Solar workflow depth
Can the product carry system details, proposal status, project milestones, and the delivery handoff without rebuilding the process in custom fields?
Quickest Solar CRM ranks first for a focused mobile route from lead to proposal and follow-up, subject to a written New Zealand fit test. We compare it with seven alternatives using current evidence on Part 6 connections, ICP data, export limits, electrical certificates, GST, consumer claims, privacy, design, batteries, field work, and public pricing.
Direct answer
Quickest Solar CRM is our number-one proposal-first choice for a New Zealand solar team that wants fast mobile adoption and clear pipeline ownership. QuickEstimate publishes this ranking, and the recommendation is conditional. Quickest's public product remains India-first, so buyers must confirm NZD and GST, distributor applications, ICP and export fields, local tariffs, electrical documentation, New Zealand privacy terms, Xero or other local integrations, hosting, and support before rollout. OpenSolar is the strongest free core design alternative, while Tradify and Fergus have clearer local trade workflows.
8 jobs, 8 picks
A useful shortlist starts with the sales or delivery bottleneck. Each winner below reflects a different buying priority, while the overall ranking rewards a CRM that a solar sales team can adopt quickly.
New Zealand solar sales teams testing mobile proposals and disciplined follow-up
Indian public pricing. Pro requires at least three users. Confirm New Zealand commercial terms. 02Best free core solar platformOpenSolarTeams that want design, proposals, CRM, and project management in one free core product
API Access, supported connectors, premium imagery, payments, finance, hardware, and partner services can add cost. 03Best comprehensive technical workflowSolarPlusDesign-led solar and battery teams that want detailed modelling, proposals, CRM, and delivery tools
Starter annual plan. Higher plans and month-to-month billing cost more. Confirm New Zealand tax and availability. 04Best pay-per-project design plus CRMPylonSolar and battery sellers that want usage-priced design with an optional specialist CRM
The captured page does not label the subscription currency. Confirm currency and New Zealand GST at checkout. 05Best locally priced trade workflowTradifySmall installers that need enquiries, quotes, schedules, jobs, invoices, payments, and mobile records
Lite, Pro, and Plus public prices. Fourteen-day trial; optional website and SMS charges apply. 06Best New Zealand job managementFergusKiwi trade teams controlling job phases, people, materials, margins, certificates, and accounting
New Zealand pricing page. Timesheet users and add-ons cost extra. Confirm currency display and GST treatment. 07Best complex field operationsSimproMulti-crew electrical contractors managing inventory, projects, costing, compliance records, and service
Subscription depends on team and add-ons. Setup covers onboarding, training, and migration according to project scope. 08Best configurable general CRMZoho CRMMarketing-led or multi-division companies with an owner for configuration and integrations
The official page exposes regional selectors but did not render a New Zealand amount in the capture. Local taxes may apply.How we evaluated
We captured seven live New Zealand search result pages, reviewed the leading ranking pages, checked current regulator, network, tax, electrical, consumer, and privacy sources, and read official product and pricing documentation. The ranking gives extra weight to quick adoption by a small or growing sales team, then tests whether the system can preserve the local evidence behind a proposal and completed job. We publish no numerical scores because documentation cannot prove day-to-day usability, support quality, or plan-specific behaviour precisely enough.
Can the product carry system details, proposal status, project milestones, and the delivery handoff without rebuilding the process in custom fields?
Can managers route leads, track activity, automate follow-up, forecast revenue, and see why an opportunity stalled?
Can a rep move from site information to a credible customer proposal, and how much specialist solar design happens inside the platform?
Does the workflow support the language, currency, tax, communications, documents, and handoffs common in New Zealand?
What setup, migration, training, administration, and extra software does the apparent subscription require?
At-a-glance matrix
The table separates CRM depth from proposal, design, and operations coverage. Confirm plan limits and country availability in writing before signing.
