One platform that sees what’s coming
There are plenty of platforms for sensors, weather or satellite. FairGrow brings them together into one clear piece of advice you can act on today. Below we put FairGrow honestly alongside well-known alternatives, so you can see for yourself what makes the difference for your crop.
“See it coming. Act in time.” That is what FairGrow stands for: you know sooner what’s happening and adjust in time. Below you can read at your own pace what FairGrow does, how it compares to other platforms, and where we deliberately do and don’t focus.
What FairGrow does for you
Three data sources, one piece of advice
Your own sensors (soil moisture, temperature, rainfall), up to seven weather sources side by side and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, brought together into predictive irrigation and crop advice via the peer-reviewed FAO-56 method. Not separate numbers, but a decision.
See disease and pests coming
A dedicated widget with scientific disease models per crop (including Hutton, Mills and Cougarblight), a risk calendar and spray-window advice, plus degree-day models for pests. You intervene before things go wrong.
Fertilise without guesswork
The Nitrogen balance widget weighs the plant-available nitrogen from your organic input and irrigation water against crop demand, with a satellite cross-check. Concrete top-up fertilisation advice, fertiliser-free.
With your whole team, in your language
Multiple fields, multiple users and a coordinator who receives tailored summaries and advice, by email, Telegram or in the app. Available in up to 57 languages.
FairGrow alongside the well-known alternatives
We put FairGrow next to Sencrop, Farm21 and CropX. A green tick with an ⓘ means FairGrow offers that feature; hover over it for the details. A light-green highlighted row is something only FairGrow offers in this way.
| Feature | FairGrow | Sencrop | Farm21 | CropX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soil moisture | ✓ Zigbee/ESP32iSoil moisture: your own sensors via Zigbee (within Europe) and ESP32 (mobile weather station, in preparation, beyond Europe). Real-time per field. | ✓ Soilcrop (4 depths) | ✓ FS31 (3 depths) | ✓ Apex / Vertex |
| Soil temperature | ✓iSoil temperature: brought together from several techniques: your own sensors, the current weather data (Weather now) and satellite data. This gives you a reliable picture per field instead of one isolated measurement. | ✓ | ✓ (2 depths) | ✓ |
| Air temp / humidity | ✓iAir temperature and humidity: via Open-Meteo plus the on-site weather stations (Zigbee in Europe, ESP beyond Europe). | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rainfall | ✓iRainfall: from several techniques: your own on-site weather stations, the current weather data (Weather now) and satellite data. Everything comes together in the FAO-56 water balance for sharper irrigation advice. | ✓ Raincrop | via weather data | ✓ rain gauge |
| PAR / light | ✓ distinctiveiPAR / light: your own PAR/light measurement beyond Europe, via the mobile ESP weather station. A measurement most competitors don’t offer, valuable for managing light in your crop. | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Wind / gusts | ✓iWind and gusts: brought together from several sources: the on-site weather stations (Zigbee within Europe, mobile ESP station beyond Europe), the current weather data and satellite data. More than one source, so a more complete and reliable picture for your location. | ✓ Windcrop (sensor) | ✗ | ✓ (sensor) |
| Leaf wetness | ✓ widgetiLeaf wetness: live widget on the dashboard. We calculate leaf wetness duration based on data (temperature, humidity and dew point), with risk advice, a chart and indicative disease thresholds. No separate sensor needed. Beyond Europe you can optionally connect a physical ESP32 sensor (also as an ESP-NOW stat) for extra precision; a Zigbee variant isn’t available yet. | ✓ (add-on) | ✗ | ✗ |
| EC / salinity | ✓ EC sensoriEC / salinity: a standard EC measurement, which we take beyond Europe with an EC sensor on the ESP32 hardware (also as an ESP-NOW stat). For salinity monitoring and as a basis for fertigation advice. A Zigbee variant isn’t available yet. | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ Vertex |
| Direct ET measurement (ETa) | modelled (FAO-56) | modelled | ✗ | ✓ Evato (real-time) |
| Satellite imagery | ✓ Sentinel-2iSatellite imagery: Sentinel-2 (10 m, ~every 5 days) for NDVI/biomass, linked to the FAO-56 ET model for field-scale advice. | limited | ✓ free 10×10m | ✓ |
