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Agriculture · head to head

Davis Instruments WeatherLink vs Farmbrite

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
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

  • 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.; 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: Davis Instruments WeatherLink covers Per-station cloud dashboards, Farmbrite covers Livestock records.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Davis Instruments WeatherLink and Farmbrite differ
AttributeDavis Instruments WeatherLinkFarmbrite
Starting priceFree$29/month
Pricing modelPer device per monthPer month by farm and animal count
Free tierYesNo

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 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 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.

Davis Instruments WeatherLink

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

Farmbrite

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

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

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

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 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 Farmbrite if

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

Questions people ask

Is Davis Instruments WeatherLink or Farmbrite better?
Neither clearly leads. Davis Instruments WeatherLink starts at Free and Farmbrite at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Davis Instruments WeatherLink or Farmbrite?
Davis Instruments WeatherLink has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Davis Instruments WeatherLink and $29/month for Farmbrite.
Does Davis Instruments WeatherLink or Farmbrite 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. Farmbrite starts at $29/month.
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 Farmbrite is typically brought in for.
What can Davis Instruments WeatherLink do that Farmbrite cannot?
Davis Instruments WeatherLink covers Per-station cloud dashboards, Custom charting, Data export, Shareable public links. Farmbrite covers Livestock records, Grazing management, Crop and field planning, Farm accounting.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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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