Alternatives
8 products in design & simulation, compared on the same verified data. Free and lower-cost options first.
The closest alternatives to KACO blueplanet PV-designer are Easy PV, SolarEdge Designer, SAM (System Advisor Model). 2 of them cost nothing to use. Easy PV has a permanent free tier. KACO blueplanet PV-designer itself publishes Free.
Verified against the vendor’s own pages.
These are drawn from KACO blueplanet PV-designer’s own published limits — not invented objections. Where we have no documented reason, we do not manufacture one.
| Product | Price | Model | Free tier | Integrations | Best suited for | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KACO blueplanet PV-designer (the original) | Free | Free | Free tier, no time limit | 16 | — | — |
| Easy PV | GBP 0 | Per seat | Free | 3 | residential, C&I | — |
| SolarEdge Designer | Free | Free | Free | 2 | residential, C&I | — |
| SAM (System Advisor Model) | Free | Free | Free | none | residential, C&I, utility | — |
| Arka 360 | USD 159 | Per seat | No | 2 | residential, C&I | — |
| PV*SOL premium | EUR 845 | Per seat | free trial | 20 | residential, C&I | — |
| PVsyst | CHF 700 | Per seat | free trial | 15 | residential, C&I, utility, off-grid | — |
| Reslink Energy | USD 2000 | Capacity tiered | demo only | none | residential, C&I, ground-mount | — |
| Solargis Evaluate | EUR 12000 | Per seat | No | none | utility, C&I | — |
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A UK-only, MCS-oriented solar design and sales tool that is free at the base tier and £35/month for Pro, published by a solar wholesaler — so the kit list it produces drops straight into a trade order with live pricing and next-day delivery.
SolarEdge's free browser-based PV design and proposal tool — HD imagery, AI-assisted 3D roof modelling, automatic panel placement, automatic stringing and DC cabling, and a customer proposal with financial analysis — with no licence or subscription fee.
The US national laboratory's free, open-source desktop techno-economic model — PV, CSP, wind, marine, geothermal, biomass, solar water heating and storage, each wired to a full project-finance model (PPA, partnership flip, leaseback, TPO, community solar, merchant plant).
A 3D solar design, proposal and lead-management platform, originally Indian and now selling into the US with an attached permit-plan-set and PE-stamp service arm.
Windows desktop PV design and simulation package built around 3D shading — model the buildings, extrude them from a cadastral map, place up to 7,500 mounted modules, and get a yield forecast, a circuit diagram and a customer-facing report, for a published €845/year named-user licence.
The Windows desktop PV simulation package that most lenders treat as the reference yield model — grid-connected, stand-alone and pumping systems, 3D near-shading, hourly and sub-hourly, sold as a named annual licence in Swiss francs.
A mobile-first 3D solar design and proposal platform for Indian EPCs that claims to take a rooftop from satellite imagery to a bill of materials and a signed-ready proposal without a site visit.
Cloud PV design and energy-yield simulation built directly on Solargis's own bankable solar and meteo dataset — 15-minute time series over 30+ years, a 3D energy system designer, and ray-traced simulation with the Perez all-weather sky model — at a published €12,000 subscription.
An alternatives page that never says this is an advertisement for the alternatives.
SolarEdge Designer, SAM (System Advisor Model) cost nothing to use. Easy PV offer a permanent free tier alongside paid plans. We do not rank them, because no product is scored until it carries eight verified reviews.
KACO blueplanet PV-designer publishes Free. Budget and those limits are the documented reasons a buyer looks elsewhere — we do not speculate beyond what the data shows.
Last verified
Vendors change pricing and features without notice. Check the vendor’s own page before deciding.