| Weather intelligence | ✓ 7 weather sourcesiWeather intelligence: FairGrow compares up to 7 weather sources side by side (Open-Meteo, Google, Visual Crossing, Frogcast, Meteosource, WeatherAPI and OpenWeatherMap), together with your own sensors. Multiple models at once give a complete and reliable picture of the forecast for precisely your location, not one generic regional report. | ✓ (core) | ✓ | ✓ |
| FAO-56 irrigation advice | ✓iFAO-56 irrigation advice: predictive advice via FAO-56 ET0, fed by sensor + weather + satellite. Peer-reviewed method. | ✓ Penman-Monteith | limited | ✓ Smart Irrigation |
| Disease/pest warning | ✓ modelsiDisease/pest warning: dedicated widget with 11 scientific disease models per crop (including Hutton, Mills, 3-10, Cougarblight with flowering window), a risk calendar and action/spray-window advice; 6 pest degree-day models from your biofix; and a spray log with protection status. Plus the observation widget and AI photo (Plant Scan). Decision support. | ✓ (rust, mildew…) | ✗ | ✓ disease model |
| Fertigation/nutrition advice | ✓ N balanceiFertigation/nutrition advice: the Nitrogen balance widget (fertiliser-free) models the plant-available nitrogen: mineralisation from your organic input (driven by soil temperature and moisture) plus nitrate from your irrigation water, weighed against crop demand per growth stage. Gives concrete top-up fertilisation advice (amount + timing), a satellite cross-check (NDRE) and a SoilGrids soil baseline. N-focused; full NPK fertigation per zone is a possible extension. | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ + N leaching |
| Machine integration | ✗iMachine integration: task maps to John Deere/ISOBUS, machine telemetry and FMIS connections are deliberately not our focus. FairGrow concentrates on sensor-, weather- and satellite-driven advice. Still need a connection? Get in touch with us. | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ (including CLAAS) |
| Compliance/emissions reporting | ✓ FSI-readinessiCompliance/emissions reporting: FairGrow has the FSI-readiness module: a guided route to Royal FloraHolland certification via the three FSI pillars (GAP, Environment, Social; also MPS and GLOBALG.A.P), with a readiness dashboard, self-scan, deadlines and costs. A data-coverage overview links every FSI requirement to what you already log in the platform; the logs (sprayings, organic input, observations) form the audit trail. Automatic emissions/CO2 reporting is a possible extension. View FSI-readiness. | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ audit-ready |
| Multi-field / multi-location | ✓iMulti-field / multi-location: multiple fields and locations in one account, each with its own sensors, weather and advice. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-user & coordinator advice | ✓ teamiMulti-user and coordinator advice: work with your whole team in one environment. Every grower keeps their own log; those observations together lead to a smarter assessment. The coordinator receives the summaries and tailored advice, by email, Telegram or in the app. That way you know sooner together what’s happening and adjust in time. What’s more, the logs help you as a grower to become FSI-compliant (Floriculture Sustainability Initiative, the route via Royal FloraHolland towards export). | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Mobile app | ✓iMobile: real-time advice, charts and alerts to check on the go. | ✓ | ✓ scouting | ✓ |
| Free tier | ✓ yesiFree tier: start without a quote, rare in this market (CropX and Sencrop don’t offer this). Paid tiers Alert/Grower/Estate for more. | ✗ | ✓ €0 (incl. satellite) | ✗ trial only |
| Workflow builder | ✓ uniqueiWorkflow builder: drag sensors, weather and FairGrow ML together into an autonomous irrigation workflow that drives your pump, with test mode, volume limits, a rain emergency stop and a daily cap. As far as we know, none of the compared platforms offers this. | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Drone crop scouting | ✓iDrone crop scouting: built-in flight planner, draw a field, pick your drone, and the flight becomes a vegetation map in the same platform. | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
Tip: hover over the ⓘ sign next to each green FairGrow tick to see how FairGrow delivers that feature (sensors via Zigbee within Europe and the mobile ESP weather station beyond Europe, plus up to 7 weather sources and Sentinel-2).
