Easy PV
Midsummer
Design & simulation · Web
Pricing GBP 0 Per seat Free tier, no time limit
Sept 2026
Comparison
Enact vs SAM (System Advisor Model)
29 differences · 10 identical
EnactEnact Systems Inc.
- Entry price
- USD 279
- Charged
- Per seat
- Free tier or trial
- No free tier or trial
- Named integrations
- 1
- Verified data points
- 11
SAM (System Advisor Model)National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) — formerly the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
- Entry price
- Free
- Charged
- Free
- Free tier or trial
- Free tier, no time limit
- Named integrations
- 0
- Verified data points
- 6
The differences that matter most
- Price published Partial Published
- Pricing model per-seat free
- Free tier Not offered free-forever
Enact or SAM (System Advisor Model)?
They differ most on price published. Enact publishes USD 279; SAM (System Advisor Model) publishes Free. They use different pricing models, so those figures do not compare directly.
We do not name a winner. Below are 29 differences drawn from the same sourced dataset that powers both product pages.
Verified against the vendor’s own pages.
Pricing
These cannot be compared on a single number
Enact is priced per-seat and SAM (System Advisor Model) is priced free. These are different pricing models, so a single side-by-side figure would be misleading. Each is shown as its vendor states it.
Enact
USD 279
279 USD per month billed annually
Per seat
2 seats included
10 projects
SAM (System Advisor Model)
Free
0 USD free desktop application
Free
Prices are shown exactly as each vendor writes them and are never converted between currencies.
Where they differ
29 differences, ordered by how much they are likely to matter — pricing transparency first, then capabilities the vendor explicitly confirms or denies.
Legend Verified Vendor claim Not offered Not found Could not read
| Capability | Enact | SAM (System Advisor Model) |
|---|---|---|
| Solar design & simulation | ||
| CAD export (DXF/DWG) | Yes Verified | — Not found |
| Ground-mount / tracker layout | Advanced Verified | — Not found |
| Named weather / irradiance data source | — Not found | advanced Verified |
| Remote site capture from imagery | Advanced Verified | — Not found |
| Single-line diagram | Advanced Verified | — Not found |
| 3D roof and obstruction model | Advanced Verified | — Could not read |
| Annual energy yield simulation | Basic Vendor claim | Advanced Verified |
| Automatic module layout | Basic Vendor claim | — Not found |
| Inverter sizing | — Could not read | Basic Vendor claim |
| On-site capture (drone / photogrammetry) | — Not found | — Could not read |
| Shading analysis | — Could not read | — Not found |
| String sizing / stringing | Advanced Verified | — Could not read |
| Proposals & sales | ||
| Proposal document generation | Advanced Verified | — Could not read |
| Monitoring & operations | ||
| Production monitoring | Advanced Verified | — Could not read |
| Reporting, data & BI | ||
| Report / deliverable export | — Could not read | — Not found |
| AI & automation | ||
| AI defect / anomaly detection | vendor-claimed Verified | — Could not read |
| Integrations & extensibility | ||
| Named, documented integrations | 1 Verified | 0 Verified |
| Platform prerequisite | AutoCAD (PVCAD plug-in tier) — or bundled at +$66/month Verified | — Could not read |
| Public API | Basic Vendor claim | Advanced Verified |
| Platform & deployment | ||
| Delivery model | hybrid Verified | open-source Verified |
| Desktop OS support | — Could not read | not stated beyond 'desktop application' Verified |
| Web application | Yes Verified | No Verified |
| Pricing & commercial terms | ||
| Price published | Partial Verified | Published Verified |
| Pricing model | per-seat Verified | free Verified |
| Free tier | Not offered Verified | free-forever Verified |
| Entry price | 279 USD per month billed annually Verified | 0 USD free desktop application Verified |
| Project / design cap | 10 Verified | — Could not read |
| Seat cap | 2 Verified | — Could not read |
| Market fit & availability | ||
| Target buyer | — Could not read | engineering-firm; developer Verified |
Scroll the table sideways to see both products. The capability column stays in place.
Where they are the same 10 data points
- Currency
- Battery sizing and modelling
- Bankable / IE-accepted simulation report
- Loss and uncertainty modelling (P50/P90)
- ROI / payback calculation
- Geographic availability
- Product status
- C&I
- Residential
- Utility-scale
Which might suit you
Framed as requirements, not a verdict. Both descriptions come from the same data.
Consider Enact if…
- AI-assisted workflows matter to you
- you work at utility scale
- your work is mostly residential
Installers who want one vendor for sales design, permit-grade engineering and post-install monitoring, and who will pay for those as three separate line items. It is not a single unified product: the "end-to-end platform" announced in January 2026 is, as sold on 2026-09-25, three priced modules — one of which still lives on a separate domain under a separate brand, with its own pricing pages that disagree with Enact's. [✓ https://enact.solar/providers/provider-pricing/ · 2026-09-25]
Full Enact profileConsider SAM (System Advisor Model) if…
- you need a price you can plan against before talking to sales
- you want to start without a budget approval
- you are comfortable with desktop software and its constraints
- you work at utility scale
- your work is mostly residential
For analysts, researchers, policy people and developers who need a transparent, auditable, free model and a real financial structure behind the kWh. Not for installers who need a roof capture, a proposal or a plan set — SAM has no satellite imagery workflow, no proposal output and no CRM, and it registers users with a free software key rather than selling a licence.
Full SAM (System Advisor Model) profileRelated comparisons
Other options in design & simulation
SolarEdge Designer
SolarEdge Technologies
Design & simulation · Web
Pricing Free Free Free tier, no time limit
Sept 2026
SAM (System Advisor Model)
National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) — formerly the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Design & simulation · Desktop
Pricing Free Free Free tier, no time limit
Sept 2026
Frequently asked
What is the main difference between Enact and SAM (System Advisor Model)?
They differ most on price published. In total we recorded 29 verified differences and 10 points where they are the same.
Which costs more, Enact or SAM (System Advisor Model)?
Enact is priced per-seat and SAM (System Advisor Model) is priced free. These are different pricing models, so a single side-by-side figure would be misleading. Each is shown as its vendor states it.
Is Enact or SAM (System Advisor Model) better?
We do not name a winner. Both are described from the same verified data, and which suits you depends on your requirements — the differences above are the facts; the choice is yours.
Last verified
Vendors change pricing and features without notice. Check the vendor’s own page before deciding.
This comparison is generated from the feature database, not written by hand. A pair is only published when the data holds at least five stateable differences — which is why 281 candidate pairs were refused. How comparisons are built