Alternatives
8 products in design & simulation, compared on the same verified data. Free and lower-cost options first.
The closest alternatives to SAM (System Advisor Model) are Easy PV, SolarEdge Designer, KACO blueplanet PV-designer. 2 of them cost nothing to use. Easy PV has a permanent free tier. SAM (System Advisor Model) itself publishes Free.
Verified against the vendor’s own pages.
These are drawn from SAM (System Advisor Model)’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAM (System Advisor Model) (the original) | Free | Free | Free tier, no time limit | 0 | — | — |
| Easy PV | GBP 0 | Per seat | Free | 3 | residential, C&I | vs SAM (System Advisor Model) |
| SolarEdge Designer | Free | Free | Free | 2 | residential, C&I | — |
| KACO blueplanet PV-designer | Free | Free | Free | 16 | residential, C&I | — |
| Arka 360 | USD 159 | Per seat | No | 2 | residential, C&I | vs SAM (System Advisor Model) |
| PV*SOL premium | EUR 845 | Per seat | free trial | 20 | residential, C&I | vs SAM (System Advisor Model) |
| PVsyst | CHF 700 | Per seat | free trial | 15 | residential, C&I, utility, off-grid | vs SAM (System Advisor Model) |
| Reslink Energy | USD 2000 | Capacity tiered | demo only | none | residential, C&I, ground-mount | vs SAM (System Advisor Model) |
| Solargis Evaluate | EUR 12000 | Per seat | No | none | utility, C&I | vs SAM (System Advisor Model) |
Scroll the table sideways. The product column stays in place.
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.
A free, no-login, browser-based PV sizing and yield tool that KACO new energy (a Siemens company) puts its brand on, and that Valentin Software builds and hosts — the same company behind PV*SOL.
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, KACO blueplanet PV-designer 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.
SAM (System Advisor Model) 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.