Local billing check: confirm NZD pricing, tax treatment, contract currency, and payment fees in writing.
| Platform | Best for | Public price | Solar proposals | Design | Project operations | CRM depth | Free access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Quickest Solar CRM | New Zealand solar sales teams testing mobile proposals and disciplined follow-up | Free; Pro ₹6,999/user/year | Core strength; New Zealand outputs require validation | Proposal inputs, not verified as complete New Zealand PV design | Focused lead and pipeline workflow | Solar sales CRM | 10 proposals monthly for one user |
| 2OpenSolar | Teams that want design, proposals, CRM, and project management in one free core product | Core professional platform free | Custom proposals, e-signature, and payment options | Strong solar and battery design | Project management and partner workflow | Built-in lead and project CRM | Core platform free |
| 3SolarPlus | Design-led solar and battery teams that want detailed modelling, proposals, CRM, and delivery tools | From US$135/month annual prepay | Detailed proposals with e-signature | Deep solar, battery, tariff, and interval-data design | CRM and project workflow | Built-in solar CRM | Demonstration; no permanent free plan verified |
| 4Pylon | Solar and battery sellers that want usage-priced design with an optional specialist CRM | $4 or $10/project; CRM from $49/user/month | Web and PDF proposals with e-signature | Strong solar, battery, shading, and interval data | SLDs, job sheets, owner manuals, and integrations | Optional solar CRM add-on | Free trial with starter credits |
| 5Tradify | Small installers that need enquiries, quotes, schedules, jobs, invoices, payments, and mobile records | NZ$48 to NZ$62/user/month ex GST | Branded trade quotes and automatic reminders | No specialist solar production design verified | Strong schedule, job, invoice, and payment flow | Practical trade customer management | Fourteen-day trial |
| 6Fergus | Kiwi trade teams controlling job phases, people, materials, margins, certificates, and accounting | Basic from $53/month; Pro from $75/month | Trade quotes and estimates | No specialist solar yield design verified | Deep small-business job and field workflow | Enquiry and customer records within job management | Fourteen-day trial without card |
| 7Simpro | Multi-crew electrical contractors managing inventory, projects, costing, compliance records, and service | Custom quote plus setup | Electrical estimating and quoting | No native solar production design verified | Deep field, inventory, job cost, project, and finance | CRM inside a field service platform | Guided demo; no permanent free plan |
| 8Zoho CRM | Marketing-led or multi-division companies with an owner for configuration and integrations | Free for 3 users; local paid price needs confirmation | Generic CPQ and document tools by plan | Requires specialist solar design software | Custom modules and integrations required | Deep general CRM | Free edition for 3 users |
Pricing and capability labels were checked against official sources on 6 September 2026. Currency conversion is intentionally omitted where a vendor does not publish a local price.
Country research
A useful New Zealand solar record extends beyond a name, address, and deal stage. It can include the ICP, distributor, inverter, proposed and approved export, retailer plan, buy-back assumption, consumption profile, solar and battery design, quote version, GST treatment, licensed workers, endorsements, certificates, photographs, warranties, and customer handover. The best system is the one your team can use consistently while keeping these facts attached to the right property and decision.
The Electricity Authority says distributed generation covers systems such as rooftop solar and batteries connected directly to local networks. It monitors distributor and generator compliance under Part 6 of the Electricity Industry Participation Code.
Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko: Distributed generation ↗Powerco's published process shows the practical identity behind a local connection. It says a distributed-generation connection needs an ICP number, described as the unique 15-digit number that identifies each service line or cable connected to its network.
Powerco: Solar power for home and business ↗Distributor processes vary. Vector publishes separate paths for systems at 10 kW or less and above 10 kW. Its small-system page says incomplete information or an inverter that does not meet technical requirements can delay an application.
Vector: Connect power generation at 10 kW or less ↗EECA's residential guidance says a system should be sized to household energy use, a grid-connected system can export excess power, and a battery can increase use of on-site generation and provide backup when configured for it.
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority: Best practice guidance for residential solar systems ↗EECA's current notice for its residential solar specification says grid-tied systems require mains parallel generation endorsements for the installing electrician and inspector under the stated transition timing, with the electrician requirement in effect from August 2026.
Electrical Workers Registration Board: Why use a registered electrical worker ↗EWRB says electrical workers must provide required certification documents as soon as possible and no later than 20 days after completing the work. It says fixed-wiring work requires a Certificate of Compliance and that some work also needs an electrical inspection report.
Electrical Workers Registration Board: Documentation from your electrical worker ↗Inland Revenue lists GST at 15 percent. The Commerce Commission says quotes and estimates should be inclusive of GST and any significant possible variation should be made clear to the customer.
Commerce Commission: Quotes, estimates and invoicing ↗A solar CRM can store addresses, power bills, consumption data, roof images, signatures, financial notes, call histories, and identity or connection details. The Privacy Act 2020 governs collection, storage, use, and sharing through 13 numbered information privacy principles.
