Payaca vs Monday.com
Work management vs complete solar business platform
Monday.com is a powerful work management tool. But solar installers need quoting, permits, field tools, and more - not just project boards.
Payaca
Everything solar installers need: CRM, quoting, operations, permits, invoicing - one platform.
- CRM, quoting, invoicing, payments
- Permit tracking and AHJ compliance
- OpenSolar and Aurora integrations
- Field team mobile app with offline
Monday.com
Visual work management platform for teams. Great boards and automations, but not an operations system.
- Visual project boards and workflows
- Good team collaboration tools
- No quoting, invoicing, or payments
- No permit tracking or solar features
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Payaca | Monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Purpose | Complete platform for solar installation businesses | Work and project management for any team |
| Industry Focus | Built for solar, batteries, EV chargers | Generic - suitable for any industry |
| Permit Tracking | Built-in permit tracking and AHJ compliance | Not available - no permit support |
| Design Tool Integration | OpenSolar and Aurora connections | No solar design integrations |
| Quoting & Proposals | Multi-option solar proposals with e-signatures | No quoting functionality |
| Invoicing & Payments | Full invoicing with online payment collection | No invoicing - needs third-party tools |
| Field Team Mobile App | Offline-capable app for installation teams | Mobile app for task management only |
| Visual Workflows | Kanban, calendar, and pipeline views | Highly visual boards with many view options |
| Customer Portal | Branded portal for customers to track and pay | No customer-facing portal |
Primary Purpose
Complete platform for solar installation businesses
Work and project management for any team
Industry Focus
Built for solar, batteries, EV chargers
Generic - suitable for any industry
Permit Tracking
Built-in permit tracking and AHJ compliance
Not available - no permit support
Design Tool Integration
OpenSolar and Aurora connections
No solar design integrations
Quoting & Proposals
Multi-option solar proposals with e-signatures
No quoting functionality
Invoicing & Payments
Full invoicing with online payment collection
No invoicing - needs third-party tools
Field Team Mobile App
Offline-capable app for installation teams
Mobile app for task management only
Visual Workflows
Kanban, calendar, and pipeline views
Highly visual boards with many view options
Customer Portal
Branded portal for customers to track and pay
No customer-facing portal
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I use Monday.com to run a solar installation business?
- Monday.com is great for project tracking, but it's not designed for solar businesses. It lacks quoting, invoicing, customer portals, permit tracking, and field team tools. You'd need to add 4-5 other tools to cover what Payaca provides in one platform.
- What does Monday.com do well?
- Monday.com excels at visual project management, team collaboration, and workflow automation. The interface is clean and the customization is powerful. But it's a work management tool, not a solar business platform - it stops where your operational needs begin.
- Should I use Monday.com for project management alongside another system?
- You could, but you'd create data silos. Your project boards wouldn't connect to quotes, invoices, permits, or customer communications. Purpose-built software like Payaca keeps everything linked - when you update a job, related documents and customer records update too.
- Is Monday.com cheaper than Payaca?
- Monday.com's pricing starts low, but doesn't include the tools solar businesses need. Add a CRM, quoting software, invoicing, scheduling tool, and permit tracking - the total often exceeds Payaca while being harder to manage. Compare total cost of ownership, not just one tool.
- Can I create quotes and invoices in Monday.com?
- No, Monday.com doesn't have quoting or invoicing features. You'd need separate tools like PandaDoc, QuickBooks - then manually sync data between them. Payaca includes quoting, proposals, invoicing, and payments in the core platform.
More than project management
See how Payaca runs your entire solar business, not just your tasks.