--- title: "Solar CRM and proposal software compared — Gigabit for Solar" url: https://gigabit.agency/solar/guides/solar-crm-and-proposal-software/ description: "Installers need three jobs covered: proposals, job management and lead follow-up. How OpenSolar, Pylon, Aurora, ServiceM8, simPRO and GoHighLevel fit." lang: en --- Solar (https://gigabit.agency/solar/) / Guides (https://gigabit.agency/solar/guides/) / Comparison Solar software guide · 2 min read # Solar CRM and proposal software compared Installers need three jobs covered: proposals, job management and lead follow-up. How OpenSolar, Pylon, Aurora, ServiceM8, simPRO and GoHighLevel fit. Gigabit editorial team · November 2, 2026 A **solar CRM** tracks each lead from enquiry to signed job, but no single product does everything an installer needs equally well. Think in three jobs: design and proposals, job management, and lead follow-up. Small installers can often start with a free design tool and one other system. The bigger risk is having several systems that don't share data, with someone copying between them. ## The three jobs Three jobs your software has to cover 1. 1 **Follow up leads**Every enquiry has a stage, an owner and a next step. 2. 2 **Design and propose**Roof layout, system design, pricing and a proposal the customer can sign. 3. 3 **Run the job**Scheduling, crews, photos, compliance paperwork and invoices. ## How the common tools compare | Tool | Main job | Published price | Worth knowing | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | OpenSolar: https://www.opensolar.com/free/ | Design and proposals | Free for solar professionals, funded by partners | Check what its partner model means for your hardware and finance choices | | Pylon: https://solarproof.com.au/blog/pylon-pricing-australia | Design and proposals | About $4 to $10 per project, says a third-party blog; confirm with Pylon | Pay-per-project suits low or uneven volume | | Aurora: https://aurorasolar.com/pricing | Design and proposals | US$159 or US$259 per user a month, billed monthly; enterprise is custom | Per-user pricing adds up as the team grows | | ServiceM8 | Job management | See its own pricing page | Common with smaller Australian trades businesses | | simPRO | Job management | Quoted | Aimed at larger trades businesses | | GoHighLevel | Lead follow-up and CRM | See its own pricing page | Flexible, and needs someone to build and look after it | Prices were read on 2 November 2026, and they change. This table comes from published pages and our own setup work, so test any tool on a real job before you commit to it. ## How to choose Before you buy - Count your quotes and jobs a month: per-user or per-project pricing can flip which is cheaper - Check that it exports your data, and try the export - Check how it connects with your job software, accounting and rebate paperwork - Check whether it records the photos and serial numbers your regulator asks for, or if that sits elsewhere - Ask who will look after it day to day - Trial it on a real recent job, not a demo ## Connect them before you add another Most of the waste comes from the gaps between systems: a lead that never reaches the sales team, a signed quote typed again into job software, and a serial number copied by hand into a certificate form. Before you buy anything new, draw how one job moves from enquiry to paid, and mark each place where someone retypes something. Fix the worst of those first. A simple connection often does more than a new platform. ## When a custom CRM makes sense A custom CRM is worth considering when your team works around the software every day, or several paid tools still don't share data. It costs more to build and needs looking after, so try a simple integration first if that would fix the problem. We connect the tools you already pay for, or build a custom CRM when that is the better choice. See AI and workflow automation (https://gigabit.agency/solar/ai-workflow-automation/) for the work that runs on top. If you are still working out what lead follow-up should look like, start with shared or exclusive solar leads (https://gigabit.agency/solar/guides/solar-leads-shared-vs-exclusive/). Rather have this done for you? AI and workflow automation → (https://gigabit.agency/solar/ai-workflow-automation/) Solar · FAQ ## Questions owners ask #### What is the best CRM for solar companies? It depends on your size and what you use now. A small installer may need only a free design tool and simple job software. A growing one usually needs a real sales pipeline connected to its job system. Choose by the handoffs you need, not the feature list. #### Is OpenSolar really free? It describes itself as free for solar professionals, funded by partners. Check what those partnerships mean for the hardware and finance options it presents, and whether that suits how you sell. #### Do I need solar-specific software at all? For design and proposals, usually yes, because roof modelling and production estimates are specialised. For job management and lead follow-up, general trade or sales tools can work well if someone sets them up properly. #### Can you set this up for us? Yes. Setup is part of our automation work, and we use the tools you already have where we can. We will tell you if we think a tool isn't worth keeping, or if a custom CRM would serve you better. Keep reading ## More solar guides Guide ### Solar leads: shared or exclusive, and what they cost Australian shared solar leads cost about A$35-60; exclusive ones more. What matters is cost per signed job, which depe… https://gigabit.agency/solar/guides/solar-leads-shared-vs-exclusive/ Complete guide ### Solar installer marketing: what works, in what order Solar installer marketing works best in order: measure signed jobs, answer leads fast, win local search and ads, then … https://gigabit.agency/solar/guides/solar-installer-marketing/ Free growth audit ## See where your next leads and quotes should come from. We check your website, your visibility in search and AI answers, and how fast you answer enquiries, then email you what we would fix first. Get my free growth audit: https://gigabit.agency/solar/free-audit/ All guides: https://gigabit.agency/solar/guides/ ## Structured data ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://gigabit.agency/#org", "name": "Gigabit", "alternateName": "Gigabit Agency", "legalName": "Gigaverse Global LLC", "url": "https://gigabit.agency/", "logo": "https://gigabit.agency/assets/logos/gigabit-mark.png", "description": "Gigabit is an AI-native software factory — forward-deployed senior engineers and AI agents that build, ship, and operate the production systems your business runs on, from brand to backend. Productized, fixed-price, and accountable for the outcome. 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