Office of the Privacy Commissioner: Privacy Act 2020 and privacy principles ↗Full reviews
Each review explains the useful workflow, the buyer who should shortlist it, and the country-specific question that a sales demo must answer.
Quickest is the first product we would trial for proposal adoption, but a New Zealand team should reject rollout until every local workflow and contract requirement passes a written acceptance test.
Quickest presents a simple sales promise: bring leads into one place, give each opportunity an owner, create a branded solar proposal quickly, follow up from a mobile-oriented workflow, and show the manager a visible pipeline. Its public free plan covers 10 proposals per month for one user.
Choose it if: the first objective is consistent mobile proposals and follow-up, and Quickest passes every New Zealand acceptance and contract check. Choose another platform if: the company requires proven local design, distributor, field, accounting, or electrical-document depth before changing its sales process.
OpenSolar is the strongest free core alternative for a New Zealand team that wants technical design close to the customer proposal and can verify its local network and certificate handoffs.
OpenSolar covers automated solar design, batteries, proposals, lead capture, CRM, project management, teams and permissions, e-signature, payments, hardware workflow, imagery, and enterprise services. The company says the core professional platform remains free because its partner ecosystem funds the product.
Choose it if: the team wants a capable free core platform that keeps solar design, customer proposals, CRM, and project work together. Choose another platform if: the business needs deeper trade operations, clearly packaged local compliance, or guaranteed external connections before rollout.
SolarPlus offers the deepest documented design-to-project proposition in this shortlist, but New Zealand buyers must confirm local tax, network, electrical, and support details.
SolarPlus describes a connected platform for solar and battery design, interval and tariff analysis, proposals, e-signature, CRM, project work, compliance, field access, and Xero.
Choose it if: technical solar and battery modelling must stay connected to the proposal, CRM, and project record, and the business can support the price. Choose another platform if: the team wants a free core design platform, usage pricing, or a simpler local trade and job system.
Pylon is the strongest usage-priced option when design and customer proposals drive the sale and the team wants to add CRM only where it creates value.
Pylon starts with technical sales. It documents high-resolution imagery, panel placement, battery sizing, custom load profiles, interval analysis, time-of-use scenarios, 3D shading, financial projections, web and PDF proposals, e-signatures, payments, single-line diagrams, installer job sheets, and system owner manuals.
Choose it if: the sales process begins with credible solar and battery design and the team prefers usage billing with an optional CRM. Choose another platform if: the company needs a locally proven trade operating system or broader field and inventory management.
Tradify offers the clearest locally priced enquiry-to-payment workflow for a small New Zealand trade team, with specialist solar design and grid work handled separately unless proved in a demo.
Tradify's New Zealand solar page follows the daily path of a small contractor: capture an enquiry, keep contact history, prepare a branded quote, send reminders, convert accepted work into a scheduled job, track field progress, issue an invoice, and collect payment.
Choose it if: a small trade-led installer wants a clear local path from enquiry to scheduled, documented, invoiced, and paid job. Choose another platform if: the main need is detailed solar and battery design, deep marketing automation, or proven direct network submission.
Fergus is the strongest locally grounded job-management choice for a Kiwi trade business, provided a solar design and distributor workflow is connected where required.
Fergus was built around New Zealand trade work. Its local pages document enquiries, quotes and estimates, scheduling, job phases, mobile management, team assignment, time, materials, supplier price books, photographs, notes, forms, certificates, reporting, invoices, deposits, progress payments, and accounting.
Choose it if: the business needs practical New Zealand control of people, jobs, costs, documents, payments, and accounting after the sale. Choose another platform if: the primary need is technical solar design, sophisticated lead marketing, or a lightweight proposal-first sales process.
Simpro is the strongest operational system for a larger electrical contractor in this list, but specialist solar design and network work still need a tested companion process.
Simpro combines lead and customer management with estimating, quoting, scheduling, dispatch, field work, inventory, purchasing, projects, job costing, invoicing, payments, reporting, sites, assets, contractors, and service. Its electrical pages describe mobile forms, photographs and notes, supplier prices, variations, project billing, maintenance, and compliance documents.
