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Agriculture · head to head

METER Group ZENTRA vs xarvio Digital Farming

METER Group ZENTRA logo

METER Group ZENTRA

Agriculture

Research-grade soil, plant and atmosphere sensors with the ZENTRA Cloud data platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
xarvio Digital Farming logo

xarvio Digital Farming

Agriculture

Digital crop optimization from BASF

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: METER Group ZENTRA hardware costs several times what commodity soil probes cost, so a farm that only needs a rough irrigation trigger is paying for calibration accuracy it will never use.; xarvio Digital Farming xarvio is a BASF digital-farming brand (confirmed via BASF's own analytics tagging on the site) sold as separate named modules, including FIELD MANAGER and FIELD MANAGER for Grapes, with no online pricing published for any module on the vendor's own site.
  • They diverge on capability: METER Group ZENTRA covers TEROS soil sensors, xarvio Digital Farming covers Disease identification.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which METER Group ZENTRA and xarvio Digital Farming actually diverge.

Attributes where METER Group ZENTRA and xarvio Digital Farming differ
AttributeMETER Group ZENTRAxarvio Digital Farming
Starting priceOn request$29/month
Pricing modelPer device subscriptionfreemium
FoundedUnknown2014

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 METER Group ZENTRA

  • TEROS soil sensors
  • Water potential measurement
  • ZL6 data loggers
  • ZENTRA Cloud
  • Threshold alerts
  • Open API
  • ATMOS weather stations

Only in xarvio Digital Farming

  • Disease identification
  • Spray timing
  • Variable rate maps
  • Satellite monitoring
  • Weather integration
  • John Deere
  • CLAAS
  • Trimble

What people use each for

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

METER Group ZENTRA

  • A university soil physics group that needs measurements defensible enough for peer reviewnot xarvio Digital Farming
  • An irrigation district accounting for water applied and lost across a schemenot xarvio Digital Farming
  • A vineyard managing deficit irrigation from water potential rather than volumetric moisture alonenot xarvio Digital Farming
  • An environmental consultancy monitoring a remediation or drainage site where the data may be contestednot xarvio Digital Farming

xarvio Digital Farming

  • Disease managementnot METER Group ZENTRA
  • Spray optimizationnot METER Group ZENTRA
  • Crop monitoringnot METER Group ZENTRA

Where each one falls short

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

METER Group ZENTRA

  • Hardware costs several times what commodity soil probes cost, so a farm that only needs a rough irrigation trigger is paying for calibration accuracy it will never use.
  • ZENTRA Cloud is a per-device subscription, so a large sensor network carries a recurring bill that grows linearly with every probe added and is easy to underestimate at design stage.
  • The three-year subscription bundled with the ZL6 Pro means the renewal decision arrives exactly when a typical research grant has ended, which is how long-running datasets get abandoned.
  • METER sells measurement rather than recommendations; there is no irrigation scheduling engine, so someone has to turn the numbers into decisions or buy a second platform that will.
  • Installation quality dominates results with soil sensors, and a badly installed TEROS probe produces confidently wrong data, so the accuracy you paid for depends on field technique the vendor cannot supply.

xarvio Digital Farming

  • xarvio is a BASF digital-farming brand (confirmed via BASF's own analytics tagging on the site) sold as separate named modules, including FIELD MANAGER and FIELD MANAGER for Grapes, with no online pricing published for any module on the vendor's own site.

Pricing, plan by plan

METER Group ZENTRA

On request
  • ZENTRA Cloud$undefined/year
    • Priced per activated device, pay for what you use
    • Three year subscription included with the ZL6 Pro logger
    • Cellular data included in the device subscription

xarvio Digital Farming

$29/month
  • Scouting (Free)Free
    • Disease identification
    • Weed ID
    • Pest ID
  • Field Manager$3/hectare/year
    • Spray timing
    • Zone management
    • Satellite imagery

Which should you pick?

Choose METER Group ZENTRA if

  • You need teros soil sensors.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want water potential measurement.
METER Group ZENTRA review

Choose xarvio Digital Farming if

  • You need disease identification.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want spray timing.
xarvio Digital Farming review

Questions people ask

Is METER Group ZENTRA or xarvio Digital Farming better?
Neither clearly leads. METER Group ZENTRA starts at On request and xarvio Digital Farming at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, METER Group ZENTRA or xarvio Digital Farming?
METER Group ZENTRA starts at On request and xarvio Digital Farming at $29/month.
Does METER Group ZENTRA or xarvio Digital Farming run on more platforms?
METER Group ZENTRA runs on Web, iOS, Android. xarvio Digital Farming runs on Web, Ios, Android.
What is METER Group ZENTRA best used for?
METER Group ZENTRA is most often used for a university soil physics group that needs measurements defensible enough for peer review, an irrigation district accounting for water applied and lost across a scheme, a vineyard managing deficit irrigation from water potential rather than volumetric moisture alone, an environmental consultancy monitoring a remediation or drainage site where the data may be contested. Of those, a university soil physics group that needs measurements defensible enough for peer review and an irrigation district accounting for water applied and lost across a scheme are not what xarvio Digital Farming is typically brought in for.
What can METER Group ZENTRA do that xarvio Digital Farming cannot?
METER Group ZENTRA covers TEROS soil sensors, Water potential measurement, ZL6 data loggers, ZENTRA Cloud. xarvio Digital Farming covers Disease identification, Spray timing, Variable rate maps, Satellite monitoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

METER Group ZENTRA: Is ZENTRA Cloud included with the loggers?

A three-year subscription is included with the ZL6 Pro. Other loggers require a separate per-device subscription.

xarvio Digital Farming: How do I find out what Xarvio costs?

Xarvio does not publish pricing on its website. To learn about costs and purchase options, you must contact their support team directly at [email protected] or +49 30 22957857 (Monday-Friday, 8-5 pm).

Source
METER Group ZENTRA: Do I need a separate cellular data plan?

No. Cellular data is covered within the device subscription rather than billed as a separate SIM contract.

xarvio Digital Farming: What Xarvio digital farming products are available?

Xarvio offers three main solutions: xFIELD MANAGER, xHEALTHY FIELDS, and ONE SMART SPRAY. Detailed pricing and features for each solution are available by contacting their sales team.

Source
METER Group ZENTRA: Will it tell me when to irrigate?

No. METER provides measurement, not scheduling recommendations. You either interpret the data yourself or feed it into a scheduling platform.

xarvio Digital Farming: Does Xarvio offer a trial or demo?

The website does not specify whether Xarvio offers trials or demos. Customers should contact the support team to inquire about trial options and evaluate the products before purchase.

Source
METER Group ZENTRA: Why is it more expensive than commodity soil probes?

Individual sensor calibration and documented measurement physics, which is what makes the data hold up in research, regulatory and legal contexts.

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