Buyer's guide
A side-by-side comparison of six wireless soil moisture monitoring systems — Arable, CropX, Sensoterra, Sentek, Farm21, and SoilSense — for orchards, vegetable farms, vineyards, and municipal green spaces.
Last updated: 4 June 2026
A soil moisture sensor system is more than a probe in the ground. It's a chain — sensor, datalogger, wireless link, cloud platform, mobile app, and ideally an algorithm that turns raw readings into a clear answer to “should I irrigate today?”. The choice that matters depends on which link in that chain you don't want to think about. The five criteria below are how a farmer who isn't a data engineer actually picks a system. They're also where the systems we compare here genuinely differ.
Does the system figure out this soil, this crop's field capacity and refill point on its own, or does it ship raw VWC numbers that you (or a paid agronomist) have to interpret? Peer-reviewed work on field-capacity detection algorithms shows it's possible to learn these thresholds from each field's irrigation/rain history without lab calibration — but most commercial systems still rely on factory defaults or a paid calibration service.
Two things determine whether a soil-moisture reading is trustworthy: the sensor's physics and the installation geometry. SoilSense uses TDT physics (the same class as research-grade TDR) and a buried-sensor geometry — sitting on the strongest side of both axes.
On physics, peer-reviewed comparisons consistently place TDR/TDT-class sensors at the tightest field-accuracy band and capacitance / FDR / ADR-class sensors at ± 2-5 % VWC after factory calibration, degrading at higher salinity unless site-calibrated per sensor.
On geometry, screw-in and access-tube probes can channel rain and irrigation water down their own surfaces (preferential flow); access-tube studies document VWC errors up to ± 5 % and irrigation-flux estimation errors up to 50 mm/day from this effect, and competing sensor maker METER Group warns in its own installation literature that profile probes are "especially susceptible to preferential-flow problems down the long surface of the access tube."
Manufacturer accuracy specs are not always like-for-like — TDR/TDT figures tend to be absolute field accuracy, while capacitance figures often reflect lab precision or proprietary-calibration setups that don't survive independent field comparisons.
Soil moisture, soil temperature, soil salinity (electrical conductivity), and rainfall — all on a single datalogger, all on one app screen. Many systems do moisture-only and force you to stitch in a weather station, an EC probe, or a rain gauge from someone else, paying two subscriptions and reconciling two timestamps.
Does the app open on a phone and immediately answer “should I irrigate today?” with a clear yes/no — or does it dump a multi-line graph and expect you to interpret it? Many platforms have powerful but cluttered dashboards built for service agronomists; SoilSense is intentionally minimal.
Hardware + 3-year subscription + installation labour for a typical 3-hectare orchard or vegetable block. No drilling, no auger, no gateway, no professional services contract. Many enterprise-grade systems are excellent — and unaffordable for the SME farms that make up the majority of growers worldwide.
Best overall — cheapest entry + only TDR/TDT in this list
SoilSense — €300/year subscription bundles the datalogger, two TDT sensors, dashboard, and installation support. The cheapest published entry point in this comparison, and the only system using TDR/TDT-class sensor physics (the tightest field-accuracy class in peer-reviewed literature). 60-day risk-free trial.
Read full reviewBest for large enterprises
CropX — best for irrigated row-crop and permanent-crop operations that want a mature digital-agronomy platform with VRI prescriptions, disease models, and bundled advisor workflows.
Read full reviewBest for deep multi-depth research
Sentek — best for irrigation specialists, agronomists, and research stations that need a deep root-zone profile (Drill & Drop up to 1.2 m, EnviroSCAN to 30 m+) with site-specific calibration.
