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Agriculture · head to head

Raven Slingshot vs Soil Scout

Raven Slingshot logo

Raven Slingshot

Agriculture

Seamless field data connectivity

From
$600/year
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

  • Each has a real cost: Raven Slingshot requires cell network connectivity, limiting utility in areas with poor cellular coverage; 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: Raven Slingshot covers Wireless data transfer, 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 Raven Slingshot and Soil Scout actually diverge.

Attributes where Raven Slingshot and Soil Scout differ
AttributeRaven SlingshotSoil Scout
Starting price$600/yearOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsCloud, MobileWeb
Founded1956Unknown

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 Raven Slingshot

  • Wireless data transfer
  • Field mapping
  • As-applied maps
  • Equipment connectivity
  • Cloud storage
  • Raven equipment
  • John Deere
  • Case IH

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.

Raven Slingshot

  • Data transfernot Soil Scout
  • Prescription deliverynot Soil Scout
  • As-applied recordsnot Soil Scout
  • Fleet managementnot Soil Scout

Soil Scout

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

Where each one falls short

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

Raven Slingshot

  • Requires cell network connectivity, limiting utility in areas with poor cellular coverage
  • Ecosystem is agriculture-specific, with limited applicability to other field operations

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

Raven Slingshot

$600/year
  • Standard$600/year
    • Data transfer
    • Field management
    • Basic analytics
  • Premium$1200/year
    • All Standard features
    • Remote support
    • Advanced analytics

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 Raven Slingshot if

  • You need wireless data transfer.
  • You work on Cloud, Mobile.
  • You also want field mapping.
Raven Slingshot 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 Raven Slingshot or Soil Scout better?
Neither clearly leads. Raven Slingshot starts at $600/year and Soil Scout at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Raven Slingshot or Soil Scout?
Raven Slingshot starts at $600/year and Soil Scout at On request.
Does Raven Slingshot or Soil Scout run on more platforms?
Raven Slingshot runs on Cloud, Mobile. Soil Scout runs on Web.
What is Raven Slingshot best used for?
Raven Slingshot is most often used for data transfer, prescription delivery, as-applied records, fleet management. Of those, data transfer and prescription delivery are not what Soil Scout is typically brought in for.
What can Raven Slingshot do that Soil Scout cannot?
Raven Slingshot covers Wireless data transfer, Field mapping, As-applied maps, Equipment connectivity. Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors, Ten to twenty year battery, Underground radio, Dual depth sensing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Raven Slingshot: What does Raven Slingshot do?

Raven Slingshot is a wireless data management and logistics solution that enables prescription file delivery to field equipment, real-time machine data uploads to the cloud, and seamless data flow between farm management software and field equipment without manual downloads.

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.

Raven Slingshot: How does Slingshot work with farm management software?

Slingshot provides an open ecosystem API designed to work with software developed by other companies, enabling growers, retailers, agronomists, and software vendors to share agronomic data securely.

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.

Raven Slingshot: Does Slingshot require internet connectivity?

Raven Slingshot uses high-speed connectivity via cell technology and cloud-based data transfer for real-time data uploads and prescription delivery to equipment.

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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