FlockFiler is one of many AnimalTrakker® competitors on today’s market. FlockFiler is a database program that’s designed for farms of any size. It was made solely to keep records of sheep; however, some farmers have reported using it for goats as well. It comes in two versions: FlockFiler Lite and FlockFiler Pro.
Join us for a competitive review of AnimalTrakker® and FlockFiler.
What Does FlockFiler Do?
FlockFiler is a record-keeping program based on the Claris FileMaker architecture. FlockFiler Lite is a lightweight version for small farms. FlockFiler Pro is a more expansive version for large farms, commercial operations, and farms with detailed record-keeping needs. FlockFiler also has a “Demo” version for those who want to try the program before they buy.
FlockFiler’s goal is to provide computer database tracking for health, management, and breeding needs, with full export and import capability. If it’s something you need to track, you should be able to track it with FlockFiler. Some metrics that FlockFiler tracks are:
- Tag type and number
- Registry ID number
- Breed, sex, DOB, and name
- Acquisition and removal dates
- Dam, sire, and other pedigree info
- Location, photo, and description
- Financial reports, such as sales of sheep and goods, expenses, and purchase history
- Body condition records, including weight, FAMACHA, pregnancy tests, fecal egg counts, foot condition, and more
- Inbreeding coefficients
- Show results
Please note that FlockFiler Lite may not allow access to all of the features listed above, as it has limited functionality compared to FlockFiler Pro.
Head-To-Head Comparison: AnimalTrakker® vs. FlockFiler
Through our research, it’s become clear that AnimalTrakker® and FlockFiler are remarkably similar in terms of features. Both facilitate in-depth record keeping of different aspects of your sheep flock. The differences between the two only become clear upon close inspection. You can find the results of our head-to-head comparison in the sections below.
| Function | FlockFiler | AnimalTrakker |
|---|---|---|
| Tag tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Full tag history | Yes1 | Yes |
| Registry ID tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Animal info tracking (sex, DOB, age, name, etc.) | Yes | Yes |
| Add and removal date tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Pedigree and ancestry tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Breed composition tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Scrapie resistance tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Location tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Gene tracking | Yes | Yes2 |
| EBV calculations | Yes | Yes2 |
| Supports photos | Yes | No |
| Evaluations | Yes | Yes |
| Weight and growth tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Treatment logs | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-sheep workflows | Yes | Yes |
| Drug dosage calculator | Yes | No |
| Custom fields | Yes | Yes |
| Alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Notes | Yes | Yes |
| Financial reporting | Yes | No |
| Calendar display of past events | Yes | No |
| Health test tracking and history | Yes | Yes |
| Inbreeding calculation | Yes | Yes2 |
| Nutrient calculation | Yes | No |
| Data exchange between members | Yes | Yes |
| Production statistics | Yes | Yes |
| Show and award tracking | Yes | Yes3 |
| Custom reporting | Yes | Yes2 |
| Off-label drug administration | Yes4 | Yes |
| Free | No | Yes |
| Open-source | No | Yes |
| Needs the internet | No | No |
| Windows compatibility | Yes5 | Yes |
| Macintosh compatibility | Yes5 | Yes |
| Linux compatibility | No | Yes |
| Android compatibility | No | Yes |
| iOS compatibility | Yes | No |
| Mobile compatibility | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-breed support | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-species support | No6 | Yes |
| Database size limit | No | No7 |
| In active development? | No | Yes |
| Registry functions | No | Yes |
| Native Bluetooth compatibility | No | Yes |
Notes
1: FlockFiler allows you to add and delete tags of any type from the tag window at any time. If you never delete any tags, this will form a complete tag history, but the program will not enforce this. Additionally, it does not record tag addition and removal dates. You’ll have to note those yourself.
2: This feature is still being implemented, but will be available soon.
3: AnimalTrakker® can track awards and show results through the Notes function.
4: Off-label drug administrations can be entered in FlockFiler’s Log. They are not tracked as off-label entries.
5: While FlockFiler does say that they support MacOS and Windows, they do not specify support for the most recent releases.
6: While FlockFiler mentions that some farmers have used their software to track goats, it has no built-in multi-species support.