Read full reviewBest — strongest available in this category. Strong — solid. Partial — works but with caveats. Weak — material limitation. N/A — not offered.
| System | Auto-calibration | Reliability | Sensor breadth | UI for farmers | Cost & install | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SoilSenseSmall-to-mid farms, orchards, vegetable growers, and municipalities that want trustworthy data without hiring an agronomist | Best Field capacity detected automatically from each field's history. | Best TDT sensors, ± 1 % VWC, stable across soil salinity. | Strong Moisture + temperature + EC + rainfall on one datalogger. | Best Daily irrigate-or-not answer, intentionally minimal. | Best No gateway, no tools, no agronomy contract. 10-minute install. | $€25/month per datalogger, billed annually (€300/year all-in for 1 datalogger + 2 TDT sensors + dashboard + install support). Add-ons: Rain Data €7/mo, EC Data €10/mo per datalogger. 60-day risk-free trial. A separate buy-outright option starts at €399 for the datalogger. |
| ArableEnterprises, food companies, and research programmes that want weather, canopy, ET, and soil context in one rugged in-field node — especially where water-stewardship reporting matters | Partial Calibrated weather measures, but soil calibration relies on the third-party Sentek accessory. | Strong Up to 12 soil sensors at 10 cm spacing via the Sentek accessory. | Best Weather, rainfall, radiation, imagery, ET, canopy, and accessory soil. | Strong Web, mobile, and API — enterprise-oriented rather than farmer-minimal. | Weak Contact-sales hardware + add-on soil probes; heavy for 3 ha. | $$$Quote-based, enterprise hardware + platform subscription. |
| CropXIrrigated row-crop and permanent-crop operations that want prescription-irrigation files for variable-rate equipment, disease/nutrition models, and an active agronomy advisor relationship | Best Proprietary self-calibration on Vertex; auto moisture set points on Apex. | Strong Capacitance/ADR class; 3 physical depths on Vertex, Apex profiles to 90 cm. | Strong Soil moisture, temperature, EC, plus optional rain/weather/ET devices. | Strong Mature app with agronomic recommendations; some advisor-grade workflows. | Partial Vertex entry price is mid-market; full stack pushes towards enterprise. | $$Vertex V4 ~$695 hardware + $300/yr subscription at public US pricing; full enterprise stack on quote. |
| SensoterraDistributed soil moisture networks where LoRaWAN is available — integration partners, water managers, municipal/urban green, and growers who only need soil moisture trends | Strong Soil-type calibration library plus custom calibration on request. | Partial Multi Depth covers 6 points; Single Depth is one point and lacks EC. | Weak Soil moisture (Single Depth) or moisture + temperature (Multi Depth) only. | Partial Monitor app is simple; positioning is integration-first. | Partial Hammer-in install is easy, but LoRaWAN gateway and per-device fees add up. | $$Pilot packages from €999 (1 Single Depth) to €4,999 (4 Multi Depth); production on quote. |
| SentekIrrigation specialists, agronomists, research stations, and orchards/vineyards/tree-crop operations that need reliable multi-depth root-zone profile data and are comfortable with dealer-supported installation | Partial Default factory calibration + site-specific calibration per sensor. | Best Drill & Drop up to 12 sensors; EnviroSCAN up to 16 at 10 cm intervals. | Partial Moisture + temperature + salinity in the probe; rainfall/air via separate products. | Partial IrriMAX is powerful but agronomist/irrigation-specialist oriented. | Weak Hardware + telemetry + subscription + dealer install; heavy for 3 ha. | $$$Dealer-quoted hardware + telemetry + IrriMAX Live subscription + installation tooling. |
| Farm21Small and medium European farms, crop advisors, and distributors that need affordable dense deployment, simple install, and a three-depth shallow soil moisture profile with microclimate context | Partial Soil-type selection and Farm21 calibration documented; no auto-calibration claim. | Partial Three shallow depths to 30 cm; no deeper profile. | Strong Soil moisture + soil temp + air temp + humidity in one device; missing EC and rainfall. | Best Positioning and pricing emphasise farmer ease, alerts, sharing, and SME affordability. | Best Lowest steady-state per-spot ongoing cost from year 2; no gateway, simple install. | $€375 one-time + €89/year per FS21 unit (public EU pricing). Lowest steady-state per-spot ongoing cost in this comparison from year 2 onward. |
#1 · Denmark — founded 2017, sold across the EU
Wireless TDT sensors, no gateway, no tools to install, auto-calibration built in.
Best for: Small-to-mid farms, orchards, vegetable growers, and municipalities that want trustworthy data without hiring an agronomist.
