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 is our first pick for a small Timorese installer whose immediate problem is slow quoting and follow up that nobody owns. That placement uses a disclosed proposal-first adoption lens and still requires a Timor-Leste proof step. OpenSolar is the clearest free design-first option, Pylon pairs design with an optional CRM, and Sunbase publishes wider solar operations. We compared seven tools against USD documents, national utility connection stages, district and Oecusse logistics, donor-funded rural work, Tetum and Portuguese documents and handover.
Direct answer
Choose Quickest when proposal speed, lead ownership, field adoption and a free pilot are the first priorities. QuickEstimate owns Quickest and its published evidence is India-first, so Timorese tax treatment, utility fields, district logistics, language output, hosting and support all remain unverified until a demo proves them. OpenSolar is better when free solar design leads the purchase. Because a large share of rural work is donor funded and delivered over difficult roads, programme reporting and offline field capture usually matter more than quoting speed.
7 jobs, 7 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.
Small mobile sales teams
Free: 1 user and 10 proposals monthly. Pro: INR 6,999 per user yearly, minimum 3 users. 02Best free design-first optionOpenSolarStartups combining solar design, proposals and project CRM
OpenSolar says partners fund the model; review services and connected costs. 03Best compact design and CRM trialPylonTeams wanting solar and battery proposals with optional CRM
New users receive five Standard Project credits; confirm Timor-Leste commercial terms. 04Best broad solar operations candidateSunbaseEstablished teams evaluating a wider solar sales and project platform
Request Timor-Leste users, modules, implementation, integrations, support and renewal pricing. 05Best configurable general CRMZoho CRMTeams with an administrator and several sales or service lines
The reviewed global page publishes USD prices and adds local taxes. 06Best configurable operations suiteOdooBusinesses joining CRM with sales, inventory, field service and accounting
Confirm current plan, apps, users, hosting, implementation, localisation and customisation. 07Best for marketing-led acquisitionHubSpot CRMTeams prioritising forms, email, meetings and pipeline
Official page states up to 2 free users and 1,000 contacts; price all required hubs.How we evaluated
We saved English, Tetum and Portuguese search attempts across Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Brave and Mojeek, then traced one record from an enquiry or programme allocation through site visit, load assessment, quotation, deposit, design, electrical work, the utility application, procurement, district transport, installation, commissioning, invoicing, handover and service. Ranking rewards focused sales adoption first, then solar design, operational breadth, field usability, finance fit and configurable CRM depth. Timor-Leste facts come from the national government portal, which was the official source that responded when we checked. Utility and agency sites did not respond, and this page says so rather than citing pages we could not confirm.
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 Timor-Leste?
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 USD 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 | Small mobile sales teams | Free plan; Pro in INR | Focused branded proposals | Timor-Leste inputs unverified | Lead stages and follow up | Focused solar sales CRM | 1 user, 10 proposals monthly |
| 2OpenSolar | Startups combining solar design, proposals and project CRM | Free core platform | Interactive and PDF proposals | Native solar and storage design | Project CRM, tasks, schedules and files | Solar project CRM | Core platform described as free |
| 3Pylon | Teams wanting solar and battery proposals with optional CRM | Dollar pricing shown; confirm currency | Web and PDF proposals | Solar and battery design | Optional solar CRM and integrations | Solar CRM available | Five Standard Project credits |
| 4Sunbase | Established teams evaluating a wider solar sales and project platform | Quote required | Solar proposal capabilities published | Connect or verify design scope | Sales and operational solar workflows | Broad solar CRM | Request demo and trial terms |
| 5Zoho CRM | Teams with an administrator and several sales or service lines | Free for 3 users; paid USD tiers | Configure CPQ or connect a proposal tool | Specialist solar tool required | Custom modules, workflow, reports, portals and APIs | Broad general CRM | Free edition for 3 users |
| 6Odoo | Businesses joining CRM with sales, inventory, field service and accounting | One app free; paid plans published | Sales quotations and signatures | Specialist solar design required | CRM, sales, inventory, accounting, field service and more | General CRM within modular ERP | One app free plan stated |
| 7HubSpot CRM | Teams prioritising forms, email, meetings and pipeline | Free CRM; paid hubs available | Connect or configure proposal software | Specialist solar tool required | Paid sales and service expansion | Broad customer platform | Up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts |
Pricing and capability labels were checked against official sources on Sep 7, 2026. Currency conversion is intentionally omitted where a vendor does not publish a local price.
