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Agriculture · head to head

Herdwatch vs Soil Scout

Herdwatch logo

Herdwatch

Agriculture

Farm & herd management made simple

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Soil Scout logo

Soil Scout

Agriculture

Buried wireless soil sensors with a ten to twenty year battery and no cables to the surface

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; Soil Scout sensors are unserviceable once buried, so a failed or drifting unit means excavation and the confidence you place in a single reading has no easy verification.
  • They diverge on capability: Herdwatch covers Animal registry, Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Herdwatch and Soil Scout actually diverge.

Attributes where Herdwatch and Soil Scout differ
AttributeHerdwatchSoil Scout
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsIos, Android, WebWeb
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 Soil Scout

  • Fully buried sensors
  • Ten to twenty year battery
  • Underground radio
  • Dual depth sensing
  • Moisture, temperature and salinity
  • Soil Scout Hub
  • Web service API
  • Long base station range

What people use each for

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

Herdwatch

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

Soil Scout

  • A golf course monitoring greens moisture where a surface-mounted probe would be hit by mowers and playnot Herdwatch
  • A stadium pitch under a closed roof where hand-held probing is impractical during the seasonnot Herdwatch
  • A research plot needing consistent multi-year soil data below cultivation depthnot Herdwatch
  • An irrigated field where a surface logger would not survive tillage or a spray boomnot 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

Soil Scout

  • Sensors are unserviceable once buried, so a failed or drifting unit means excavation and the confidence you place in a single reading has no easy verification.
  • No pricing is published at all, which makes it hard to justify against commodity probes that quote openly, and per-sensor cost is well above the alternatives.
  • It measures but does not control, so tying moisture readings to actual irrigation decisions requires either manual interpretation or a separate integration project with the control system.
  • Underground radio range depends on soil type and moisture; heavy wet clay attenuates the signal and can force more base stations than the headline kilometre figure suggests.
  • The company is small and Finland-based, so outside its established golf and sports turf distribution the support, spares and installation expertise depend entirely on whether a competent local distributor exists.

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

Soil Scout

On request
  • Soil Scout$undefined/year
    • Sensors and base station quoted per site
    • Hub subscription terms quoted with the hardware
    • No individual sensor data plans required

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 Soil Scout if

  • You need fully buried sensors.
  • You also want ten to twenty year battery.
Soil Scout review

Questions people ask

Is Herdwatch or Soil Scout better?
Neither clearly leads. Herdwatch starts at Free and Soil Scout at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Herdwatch or Soil Scout?
Herdwatch has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Herdwatch and On request for Soil Scout.
Does Herdwatch or Soil Scout run on more platforms?
Herdwatch runs on Ios, Android, Web. Soil Scout runs on Web.
Can I use Herdwatch for free?
Yes. Herdwatch has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Soil Scout 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 Soil Scout is typically brought in for.
What can Herdwatch do that Soil Scout cannot?
Herdwatch covers Animal registry, Movement records, Breeding management, Medicine & treatment records. Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors, Ten to twenty year battery, Underground radio, Dual depth sensing.

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
Soil Scout: How long do the sensors last?

Up to ten years for the Happi100 and up to twenty for the Hydra100, buried, with no battery replacement.

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
Soil Scout: Do the sensors need mobile data plans?

No. Sensors transmit to a base station through the soil, and only the base station uses a cellular modem.

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
Soil Scout: Can it control irrigation directly?

No. It is a measurement and alerting system; controlling valves needs an integration with your irrigation controller through the API.

Soil Scout: What happens if a buried sensor fails?

You dig it up. There is no remote service option, which is the trade-off for having nothing above ground to damage.

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