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Agriculture · head to head

Reinke ReinCloud vs Soil Scout

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
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: 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.; 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: Reinke ReinCloud covers Remote pivot control, 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 Reinke ReinCloud and Soil Scout actually diverge.

Attributes where Reinke ReinCloud and Soil Scout differ
AttributeReinke ReinCloudSoil Scout
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb

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

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

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.

Reinke ReinCloud

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

Soil Scout

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

Where each one falls short

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

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

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

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 Reinke ReinCloud if

  • You need remote pivot control.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want position and status monitoring.
Reinke ReinCloud 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 Reinke ReinCloud or Soil Scout better?
Neither clearly leads. Reinke ReinCloud starts at On request and Soil Scout at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Reinke ReinCloud or Soil Scout?
Reinke ReinCloud starts at On request and Soil Scout at On request.
Does Reinke ReinCloud or Soil Scout run on more platforms?
Reinke ReinCloud runs on Web, iOS, Android. Soil Scout runs on Web.
What is Reinke ReinCloud best used for?
Reinke ReinCloud is most often used for a farm with pivots spread across thirty miles of ground that currently drives to each panel after a storm, an operator who needs to shut a pivot down at 2am when pressure drops rather than losing a night of water, a grower under a water allocation who needs applied depth records per pass, a dealer diagnosing a fault remotely before deciding whether to send a truck. Of those, a farm with pivots spread across thirty miles of ground that currently drives to each panel after a storm and an operator who needs to shut a pivot down at 2am when pressure drops rather than losing a night of water are not what Soil Scout is typically brought in for.
What can Reinke ReinCloud do that Soil Scout cannot?
Reinke ReinCloud covers Remote pivot control, Position and status monitoring, Fault alerts, Variable rate irrigation. Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors, Ten to twenty year battery, Underground radio, Dual depth sensing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

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.

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.

Reinke ReinCloud: Does it control non-Reinke pivots?

No. It is tied to Reinke RPM panels.

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.

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.

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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