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Agriculture · head to head

SMARTBOW vs xarvio Digital Farming

SMARTBOW logo

SMARTBOW

Agriculture

Ear tag cow monitoring with real-time indoor location, from Zoetis

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: SMARTBOW real-time location depends on receivers covering the whole barn plus an on-farm server, so the install is a building project and the price bears no relation to what a simple activity collar costs.; 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: SMARTBOW covers Real-time location, 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 SMARTBOW and xarvio Digital Farming actually diverge.

Attributes where SMARTBOW and xarvio Digital Farming differ
AttributeSMARTBOWxarvio Digital Farming
Starting priceOn request$29/month
Pricing modelquotefreemium
PlatformsWindows, Web, iOS, AndroidWeb, Ios, Android
FoundedUnknown2014

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 SMARTBOW

  • Real-time location
  • Heat detection
  • Rumination monitoring
  • Health alerts
  • On-farm server
  • Individual baselines
  • Herd software integration

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.

SMARTBOW

  • A 1,500 cow freestall barn where finding a flagged animal by eye takes twenty minutesnot xarvio Digital Farming
  • A dairy replacing visual heat detection with per-animal oestrus alerts to tighten calving intervalsnot xarvio Digital Farming
  • A herd manager wanting rumination-based early warning of displaced abomasum or metritisnot xarvio Digital Farming
  • A vet practice using behavioural data to audit transition cow management across client herdsnot xarvio Digital Farming

xarvio Digital Farming

  • Disease managementnot SMARTBOW
  • Spray optimizationnot SMARTBOW
  • Crop monitoringnot SMARTBOW

Where each one falls short

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

SMARTBOW

  • Real-time location depends on receivers covering the whole barn plus an on-farm server, so the install is a building project and the price bears no relation to what a simple activity collar costs.
  • It is an indoor system; a grazing or partly grazed herd loses the location capability that is the main reason to choose it over cheaper monitoring.
  • Ear tags are consumable and go missing with the tag, so the running cost includes replacements at a rate that depends on how rough your handling facilities are.
  • Zoetis ownership means a pharmaceutical company holds continuous behavioural data on every animal alongside your treatment records, and the integration roadmap favours other Zoetis products.
  • Nothing is published on price, and sales run through veterinary and dealer channels, so comparing it against DeLaval, Nedap or CowManager requires several quotes and there is no reference list price.

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

SMARTBOW

On request
  • SMARTBOW$undefined/year
    • Ear tags priced per animal
    • Barn receiver infrastructure and on-farm server quoted per building
    • Installation and commissioning quoted separately

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 SMARTBOW if

  • You need real-time location.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want heat detection.
SMARTBOW 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 SMARTBOW or xarvio Digital Farming better?
Neither clearly leads. SMARTBOW 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, SMARTBOW or xarvio Digital Farming?
SMARTBOW starts at On request and xarvio Digital Farming at $29/month.
Does SMARTBOW or xarvio Digital Farming run on more platforms?
SMARTBOW runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android. xarvio Digital Farming runs on Web, Ios, Android.
What is SMARTBOW best used for?
SMARTBOW is most often used for a 1,500 cow freestall barn where finding a flagged animal by eye takes twenty minutes, a dairy replacing visual heat detection with per-animal oestrus alerts to tighten calving intervals, a herd manager wanting rumination-based early warning of displaced abomasum or metritis, a vet practice using behavioural data to audit transition cow management across client herds. Of those, a 1,500 cow freestall barn where finding a flagged animal by eye takes twenty minutes and a dairy replacing visual heat detection with per-animal oestrus alerts to tighten calving intervals are not what xarvio Digital Farming is typically brought in for.
What can SMARTBOW do that xarvio Digital Farming cannot?
SMARTBOW covers Real-time location, Heat detection, Rumination monitoring, Health alerts. xarvio Digital Farming covers Disease identification, Spray timing, Variable rate maps, Satellite monitoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

SMARTBOW: What does SMARTBOW do that other activity monitors do not?

Real-time indoor location. It tells you where the flagged cow physically is, not just that she is behaving abnormally.

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
SMARTBOW: Does it work on grazing herds?

Poorly. Location depends on barn-mounted receivers, so animals out at pasture fall outside the system's coverage.

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
SMARTBOW: Who owns it?

Zoetis, which also owns Valley Agricultural Software and DairyComp. The technology came from Smartbow GmbH in Austria.

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
SMARTBOW: Is it cloud based?

Analysis runs on an on-farm server rather than in the cloud, which keeps it working during an internet outage but makes the server your responsibility.

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