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Agriculture · head to head

Herdwatch vs SMARTBOW

Herdwatch logo

Herdwatch

Agriculture

Farm & herd management made simple

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SMARTBOW logo

SMARTBOW

Agriculture

Ear tag cow monitoring with real-time indoor location, from Zoetis

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Herdwatch has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Herdwatch annual pricing amounts not displayed, calculated dynamically based on farm type and herd size; SMARTBOW real-time location depends on receivers covering the whole barn plus an on-farm server, so the install is a building project and the price bears no relation to what a simple activity collar costs.
  • They diverge on capability: Herdwatch covers Animal registry, SMARTBOW covers Real-time location.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Herdwatch and SMARTBOW actually diverge.

Attributes where Herdwatch and SMARTBOW differ
AttributeHerdwatchSMARTBOW
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsIos, Android, WebWindows, Web, iOS, Android
Founded2014Unknown

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 Herdwatch

  • Animal registry
  • Movement records
  • Breeding management
  • Medicine & treatment records
  • Compliance reports
  • Calving records
  • Weight tracking
  • EID tag reading

Only in SMARTBOW

  • Real-time location
  • Heat detection
  • Rumination monitoring
  • Health alerts
  • On-farm server
  • Individual baselines
  • Herd software integration

What people use each for

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

Herdwatch

  • Livestock records for cattle and sheepnot SMARTBOW
  • Calving and breeding records on a phone in the fieldnot SMARTBOW
  • Medicine and treatment records for compliancenot SMARTBOW
  • Pasture and grassland managementnot SMARTBOW

SMARTBOW

  • A 1,500 cow freestall barn where finding a flagged animal by eye takes twenty minutesnot Herdwatch
  • A dairy replacing visual heat detection with per-animal oestrus alerts to tighten calving intervalsnot Herdwatch
  • A herd manager wanting rumination-based early warning of displaced abomasum or metritisnot Herdwatch
  • A vet practice using behavioural data to audit transition cow management across client herdsnot Herdwatch

Where each one falls short

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

Herdwatch

  • Annual pricing amounts not displayed, calculated dynamically based on farm type and herd size
  • Free trial available but actual subscription costs vary by farm size
  • Pricing shown excluding VAT

SMARTBOW

  • Real-time location depends on receivers covering the whole barn plus an on-farm server, so the install is a building project and the price bears no relation to what a simple activity collar costs.
  • It is an indoor system; a grazing or partly grazed herd loses the location capability that is the main reason to choose it over cheaper monitoring.
  • Ear tags are consumable and go missing with the tag, so the running cost includes replacements at a rate that depends on how rough your handling facilities are.
  • Zoetis ownership means a pharmaceutical company holds continuous behavioural data on every animal alongside your treatment records, and the integration roadmap favours other Zoetis products.
  • Nothing is published on price, and sales run through veterinary and dealer channels, so comparing it against DeLaval, Nedap or CowManager requires several quotes and there is no reference list price.

Pricing, plan by plan

Herdwatch

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Basic herd records
    • Animal movements
    • Simple reports
  • Premium$12.5/month
    • Unlimited animals
    • Breeding management
    • Medicine records
  • Complete$20/month
    • Everything in Premium
    • Financial tracking
    • Farm mapping

SMARTBOW

On request
  • SMARTBOW$undefined/year
    • Ear tags priced per animal
    • Barn receiver infrastructure and on-farm server quoted per building
    • Installation and commissioning quoted separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Herdwatch if

  • You need animal registry.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Ios, Android, Web.
  • You also want movement records.
Herdwatch review

Choose SMARTBOW if

  • You need real-time location.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want heat detection.
SMARTBOW review

Questions people ask

Is Herdwatch or SMARTBOW better?
Neither clearly leads. Herdwatch starts at Free and SMARTBOW at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Herdwatch or SMARTBOW?
Herdwatch has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Herdwatch and On request for SMARTBOW.
Does Herdwatch or SMARTBOW run on more platforms?
Herdwatch runs on Ios, Android, Web. SMARTBOW runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Herdwatch for free?
Yes. Herdwatch has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SMARTBOW starts at On request.
What is Herdwatch best used for?
Herdwatch is most often used for livestock records for cattle and sheep, calving and breeding records on a phone in the field, medicine and treatment records for compliance, pasture and grassland management. Of those, livestock records for cattle and sheep and calving and breeding records on a phone in the field are not what SMARTBOW is typically brought in for.
What can Herdwatch do that SMARTBOW cannot?
Herdwatch covers Animal registry, Movement records, Breeding management, Medicine & treatment records. SMARTBOW covers Real-time location, Heat detection, Rumination monitoring, Health alerts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Herdwatch: What pricing options are available for Herdwatch?

Herdwatch offers a 6-month promotional plan at $49 with full access to all Complete features and no long-term commitment. Pricing is customized based on your farm type and herd size, with both annual and monthly options available.

Source
SMARTBOW: What does SMARTBOW do that other activity monitors do not?

Real-time indoor location. It tells you where the flagged cow physically is, not just that she is behaving abnormally.

Herdwatch: Can I try Herdwatch before purchasing a subscription?

Yes. Herdwatch offers a free digital calving book to new registrants and allows users to try the app free before committing to a subscription, with full access to features during the trial period.

Source
SMARTBOW: Does it work on grazing herds?

Poorly. Location depends on barn-mounted receivers, so animals out at pasture fall outside the system's coverage.

Herdwatch: What free features does Herdwatch provide?

Herdwatch provides a free subscription tier that includes a free digital calving book for tracking calving events. This free option allows basic record-keeping without requiring immediate payment.

Source
SMARTBOW: Who owns it?

Zoetis, which also owns Valley Agricultural Software and DairyComp. The technology came from Smartbow GmbH in Austria.

SMARTBOW: Is it cloud based?

Analysis runs on an on-farm server rather than in the cloud, which keeps it working during an internet outage but makes the server your responsibility.

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