7: AnimalTrakker® is designed to handle up to 500,000 historical entries, but the theoretical limit of the database is as many as your machine can handle.
Price
AnimalTrakker® will always be completely open-source, free to use, free to upgrade, and free to install. The only way you’d ever need to pay for AnimalTrakker® is if you wanted to donate, purchase our optional hardware kit, implement a breed registry, or work with us directly to add a new feature on an accelerated timeline.
Conversely, FlockFiler has both an initial use license and, potentially, a recurring version update cost. Note that while FlockFiler has not released a new version in years, if or when they do, current users will need to pay for a new license to upgrade it. Alternatively, they can continue using the old version for no additional cost.
Like AnimalTrakker®, FlockFiler does implement new features from time to time – or at least, they used to. It’s unclear whether new features are still being implemented, but users were once able to take to the FlockFiler forums and speak to the creator about features they wanted added to FlockFiler. These forums appear to have been taken down.
FlockFiler Lite costs $50 for an initial license, while FlockFiler Pro costs $300. Users can pay $250 to upgrade FlockFiler Lite directly to FlockFiler Pro.
Internet Connectivity
Both AnimalTrakker® and FlockFiler are designed to be used offline. Neither offers meaningful internet connectivity.
OS Compatibility
FlockFiler runs on both Windows and Mac OS. AnimalTrakker® runs on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. A read-only mobile app called FlockFiler Go is available for iPhones, iPods, and iPod Touch with iOS 8.1 or later. AnimalTrakker® Farm Mobile is compatible with Android tablets and, to a lesser extent, Android smartphones, and has full functionality.
Eventually, we do hope to create an AnimalTrakker® version that is compatible with iOS devices, but we have no concrete plans for when such a program would begin development.
Note that we did not test the FlockFiler Go app as part of this review.
Graphs
FlockFiler has the ability to show a scatter plot of weights of all of your flock members. That’s the only inbuilt graphing functionality it has. You can, however, export other data to a spreadsheet and use other software to visualize that data as a graph.
While AnimalTrakker® Farm Mobile has no built-in reporting functionality, Farm Desktop can generate an array of helpful reports to assist you in managing your flock. This data can be exported or converted into graphs if you would prefer to visualize it as such.
Multi-Device Connectivity
Neither FlockFiler nor AnimalTrakker® transfers data between devices via the internet. For both programs, if you wish to store data on multiple devices, you must manually transfer the files. FlockFiler specifically cautions against asynchronously updating FlockFiler on different devices, as this can wreck the database and render it unstable. Always update your flock data from the most recently-used device, and copy those updates to any other devices running FlockFiler before incorporating any new data. The same goes for AnimalTrakker®, but AnimalTrakker® allows integration with Google Drive, which lets you to easily back-up your database and transfer it from one device to another. AnimalTrakker® also allows you to transfer the database between devices via sync-enabled cable.
Integrations and Peripherals
At AnimalTrakker®, much of our focus is on developing our Farm Mobile application, which is designed to be compatible with a variety of Bluetooth peripherals. However, as a desktop program, FlockFiler has little in the way of peripheral compatibility. The creator does report that some peripherals, like digital scales and RFID wands, can work with FlockFiler with the help of the third-party software SerialMagic. A SerialMagic license costs $50 on top of the cost of FlockFiler.
On the other hand, AnimalTrakker® Farm Mobile has native compatibility with multiple Bluetooth-enabled peripherals, including RFID/EID readers, race readers, printers, scales, barcode readers, and more, without the need for an additional software license.
File Transferring
Both FlockFiler and AnimalTrakker® allow you to transfer your flock data to other users and programs. Both FlockFiler and AnimalTrakker® are designed to play nicely with outside programs, too – your data can easily be exported from either program and used with other applications. While you cannot transfer your FlockFiler license if you decide to sell your farm, you can export your data to the other farmer, which they can then use after purchasing their own FlockFiler license.
Since AnimalTrakker® does not require a software license, the process of transferring animals is much easier. AnimalTrakker® already has capability to transfer stock between users, especially if they’re in the same registry. AnimalTrakker® can handle ownership transfers, livestock location changes (independent of ownership), farm location changes, farm name changes, and more.
