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Agriculture · head to head

Halter vs Raven Slingshot

Halter logo

Halter

Agriculture

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

From
9.9/month
Rated
-
Raven Slingshot logo

Raven Slingshot

Agriculture

Seamless field data connectivity

From
$600/year
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Raven Slingshot requires cell network connectivity, limiting utility in areas with poor cellular coverage
  • They diverge on capability: Halter covers Virtual fencing, Raven Slingshot covers Wireless data transfer.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Halter and Raven Slingshot actually diverge.

Attributes where Halter and Raven Slingshot differ
AttributeHalterRaven Slingshot
Starting price9.9/month$600/year
Pricing modelPer cow per month plus one-time installsubscription
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebCloud, Mobile
FoundedUnknown1956

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 Halter

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

Only in Raven Slingshot

  • Wireless data transfer
  • Field mapping
  • As-applied maps
  • Equipment connectivity
  • Cloud storage
  • Raven equipment
  • John Deere
  • Case IH

What people use each for

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

Halter

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

Raven Slingshot

  • Data transfernot Halter
  • Prescription deliverynot Halter
  • As-applied recordsnot Halter
  • Fleet managementnot Halter

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Raven Slingshot

  • Requires cell network connectivity, limiting utility in areas with poor cellular coverage
  • Ecosystem is agriculture-specific, with limited applicability to other field operations

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Raven Slingshot

$600/year
  • Standard$600/year
    • Data transfer
    • Field management
    • Basic analytics
  • Premium$1200/year
    • All Standard features
    • Remote support
    • Advanced analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose Halter if

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

Choose Raven Slingshot if

  • You need wireless data transfer.
  • You work on Cloud, Mobile.
  • You also want field mapping.

Questions people ask

Is Halter or Raven Slingshot better?
Neither clearly leads. Halter starts at 9.9/month and Raven Slingshot at $600/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Halter or Raven Slingshot?
Halter starts at 9.9/month and Raven Slingshot at $600/year.
Does Halter or Raven Slingshot run on more platforms?
Halter runs on iOS, Android, Web. Raven Slingshot runs on Cloud, Mobile.
What is Halter best used for?
Halter is most often used for a 600 cow grazing dairy that shifts breaks twice daily and cannot recruit enough staff to do it, a beef ranch fencing off riparian margins and wetlands without building physical fence, a dairy replacing a separate heat detection collar system with one collar that also does fencing, an operation running cell grazing on country where the cost of internal fencing exceeds the collar subscription. Of those, a 600 cow grazing dairy that shifts breaks twice daily and cannot recruit enough staff to do it and a beef ranch fencing off riparian margins and wetlands without building physical fence are not what Raven Slingshot is typically brought in for.
What can Halter do that Raven Slingshot cannot?
Halter covers Virtual fencing, Remote shifting, Heat detection, Health alerts. Raven Slingshot covers Wireless data transfer, Field mapping, As-applied maps, Equipment connectivity.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Raven Slingshot: What does Raven Slingshot do?

Raven Slingshot is a wireless data management and logistics solution that enables prescription file delivery to field equipment, real-time machine data uploads to the cloud, and seamless data flow between farm management software and field equipment without manual downloads.

Source
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.

Raven Slingshot: How does Slingshot work with farm management software?

Slingshot provides an open ecosystem API designed to work with software developed by other companies, enabling growers, retailers, agronomists, and software vendors to share agronomic data securely.

Source
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.

Raven Slingshot: Does Slingshot require internet connectivity?

Raven Slingshot uses high-speed connectivity via cell technology and cloud-based data transfer for real-time data uploads and prescription delivery to equipment.

Source
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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