Softwr

Agriculture · head to head

Farmers Business Network (FBN) vs Galcon

Farmers Business Network (FBN) logo

Farmers Business Network (FBN)

Agriculture

Farmer-to-farmer network and marketplace

From
$700/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Galcon logo

Galcon

Agriculture

Battery and mains irrigation, fertigation and climate controllers with cloud management

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Farmers Business Network (FBN) the Internet Archive's capture of Farmers Business Network's homepage on 2 January 2021 stated core FBN membership is free, with fees applying only to add-on services such as FBN Direct input purchases, crop marketing advisory, brokerage, financing and insurance, each offered by separately licensed FBN subsidiary entities.; Galcon distribution and support run through regional wholesalers, so in markets where Galcon has no strong distributor you get the hardware and very little else.
  • They diverge on capability: Farmers Business Network (FBN) covers Seed performance analytics, Galcon covers Battery DC controllers.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Farmers Business Network (FBN) and Galcon actually diverge.

Attributes where Farmers Business Network (FBN) and Galcon differ
AttributeFarmers Business Network (FBN)Galcon
Starting price$700/yearOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Founded2014Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Farmers Business Network (FBN)

  • Seed performance analytics
  • Input price transparency
  • Direct input purchasing
  • Yield analytics
  • Crop marketing tools
  • Farm financing
  • Agronomic insights
  • Farmer network access

Only in Galcon

  • Battery DC controllers
  • GSI cloud
  • Galileo Cloud
  • Fertigation control
  • Greenhouse climate
  • Water budget reporting
  • Sensor inputs

What people use each for

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

Farmers Business Network (FBN)

  • Input purchasingnot Galcon
  • Seed selectionnot Galcon
  • Price comparisonnot Galcon
  • Farm financingnot Galcon
  • Market insightsnot Galcon

Galcon

  • A parks department scheduling roadside and median planting beds where no valve has mains powernot Farmers Business Network (FBN)
  • An orchard automating block irrigation without trenching electricity to every valvenot Farmers Business Network (FBN)
  • A greenhouse dosing fertiliser to EC and pH targets alongside climate controlnot Farmers Business Network (FBN)
  • A landscape contractor managing irrigation across dozens of client sites from one cloud accountnot Farmers Business Network (FBN)

Where each one falls short

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

Farmers Business Network (FBN)

  • The Internet Archive's capture of Farmers Business Network's homepage on 2 January 2021 stated core FBN membership is free, with fees applying only to add-on services such as FBN Direct input purchases, crop marketing advisory, brokerage, financing and insurance, each offered by separately licensed FBN subsidiary entities.

Galcon

  • Distribution and support run through regional wholesalers, so in markets where Galcon has no strong distributor you get the hardware and very little else.
  • The cloud software is functional rather than refined, and its third-party integration list is short compared with Hunter Centralus or Rain Bird IQ, which matters if you want irrigation data in a wider asset system.
  • Battery-powered controllers mean battery replacement schedules across a large estate, and a dead battery on a remote valve is a silent failure that shows up as a dead planting bed weeks later.
  • No pricing is published for hardware or cloud subscriptions, and pricing varies by country and wholesaler, so budgeting a municipal rollout requires several quotes.
  • The product range is broad and fragmented across GSI, GSI PRO, Galileo Cloud and legacy timers, which makes it genuinely hard to work out which product line a given site should be on.

Pricing, plan by plan

Farmers Business Network (FBN)

$700/year
  • FBN Membership$700/year
    • Access to FBN Analytics
    • Seed performance data
    • Chemical price transparency
  • FBN DirectFree
    • Transparent input pricing
    • Direct-to-farm delivery
    • Seed & crop protection

Galcon

On request
  • Galcon GSI and Galileo Cloud$undefined/year
    • Controller hardware priced through irrigation wholesalers
    • Cloud subscription quoted by number of controllers and zones
    • Cellular connectivity charges vary by country

Which should you pick?

Choose Farmers Business Network (FBN) if

  • You need seed performance analytics.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want input price transparency.
Farmers Business Network (FBN) review

Choose Galcon if

  • You need battery dc controllers.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want gsi cloud.
Galcon review

Questions people ask

Is Farmers Business Network (FBN) or Galcon better?
Neither clearly leads. Farmers Business Network (FBN) starts at $700/year and Galcon at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Farmers Business Network (FBN) or Galcon?
Farmers Business Network (FBN) starts at $700/year and Galcon at On request.
Does Farmers Business Network (FBN) or Galcon run on more platforms?
Farmers Business Network (FBN) runs on Web, Ios, Android. Galcon runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Farmers Business Network (FBN) best used for?
Farmers Business Network (FBN) is most often used for input purchasing, seed selection, price comparison, farm financing. Of those, input purchasing and seed selection are not what Galcon is typically brought in for.
What can Farmers Business Network (FBN) do that Galcon cannot?
Farmers Business Network (FBN) covers Seed performance analytics, Input price transparency, Direct input purchasing, Yield analytics. Galcon covers Battery DC controllers, GSI cloud, Galileo Cloud, Fertigation control.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Galcon: Do Galcon controllers need mains power?

The DC range does not. They run latching solenoids from internal batteries, which is the main reason they are specified where getting power to the valve is expensive.

Galcon: Is there a cloud subscription?

Yes for the connected GSI and Galileo Cloud products. Terms are quoted by controller count and vary by country along with cellular charges.

Galcon: Can it control fertigation?

Yes. Galcon makes dedicated fertigation and greenhouse climate controllers with EC and pH monitoring, sold as separate systems from the field controllers.

Galcon: How does it compare with Hunter or Rain Bird?

It competes on battery operation and price rather than ecosystem breadth. The American brands have deeper central control software and broader integration.

Share

Related pages

More on Farmers Business Network (FBN)

More on Galcon

Keep looking

Other head to heads