Country research
Timor-Leste uses the United States dollar, which removes exchange risk from a quotation, and concentrates its grid around Dili and district centres while much of the rural population depends on standalone systems. Roads through mountainous terrain are slow and seasonally unreliable, and the Oecusse enclave sits across Indonesian territory. A large share of rural solar arrives through donor programmes with their own reporting. The CRM that helps is the one that holds the programme record, the travel reality and the language the customer actually reads.
The national government portal publishes policy, programme and ministry information for Timor-Leste. Where a project sits under a government or donor programme, store the programme reference, the funder, the reporting schedule, the beneficiary data required, milestone definitions, verification evidence and submission receipts alongside the ordinary job record rather than in a separate folder.
Government of Timor-Leste: Government of Timor-Leste ↗The national electricity utility is the counterparty for grid connection and metering around Dili and the district centres. Store the customer account, the tariff category taken from the actual bill, the district, the meter type, the supply phase, the requested capacity, the application route, the reference, the inspection, the fees, the appointment, the activation and the completion evidence.
Government of Timor-Leste: Government of Timor-Leste ↗Timor-Leste uses the United States dollar, which removes exchange risk but not price risk. Store the cost basis, the freight assumption, the validity period, the ordered stock and the clearance position, and prevent acceptance at a stale price without approval when a job stays open through a long procurement cycle.
Government of Timor-Leste: Government of Timor-Leste ↗Road conditions through mountainous districts make travel a real cost and a scheduling risk. Store site coordinates, the access route, vehicle requirements, travel time, crew size, accommodation, seasonal road conditions and any anticipated second visit, and let those flow into both the customer price and the internal job cost.
Government of Timor-Leste: Government of Timor-Leste ↗The Oecusse enclave is separated from the rest of the country by Indonesian territory, so a job there involves a flight, a boat or a border crossing. Store that as a distinct logistics case with its own route, schedule, documentation and lead time rather than treating it as another district on the same road network.
Government of Timor-Leste: Government of Timor-Leste ↗Tetum is the working language for most customers alongside Portuguese and English. Generate the documents that carry obligations in the language the buyer reads, have a fluent reviewer approve the wording, and store the approved version, the sender, the timestamp, the purpose and the delivery status. Test accented characters in the generated PDF on a real phone.
Government of Timor-Leste: Government of Timor-Leste ↗Rural standalone systems carry a service tail with limited local technical support. Record the battery chemistry, cycle warranty, expected replacement date, the monitoring arrangement, credential holder, the service interval, parts held locally, the trained community contact and the escalation path. A record that ends at commissioning cannot support a village several hours from the nearest technician.
Government of Timor-Leste: Government of Timor-Leste ↗Community and suco-level decisions follow a process that is not an individual purchase. Store the community contact, the meeting date, the person authorised to sign, the contribution arrangement, any donor funding involved, the maintenance commitment agreed and the trained local contact, and set follow up against the decision meeting rather than a weekly reminder.
Government of Timor-Leste: Government of Timor-Leste ↗Connectivity drops away quickly outside Dili. Test the field application on the network the crews actually use, in the districts they actually work, and measure sync after a full day offline with a complete survey queued, then again after replacing the device. A lost survey costs a day of mountain driving rather than an hour of admin.
Government of Timor-Leste: Government of Timor-Leste ↗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 first for a narrow Dili sales adoption goal, and offline district capture is what it must prove.
Quickest centres the work a small team usually has to fix first: capture the enquiry, assign an owner, produce a branded proposal quickly and make the next follow up visible. A limited free plan allows an adoption pilot before a larger migration. QuickEstimate owns Quickest and publishes this ranking, so the position depends on the disclosed method rather than on independent market recognition.
No public evidence verifies USD quoting with validity, Timorese tax treatment, utility fields, district costing, Tetum output, community decision handling or offline capture. Run the pilot on a district job rather than a Dili rooftop, because that is where a proposal-first tool either earns its place or shows that it was designed for an easier geography.
Choose it if: Dili commercial quoting speed is the first bottleneck and offline capture works. Choose another platform if: programme reporting, district logistics and community decisions dominate.
OpenSolar is the strongest free design-first route for Timor-Leste, and terrain shading is the check that matters.