Price and getting started
| Player | Hardware | Subscription | Free to start |
|---|---|---|---|
| FairGrow | own Zigbee/ESP32 | tiers: free / Alert / Grower / Estate | ✓ yesiFree to start: free tier without a quote. After that, paid tiers Alert, Grower and Estate for more features and locations. |
| Sencrop | per weather station | 3 tiers (Weather Standard → Météo Pro → agro/Irricrop) | ✗ |
| Farm21 | FS31 €375 one-off + €89/sensor/year | free tier (€0) / Premium €250/year + €10/ha above 20ha | ✓ yes |
| CropX | ~$600-899/sensor | quote-based, ~$275/year/sensor | ✗ trial only |
Sources: sencrop.com/eu/subscription-price, farm21.com/pricing-plans, farm21.com FS31, cropx.com/hardware. Prices checked in 2026 and subject to change.
The wider market, honestly side by side
Beyond the big three we looked at six other players: Pessl/Metos, Sentek, AquaSpy, Semios, OneSoil and Arable. Some are strong on one element; FairGrow brings the whole picture together, from sensor to weather and satellite, in one environment.
| Player | What makes them strong | Stronger than FairGrow on | Where FairGrow leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pessl / Metos iMETOS + FieldClimate | Broadest hardware+platform; 600+ sensor types, solar + cellular, real-time cloud | 80+ disease models / 45+ crops, iSCOUT AI pest cameras, machine/ERP integration (John Deere, FieldNET, Azure FarmBeats, xarvio) | No free tier; disease/pest is a paid add-on |
| Sentek EnviroSCAN / Drill & Drop | Multi-depth soil profile, 16 sensors per 10 cm | EC/salinity (TriSCAN), depth granularity | Pure hardware: no free tier, no weather/satellite/disease/advice |
| AquaSpy Crophesy | 12 zones to 48″, daily analytics | Fertigation/nutrient timing (when & where), EC/nitrate per zone | No free tier; NA-focused; no independent validation |
| Semios | All-in-one for fruit/nuts, proprietary in-orchard IoT | Pest (mating disruption) + disease + frost | Specialty crops only, North America focus, hardware-heavy |
| OneSoil | Satellite freemium scouting + VRA, AI Agronomist (2026) | John Deere VRA export; does have a free tier (partly) | No own sensors / real-time ground layer |
| Arable Mark 3 | All-in-one weather + ET in one device | Image-derived ETo + ETc (FAO Penman-Monteith + ML) | Soil moisture/EC requires a separate Sentek sensor (FairGrow has that built in) |
Compared down to the technical detail
| Feature | FairGrow | Pessl | Sentek | AquaSpy | Semios | OneSoil | Arable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soil moisture | ✓iSoil moisture: your own sensors via Zigbee (within Europe) and ESP32 (mobile weather station, in preparation, beyond Europe). Real-time per field. | ✓ | ✓ multi-depth | ✓ 12 zones | ✓ | ✗ | via aux |
| PAR / light | ✓ distinctiveiPAR / light: your own PAR/light measurement beyond Europe, via the mobile ESP weather station. A measurement most competitors don’t offer, valuable for managing light in your crop. | option | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | spectral |
| EC / salinity | ✓ sensoriEC / salinity: EC measurement with an EC sensor on the ESP32 hardware (beyond Europe, also as an ESP-NOW stat). For salinity/fertigation; Zigbee not yet. | ✓ water | ✓ TriSCAN | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | via aux |
| Satellite | ✓ Sentinel-2iSatellite: Sentinel-2 (10 m, ~every 5 days) for NDVI/biomass, linked to the FAO-56 ET model. | via integration | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ NDVI | ✗ |
| FAO-56 / ET advice | ✓iFAO-56 / ET advice: predictive irrigation advice via FAO-56 ET0, fed by sensor + weather + satellite. Peer-reviewed method. | ✓ crop-ET | ✗ | ✗ | irrigation | ✗ | ✓ ETo+ETc |
| Disease/pest | ✓ modelsiDisease/pest: dedicated widget with 11 disease models (Hutton / Mills / 3-10 / TomCast / Cougarblight-with-flowering etc.) + risk calendar + action advice, 6 pest degree-day models (from biofix) and a spray log with protection status. Plus observation widget + AI photo (Plant Scan). | ✓ 80+ models | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ core | AI flags | ✗ |
