Salesforce is a general-purpose CRM platform. Its strength is customization: with an admin or an implementation partner, it can be shaped around almost any process. For a solar business that means building custom objects and flows for permits and installs, adding Field Service licenses on top of Service Cloud for your crews, and buying partner-built connectors for design tools.
Payaca is built for solar, battery storage, heat pump and EV charger install businesses. Permits, inspections, PTO and interconnection are tracked on every project from day one, the offline-first field app is included in the plan, and solar design is built in with Glow (limited release). Here's how they compare for a solar install business.
The short answer
Salesforce is a general-purpose CRM you build out for solar with an admin or partner. Payaca ships permit tracking, an offline field app and solar design ready on day one, at a published price.
- Payaca is best for install businesses that want the process working on day one, without an implementation partner or a full-time administrator.
- Salesforce is best for large organizations with dedicated admin resource, unusual requirements and budget to build and maintain a custom system.
- Payaca publishes its pricing: Growth, the standard plan for established install businesses, is $1,724/month. Current plans and eligibility are on the pricing page. Salesforce publishes per-user prices by edition, with Field Service and Agentforce sold as add-ons; real cost usually includes implementation and administration.
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Feature comparison
| Feature | Payaca | Salesforce |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | Guided onboarding with data migration, solar workflows ready to use | Quick to start; solar workflows need custom objects and flows, usually built by an admin or partner |
| Industry focus | Built for solar, battery storage, heat pumps and EV chargers | General-purpose platform, configured per industry |
| Permit tracking | Permits, inspections, PTO and interconnection tracked on every project | Possible with custom objects and flows, built and maintained by your admin |
| Design tool integration | Glow (limited release), or import from OpenSolar | No solar design built in; partner-built connectors for OpenSolar, sold separately |
| Field team mobile app | Offline-first field app for your crews, included in the plan | Field Service: offline mobile app and scheduling, licensed per user on top of Service Cloud |
| Customization | Configurable pipelines, fields and automations, plus open API and MCP | Customizable to almost any process, with an admin or developer to build it |
| Enterprise scale | In the UK, OVO Solar & Heating runs 16 franchises on one system | Used by large enterprises across many industries |
| Total cost | Published plan pricing with solar features included | Per-user licenses by edition, plus add-ons such as Field Service and Agentforce, plus implementation |
| Support | Support team that knows solar and clean energy | Support for a platform that serves every industry |
| AI | Agent Dave answers from your data, builds automations and drafts documents | Agentforce agents for sales, service and field scheduling, bought as add-ons or credits |
Setup time
Guided onboarding with data migration, solar workflows ready to use
Quick to start; solar workflows need custom objects and flows, usually built by an admin or partner
Industry focus
Built for solar, battery storage, heat pumps and EV chargers
General-purpose platform, configured per industry
Permit tracking
Permits, inspections, PTO and interconnection tracked on every project
Possible with custom objects and flows, built and maintained by your admin
Design tool integration
Glow (limited release), or import from OpenSolar
No solar design built in; partner-built connectors for OpenSolar, sold separately
Field team mobile app
Offline-first field app for your crews, included in the plan
Field Service: offline mobile app and scheduling, licensed per user on top of Service Cloud
Customization
Configurable pipelines, fields and automations, plus open API and MCP
Customizable to almost any process, with an admin or developer to build it
Enterprise scale
In the UK, OVO Solar & Heating runs 16 franchises on one system
Used by large enterprises across many industries
Total cost
Published plan pricing with solar features included
Per-user licenses by edition, plus add-ons such as Field Service and Agentforce, plus implementation
Support
Support team that knows solar and clean energy
Support for a platform that serves every industry
AI
Agent Dave answers from your data, builds automations and drafts documents
Agentforce agents for sales, service and field scheduling, bought as add-ons or credits
See it in Payaca
The real product, on our demo accounts.
Operations & scheduling
Schedule your field team on a map and track every job. More on Operations & scheduling
The whole job in 100 seconds
Switching from Salesforce
Salesforce exports accounts, contacts and opportunities, and any custom objects you built for jobs or permits, through its data export or reports. Accounts and contacts come into Payaca as customers, opportunities and job records as projects at the right pipeline stage, with the custom fields, notes and files you still need.
Guided onboarding is available on Growth and above: we map your workflows, migrate your data and train your team, for a one-off $2,000. The pricing page has the details.
If other parts of the business stay on Salesforce, Payaca connects to it through the open API, webhooks or Zapier.
Which is right for you?
Choose Payaca if
- You want permit tracking and solar workflows ready on day one, without a build project
- You want guided onboarding with data migration, and no development phase
- You want published plan pricing with solar features included
- You want support from a team that knows solar and clean energy
Consider Salesforce if
- You have an admin or partner to build and maintain a custom system
- Custom builds and a large app marketplace matter more than solar features out of the box
- You want Agentforce AI agents and can budget for them as add-ons
Questions
Is Salesforce overkill for a solar install company?
Often, yes. Salesforce can be shaped to almost anything, but it needs customizing to work for solar: custom objects for jobs and permits, Field Service licenses for crews, and partner connectors for design tools. Many growing solar companies find purpose-built software gets them there faster, with far less to maintain.
How much does a Salesforce implementation for solar cost?
Salesforce publishes per-user prices for each edition. A solar setup usually adds Field Service licenses, partner connectors for design tools, and implementation and admin time to build permit tracking and install workflows, so ask for the total, not just the license. Payaca includes these features in the plan.
Can Salesforce handle permit tracking?
Not natively. You'd need to build custom objects and flows for permits, inspections and PTO. It's possible, but it takes admin time to build and maintain. Payaca tracks permits, inspections and PTO on every project already.
What if we're already using Salesforce?
Consider whether the ongoing cost and complexity is delivering value. If your team spends more time maintaining Salesforce than using it, purpose-built software is worth a look. If you need to keep Salesforce for specific functions, Payaca can connect to it through the open API, webhooks or Zapier.
How long does it take to set up Payaca vs Salesforce?
Payaca onboarding is guided and includes data migration, and there's no development phase because the solar features are ready to use. A Salesforce implementation for a solar business usually means scoping, building, testing and training before go-live. Time to value is faster with purpose-built software.
Competitor details are based on their public information as of October 29, 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.