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Agriculture · head to head

fieldmargin vs Tend

fieldmargin logo

fieldmargin

Agriculture

Per-farm field mapping, records and team messaging for livestock and arable farms

From
£3.75/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: fieldmargin per-farm pricing inverts badly at the small end: a 30 hectare holding pays the same as a 3,000 hectare estate, so the effective cost per hectare on a smallholding is many times what a large farm pays.; 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: fieldmargin covers Field mapping, Tend covers Visual crop planning.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which fieldmargin and Tend actually diverge.

Attributes where fieldmargin and Tend differ
AttributefieldmarginTend
Starting price£3.75/monthFree
Pricing modelPer farm per month, unlimited hectaresPer month by user count
Free tierNoYes

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 fieldmargin

  • Field mapping
  • Offline mobile
  • Team activity feed
  • Job assignment
  • Livestock groups
  • Input and application records
  • NDVI satellite imagery
  • Cost per field

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.

fieldmargin

  • A 900 hectare arable estate that wants field records without paying a per-hectare licence feenot Tend
  • A livestock farm tracking mob movements and grazing rotation across fields on a phone with no signalnot Tend
  • A farm manager assigning and checking off daily jobs for seasonal staff without phone callsnot Tend
  • A mixed farm that wants photos and notes attached to specific field locations for later referencenot Tend

Tend

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

Where each one falls short

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

fieldmargin

  • Per-farm pricing inverts badly at the small end: a 30 hectare holding pays the same as a 3,000 hectare estate, so the effective cost per hectare on a smallholding is many times what a large farm pays.
  • It is not an agronomy platform, so there is no variable rate prescription engine and no nutrient planning to a standard a UK agronomist will certify, meaning most arable users still pay for Gatekeeper or an agronomist's own system alongside it.
  • There is no direct submission route into Basic Payment Scheme, Sustainable Farming Incentive or equivalent schemes, so the compliance paperwork that costs farms real money still has to be assembled elsewhere.
  • Machine integration is limited compared with Climate FieldView or Operations Center; as-applied data from the sprayer or drill generally is not flowing in automatically, so application records depend on someone typing them.
  • Satellite NDVI is confined to the top tier and is standard public imagery, so cloud cover in a British winter means long gaps and the imagery is not a substitute for the aircraft or drone capture that specialist providers sell.

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

fieldmargin

£3.75/month
  • Essentials$3.75/month
    • Field mapping and boundaries
    • Field notes and photos
    • Unlimited team members
  • Plus$20/month
    • Everything in Essentials
    • Job assignment and tracking
    • Input and application records
  • Pro$30/month
    • Everything in Plus
    • NDVI satellite imagery
    • Cost per field and crop analysis

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 fieldmargin if

  • You need field mapping.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want offline mobile.
fieldmargin 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 fieldmargin or Tend better?
Neither clearly leads. fieldmargin starts at £3.75/month and Tend at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, fieldmargin or Tend?
Tend has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at £3.75/month for fieldmargin and Free for Tend.
Does fieldmargin or Tend run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Tend for free?
Yes. Tend has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. fieldmargin starts at £3.75/month.
What is fieldmargin best used for?
fieldmargin is most often used for a 900 hectare arable estate that wants field records without paying a per-hectare licence fee, a livestock farm tracking mob movements and grazing rotation across fields on a phone with no signal, a farm manager assigning and checking off daily jobs for seasonal staff without phone calls, a mixed farm that wants photos and notes attached to specific field locations for later reference. Of those, a 900 hectare arable estate that wants field records without paying a per-hectare licence fee and a livestock farm tracking mob movements and grazing rotation across fields on a phone with no signal are not what Tend is typically brought in for.
What can fieldmargin do that Tend cannot?
fieldmargin covers Field mapping, Offline mobile, Team activity feed, Job assignment. Tend covers Visual crop planning, Growing templates, Crop library, Task management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

fieldmargin: Does it charge per hectare?

No. Subscriptions are per farm with unlimited hectares and unlimited team members, which is why it is cheap on large acreages and proportionally expensive on small ones.

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.

fieldmargin: Can I submit my BPS or SFI claim from it?

No. It holds the records that support a claim but there is no direct submission integration, so the claim itself is prepared elsewhere.

Tend: Can Tend handle a CSA?

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

fieldmargin: Does it work without mobile signal?

Yes. The mobile apps capture records offline and sync when the phone regains a connection, which is the main reason it gets used in the far corners of a farm.

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.

fieldmargin: Is there a free plan?

There is a 14 day trial rather than a permanently free tier. After that every farm is on a paid plan.

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.

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