OpenSolar publishes design, proposals, table and Kanban project views, custom workflows, actions, schedules, documents, roles, permissions and an API. Timorese sites are frequently steep and shaded by terrain rather than by structures, so test how the model handles mountainous shading before judging it on a flat rooftop example.
Validate Timorese imagery, irradiance, terrain shading, standalone autonomy modelling, equipment libraries, USD display, field connectivity and document output including Tetum. Change a design after acceptance and trace price, stock, tax, payment, technical evidence and handover. Review privacy terms, transfers, support coverage, partner presentation and a complete account export.
Choose it if: design and customer-facing proposals lead the purchase. Choose another platform if: programme reporting, district logistics and service dominate the requirement list.
Pylon supports a compact design and CRM evaluation, with Timorese operation still unverified.
Pylon documents solar and battery design, web and PDF proposals, design history, integrations and a solar CRM add-on. It says new users receive credits for five Standard Projects and teams can add unlimited users. That supports a practical test involving sales, design and management before the buyer assumes it will replace a spreadsheet and a chat group.
Confirm billing terms, project rules, CRM cost, payment fees, taxes and renewal. Test Timorese locations, terrain shading, weather and production inputs, critical loads, autonomy targets, USD display, offline use, roles and support. Review data processing and export, and model several revisions because a district site visit almost always changes the design after the first quotation.
Choose it if: the team wants to trial solar design, proposals and CRM together. Choose another platform if: programme reporting, stock and community records dominate the requirement list.
Sunbase publishes broad solar CRM scope, and funder reporting plus district scheduling is what to test.
Sunbase positions its CRM around solar lead management, sales, communication, proposals, workflow and operational visibility. For a Timorese contractor delivering rural electrification, clinic and school installations, producing a defensible project report matters as much as the sales pipeline, because reporting decides whether the next allocation arrives.
Ask for comparable customer references and use a controlled demo from programme allocation through survey, proposal, deposit, invoice, procurement, district transport, installation, commissioning, training and a later service call. Verify USD handling, milestone and document control, district scheduling, offline behaviour, roles, audit history, privacy terms, support hours, the contract price and data export.
Choose it if: a contractor delivers programme and institutional work across districts. Choose another platform if: a free design tool or a simpler proposal CRM meets the immediate need.
Zoho suits a Timorese business that needs programme, community and district records in one configurable system.
Zoho CRM offers configurable modules, fields, pipelines, workflow, reports, mobile apps, portals and APIs. Custom objects are the reason to consider it here: a programme with a reporting schedule, a community decision with a meeting date, a district travel model and a trained local contact can each be modelled properly rather than squeezed into a deal stage.
Build or connect load assessment, solar design, USD quotations with validity, tax treatment, payment reconciliation, stock, district costing, utility stages, community records, training records, commissioning, assets, warranty and handover. Test mobile offline needs in a district, processor terms, transfers, retention, API limits, support and a complete export.
Choose it if: the company has an administrator and runs both commercial and programme motions. Choose another platform if: the team expects ready-made solar workflows with little configuration.
Odoo suits a Timorese contractor whose imported stock and district field service have outgrown a sales tool.
Odoo combines CRM with quotations, sales, accounting, purchasing, inventory, projects, field service, helpdesk and other applications, including landed cost handling and project accounting for staged programme contracts. For a business staging equipment through Dili before it reaches a district, those modules address the constraint directly.
Verify a workable localisation and the accounting route with the responsible implementation partner. Test USD, tax and duty, landed cost with freight, stock, serial numbers, offline field service, approvals, utility and programme evidence, warranty, stock transfers and migration. Connect a specialist design tool and review hosting, backups, upgrades, exit and a restorable export.
Choose it if: stock, field service, programme accounting and CRM should share one suite. Choose another platform if: the business wants a solar-specific proposal product with minimal implementation.
HubSpot suits Dili commercial and donor outreach and leaves district delivery outside the system.
HubSpot's free CRM covers contacts, lead management, forms, email, meetings and pipeline for a small user group. Dili businesses, hotels and donor programme managers are reachable by email and respond to structured follow up, which is where HubSpot's tooling genuinely helps in Timor-Leste.
Price and test the complete stack: messaging, solar design, USD quotation with validity, tax treatment, payment reconciliation, stock, district costing, offline field delivery, programme reporting, training records and service reporting. Use controlled fields for the district, the utility reference, the programme and the trained contact.