Choose it if: a larger contractor needs stronger control of crews, materials, projects, variations, field evidence, invoices, and service margin. Choose another platform if: a small team mainly wants fast solar design, simple proposals, or low-cost lead follow-up.
Zoho is a credible general CRM for a company prepared to design and maintain its own New Zealand solar process, but it has the greatest configuration burden in this shortlist.
Zoho CRM offers contacts, leads, opportunities, activities, email, calling, forms, pipelines, forecasting, approvals, reports, mobile apps, portals, APIs, and automation. Paid tiers add custom modules, process tools, inventory, CPQ, journey functions, sandboxes, and deeper analytics.
Choose it if: the company values broad general CRM depth, has several sales motions, and can own a configured solar and integration stack. Choose another platform if: the team wants solar design, proposals, grid stages, and job records with less configuration.
Buyer guide
Choose by the most expensive broken handoff, then test that handoff using real opportunities, real users, and the documents your customers actually receive.
Use Quickest to measure whether a focused mobile proposal and follow-up path improves daily sales discipline. Use OpenSolar when design and customer presentation create the bottleneck.
OpenSolar offers the broadest free core starting point. SolarPlus publishes deeper solar and battery modelling and a more comprehensive design-to-project proposition. Pylon offers clear usage pricing and an optional CRM.
Both products are explicit about New Zealand trade operations and public entry prices. Tradify presents a clean enquiry, quote, schedule, job, invoice, and payment flow. Fergus goes deeper into job phases, time and materials, local suppliers, certificates, and operational control.
Quickest earns the first trial when follow-up consistency and proposal speed matter most. Pair the test with OpenSolar, SolarPlus, or Pylon so the system design and assumptions are credible.
Fergus fits a New Zealand contractor seeking practical job control without an enterprise project. Simpro offers deeper field, inventory, purchasing, project, costing, invoicing, and reporting capability for a larger operation.
Run the same three opportunities in every shortlisted CRM: one ordinary lead, one revision-heavy project, and one deal that already failed. This removes demo theatre and exposes repeated entry, stale documents, weak mobile adoption, and missing local support.
Capture a real lead, assign it, create the proposal, schedule follow-up, record acceptance, and hand it to delivery.
Change the system, equipment, price, payment route, and installation date. Identify every stale record.
Use a duplicate, missed follow-up, rejected proposal, or delayed job and ask the CRM to show what happens next.
Create a real residential quote in New Zealand dollars with modules, inverter, battery, labour, travel, electrical work, discounts, deposit, and payment stages.
Run one job at 10 kW or less and one larger or more complex connection through the actual distributor process used in your service area.
Use a valid redacted ICP and test format validation, duplicate-property handling, distributor identification, approved inverter evidence, phase, proposed system capacity, requested export, approved static or dynamic export, control settings, and application reference. Change the approved export after the first proposal.
Import interval data where available and create a transparent alternative when only bills or an estimated load profile exist.
Store licence and mains parallel generation endorsement information for the installer and inspector, including role, status, expiry, source checked, and job date. Test assignment of an unsuitable or expired record and require a warning.
Compare the generated documents with the company's approved sales and legal material. Check equipment, capacity, expected production, savings assumptions, buy-back assumptions, exclusions, site work, payment milestones, workmanship and product warranties, cancellation terms, and complaint route.
Have a field user open the correct property, view the current design and approved export conditions, complete a checklist, capture photographs, add equipment serial numbers, upload certificates, and collect a signature from a phone.
Connect the accounting and payment tools the business actually uses. Follow one customer from enquiry through accepted quote, deposit, purchase orders, supplier cost, progress invoice, payment, credit, and reconciliation.
Map every way the CRM receives personal information, including forms, referrals, bought leads, advertising platforms, bill uploads, call records, and integrations. Check the notice shown for direct collection and the IPP 3A process for indirect collection.
The real budget
The shortlist spans a free core solar platform, Indian annual pricing, New Zealand trade subscriptions, usage-priced design, USD solar-design plans, and enterprise quotes. Those prices represent different layers. A fair comparison budgets CRM users, design projects, field users, onboarding, migration, imagery, e-signatures, SMS, payment fees, accounting, API or connector access, support, and the staff time needed to operate the system.
Indian public pricing. Pro requires at least three users. Confirm New Zealand commercial terms.
API Access, supported connectors, premium imagery, payments, finance, hardware, and partner services can add cost.