SoilSense is a Danish company that builds a solar-powered wireless datalogger, TDT soil moisture sensors, and a progressive web app — installable to your phone's home screen and used exactly like a native app, with no App Store download or update prompts — that turns the data into a daily irrigation answer. Up to five sensors per datalogger; cellular connection direct to the cloud (NB-IoT, LTE-M, 2G fallback); no LoRa gateway and no auger needed to install.
#2 · USA — founded 2014, offices in India and Brazil
Field-station-led platform combining weather, canopy imagery, ET, and accessory soil probes in one device.
Best for: Enterprises, food companies, and research programmes that want weather, canopy, ET, and soil context in one rugged in-field node — especially where water-stewardship reporting matters.
Arable's flagship is the Mark 3 — a solar-powered in-field station that measures precipitation, air temperature, humidity, pressure, spectrometry, and crop imagery (NDVI, chlorophyll, leaf wetness, ETo/ETc, canopy temperature). Soil moisture, temperature, and salinity are accessory channels; Arable's published spec sheet lists Sentek Drill & Drop as the soil probe option, with 1, 3, 6, 9 or 12 sensors at 10 cm spacing.
#3 · Israel / USA / New Zealand — founded 2013, moved HQ to Israel 2017
Multi-depth screw-in soil probe with proprietary self-calibration and a mature digital-agronomy platform.
Best for: Irrigated row-crop and permanent-crop operations that want prescription-irrigation files for variable-rate equipment, disease/nutrition models, and an active agronomy advisor relationship.
CropX sells the Vertex 4 multi-depth screw-in probe (3 physical depths plus virtual readings every 10 cm down to 66 cm) and the Apex 1 access-tube-style probe (10 cm resolution to 30, 60, or 90 cm) paired with the CropX agronomic platform. Vertex measures VWC, EC at all 3 depths, and temperature at the top two depths. Optional Strato weather station, Rivo rain gauge, and Evato ET sensor complete the system.
#4 · Netherlands — established 2015, headquartered in Houten
Hammer-in LoRaWAN soil moisture probes with a cloud calibration library for 20+ soil types.
Best for: Distributed soil moisture networks where LoRaWAN is available — integration partners, water managers, municipal/urban green, and growers who only need soil moisture trends.
Sensoterra makes hammer-in LoRaWAN soil probes in two shapes: Single Depth (15, 30, 60, or 90 cm lengths, one measurement point) and Multi Depth (six measurement points at 10/20/30/45/60/90 cm, plus temperature). Built-in lithium batteries last 6-10 years. Sensoterra positions itself as an API-first measurement layer that other dashboards integrate.
#5 · Australia — founded 1991, HQ in Stepney, South Australia
Deep multi-depth soil profile probes (Drill & Drop, EnviroSCAN) with site-specific calibration and the IrriMAX analytics platform.
Best for: Irrigation specialists, agronomists, research stations, and orchards/vineyards/tree-crop operations that need reliable multi-depth root-zone profile data and are comfortable with dealer-supported installation.
Sentek has been building capacitance (FDR) soil profile probes since 1991. Drill & Drop is the fully encapsulated 30-120 cm probe with sensors every 10 cm (1, 3, 6, 9, or 12 sensors), measuring moisture, temperature, and optional salinity. EnviroSCAN is the company's flagship deep-profile system: 0.5 to 30 m, up to 16 sensors at 10 cm intervals via dedicated access tubes. Data lands in the IrriMAX desktop application or the IrriMAX Live subscription portal.
#6 · Netherlands — founded 2017 (project), separate business 2018
Low-cost cellular soil + microclimate probe with shallow 0-30 cm profile and transparent public pricing.
Best for: Small and medium European farms, crop advisors, and distributors that need affordable dense deployment, simple install, and a three-depth shallow soil moisture profile with microclimate context.
Farm21 builds the FS21 — a two-piece sensor with a soil moisture probe (0-10, 10-20, 20-30 cm) inserted into the ground and a main module that stays above ground measuring air temperature and humidity. Cellular built in (NB-IoT, LTE-M, 2G with SIM included) and platform/API access bundled. Recent localised pages reference an FS31 generation, but FS21 remains the documented product on the public spec sheet.
