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Agriculture · head to head

Soil Scout vs xarvio Digital Farming

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
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: 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.; 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: Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors, 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 Soil Scout and xarvio Digital Farming actually diverge.

Attributes where Soil Scout and xarvio Digital Farming differ
AttributeSoil Scoutxarvio Digital Farming
Starting priceOn request$29/month
Pricing modelquotefreemium
PlatformsWebWeb, 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 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 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.

Soil Scout

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

xarvio Digital Farming

  • Disease managementnot Soil Scout
  • Spray optimizationnot Soil Scout
  • Crop monitoringnot 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.

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

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

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 Soil Scout if

  • You need fully buried sensors.
  • You also want ten to twenty year battery.
Soil Scout 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 Soil Scout or xarvio Digital Farming better?
Neither clearly leads. Soil Scout 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, Soil Scout or xarvio Digital Farming?
Soil Scout starts at On request and xarvio Digital Farming at $29/month.
Does Soil Scout or xarvio Digital Farming run on more platforms?
Soil Scout runs on Web. xarvio Digital Farming runs on Web, Ios, Android.
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 xarvio Digital Farming is typically brought in for.
What can Soil Scout do that xarvio Digital Farming cannot?
Soil Scout covers Fully buried sensors, Ten to twenty year battery, Underground radio, Dual depth sensing. xarvio Digital Farming covers Disease identification, Spray timing, Variable rate maps, Satellite monitoring.

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.

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
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.

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
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.

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
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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