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Agriculture · head to head

Davis Instruments WeatherLink vs Halter

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
Halter logo

Halter

Agriculture

Solar collar virtual fencing and cow monitoring for dairy and beef grazing

From
9.9/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.; Halter the subscription is permanent and per head, so a 500 cow dairy carries a five-figure annual bill indefinitely and the collars become inert if it lapses; there is no owned-outright end state.
  • They diverge on capability: Davis Instruments WeatherLink covers Per-station cloud dashboards, Halter covers Virtual fencing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Davis Instruments WeatherLink and Halter differ
AttributeDavis Instruments WeatherLinkHalter
Starting priceFree9.9/month
Pricing modelPer device per monthPer cow per month plus one-time install
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidiOS, Android, Web

Identical on both: 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 Halter

  • Virtual fencing
  • Remote shifting
  • Heat detection
  • Health alerts
  • Pasture management
  • Solar collars
  • Exclusion zones

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 Halter
  • A vineyard driving disease models from on-site rather than airport weathernot Halter
  • A research station exporting long historical records from several instrumentsnot Halter
  • A grower sharing a public station page with neighbours and a spray contractornot Halter

Halter

  • A 600 cow grazing dairy that shifts breaks twice daily and cannot recruit enough staff to do itnot Davis Instruments WeatherLink
  • A beef ranch fencing off riparian margins and wetlands without building physical fencenot Davis Instruments WeatherLink
  • A dairy replacing a separate heat detection collar system with one collar that also does fencingnot Davis Instruments WeatherLink
  • An operation running cell grazing on country where the cost of internal fencing exceeds the collar subscriptionnot 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.

Halter

  • The subscription is permanent and per head, so a 500 cow dairy carries a five-figure annual bill indefinitely and the collars become inert if it lapses; there is no owned-outright end state.
  • On-farm tower infrastructure is a separate up-front install cost that is not in the headline per-cow price, and terrain with hills or bush can require more towers than the initial quote assumed.
  • Coverage is concentrated in New Zealand, Australia and parts of the United States; buyers elsewhere face no local support, no local install crew and uncertain regulatory acceptance of virtual fencing.
  • Virtual fencing is not universally legal or accepted: some jurisdictions and some organic or welfare certification schemes restrict aversive stimulus devices, which can decide eligibility before price is even discussed.
  • Total vendor lock-in on collar, towers, app and animal data means there is no second source for a replacement collar and no way to keep the fencing working if the commercial relationship ends.

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

Halter

9.9/month
  • Core$9.9/month
    • Virtual fencing and remote shifting
    • Per cow per month
    • On-farm tower infrastructure charged separately
  • Pro$undefined/month
    • Everything in Core
    • Heat detection and reproduction tools
    • Health and behaviour alerts
  • Unlimited$undefined/month
    • Everything in Pro
    • Full feature set for larger operations
    • Pasture and residual management

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 Halter if

  • You need virtual fencing.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want remote shifting.
Halter review

Questions people ask

Is Davis Instruments WeatherLink or Halter better?
Neither clearly leads. Davis Instruments WeatherLink starts at Free and Halter at 9.9/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Davis Instruments WeatherLink or Halter?
Davis Instruments WeatherLink has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Davis Instruments WeatherLink and 9.9/month for Halter.
Does Davis Instruments WeatherLink or Halter run on more platforms?
Davis Instruments WeatherLink runs on Web, iOS, Android. Halter runs on iOS, Android, Web.
Can I use Davis Instruments WeatherLink for free?
Yes. Davis Instruments WeatherLink has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Halter starts at 9.9/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 Halter is typically brought in for.
What can Davis Instruments WeatherLink do that Halter cannot?
Davis Instruments WeatherLink covers Per-station cloud dashboards, Custom charting, Data export, Shareable public links. Halter covers Virtual fencing, Remote shifting, Heat detection, Health alerts.

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.

Halter: Do I buy the collars or rent them?

In practice you are buying into a per-cow monthly subscription plus a one-time install for the towers. The collars are not useful without an active subscription.

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.

Halter: What does it actually cost for 500 cows?

Starting from around NZ$9.90 per cow per month, that is roughly NZ$59,000 a year before the one-time tower infrastructure cost, and it recurs every year.

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

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

Halter: Can I finance it?

New Zealand dairy farmers can finance the install through ANZ, ASB, BNZ or Westpac over two years, and paying the subscription up front attracts a discount.

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.

Halter: Does it replace heat detection collars?

Yes on the higher tiers. That is the main reason dairies justify the cost, because it removes a second per-cow system.

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