Starter annual plan. Higher plans and month-to-month billing cost more. Confirm New Zealand tax and availability.
The captured page does not label the subscription currency. Confirm currency and New Zealand GST at checkout.
Quickest publishes a free plan with 10 proposals per month for one user and Pro at ₹6,999 per user per year with a three-user minimum. This is Indian public pricing, not a New Zealand tariff.
Tradify lists Lite at NZ$48, Pro at NZ$52, and Plus at NZ$62 per user per month, excluding GST, with a 14-day trial. Its page also lists optional website and SMS charges.
Pylon lists Standard design at $4 per project, Pro at $10, its solar CRM from $49 per user per month, e-signature at $0. 80 per project, and card processing at 2. 5 percent including GST.
OpenSolar says its core platform remains free, while API Access and supported app connectors became paid from 16 April 2026. Simpro uses tailored subscription and setup pricing, with add-ons.
Our number-one pick
Quickest ranks first because this comparison gives the most weight to proposal-first value and adoption. A CRM produces little value if salespeople avoid it. Quickest keeps the core behaviour close together: capture and own a lead, produce a solar proposal, follow up from a mobile-oriented workflow, and give a manager a visible pipeline.
The number-one position does not mean Quickest has the deepest verified New Zealand feature set. It does not. Public pages describe an India-first product with rupee pricing, Indian GST and subsidy logic, DISCOM calculations, WhatsApp-led communication, and Mumbai hosting.
Before importing live customer information, a New Zealand team should create and revise an NZD solar and battery quote, preserve a GST-inclusive accepted version, attach a traceable design, record an ICP and distributor, submit or track an application, change the approved export condition, assign licensed workers with current endorsements, issue the required certificates, and export the final job.
The alternatives win under different priorities. OpenSolar is the stronger free core when solar design and proposal presentation come first. SolarPlus offers the most comprehensive documented technical workflow in this shortlist. Pylon is attractive for usage-priced design and an optional CRM. Tradify and Fergus publish clearer New Zealand trade workflows and prices.
Your next move
Start with Quickest and the specialist closest to your largest local requirement. Use the same evidence and test deals for both.
Name the bottleneck. Pick lead response, proposal speed, design, payment, install handoff, or management visibility.
Choose two tools. Compare Quickest with the strongest specialist for that bottleneck.
Run the Three-Deal Proof. Score adoption, repeated entry, revision handling, support, and full annual cost.
Research record
These sources support the market, regulatory, product, and pricing statements on this page. Product terms can change after the checked date.
Common questions
Quickest Solar CRM is our first proposal-focused trial for a New Zealand solar team because it keeps lead ownership, mobile proposals, follow-up, and pipeline visibility close together and offers a free starting point. QuickEstimate publishes and sells Quickest, and the recommendation is conditional. Its verified public product is India-first.
A solar-specific CRM reduces configuration when it understands properties, system designs, consumption, proposals, tariffs, batteries, grid stages, and project records. It is not automatically the best choice. Tradify, Fergus, and Simpro can be better when scheduling, labour, materials, certificates, invoices, or service work create the biggest loss.
Some products may create forms, connect to an application service, or track the process, but a generic integration claim is insufficient. The Electricity Authority says Part 6 mandates the application and approval process between the prospective generator and distributor. Networks publish their own practical requirements. Powerco begins with an installer application and uses the ICP.
Treat a buy-back rate as a dated retailer-plan assumption, not a universal New Zealand tariff or a promise. Record the retailer, plan, rate structure, effective date, source, eligibility conditions, metering assumptions, and the person who approved it. Keep network export capacity in a separate field because the distributor controls connection conditions while the retailer sets commercial buy-back terms.
The exact pack depends on the work, but the CRM should be able to retain the Certificate of Compliance, Electrical Safety Certificate, inspection record where required, design and technical schedules, commissioning results, equipment details and serial numbers, network approval, photographs, warranty documents, operating information, and proof that the customer received the handover.
A New Zealand solar business should assess its CRM use under the Privacy Act 2020 because the system can hold names, addresses, energy bills, consumption, roof images, signatures, financial notes, communications, and connection identifiers. The Act's principles cover purpose, collection, notice, security, access, correction, accuracy, retention, use, disclosure, overseas disclosure, and unique identifiers.
Use the Three-Deal Proof and require every vendor to show the same lead, revision, document, and failed handoff.