Aurora Solar vs. OpenSolar: What the $350/mo Gap Doesn't Tell You About Lead Handling
OpenSolar is free and Aurora Solar isn't — but for a shop spending $2,500/mo on Google Local Services Ads, whether that channel plugs directly into your design tool matters more than the sticker price.
OpenSolar saves $350/mo on paper — but it doesn't connect to your $2,500/mo lead channel
Based on current solar design-tool and lead-gen integration data.
The $350/mo gap between Aurora Solar and OpenSolar is the number every comparison leads with, because it's the easiest one to find. It's also the smallest lever in the actual decision for a shop that runs Google Local Services Ads. Aurora Solar lists a direct integration with Local Services Ads; OpenSolar's integration list doesn't. For a $2,500/mo lead channel — usually the single biggest line item in the entire stack — that gap moves more real cost than the sticker price does.
What the sticker price actually buys
Design-tool sticker price
On paper, both platforms cover the same core ground — shading analysis, financing integrations, permit-ready plan sets — at a $350/mo difference. If that were the whole comparison, this would be a short article. It isn't, because the sticker price doesn't account for what happens to a lead the moment it comes in from your most expensive channel.
The connection that isn't shared equally
Aurora Solar connects directly to Google Local Services Ads; OpenSolar's integration list doesn't include it.
Both platforms connect to HubSpot and to Enerflo, so the CRM handoff and the install-workflow handoff work the same way regardless of which design tool you run. The gap is specifically at the top of the funnel: Aurora Solar lists a direct connection to Google Local Services Ads, so a lead generated through that $2,500/mo channel can flow straight into a design project. OpenSolar doesn't list that connection, which means every Local Services Ads lead has to be manually created as a design project — for a shop running that ad spend at real volume, that's recurring front-office time spent re-keying the leads you're already paying the most to generate.
Direct integration coverage
| Connection | Aurora Solar | OpenSolar |
|---|---|---|
| HubSpot (CRM) | ||
| Enerflo (install workflow) | ||
| Google Local Services Ads (lead source) |
If you run Google Local Services Ads at real volume, price out the front-office hours currently spent hand-entering those leads into OpenSolar before you bank the $350/mo Aurora Solar savings — for a desk doing that manually every week, the labor cost can erase the gap.
What the math actually looks like over a year
The $350/mo gap is one line item — the labor cost of manual lead entry is the one the sticker price never shows.
The $350/mo sticker gap becomes $4,200/yr — real money, and for a shop under 50 employees not yet running paid lead-gen at volume, it's money worth keeping. But once Local Services Ads spend is a serious channel, the calculation flips: a front desk spending even a few hours a week manually creating design projects for ad-generated leads is very plausibly burning more than $4,200/yr in labor, on top of the real risk of a lead going stale while it sits unentered.
Where the real cost breakdown actually nets out
- Count how many leads per month currently come through Google Local Services Ads specifically, not your total lead volume.
- Time how long it takes your front office to manually create a design project from an ad-generated lead today, if you're on OpenSolar.
- Multiply that time by your ad-generated lead volume before deciding the $350/mo gap is pure savings.
- Check where your crew size sits relative to OpenSolar's 50-employee plan ceiling — approaching it changes this math regardless of ad spend.
The $350/mo gap is real, but it's the smallest lever in this decision for a shop leaning on paid lead-gen. The integration gap has a real labor cost, and it only gets bigger as ad spend grows.
Run the free audit with your real headcount and current lead-gen spend to see which platform's all-in cost — not just its sticker price — actually fits your crew.
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