Match the priority that matters most to your operation to the system that's strongest there. None of these are bad systems for the right buyer — they're just designed for different priorities.
If your priority is accurate, trustworthy data without paying for calibration services
Look at SoilSense. TDT sensor physics and auto-calibration mean you don't need to ship soil samples to a lab or hire an agronomist to set thresholds.
If your priority is a mature digital-agronomy platform with VRI prescriptions and disease models
Look at CropX. Vertex's auto-calibration is real, the platform is built for advisors managing many fields, and prescription-irrigation output is first-class.
If your priority is the lowest published year-1 entry price with research-grade sensor accuracy
Look at SoilSense. The €25/month subscription (€300/year) bundles a datalogger + 2 TDT sensors + dashboard + installation support — the cheapest published entry point in this comparison and the only TDR/TDT-class sensor in the list.
If your priority is the lowest steady-state per-spot ongoing cost and you can live with fixed shallow depths
Look at Farm21. €89/year per FS21 unit (from year 2) is the cheapest steady-state per-spot ongoing cost in this comparison, in exchange for a fixed 30 cm depth ceiling, no EC, no rainfall, and undisclosed sensor technology.
If your priority is push-it-in-and-walk-away install on a LoRaWAN network
Look at Sensoterra. Hammer-in probes, 6-10 year batteries, and an API-first platform — just make sure LoRaWAN coverage or a private gateway is in place.
If your priority is a deep multi-meter soil profile or irrigation-analyst tooling
Look at Sentek (Drill & Drop, EnviroSCAN). Different product class — sensors every 10 cm across the probe length, site-specific calibration, and the IrriMAX analytics environment.
If your priority is weather, ET, canopy imagery, and crop-stress models with soil as one accessory
Look at Arable Mark 3. Built around the field-station rather than the soil probe — the broadest sensing stack here, sold to enterprises.
Common questions from growers, agronomists, and municipal landscape managers evaluating a soil moisture sensor system.
Turn this comparison into a decision
Take this list to any sensor vendor. Every row is something we checked across the six systems above — from each vendor's own public spec sheets and the peer-reviewed sensor literature — and the difference between a research-grade soil measurement and a marketing brochure usually shows up in two or three of them. SoilSense ticks all ten.
Peer-reviewed comparisons place TDR/TDT as the tightest field-accuracy class. Capacitance/FDR/ADR drifts to ± 2-5 % VWC and worsens with salinity unless site-calibrated per sensor.
Stick-style, screw-in, and access-tube probes can channel rain and irrigation along their own surface. Peer-reviewed work documents up to ± 5 % VWC bias and 50 mm/day flux errors from this geometry.
Field capacity and refill thresholds detected from your irrigation/rain time-series — no soil samples to a lab, no paid agronomist to set per-soil thresholds.
NB-IoT / LTE-M / 2G direct to the cloud means no gateway hardware to install, power, mount, or maintain — and no LoRaWAN coverage dependency.
No auger, no drill, no soil-slurry technique, no dealer site visit. You can deploy the system yourself in the time it takes to walk the field.
One datalogger, one timestamp, one app screen. No weather-station-plus-soil-sensor patchwork, no second platform to reconcile.
Tree crops, vines, and deep-rooted vegetables need readings well below 30 cm. A fixed shallow ceiling makes the data unusable for those crops.
A phone-readable yes/no, not a multi-line graph that needs an agronomist or service consultant to interpret. One person, one screen, one decision.
€25/month per datalogger, billed annually, with every add-on (Rain Data, EC Data) priced on the page. No surprise dealer markups, no enterprise quote dance.
Full refund if the system doesn't earn its keep on your fields. Vendors that won't stand behind their own data quality don't offer this.
Of the six systems in this comparison, SoilSense is the only one that meets all ten criteria. Each row is sourced from vendor product pages, peer-reviewed sensor literature, and Farm21's own published competitor article — full citations live in the methodology section above.
Let's talk
Try the system risk-free for 60 days on your own fields. We'll help with sensor placement and walk you through the platform — no contract required.
No commitment · We respond within one business day
Or stay in the loop
Occasional updates on product releases and the latest in agricultural technology.
