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Agriculture · head to head

Lely Horizon vs SwitchBot

Lely Horizon logo

Lely Horizon

Agriculture

Dairy herd management software billed per lactating cow that only runs a Lely robot barn

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SwitchBot logo

SwitchBot

Smart Home

Simple automation for any device

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Lely Horizon billing is per lactating cow, so the software cost grows with the herd indefinitely and a farm that expands from 120 to 200 cows takes a permanent software cost increase it did not budget when it bought the robots.; SwitchBot switchBot Lock Ultra is priced at 139.99 USD standalone, rising to 299.99 USD bundled with the Touch Doorbell combo
  • They diverge on capability: Lely Horizon covers Per-cow milking data, SwitchBot covers Button automation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lely Horizon and SwitchBot actually diverge.

Attributes where Lely Horizon and SwitchBot differ
AttributeLely HorizonSwitchBot
Pricing modelquoteone-time
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, WindowsIOS, Android
CategoryAgricultureSmart Home
FoundedUnknown2015

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Lely Horizon

  • Per-cow milking data
  • Health and fertility alerts
  • Work list generation
  • Feed management
  • Farm Management Support
  • Multi-site view
  • Mobile alerts
  • Reporting and benchmarking

Only in SwitchBot

  • Button automation
  • IR control
  • Schedules
  • Sensors
  • Scene automation
  • Voice control
  • Amazon Alexa
  • Google Assistant

What people use each for

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

Lely Horizon

  • A 180-cow dairy running four Astronaut robots that needs the attention list to replace walking the barn twice a daynot SwitchBot
  • A farm adding Vector automatic feeding that wants ration delivery driven by the same cow data as milkingnot SwitchBot
  • A dairy manager tracking transition cow health across two sites from one accountnot SwitchBot
  • A Lely advisor benchmarking a client's robot utilisation against comparable farms before recommending a fourth boxnot SwitchBot

SwitchBot

  • Retrofit automationnot Lely Horizon
  • Curtain controlnot Lely Horizon
  • AC controlnot Lely Horizon
  • Simple automationnot Lely Horizon

Where each one falls short

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

Lely Horizon

  • Billing is per lactating cow, so the software cost grows with the herd indefinitely and a farm that expands from 120 to 200 cows takes a permanent software cost increase it did not budget when it bought the robots.
  • Horizon is not optional: the barn equipment depends on it, so the subscription cannot be cancelled in a difficult year the way a discretionary analytics tool can, which removes any negotiating position at renewal.
  • It manages Lely equipment and effectively nothing else, so a farm running a Lely robot alongside a conventional parlour or another manufacturer's feeder ends up with two systems and no combined cow record.
  • The migration from the older T4C system was compulsory and rebuilt the interface and reporting, and farms that had years of T4C reports and custom lists found the equivalents either missing or shaped differently, costing retraining time.
  • Everything is bought and supported through the local Lely Center, so pricing, response time and the quality of advice vary by dealer with no published rate card, and a farm with a weak local centre has no practical alternative supplier.

SwitchBot

  • SwitchBot Lock Ultra is priced at 139.99 USD standalone, rising to 299.99 USD bundled with the Touch Doorbell combo

Pricing, plan by plan

Lely Horizon

On request
  • Horizon Basic$undefined/month
    • Core robot operation and monitoring
    • Per lactating cow subscription
    • Invoiced digitally by the local Lely Center
  • Horizon Control$undefined/month
    • Adds herd management and fertility tooling
    • Per lactating cow subscription
  • Horizon Advance$undefined/month
    • Adds analysis, benchmarking and advisor tooling
    • Per lactating cow subscription

SwitchBot

On request
  • Bot$29/month
    • Button pusher
    • Schedule
    • Voice control
  • Curtain$89/month
    • Solar powered option
    • Light sensor
    • Schedule
  • Hub Mini$39/month
    • IR control
    • Cloud access
    • Voice assistants

Which should you pick?

Choose Lely Horizon if

  • You need per-cow milking data.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
  • You also want health and fertility alerts.
Lely Horizon review

Choose SwitchBot if

  • You need button automation.
  • You work on IOS, Android.
  • You also want ir control.
SwitchBot review

Questions people ask

Is Lely Horizon or SwitchBot better?
Neither clearly leads. Lely Horizon starts at On request and SwitchBot at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lely Horizon or SwitchBot?
Lely Horizon starts at On request and SwitchBot at On request.
Does Lely Horizon or SwitchBot run on more platforms?
Lely Horizon runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows. SwitchBot runs on IOS, Android.
What is Lely Horizon best used for?
Lely Horizon is most often used for a 180-cow dairy running four astronaut robots that needs the attention list to replace walking the barn twice a day, a farm adding vector automatic feeding that wants ration delivery driven by the same cow data as milking, a dairy manager tracking transition cow health across two sites from one account, a lely advisor benchmarking a client's robot utilisation against comparable farms before recommending a fourth box. Of those, a 180-cow dairy running four astronaut robots that needs the attention list to replace walking the barn twice a day and a farm adding vector automatic feeding that wants ration delivery driven by the same cow data as milking are not what SwitchBot is typically brought in for.
What can Lely Horizon do that SwitchBot cannot?
Lely Horizon covers Per-cow milking data, Health and fertility alerts, Work list generation, Feed management. SwitchBot covers Button automation, IR control, Schedules, Sensors.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Lely Horizon: How is Lely Horizon priced?

As a subscription per lactating cow milked by the Astronaut robots, in Basic, Control and Advance tiers. Lely does not publish rates; the local Lely Center quotes them.

SwitchBot: What is the price range for SwitchBot products?

SwitchBot hardware products vary in price. Examples include the Roller Shade at $199.99, Lock Ultra Vision Pro Combo at $279.99, K11+ robotic vacuum at $399.99, and Standing Circulator Fan at $129.99.

Source
Lely Horizon: Can I run Horizon without Lely robots?

No. It is the control and management layer for Lely equipment and has no meaningful function without it.

SwitchBot: Do SwitchBot products require a subscription or ongoing fees?

The product pages do not mention recurring subscription costs associated with SwitchBot hardware products. They appear to be sold as one-time purchases.

Source
Lely Horizon: What happened to T4C?

Horizon replaced it. Migration was required rather than optional, and reporting was rebuilt rather than ported.

SwitchBot: What is SwitchBot's warranty policy?

While the website references a warranty policy, the specific warranty terms and duration are not detailed in the publicly visible page content. Users should consult the dedicated warranty policy page or contact support for details.

Source
Lely Horizon: Does the subscription end when the robot is paid off?

No. It continues for as long as the robots are milking, which is the cost most robot business cases understate.

SwitchBot: Can I use SwitchBot products in a commercial or business setting?

The website does not explicitly address commercial use restrictions or permissions. The focus appears to be on consumer smart home solutions, but commercial applicability should be verified with SwitchBot support.

Source
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