Choose it if: Dili commercial and donor relationships drive the pipeline. Choose another platform if: district delivery and programme reporting are the real problems.
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.
Start with Quickest when slow quoting and unowned follow up are the visible failures on Dili commercial work. Use the free plan on real Timorese opportunities, including one district job. Continue only if the vendor proves USD quoting with validity, tax handling, utility stages, district costing, offline capture, privacy, support and export.
OpenSolar fits a team that needs solar design, proposals and project CRM before it can fund a wider stack. Validate Timorese imagery, irradiance inputs, terrain shading in mountainous districts, standalone autonomy modelling, USD display, data terms and mobile performance where coverage disappears.
Pylon is worth testing when web and PDF proposals, solar and battery design and an optional solar CRM all appeal. Confirm billing terms, Timorese model inputs, standalone autonomy modelling, revision economics, mobile use, permissions and support hours.
Sunbase targets broader solar sales and operational workflows, which suits a contractor delivering rural electrification, clinic and school installations alongside commercial work. Ask for comparable references and test milestone tracking, funder-grade reporting, district scheduling, offline behaviour, privacy, commissioning and export.
A configurable platform can model programmes, districts, community decisions, trained contacts, stock and service intervals together. Odoo is stronger where landed cost, inventory and field service dominate; Zoho is the more familiar CRM route with strong custom objects and a usable free tier.
HubSpot fits a business whose first priority is forms, campaigns, email, meetings and pipeline visibility, which suits selling to Dili businesses, hotels and donor programme managers reachable by email. Budget the solar design, quotation, tax, district logistics and service tools around it.
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.
Produce a taxable sale with separate lines for imported equipment, freight, district transport, structural work and services, plus a deposit, a staged invoice, a variation, a credit note, a refund and a warranty replacement. Store a validity period, the cost basis and the freight assumption, and block acceptance at a stale price without approval. Have an adviser confirm tax and duty treatment in writing.
Store the programme reference, the funder, the reporting schedule, the beneficiary data required, milestone definitions, verification evidence, required photographs and submission receipts. Test producing a complete report from the CRM alone, because reporting quality often decides whether the next rural allocation arrives.
Store site coordinates, the access route, vehicle requirements, travel time, crew size, accommodation, seasonal road conditions and any anticipated second visit, and treat Oecusse as a distinct logistics case with its own route, documentation and lead time. Let those fields flow into the price and the job cost.
Capture the customer account, the tariff category from the actual bill, the district, the meter type, the phase, the requested capacity, the application route, the reference, the inspection, the fees, the appointment, the activation and the completion evidence. Test a rejection and a resubmission rather than trusting a stage name.
Generate the quotation, the acceptance, payment requests, warranty terms and handover instructions in the language the buyer reads. Have a fluent reviewer approve the Tetum and Portuguese wording, store the approved version, the sender, the timestamp, the purpose and the delivery status, and test accented characters in the generated PDF on a real phone.
Store the community contact, the meeting date, the person authorised to sign, the contribution arrangement, any donor funding involved, the maintenance commitment agreed and the trained local contact. Set follow up against the decision meeting rather than a fixed interval, because a chased community reads it as pressure.
Record the battery chemistry, cycle warranty, expected replacement date, the monitoring arrangement, credential holder, service interval, parts held locally, the trained community contact, the technician who can attend and the promised response time. Test a fault in a remote district and confirm the CRM can answer before anyone drives.
Have a field user work on the real phone in a mountainous district where coverage disappears for hours. Capture location, load inventory, the bill image, photographs, hazards, access, design inputs, equipment and serial numbers, delivery, tests, signatures, defects and commissioning. Measure sync after a full day offline and again after replacing the device.
Export the accepted scope, variations, the as-built design, installed equipment and serial numbers, photographs, test results, commissioning, utility and programme evidence, invoices and payment status, warranties, manuals, monitoring access, training records, signatures, open defects and the service contact, plus the district, parts held locally and the trained community contact.
The real budget
Timorese pricing is quoted in United States dollars, which removes exchange risk and shifts attention to freight, district travel and programme reporting. Quickest publishes INR terms, OpenSolar describes its core platform as free, Pylon shows dollar prices whose billing terms should be confirmed, and Zoho publishes USD global tiers. Sunbase needs a quote for the relevant scope. Odoo and HubSpot vary by apps, seats, contacts and implementation. Ask for billing terms, taxes, payment method, bank charges, users, projects, storage, integrations, messaging, onboarding, support hours, renewal, exit and every product needed to reach a compliant invoice and a completed district installation.