Issues with FlockFiler
Our main issue with FlockFiler is that it hasn’t seen a comprehensive upgrade since 2018. While the software does not seem to be abandoned, it also doesn’t seem like it’s actively being worked on. The website mentions nothing about FlockFiler’s compatibility with Windows 11 or any Mac OS since version 11. Paying nearly $300 for software that may never receive another update seems disappointing at best and sketchy at worst.
AnimalTrakker®, in comparison, is in active development, and we have big plans for the near (and far) future. Since AnimalTrakker® is made by shepherds, for shepherds, we have a vested interest in constantly improving the software. We use it on our own farm, so we’ll always be adding features and improvements that make managing our livestock easier.
Plus, if anything catastrophic ever happens to us, AnimalTrakker® is completely open source. Even if we’re no longer pushing updates to AnimalTrakker®, you or someone else can continue to update, fix, or expand the program. While we may be a little biased, when you add that to the lack of a license fee, AnimalTrakker® seems like a much more solid pick to us.
What Doesn’t FlockFiler Do?
Currently, FlockFiler appears to have no plans to create a mobile app compatible with Android devices. Because FlockFiler is built upon Claris FileMaker architecture, they are limited by the operating systems that Claris FileMaker also supports. The creator of FlockFiler has said that Android support for FlockFiler will follow Android support for Claris FileMaker.
Considering the lack of recent improvements to FlockFiler, this seems unlikely. Claris FileMaker has since released support for Linux systems, but FlockFiler has not announced support for Linux yet. FlockFiler also has not yet released a 64-bit version compatible with Windows. While the creator could theoretically add support for these operating systems at any time, there’s no telling when or if that will happen.
FlockFiler also has no registry support. While it will track the registered numbers of your stock for you, you cannot use FlockFiler’s architecture to run a registry.
Finally, AnimalTrakker®’s tag and ID tracking is significantly more robust. AnimalTrakker® automatically keeps a full list of IDs that have ever been attached to each animal, while noting tag type and color as well. This includes farm tags, paint brands, and other unusual tag options. While FlockFiler will track whatever IDs you enter into the “Tag” window, it only tracks what you keep in the window. When you delete a tag, it’s fully deleted from the animal’s record.
Key Takeaways
When you compare FlockFiler to the entire AnimalTrakker® suite, their data-tracking capabilities are close to identical. With the understanding that AnimalTrakker® Farm Desktop will eventually mirror all the functionality in Farm Mobile, plus more, AnimalTrakker® seems to be the superior choice, especially if you’re considering a registry.
AnimalTrakker® also has several advantages over FlockFiler. AnimalTrakker® is currently in development, so you can expect frequent functionality updates, as well as compatibility with new operating systems and versions. FlockFiler, in comparison, does not appear to be in current development, so updates may or may not be forthcoming.
AnimalTrakker® is compatible with more operating systems than FlockFiler. Across all of its programs, AnimalTrakker® is compatible with the newest versions of Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and Android. FlockFiler is compatible with Windows, iOS, and Macintosh, but does not have releases for the newest versions of those systems.
AnimalTrakker® also has the added benefit of being open-source. While both FlockFiler and AnimalTrakker® regularly implement features by user request, AnimalTrakker® takes this a step further by allowing you to implement your own changes. There’s absolutely nothing stopping you from tweaking AnimalTrakker® to suit your own needs (aside from the coding knowledge to do so). FlockFiler, in comparison, is not open-source at this time.
Finally, the cost difference between AnimalTrakker® and FlockFiler is something to consider. FlockFiler has a non-negotiable cost of at least $50 for the Lite version, which goes up to $300 for the Pro version. Add on an extra $50 for SerialMagic if you want to use peripherals with FlockFiler. AnimalTrakker®, on the other hand, is completely free to set up on your own devices. If you’d rather have us set up AnimalTrakker® for you and provide you with the devices you’ll need, we can send you a pre-loaded kit for an additional cost.
Those are our key takeaways for this head-to-head comparison post. If you’ve used FlockFiler in the past, we hope this post has given you some clarity about AnimalTrakker®’s comparative features and functionality.