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Agriculture · head to head

Lely Horizon vs Trimble Ag Software

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
Trimble Ag Software logo

Trimble Ag Software

Agriculture

Connected farm solutions for precision agriculture

From
$29/month
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.; Trimble Ag Software no pricing information published on the website or dealer locator
  • They diverge on capability: Lely Horizon covers Per-cow milking data, Trimble Ag Software covers GPS guidance.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lely Horizon and Trimble Ag Software actually diverge.

Attributes where Lely Horizon and Trimble Ag Software differ
AttributeLely HorizonTrimble Ag Software
Starting priceOn request$29/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, WindowsWeb, Ios, Android, Hardware
FoundedUnknown1978

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 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 Trimble Ag Software

  • GPS guidance
  • Variable rate prescriptions
  • Field mapping
  • Data management
  • Equipment connectivity
  • John Deere
  • CNH
  • AGCO

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 Trimble Ag Software
  • A farm adding Vector automatic feeding that wants ration delivery driven by the same cow data as milkingnot Trimble Ag Software
  • A dairy manager tracking transition cow health across two sites from one accountnot Trimble Ag Software
  • A Lely advisor benchmarking a client's robot utilisation against comparable farms before recommending a fourth boxnot Trimble Ag Software

Trimble Ag Software

  • Guidance, steering and machine control on farm equipment through Precision-IQnot Lely Horizon
  • Digital farm management and agronomic record keeping through FarmENGAGEnot Lely Horizon
  • Retrofitting autonomy to existing tractors with the OutRun kitnot 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.

Trimble Ag Software

  • No pricing information published on the website or dealer locator
  • Pricing requires contacting dealers or PTx directly
  • Customized quoting model based on equipment configuration and regional factors

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

Trimble Ag Software

$29/month
  • Farmer Core$800/year
    • Field records
    • Basic mapping
    • Reports
  • Farmer Pro$2500/year
    • Variable rate
    • Full analytics
    • Connected equipment

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 Trimble Ag Software if

  • You need gps guidance.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Hardware.
  • You also want variable rate prescriptions.
Trimble Ag Software review

Questions people ask

Is Lely Horizon or Trimble Ag Software better?
Neither clearly leads. Lely Horizon starts at On request and Trimble Ag Software at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lely Horizon or Trimble Ag Software?
Lely Horizon starts at On request and Trimble Ag Software at $29/month.
Does Lely Horizon or Trimble Ag Software run on more platforms?
Lely Horizon runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows. Trimble Ag Software runs on Web, Ios, Android, Hardware.
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 Trimble Ag Software is typically brought in for.
What can Lely Horizon do that Trimble Ag Software cannot?
Lely Horizon covers Per-cow milking data, Health and fertility alerts, Work list generation, Feed management. Trimble Ag Software covers GPS guidance, Variable rate prescriptions, Field mapping, Data management.

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.

Trimble Ag Software: How much does Trimble agricultural software cost?

Trimble does not publish pricing for its agricultural software online. Pricing is quote-based and customized per implementation. Contact PTx directly or locate a regional dealer through their website to request a quote.

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.

Trimble Ag Software: How do I get pricing information?

Visit the PTx website to use their dealer locator to find a regional dealer, or contact PTx directly through their contact form. Pricing varies based on specific equipment configurations and regional factors.

Source
Lely Horizon: What happened to T4C?

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

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.

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