Salesforce is a general enterprise CRM. It can be shaped into almost anything, with enough time, money and developers. Out of the box it has no installation projects, no DNO applications and no MCS documents, and Field Service is licensed separately for each dispatcher and engineer.
Payaca is built for solar, heat pump, battery and EV charger install businesses. Installation projects, DNO applications through ENA Connect, MCS documentation, design, multi-option quoting and the field app are already there, with guided onboarding instead of a development phase. Here's how they compare for a UK install business.
The short answer
Salesforce is a general enterprise CRM you build on. Payaca ships the renewables process configured, without the implementation partner, the development time or the full-time administrator.
- Payaca is best for install businesses that want the renewables process on day one, without an implementation partner or a full-time administrator.
- Salesforce is best for large organisations with dedicated admin resource, unusual process requirements and the budget to build and maintain a custom system.
- Payaca publishes its pricing: Growth, the standard plan for established install businesses, is £1,199/month. Current plans and eligibility are on the pricing page. Salesforce publishes per-user tiers with Field Service licensed separately per user, though the real cost usually includes implementation and ongoing administration.
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Feature comparison
| Feature | Payaca | Salesforce |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | Guided onboarding with data migration, clean tech features built in | Quick to start as a sales CRM, but an installation workflow usually means months of configuration and development |
| Industry focus | Purpose-built for solar, heat pumps, batteries, EV | Generic platform that needs custom development |
| DNO applications | ENA Connect integration for G98/G99 built in | Would need custom integration development |
| MCS compliance | Built-in MCS certificate generation | Requires custom development or third-party app |
| Design tool integration | Design in Payaca with Glow (limited release), or import from EasyPV, Heatpunk and OpenSolar | Would need custom AppExchange or development |
| Field team mobile app | Offline field app for install teams, with job forms, photos and timesheets, included in the plan | Field Service app with scheduling and dispatch, licensed separately per user on top of the CRM |
| Customisation | Configurable pipelines, fields and automations, with open API access, Zapier and an MCP server | Customisable by admins and developers, with code and AppExchange apps |
| AI | Agent Dave, built in, answers from your account data, builds automations you check before they go live and drafts documents, plus an MCP server for Claude and Cursor | Agentforce AI agents, including scheduling agents for Field Service, on higher tiers and add-ons |
| Enterprise scale | OVO Solar & Heating runs 16 franchises on one system | Enterprise CRM used by large organisations across industries |
| Total cost | Published plans with the clean tech features included | Per-user licences, separate Field Service licences, plus implementation and ongoing admin |
| Support | Onboarding and support from a team that works with MCS, DNO and clean tech installs | General CRM support across every industry, with faster tiers as paid Success Plans |
Setup time
Guided onboarding with data migration, clean tech features built in
Quick to start as a sales CRM, but an installation workflow usually means months of configuration and development
Industry focus
Purpose-built for solar, heat pumps, batteries, EV
Generic platform that needs custom development
DNO applications
ENA Connect integration for G98/G99 built in
Would need custom integration development
MCS compliance
Built-in MCS certificate generation
Requires custom development or third-party app
Design tool integration
Design in Payaca with Glow (limited release), or import from EasyPV, Heatpunk and OpenSolar
Would need custom AppExchange or development
Field team mobile app
Offline field app for install teams, with job forms, photos and timesheets, included in the plan
Field Service app with scheduling and dispatch, licensed separately per user on top of the CRM
Customisation
Configurable pipelines, fields and automations, with open API access, Zapier and an MCP server
Customisable by admins and developers, with code and AppExchange apps
AI
Agent Dave, built in, answers from your account data, builds automations you check before they go live and drafts documents, plus an MCP server for Claude and Cursor
Agentforce AI agents, including scheduling agents for Field Service, on higher tiers and add-ons
Enterprise scale
OVO Solar & Heating runs 16 franchises on one system
Enterprise CRM used by large organisations across industries
Total cost
Published plans with the clean tech features included
Per-user licences, separate Field Service licences, plus implementation and ongoing admin
Support
Onboarding and support from a team that works with MCS, DNO and clean tech installs
General CRM support across every industry, with faster tiers as paid Success Plans
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
The build vs buy decision
Salesforce gives you a blank canvas. To run an install business on it, you'd need to build or license:
- Custom objects for installation projects
- An ENA Connect integration for DNO applications
- MCS compliance tracking and documents
- Design tool integrations and any built-in design
- Field Service licensing and configuration
- Custom quoting for multi-option systems
- Ongoing maintenance and updates
Payaca includes installation project management, DNO applications via ENA Connect, MCS compliance and documentation, design with Glow (limited release) or imports from EasyPV, Heatpunk and OpenSolar, a mobile app for field teams and multi-option clean tech quoting, with continuous updates at no extra cost.
Switching from Salesforce
Salesforce exports your records as CSV files, through its data export service or Data Loader. We map accounts and contacts to Payaca customers and contacts, and opportunities, or any custom job objects you've built, to projects at the right stage of your pipeline. Notes and attachments can come across onto the matching project.
Guided onboarding comes with Growth and above, as a one-off £1,500. It covers mapping your workflow into Payaca, migrating the data and training the team.
Some businesses keep Salesforce for one part of the business, such as a large sales team, and connect it to Payaca through the open API or Zapier.
Which is right for you?
Choose Payaca if
- You want the renewables process on day one, without an implementation partner
- You want G98 and G99 applications submitted through ENA Connect from the job
- You want MCS documentation, design and a field app included, not built
- You want published plans rather than licences plus implementation and admin
Consider Salesforce if
- You're a large organisation with dedicated admin and developer resource
- Your process is unusual enough that you need to build a custom system, and you have the budget to maintain it
Questions
Is Salesforce overkill for a solar installation company?
Often, yes. Salesforce can be shaped into a lot, but it takes significant investment in customisation to work for installation businesses. You'd need custom objects for jobs, compliance tracking, field operations, and integrations with design tools. Most install businesses find purpose-built software delivers what they need at a fraction of the cost and complexity.
How much does a Salesforce implementation for an install business cost?
Salesforce publishes per-user licence prices, and Field Service is licensed separately for each dispatcher and engineer. The bigger cost is usually the implementation: consulting and development to build custom objects for DNO tracking, MCS compliance and design integrations, then ongoing admin. Payaca includes these features out of the box.
Can Salesforce handle DNO applications and MCS compliance?
Not natively. You'd need to build custom objects and workflows, potentially with custom integrations to ENA Connect and MCS systems. This is possible but expensive. Payaca includes the ENA Connect integration for DNO applications, and generates MCS documents from the job.
What if we're already using Salesforce?
Weigh what the customisation and upkeep cost against what they deliver. Your accounts, contacts and opportunities can move across as part of guided onboarding (see Switching from Salesforce above), and if you need to keep Salesforce for one job, Payaca's open API and Zapier integration can connect the two.
Does Payaca work for enterprise-scale installation businesses?
Yes. OVO Solar & Heating runs 16 franchises on one system, alongside the smaller install businesses we serve. Enterprise customers get the same clean tech specific features, plus dedicated support and custom requirements.
How long does it take to set up Payaca vs Salesforce?
Payaca onboarding is guided and the time goes on data migration, workflow mapping and training rather than on building features, because the clean tech tools are already there. A Salesforce implementation for an installation business typically takes months of scoping, development, testing, and training. Time to value is significantly faster with purpose-built software.
Competitor details are based on their public information as of 29 October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.