Pylon vs. Nearmap
A Quick Summary
Pylon and Nearmap are two solutions solar businesses often evaluate for their design and sales needs. While Nearmap excels in providing high-resolution aerial imagery, Pylon offers a more comprehensive, solar-specific solution to streamline your workflow.
Pylon operates on a pay-per-project model with no monthly fees, making it an affordable and flexible choice. Pylon offers a complete suite of solar design tools, such as panel placement, shading analysis, and system performance simulations. Pylon also integrates seamlessly with popular software like Xero, Mailchimp, and ServiceM8 to support your business operations.
Nearmap, on the other hand, is a subscription-based platform focused primarily on delivering aerial imagery. And lacks the essential solar design and sales tools that Pylon provides, requiring additional software to complete your projects.
If you're looking for an all-in-one solar platform that combines affordability, solar-specific tools, and high-resolution imagery without hidden fees, Pylon is likely the better choice for your business.
| Nearmap | ||
| Pricing |
$4 per project
Optional upgrades
|
Expensive Annual Contracts
Monthly data caps
|
| Solar Design Tool | Included |
Optional paid add-on
3rd party provider
|
|
Solar Components
Panels, Inverters, Batteries, EV chargers, Heat pumps
| Fully managed | 3rd party provider |
| Training & implementation | $0 | Pre-recorded videos |
| Advanced features | Interval analysis, battery optimizations | 3rd party provider |
| GetApp "Ease of use" rating | 4.5 / 5 | – / 5 |
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 Nearmap?
Nearmap provides excellent high-resolution aerial imagery, making it a great option for mapping and visualization. However, it falls short when it comes to features tailored for solar professionals, requiring you to rely on additional tools to complete your solar design and sales workflows.
Additionally, there are critical functions Nearmap cannot perform. For example, it lacks solar-specific tools like panel placement and shading analysis or the ability to generate detailed, customer-ready proposals.
| Nearmap | ||
| Customer load analysis | ||
| Single Line Diagram | ||
| Custom imagery upload | ||
| 3D Shading Analysis | ||
| Solar (PV) Site Information AS/NZS 5033:2021 | ||
| Built-in Customer User Manuals | ||
| NETCC compliance | ||
| Built-in Payment Processor | ||
| Installer Job Sheets | ||
| Digital Commissioning Forms | ||
| Voltage Rise Reports | ||
| Free Solar Sales Contract | ||
When should you choose Nearmap, 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.
Nearmap
- Your business also provides non-solar related services.
- You have the budget for an annual subscription.
- Your team is already using other design tools and can integrate Nearmap into your existing workflow.
Trusted by solar industry leaders
Our customers say it best
Pylon is great. Great service and affordable for small operators like myself. The proposal is great for our customers. We won't be going back to Nearmap.
I made the swap a while ago. Pylon is better in my opinion. Much more affordable paying per project rather than a Nearmap subscription.
Pylon is fantastic! I switched from Nearmap last year. My customers love the proposals. You can punch out proposals in 2 minutes.
Switched to Pylon from Nearmap, we have no regrets since we moved to them. You only pay for what you use.