are capped on active animal counts, so herd growth rather than headcount growth forces an upgrade, and a good calving season can push a farm into the next price band mid-year.
  • They diverge on capability: Datamars Livestock covers EID and visual tag management, Farmbrite covers Livestock records.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Datamars Livestock and Farmbrite differ
AttributeDatamars LivestockFarmbrite
Starting priceOn request$29/month
Pricing modelquotePer month by farm and animal count
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, WindowsWeb, iOS, Android

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 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 Farmbrite

  • Livestock records
  • Grazing management
  • Crop and field planning
  • Farm accounting
  • Traceability
  • Team scheduling and timesheets
  • Inventory
  • Direct sales storefront

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 Farmbrite
  • A sheep producer tracking lamb growth rates by sire to inform ram selectionnot Farmbrite
  • A New Zealand farm needing NAIT-compliant movement records generated from the same scans used for weighingnot Farmbrite
  • A grazier comparing average daily gain across mobs on different paddocks or supplementsnot Farmbrite

Farmbrite

  • A family farm keeping treatment and withdrawal records that an organic or grass-fed certifier will inspectnot Datamars Livestock
  • A grazing operation planning pasture rotation and stocking rates without building another spreadsheetnot Datamars Livestock
  • A diversified market garden that sells direct and wants planning, harvest records and a small storefront in one placenot Datamars Livestock
  • A small ranch that needs individual animal history and genealogy but cannot justify an enterprise herd platformnot 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.

Farmbrite

  • Tiers are capped on active animal counts, so herd growth rather than headcount growth forces an upgrade, and a good calving season can push a farm into the next price band mid-year.
  • The plans are split into separate Livestock, Crop and Complete product lines, so an operation that starts on a crop plan and later adds stock pays the combined rate rather than a small increment.
  • The accounting module is built around United States Schedule F tax reporting, so farms elsewhere get bookkeeping with a tax output they cannot file.
  • There is no precision agriculture layer at all, meaning no machine telemetry, no variable-rate prescriptions and no yield-map import, so anyone running guidance hardware maintains a second platform alongside it.
  • Offline capability in the mobile app is limited, and record keeping in paddocks or sheds without signal ends up being written down and re-entered later, which is exactly the workflow the software is meant to remove.

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

Farmbrite

$29/month
  • Livestock Essentials$29/month
    • Up to 300 active animals
    • Health, treatment and growth records
    • Genealogy and breeding
  • Complete Essentials$59/month
    • Crops and livestock together
    • Up to 300 active animals
    • Grazing management
  • Complete Performance$79/month
    • Up to 2,000 animals
    • Unlimited team members
    • Feed tracking and breeding performance
  • Complete Premium$109/month
    • 5,000 or more animals
    • Unlimited inventory and custom fields
    • Timesheets and audit tracking

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 Farmbrite if

  • You need livestock records.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want grazing management.
Farmbrite review

Questions people ask

Is Datamars Livestock or Farmbrite better?
Neither clearly leads. Datamars Livestock starts at On request and Farmbrite at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Datamars Livestock or Farmbrite?
Datamars Livestock starts at On request and Farmbrite at $29/month.
Does Datamars Livestock or Farmbrite run on more platforms?
Datamars Livestock runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows. Farmbrite runs on Web, iOS, Android.
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 Farmbrite is typically brought in for.
What can Datamars Livestock do that Farmbrite cannot?
Datamars Livestock covers EID and visual tag management, Weigh session capture, Average daily gain, Auto-drafting. Farmbrite covers Livestock records, Grazing management, Crop and field planning, Farm accounting.

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.

Farmbrite: Does Farmbrite charge per user?

Not on most tiers. Essentials caps team members at five or ten depending on the plan, and Performance and Premium allow unlimited team members. Cost is driven by animal count instead.

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.

Farmbrite: Can it replace a precision agriculture platform?

No. There is no equipment telemetry, prescription writing or yield-map import, so it sits alongside those tools rather than replacing them.

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.

Farmbrite: Is there a discount for new farmers?

Yes. Farmbrite publishes discounts of up to 50 percent for three years for new farmers and up to 65 percent for non-profits.

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.

Farmbrite: Can I run both crops and livestock?

Yes, on the Complete plans. The separate Livestock and Crop plans only cover their own side.

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