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Agriculture · head to head

METER Group ZENTRA vs Reinke ReinCloud

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
Reinke ReinCloud logo

Reinke ReinCloud

Agriculture

Remote centre pivot control that is priced by the data device on the pivot, not by the acre

From
On request
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.; Reinke ReinCloud subscriptions are charged per data collection device, so cost scales linearly with pivot count and a fifteen-machine operation pays fifteen subscriptions for one farm.
  • They diverge on capability: METER Group ZENTRA covers TEROS soil sensors, Reinke ReinCloud covers Remote pivot control.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which METER Group ZENTRA and Reinke ReinCloud actually diverge.

Attributes where METER Group ZENTRA and Reinke ReinCloud differ
AttributeMETER Group ZENTRAReinke ReinCloud
Pricing modelPer device subscriptionquote

Identical on both: starting price (On request), 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 Reinke ReinCloud

  • Remote pivot control
  • Position and status monitoring
  • Fault alerts
  • Variable rate irrigation
  • Water application records
  • Multi-machine dashboard
  • Scheduling
  • Dealer diagnostics

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 Reinke ReinCloud
  • An irrigation district accounting for water applied and lost across a schemenot Reinke ReinCloud
  • A vineyard managing deficit irrigation from water potential rather than volumetric moisture alonenot Reinke ReinCloud
  • An environmental consultancy monitoring a remediation or drainage site where the data may be contestednot Reinke ReinCloud

Reinke ReinCloud

  • A farm with pivots spread across thirty miles of ground that currently drives to each panel after a stormnot METER Group ZENTRA
  • An operator who needs to shut a pivot down at 2am when pressure drops rather than losing a night of waternot METER Group ZENTRA
  • A grower under a water allocation who needs applied depth records per passnot METER Group ZENTRA
  • A dealer diagnosing a fault remotely before deciding whether to send a trucknot 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.

Reinke ReinCloud

  • Subscriptions are charged per data collection device, so cost scales linearly with pivot count and a fifteen-machine operation pays fifteen subscriptions for one farm.
  • What ReinCloud can do is dictated by the RPM panel generation on each pivot, and variable rate needs an RPM Preferred or AnnexPF panel, so unlocking features on older machines means a field electrical upgrade rather than a software purchase.
  • It manages Reinke equipment only, so a farm that has bought pivots from more than one manufacturer over the years runs a separate app per brand with no combined water record.
  • No pricing is published; subscriptions are quoted through dealers, which means neighbouring farms can be paying different rates for identical hardware with no way to check.
  • Reinke is a privately held family manufacturer competing on software against Lindsay and Valmont, both listed companies with far larger digital budgets, so feature pace in the app lags what the bigger two ship.

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

Reinke ReinCloud

On request
  • ReinCloud$undefined/year
    • Priced per data collection device on each machine
    • Annual and period-based subscription options
    • Capability depends on the RPM panel generation fitted

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 Reinke ReinCloud if

  • You need remote pivot control.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want position and status monitoring.
Reinke ReinCloud review

Questions people ask

Is METER Group ZENTRA or Reinke ReinCloud better?
Neither clearly leads. METER Group ZENTRA starts at On request and Reinke ReinCloud at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, METER Group ZENTRA or Reinke ReinCloud?
METER Group ZENTRA starts at On request and Reinke ReinCloud at On request.
Does METER Group ZENTRA or Reinke ReinCloud run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
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 Reinke ReinCloud is typically brought in for.
What can METER Group ZENTRA do that Reinke ReinCloud cannot?
METER Group ZENTRA covers TEROS soil sensors, Water potential measurement, ZL6 data loggers, ZENTRA Cloud. Reinke ReinCloud covers Remote pivot control, Position and status monitoring, Fault alerts, Variable rate irrigation.

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.

Reinke ReinCloud: How is ReinCloud priced?

Per data collection device on each machine, with annual and period-based subscription options quoted through dealers. Reinke publishes no rates.

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.

Reinke ReinCloud: Can I run variable rate irrigation?

Only with an RPM Preferred or RPM AnnexPF panel. The Advanced Plus panel supports ReinCloud remote access but not the same variable rate capability.

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.

Reinke ReinCloud: Does it control non-Reinke pivots?

No. It is tied to Reinke RPM panels.

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.

Reinke ReinCloud: What happens if the subscription lapses?

The pivot keeps irrigating from its panel, but remote monitoring and control stop, which is the function you bought it for.

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