Free: 1 user and 10 proposals monthly. Pro: INR 6,999 per user yearly, minimum 3 users.
OpenSolar says partners fund the model; review services and connected costs.
New users receive five Standard Project credits; confirm Timor-Leste commercial terms.
Request Timor-Leste users, modules, implementation, integrations, support and renewal pricing.
Quickest lists one free user with ten proposals monthly and Pro at INR 6,999 per user yearly with a three-user minimum. Timorese commercial and tax terms are unverified.
OpenSolar states that its core platform is free because partners fund the model. Review partner choices, paid services, data use, support coverage and connected system costs.
Pylon offers five Standard Project credits to new users and states unlimited team users. Confirm billing terms, the CRM add-on, payment fees, project rules and renewal.
Zoho's reviewed page offers three free users alongside paid USD tiers. HubSpot states up to two free users and 1,000 contacts. Neither free plan supplies a complete Timorese solar operating stack.
Budget accounting, payment handling, messaging, design software, implementation, rugged field devices, data bundles, storage, support and administration alongside the licence fee.
Compare the cost of one complete acceptance case rather than a feature checklist, and include the drive. One avoided return trip into a mountainous district, caused by a survey that synced correctly, usually funds a year of licences here.
Ask what happens when a crew works a full day out of coverage or a programme report is due while records sit on a phone. The commercial proposal should identify queued uploads, retry limits, conflict resolution, notification, data ownership and support escalation.
Our number-one pick
Quickest concentrates on lead ownership, a mobile proposal and the next follow up, which is a practical first adoption target for a small Dili sales team.
Its free plan lets one person test ten monthly proposals before the company commits to migration, custom integration or additional seats.
First place stays conditional on proof. USD quoting with validity, tax treatment, utility evidence, district costing, Tetum output and offline capture are not verified for Timor-Leste.
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 is first under our proposal-first adoption lens for a small Dili team, but QuickEstimate owns it and Timorese localisation is unverified. OpenSolar is the better free design-first option. For rural programme work, a configurable platform holding programme reporting, district costing and community decisions will serve you better.
The dollar removes exchange risk, but we found no verified public evidence for Timorese tax and duty handling in Quickest. Its published evidence is India-first. Require a live taxable quotation with equipment, freight and district transport lines and a validity period, plus a deposit, a staged invoice, a credit note, a refund and an accounting export.
Because a large share of rural solar arrives through donor or government programmes with their own obligations. Store the programme reference, the funder, the reporting schedule, the beneficiary data required, milestone definitions, verification evidence, required photographs and submission receipts, and test producing a complete report from the CRM alone.
From stored access data. Record site coordinates, the access route, vehicle requirements, travel time, crew size, accommodation, seasonal road conditions and any anticipated second visit, and let those flow into the price and the job cost. Mountain travel is the cost most often left out of a Timorese quotation.
It is separated from the rest of the country by Indonesian territory, so a job there involves a flight, a boat or a border crossing rather than a drive. Store it as a distinct logistics case with its own route, documentation and lead time instead of treating it as another district on the same road network.
For documents that carry obligations, yes: the quotation, the acceptance, payment requests, warranty terms and handover instructions. Have a fluent reviewer approve the wording, store the approved version and test accented characters in the generated PDF on a real phone rather than only in a browser preview.
Store the community contact, the meeting date, the person authorised to sign, the contribution arrangement, any donor funding involved, the maintenance commitment agreed and the trained local contact. Set follow up against the decision meeting rather than a fixed interval, because a chased community reads it as pressure.
Quickest offers one user and ten proposals monthly. OpenSolar publishes a free core solar platform. Zoho offers three free users, and HubSpot states up to two users and 1,000 contacts. Test offline capture in a district first in every case, because that single behaviour predicts whether the tool survives rural work.
Include the accepted scope, variations, the as-built design, installed equipment and serial numbers, photographs, test results, commissioning, utility and programme evidence, invoices, payment status, warranties, manuals, monitoring access, training records, signatures, open defects and the service contact, plus the district, parts held locally and the trained community contact.
Use the Three-Deal Proof and require every vendor to show the same lead, revision, document, and failed handoff.