Pylon vs. Helioscope
A Quick Summary
Pylon and HelioScope are two popular platforms for commercial solar businesses looking to optimize their design and proposal workflows.
Pylon is a pay-per-project service with no monthly fees, making it cost-effective and flexible for businesses of all sizes. It offers in-depth solar simulations and interval data analysis and unlimited users.
HelioScope, on the other hand, is a subscription-based platform designed primarily for advanced system modeling and performance analysis. While it excels in system simulations and energy yield calculations, HelioScope does not offer integrated proposal generation or high-resolution imagery as part of its core package. Users often need additional tools to create customer-facing proposals.
If you're looking for an all-in-one solar design and proposal tool with high-resolution imagery included and no monthly fees, Pylon is the more comprehensive solution.
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| Pricing |
$10 per Commercial Project
No monthly fees
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Starting from
$159/license/month
10 projects max
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| Additional costs | None |
$159/license/month
for >10 projects
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| Budget | Best value | Expensive |
| Financial Analysis | Included |
Requires Upgrade to Pro plan
$259/license/month
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| GetApp "Ease of use" rating | 4.5 / 5 | – / 5 |
| Designed for | Residential and C&I projects | C&I and Utility-scale projects |
Pylon's Ideal Customer Checklist
- The productivity of your team is your #1 priority
- You're looking for a scalable system to match your team's growth
- You're looking for simplicity in your Solar Design Tool, so your team can start from day one—no training required.
- You're looking for a Single Source of Truth (SSOT)
What can you not do in Helioscope?
Helioscope is a great solar design option that is rich in features, but has a slower, and complex user interface.
There are also some key solar design and sales functions that you just cannot perform using Helioscope—such as 3D Shading Analysis, Panel auto-alignment, and Design comparison pages. With Pylon, they're all built-in.
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| Panel auto-alignment | ||
| Design Comparison Page | ||
| Live stringing advice | ||
| Installer Job Sheets | ||
| Voltage Rise Reports | ||
| Free Solar Sales Contract |
When should you choose Helioscope, and when Pylon
Pylon
- Your solar business services both residential and commercial clients.
- You prefer zero commitment with Pylon’s Pay-As-You-Go pricing, paying only when you use it.
- You’re looking for a solution that requires no setup and offers a shallow learning curve for quick onboarding.
Helioscope
- Your business focuses on Commercial & Industrial and Utility scale projects and are comfortable with higher fixed costs.
- You prefer drawing the roof, before placing the solar system.
- Your project volume is predictable and are more comfortable with a subscription-based model.
- You're willing to purchase additional licenses to accommodate for more projects.
Trusted by solar industry leaders
Our customers say it best
Pylon is amazing to work with. Their software make it simple for our staff to produce high quality solar proposals in minutes. I highly recommend them and their software for solar quotes.
Just got to say I love using this platform. So quick and easy to use. Also the SLD is a dream, it makes my job so much quicker. It's much easier to use one service to do everything.
I couldn't recommend this design software enough. It's very easy to use, constantly updating in all aspects, from tech you can design with, to calculators and integrations!
We have been using Pylon solely to prepare for our solar installation. The team is exceptional and very proactive. Cannot recomend these guys enough.