Softwr

Agriculture · head to head

Soil Scout vs Traction

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
Traction logo

Traction

Agriculture

Modern marketplace for farm equipment

From
$950/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Traction limited to farm accounting and field data, less comprehensive than full farm management ERPs
  • They diverge on capability: Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors, Traction covers Equipment marketplace.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Soil Scout and Traction actually diverge.

Attributes where Soil Scout and Traction differ
AttributeSoil ScoutTraction
Starting priceOn request$950/year
Pricing modelquoteUnknown
PlatformsWebWeb, Mobile
FoundedUnknown2019

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 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

Only in Traction

  • Equipment marketplace
  • Parts sourcing
  • Dealer management
  • Price analytics
  • Lead generation
  • DMS systems
  • Website builders
  • CRM platforms

What people use each for

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

Soil Scout

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

Traction

  • Equipment buying/sellingnot Soil Scout
  • Inventory managementnot Soil Scout
  • Market analysisnot Soil Scout
  • Lead generationnot Soil Scout

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Traction

  • Limited to farm accounting and field data, less comprehensive than full farm management ERPs
  • Integration capabilities are limited to John Deere and Climate FieldView platforms

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Traction

$950/year
  • Basic$950/year
    • Farm accounting
    • Field records
    • Basic reporting
  • Plus$1950/year
    • Farm accounting
    • Field records
    • Advanced reporting
  • Pro$3950/year
    • Farm accounting
    • Field records
    • Advanced reporting

Which should you pick?

Choose Soil Scout if

  • You need fully buried sensors.
  • You also want ten to twenty year battery.
Soil Scout review

Choose Traction if

  • You need equipment marketplace.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want parts sourcing.
Traction review

Questions people ask

Is Soil Scout or Traction better?
Neither clearly leads. Soil Scout starts at On request and Traction at $950/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Soil Scout or Traction?
Soil Scout starts at On request and Traction at $950/year.
Does Soil Scout or Traction run on more platforms?
Soil Scout runs on Web. Traction runs on Web, Mobile.
What is Soil Scout best used for?
Soil Scout is most often used for a golf course monitoring greens moisture where a surface-mounted probe would be hit by mowers and play, a stadium pitch under a closed roof where hand-held probing is impractical during the season, a research plot needing consistent multi-year soil data below cultivation depth, an irrigated field where a surface logger would not survive tillage or a spray boom. Of those, a golf course monitoring greens moisture where a surface-mounted probe would be hit by mowers and play and a stadium pitch under a closed roof where hand-held probing is impractical during the season are not what Traction is typically brought in for.
What can Soil Scout do that Traction cannot?
Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors, Ten to twenty year battery, Underground radio, Dual depth sensing. Traction covers Equipment marketplace, Parts sourcing, Dealer management, Price analytics.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Traction: Does Traction Ag integrate with John Deere equipment?

Yes. Traction Ag integrates with the John Deere Operations Center, allowing farmers to automatically pull in field data for application, tillage, seeding, and harvest records.

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.

Traction: What is the starting price for Traction Ag?

Traction Ag offers three pricing tiers: Basic starts at $950 per year, Plus costs $1,950 per year, and Pro costs $3,950 per year.

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.

Traction: Does Traction Ag offer a free trial?

Yes. Traction Ag offers a 30-day free trial providing access to farm accounting, field operations, and agronomy features.

Source
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.

Traction: What is the main difference between Traction Ag and other farm management software?

Traction Ag is the only farm management solution uniquely built for the cloud, integrating actual accounting numbers with field operations to provide real-time financial analysis.

Source
Traction: Can Traction Ag manage multiple farms?

Yes. Traction Ag includes multi-entity access under one login, allowing farmers to manage multiple farms and see field profitability tracking across all operations.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Soil Scout

More on Traction

Keep looking

Other head to heads