Alternatives
Aurora Solar Alternative
Solar on a house that is not built yet: modules laid on the roof planes you drew, strings sized for cold mornings, inverters, batteries and cabling, and the shade through the year.
Aurora Solar: From $159 a user a month. Home 3D Plan (home3dplan.com): Free.
What Aurora Solar does, and where it is here
Roof model
The roof is the one you drew: pitch, planes and overhangs come from the building. See the tool
Array layout
Modules laid out on each roof plane, facing the way the roof does, inside setbacks you set. See the tool
Stringing
Modules per string sized for the cold morning voltage, with inverters, batteries and DC cabling. See the tool
Shading
How much of the year each array is in shade, from the roofs, chimneys and trees in the model. See the tool
Home 3D Plan and Aurora Solar, side by side
| Feature | Home 3D Plan | Aurora Solar |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $159 to $259 a user a month, billed yearly |
| Free option | Start in the browser with no account | Demo |
| Runs on | Any modern browser: Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS, iPad and phone | Browser |
| Install | None. Can be installed as a web app | None |
| IFC | IFC4 export of architecture, structure and services | See vendor |
| DWG and DXF | DWG and DXF in and out | See vendor |
| Structure | Columns, beams, braces, footings and gridlines, with a reinforcement bar schedule | See vendor |
| Services (MEP) | Electrical, plumbing and heating, drainage, ventilation, gas and solar PV | Solar design with shading and energy yield simulation |
| Site and terrain | Survey levels, terraces, retaining walls, roads, paving and planting | Roof models from aerial imagery and LIDAR |
| Quantities | Takeoff by storey, element, function and material, as CSV or a workbook | Bill of materials and proposals |
| Drawings and sheets | Sections, elevations, 1:5 details and sheet sets to PDF, DWG, DXF and SVG | Plan sets |
| Rendering | Four render tiers, the top one a GPU path tracer on desktop | See vendor |
| Team work | Organisation projects with discipline roles and live presence | Team accounts |
| AI and agents | MCP server with 38 tools for Claude, ChatGPT and other agents | AI roof modelling |
Aurora Solar prices as published on 10 October 2026 (https://www.heavengreenenergy.com/blog/aurora-solar-pricing). "See vendor" means the vendor does not publish the fact or we could not confirm it. Aurora Solar is a trademark of Aurora Solar Inc.. Home 3D Plan is not affiliated with Aurora Solar Inc..
What Aurora Solar does that Home 3D Plan does not
- Energy yield simulation in kWh, with financial models and proposals.
- Roofs modelled from aerial imagery and LIDAR for existing homes.
- A sales workflow for solar installers.
Moving from Aurora Solar
Aurora models an existing roof from imagery; here the roof is the one in the design. Draw or open the house, and lay the array on its roof planes.
The PV, inverters and cabling go out with the building as IFC4.
Which one fits your work
Pick Aurora Solar when
- You sell solar on existing homes.
- You need kWh yield, savings and proposals.
- Your sales team quotes from aerial imagery.
Pick Home 3D Plan when
- You design a new house and want PV on its roofs from the start.
- You want the array, strings and shade checked in the building model.
- You want PV in the IFC with the rest of the services.
How to start
Open the editor
Go to home3dplan.com and open the editor. Nothing to install and no account needed to start.
Bring your drawing
Open a DWG or DXF and turn its lines into walls, or trace over a PDF or a scan set to scale.
Build the model
Draw walls and the storeys, rooms, slabs and 3D model follow. Add roofs, structure, services and the site.
Send it out
Print sections, elevations and sheets to PDF or DWG, and send the building out as IFC4.
Aurora Solar and Home 3D Plan, answered
Does Home 3D Plan give the yearly energy yield?
No. It gives the share of the year each array is in shade, from the model, and leaves kWh yield to tools with irradiance data, such as Aurora or PVsyst.
How much does Aurora Solar cost compared with Home 3D Plan?
Aurora Solar: $159 to $259 a user a month, billed yearly, as published on 10 October 2026. Home 3D Plan is free to use in the browser today.
Does Home 3D Plan export IFC and DWG?
Yes. The building goes out as IFC4, with its architecture, structure and services, and the drawings go out as DWG, DXF, PDF and SVG. DWG and DXF also come in. The editor does not open IFC files.
Do I need to install anything?
No. Home 3D Plan runs in any modern browser on Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS, iPad and phones, and can be installed as a web app if you want an icon.
Read on
- Roofs: Hipped, gabled, shed and flat roofs, with pitch, overhangs, caps and gutters.
- Electrical: Sockets, switches, lights and boards on the plan, wired into circuits.
- MagiCAD alternative: Services in the building model, without a host CAD program.
- Stabicad alternative: Electrical and mechanical services in one browser model.
- All alternatives: Every product we compare against, with its price.