| Fertigation advice | ✓ N balanceiFertigation/nutrition advice: Nitrogen balance widget (fertiliser-free): N mineralisation from organic input + irrigation-water nitrate vs crop demand, with top-up fertilisation advice (amount + timing) and NDRE cross-check. N-focused; full NPK fertigation per zone = extension. | partly | ✗ | ✓ USP | ✗ | VRA | ✗ |
| Machine/ERP integration | ✗iMachine/ERP integration: deliberately not our focus (FairGrow = sensor-, weather- and satellite-driven advice). Still need a connection? Get in touch. | ✓ John Deere etc. | standards | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ John Deere | partly |
| Free tier | ✓iFree tier: start without a quote, rare in this market. Paid tiers Alert/Grower/Estate for more. | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ partly | ✗ |
Sources: metos.global/fieldclimate, metos.global/disease-models, sentektechnologies.com, aquaspy.com, semios.com, onesoil.ai, arable.com/mark3.
Supporting evidence: Bouras et al., MDPI Agriculture 2022 and ScienceDirect (FAO-56 dual + Sentinel-2).
Where we deliberately (still) don’t focus
To be honest: FairGrow doesn’t do everything, and that’s a choice. We focus on sensor-, weather- and satellite-driven advice, which is what we’re good at. Machine integration (task maps to tractors, FMIS connections) and fully automated emissions reporting are deliberately not part of our core. For compliance we do help you on your way with the FSI-readiness module and logs that serve as an audit trail. Still need a connection or report that isn’t covered here? Get in touch with us and we’ll look at what’s possible together.
Why growers choose FairGrow
- Everything in one environment. Sensors, weather, satellite, disease and pest forecasting and fertilisation advice together, no juggling separate tools.
- Start with no obligation. A free tier without a quote, rare in this market. Grow on to Alert, Grower or Estate when you’re ready.
- More than one source per measurement. Up to seven weather sources alongside your own sensors and satellite, for a picture that’s right for your location instead of a generic regional report.
- European data sovereignty and own algorithms. Your data stays under your own control and the models are developed in-house.
- Work together as a team. Logs per grower, with tailored summaries and advice to the coordinator, by email, Telegram or the app.
How is FairGrow different from other growing platforms?
It brings your own sensors, weather and satellite into one piece of advice, so you see disease and pests coming and fertilise without guesswork, instead of reading separate dashboards.
Do I have to replace the tools I already use?
No. FairGrow works alongside the well-known alternatives and focuses on turning data into clear advice, so you can adopt it without tearing out what already works.
What does FairGrow do that the bigger platforms do not?
It turns sensor, weather and satellite data into one clear recommendation, with your whole team and in your language, rather than just showing numbers.
Is FairGrow cheaper to get started with?
You can see value before you spend by starting on the free plan. See pricing for what each plan includes.
What is FairGrow not built for?
We are open about where we deliberately do not focus, so you know exactly what FairGrow is and is not for, set out honestly side by side with the alternatives.
Why do growers choose FairGrow?
Because it sees problems coming and tells you in time to act, in plain language and without the price tag of industrial smart farming. See how it works.
See it coming. Act in time.
Want to see how FairGrow turns sensor, weather and satellite data into advice you can act on today? Book a no-obligation intro, we’d be glad to show you.
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