Key Takeaways
- Both tools model project economics. Neither one designs the array — that is a second subscription either way
- Energy Toolbase publishes 120,000+ verified utility rates; HOMER Grid cites Genability’s 35,000+ C&I tariffs
- ETB Developer Individual is $3,588/year capped at 10 proposals; HOMER Grid annual is $4,200/year uncapped
- HOMER Grid publishes a free trial; Energy Toolbase does not
- Only Energy Toolbase offers a live control layer — ETB Controller, from $34,000
- HOMER Grid was originally developed at NREL and cites “over 250,000 users in 190+ countries”
Every figure below is quoted from each vendor’s own published documentation, checked on 28 September 2026.
Quick Verdict
Our Verdict
These two compete more directly than anything else in solar software — both model tariffs and storage value, and neither draws a panel. Energy Toolbase wins on rate database depth and is the only one of the two that can dispatch a deployed battery. HOMER Grid wins on flexibility, publishes a free trial, and does not cap your proposals. Choose Energy Toolbase if the tariff is the deal risk and you will own the asset. Choose HOMER Grid for microgrid, resilience, and EV charging studies. Choose neither if what you actually need is a design-to-proposal workflow.
Pricing
| Energy Toolbase | HOMER Grid | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | ETB Developer Individual, $299/user/month billed annually | Annual, $350/month |
| Published annual cost | $3,588/year | “$4,200/yr, auto-renews” |
| Monthly option | Not offered — both tiers are billed annually | $665/month, “$7,980/yr, auto-renews” |
| Team plan | Business, $333*/user/month billed annually, 5 users, $19,980/year | Not published — Enterprise is “Contact us for pricing” |
| Project limits | “Up to 10 solar and storage proposals” on Individual; unlimited on Business | No project cap published |
| Free trial | None published | “Try It Free” on both tiers; no length published |
| Training | “Tailored training for your project needs” included | 6-hour instructor-led training included on annual; “6-hr training: $500” on monthly |
| Second device | Not published | Second computer activation on annual, “non-simultaneous use by the same person” |
| Control hardware | ETB Controller from $34,000; ETB Monitor from $7,500 | Not offered |
* Energy Toolbase’s own asterisk: final pricing “is subject to change based on customer requirements, customer classification, promotional offers”.
The headline comparison is closer than it looks. At one seat, Energy Toolbase is $612 a year cheaper — but only if 10 proposals is enough. Cross that threshold and you are on the Business tier at $19,980 a year for five seats, at which point HOMER Grid’s uncapped $4,200 single seat looks very different.
Utility Rate Modelling
This is where the two genuinely diverge, and Energy Toolbase wins it.
| Energy Toolbase | HOMER Grid | |
|---|---|---|
| Published rate count | “120k+ Utility Rates Tracked” / “120,000+ verified rates” | Genability’s “over 35,000 commercial and industrial utility tariffs database” |
| Maintenance | “Dedicated in-house utility rates team”. Page showed “281 Rates Updated this Week” and “161 Rates Added this Week” | Not published |
| Geographic claim | “4+” countries with deployed projects | Built-in coverage for “more than 90% of the zip codes in the U.S., Canada and Mexico” |
| Rate structures | Time-of-Use, NEM programs, “Support for VNEM, NEMA, and other billing structures” | “Time-of-use and seasonal rates, contracted demand and tiered rates” |
Energy Toolbase is the only vendor in this category that publishes a weekly maintenance cadence. For a US C&I developer working across many utilities, that is the whole argument, and it is a good one.
HOMER Grid’s counter is coverage breadth rather than depth — zip-code-level coverage across three countries, and a tool designed from the start for international use, citing “over 250,000 users in 190+ countries”.
Storage and Value Stacking
| Capability | Energy Toolbase | HOMER Grid |
|---|---|---|
| Demand charge reduction | ✓ | ✓ |
| TOU / energy arbitrage | ✓ | ✓ |
| PV self-consumption | ✓ | ✓ |
| DC clipping recapture | ✓ | — |
| Demand response | ✓ Participation and value stacking | ✓ Demand-response program database |
| Backup / resilience | ✓ | ✓ |
| Battery degradation over project life | Not published as a separate claim | ✓ “accurately models battery life and performance for the duration of your project” |
| EV charging optimisation | — | ✓ Sizing, siting, and “on-demand and deferrable EV charging strategies” |
| Wind and CHP | — | ✓ Component libraries for wind; combined heat and power |
| Live dispatch of deployed assets | ✓ ETB Controller, forecasts regenerated every 15 minutes | — |
Energy Toolbase’s structural advantage is that its sales model and its controller share logic — ETB Developer runs “ESS simulations powered by digital twin of our EMS algorithms”. The number you sell is produced by the same reasoning that later runs the battery. No HOMER product offers a control layer at all.
HOMER Grid’s advantage is scope. EV charging, wind, and combined heat and power are all in the model, and the sibling products extend to off-grid microgrids (HOMER Pro) and utility-scale front-of-meter hybrids (HOMER Front).
What Neither One Does
Both tools stop at the same place, and it is worth being blunt about it.
Energy Toolbase’s own ETB Developer comparison table marks “In-app PV panel layout tools” with a red X. HOMER Grid’s product page tells you to “Combine the power of your favorite solar modeling tool, HelioScope or PVSyst, with HOMER Grid”.
Neither will give you a roof model, an array layout, a shading study, a string plan, or a customer-ready design. Whichever you pick, you are buying a design platform as well.
Or model and design in the same place
Roof geometry, shading, stringing, yield, financials, and a branded proposal in one session.
Book a DemoNo commitment required · 20 minutes · Live project walkthrough
The Third Option Most Teams Should Price
Before choosing between two modelling tools, work out what the complete stack costs. Using published list prices, one seat, annual billing:
| Stack | Annual list cost |
|---|---|
| HOMER Grid annual + Aurora Solar Premium annual | $4,200 + $2,640 = $6,840 |
| ETB Developer Individual + Aurora Solar Premium annual | $3,588 + $2,640 = $6,228 |
| SurgePV Individual | $1,899 |
SurgePV publishes $1,899 per user per year with unlimited projects, covering array design, shading analysis, yield and financial modelling, and proposals in one subscription, per the SurgePV pricing page (list price, GST additional).
The trade is real and worth stating: SurgePV does not attempt Energy Toolbase’s tariff database or HOMER’s microgrid optimisation. What it removes is the second vendor, the export step, and most of the cost. For teams whose deals turn on design turnaround rather than tariff structure, that is the better purchase. For teams modelling a VNEM structure or an islanded microgrid, it is not.
How to Decide
- US C&I, complex tariffs, and you will own the asset. Energy Toolbase. The rate database and ETB Controller have no equivalent here.
- Microgrid, resilience, EV charging, or international. HOMER Grid. Broader physics, a published free trial, and no proposal cap.
- More than 10 proposals a year on one seat. HOMER Grid’s $4,200 beats Energy Toolbase’s jump to the Business tier.
- Your bottleneck is design turnaround, not modelling. Neither. Price a single platform first.
Related Reading
- Energy Toolbase review — full breakdown with current pricing
- Energy Toolbase vs SurgePV — modelling specialist against all-in-one
- Energy Toolbase alternatives — the full ranked shortlist
- HOMER Energy review — the HOMER product family in detail
