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Agriculture · head to head

GEA DairyNet vs Tend

GEA DairyNet logo

GEA DairyNet

Agriculture

Modular herd and farm management software for dairies running GEA milking equipment

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tend logo

Tend

Agriculture

Crop planning and record keeping for small diversified market farms, priced in flat tiers rather than by acre

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Tend has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: GEA DairyNet the value depends on GEA hardware, so a barn with mixed-vendor parlours, sensors or feeders loses most of the native integration that justifies the software.; Tend the free tier keeps only three years of history and 500 MB of storage, so a grower who stays on it loses the multi-season comparison that makes crop planning software worth having in the first place.
  • They diverge on capability: GEA DairyNet covers Herd module, Tend covers Visual crop planning.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GEA DairyNet and Tend actually diverge.

Attributes where GEA DairyNet and Tend differ
AttributeGEA DairyNetTend
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotePer month by user count
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, Web, iOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: 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 GEA DairyNet

  • Herd module
  • System monitoring
  • CowScout integration
  • Feeding module
  • Youngstock module
  • Cloud data history
  • Modular subscription

Only in Tend

  • Visual crop planning
  • Growing templates
  • Crop library
  • Task management
  • Harvest and inventory tracking
  • CSA and sales storefront
  • Financial reporting
  • AI credits

What people use each for

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

GEA DairyNet

  • A dairy replacing an ageing DairyPlan C21 installation on existing GEA milking equipmentnot Tend
  • A robot barn running DairyRobot R9500 boxes that wants robot data and herd records in one placenot Tend
  • A dairy adding CowScout activity monitoring and needing heat alerts to land in the herd software automaticallynot Tend
  • A herd manager who wants to pay for a youngstock module covering only the heifers rather than the whole herdnot Tend

Tend

  • A three-acre market garden running weekly lettuce successions that needs the seeding calendar to generate itself from the harvest targetnot GEA DairyNet
  • A cut-flower farm planning bed space against wedding orders months aheadnot GEA DairyNet
  • A CSA operation managing 150 member shares alongside the planting plan that has to fill themnot GEA DairyNet
  • A two-person farm replacing a spreadsheet and a whiteboard without paying a per-acre platform's minimumnot GEA DairyNet

Where each one falls short

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

GEA DairyNet

  • The value depends on GEA hardware, so a barn with mixed-vendor parlours, sensors or feeders loses most of the native integration that justifies the software.
  • Nothing is published: not module prices, not per-animal rates, not installation costs, so every comparison against DeLaval or Lely requires a dealer quote and there is no way to sanity check it.
  • Per-module per-animal pricing is granular but also means costs climb quietly as you add modules and grow the herd, and the monthly cancellation option does not help once the barn depends on a module.
  • It is a successor to DairyPlan C21 rather than a rewrite of the category, so dairies migrating carry across conventions and data structures that predate cloud software and the transition itself needs dealer time.
  • GEA sells only through authorised partners, so support quality, installation competence and how quickly you get a fault fixed are determined by your regional dealer rather than by GEA.

Tend

  • The free tier keeps only three years of history and 500 MB of storage, so a grower who stays on it loses the multi-season comparison that makes crop planning software worth having in the first place.
  • Data retention is a paid feature at every level below Ultimate, which is an unusual thing to meter: a farm that downgrades from Pro to Free after a bad year risks losing records it may need for organic certification audits.
  • There is no machinery, telematics, soil sampling or variable-rate capability at all, so any operation that adds broadacre ground has to run a second platform rather than extend this one.
  • AI features are metered in credits rather than included, and the allowances are small at the lower tiers, so the assistant becomes something you ration rather than rely on.
  • The company is small and privately held with a narrow customer base, which means integrations outside payments and basic accounting are thin and a request for a connector to a regional distributor or certifier is unlikely to be built.

Pricing, plan by plan

GEA DairyNet

On request
  • GEA DairyNet$undefined/month
    • Priced per module, by the number of animals using that module
    • Modules can be cancelled monthly
    • One-time cost for sensors, system technology and installation quoted separately

Tend

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1 user
    • 25 AI credits per month
    • 3 years data retention
  • Pro$30/month
    • 5 users
    • 500 AI credits per month
    • 7 years data retention
  • Ultimate$75/month
    • Unlimited users
    • 2,500 AI credits per month
    • Unlimited data retention
  • Enterprise$400/month
    • Unlimited users
    • 10,000+ AI credits per month
    • 250 GB storage and up

Which should you pick?

Choose GEA DairyNet if

  • You need herd module.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want system monitoring.
GEA DairyNet review

Choose Tend if

  • You need visual crop planning.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want growing templates.
Tend review

Questions people ask

Is GEA DairyNet or Tend better?
Neither clearly leads. GEA DairyNet starts at On request and Tend at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GEA DairyNet or Tend?
Tend has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for GEA DairyNet and Free for Tend.
Does GEA DairyNet or Tend run on more platforms?
GEA DairyNet runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android. Tend runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Tend for free?
Yes. Tend has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. GEA DairyNet starts at On request.
What is GEA DairyNet best used for?
GEA DairyNet is most often used for a dairy replacing an ageing dairyplan c21 installation on existing gea milking equipment, a robot barn running dairyrobot r9500 boxes that wants robot data and herd records in one place, a dairy adding cowscout activity monitoring and needing heat alerts to land in the herd software automatically, a herd manager who wants to pay for a youngstock module covering only the heifers rather than the whole herd. Of those, a dairy replacing an ageing dairyplan c21 installation on existing gea milking equipment and a robot barn running dairyrobot r9500 boxes that wants robot data and herd records in one place are not what Tend is typically brought in for.
What can GEA DairyNet do that Tend cannot?
GEA DairyNet covers Herd module, System monitoring, CowScout integration, Feeding module. Tend covers Visual crop planning, Growing templates, Crop library, Task management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

GEA DairyNet: Does DairyNet replace DairyPlan C21?

Yes. It is the successor product, built on the same decades of DairyPlan development but restructured into cloud-connected modules.

Tend: Does Tend charge by the acre?

No. Pricing is flat by user count, and there are no acreage or crop limits on any tier including the free one. That is the main reason small growers pick it over broadacre platforms.

GEA DairyNet: How is it priced?

Per module, with each module priced on the number of animals actually using that module's functions. Modules can be cancelled monthly. No rates are published.

Tend: Can Tend handle a CSA?

Yes, including member share management and a farm-stand storefront, though payment processing runs through a third party.

GEA DairyNet: Will it work with non-GEA milking equipment?

Basic herd records will, but the sensor, robot and parlour integrations that make it worth buying are GEA-specific.

Tend: Is it suitable for a 500 acre grain farm?

No. There is no machinery data, no prescription writing and no as-applied reporting. It is built for high-crop-count, low-acreage operations.

GEA DairyNet: Is the software cost the main expense?

No. The one-time investment in sensors, system technology and installation is the larger figure, and it is quoted separately by the sales partner.

Tend: What happens to my records if I cancel?

Export before you cancel. Retention limits apply per tier, and the free tier keeps three years, so downgrading is not a safe archive strategy.

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