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Energy · head to head

Aurora Solar vs Cognite Data Fusion

Aurora Solar logo

Aurora Solar

Energy

The leading solar design and sales platform

From
$135/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Cognite Data Fusion logo

Cognite Data Fusion

Energy

Industrial data platform that contextualises OT, IT and engineering data into an asset-centric knowledge graph

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Aurora Solar both published plans are single user, so a second designer means a second licence; Cognite Data Fusion the platform is only as good as the contextualisation work, and that mapping effort is a consulting project that regularly costs more than the first-year subscription.
  • They diverge on capability: Aurora Solar covers 3D solar design, Cognite Data Fusion covers Asset-centric data model.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Aurora Solar and Cognite Data Fusion actually diverge.

Attributes where Aurora Solar and Cognite Data Fusion differ
AttributeAurora SolarCognite Data Fusion
Starting price$135/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb, Cloud
Founded2013Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Energy).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Aurora Solar

  • 3D solar design
  • Shade analysis
  • LIDAR integration
  • Performance simulation
  • Sales proposals
  • Financing options
  • Permit packages
  • NEC code compliance

Only in Cognite Data Fusion

  • Asset-centric data model
  • Entity matching
  • P&ID parsing
  • 3D contextualisation
  • Cognite Atlas AI
  • Data workflows
  • Open SDKs
  • Extractors

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Aurora Solar

  • Designing and simulating residential and commercial solar installationsnot Cognite Data Fusion
  • Producing shade analysis and sales proposals for solar projectsnot Cognite Data Fusion

Cognite Data Fusion

  • An operator that wants engineers to find the drawing, the sensor trend and the last work order for a valve from one searchnot Aurora Solar
  • A company standardising asset data across sites so an analytics team can build once and deploy to many plantsnot Aurora Solar
  • An upstream operator building a production-optimisation model that needs sensor data joined to equipment metadatanot Aurora Solar
  • A team replacing a stalled internal data-lake project where nobody could reconstruct what the tag names meantnot Aurora Solar

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Aurora Solar

  • Both published plans are single user, so a second designer means a second licence
  • Projects are capped at 50 a month on both Basic and Premium, so the tiers differ on features rather than volume
  • LIDAR assisted modelling, shade reports and battery storage modelling all require Premium at $259 a month
  • API access and integrations are Enterprise only, which is priced per project rather than per month
  • Paying monthly rather than annually costs $288 more a year on Basic and $468 on Premium

Cognite Data Fusion

  • The platform is only as good as the contextualisation work, and that mapping effort is a consulting project that regularly costs more than the first-year subscription.
  • Pricing is consumption-based and unpublished, so costs move with data volume and usage patterns you cannot forecast well until a year in.
  • It does not replace your historian, your ERP or your maintenance system, so Cognite is an additional recurring cost layered on systems you still pay for.
  • The reference base and data model lean heavily towards Norwegian and wider oil, gas and process industries; discrete manufacturing fit is weaker and the local partner network thinner outside energy.
  • Getting value out requires in-house Python and data engineering skill; organisations without a data team end up dependent on Cognite professional services for every new use case.

Pricing, plan by plan

Aurora Solar

$135/month
  • Basic$159/month
    • Tablet-friendly sales proposals
    • Industry-leading design accuracy
    • HD imagery
  • Premium$259/month
    • Tablet-friendly sales proposals
    • Industry-leading design accuracy
    • HD imagery
  • Enterprise$null/project
    • All Premium features
    • AI-assisted site models
    • APIs and integrations

Cognite Data Fusion

On request
  • Cognite Data Fusion$undefined/year
    • Consumption-based pricing on data volume, compute and users
    • Available through cloud marketplaces with private offers
    • Contextualisation and onboarding quoted as a separate engagement

Which should you pick?

Choose Aurora Solar if

  • You need 3d solar design.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want shade analysis.
Aurora Solar review

Choose Cognite Data Fusion if

  • You need asset-centric data model.
  • You work on Web, Cloud.
  • You also want entity matching.
Cognite Data Fusion review

Questions people ask

Is Aurora Solar or Cognite Data Fusion better?
Neither clearly leads. Aurora Solar starts at $135/month and Cognite Data Fusion at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Aurora Solar or Cognite Data Fusion?
Aurora Solar starts at $135/month and Cognite Data Fusion at On request.
Does Aurora Solar or Cognite Data Fusion run on more platforms?
Aurora Solar runs on Web, Api. Cognite Data Fusion runs on Web, Cloud.
What is Aurora Solar best used for?
Aurora Solar is most often used for designing and simulating residential and commercial solar installations, producing shade analysis and sales proposals for solar projects. Of those, designing and simulating residential and commercial solar installations and producing shade analysis and sales proposals for solar projects are not what Cognite Data Fusion is typically brought in for.
What can Aurora Solar do that Cognite Data Fusion cannot?
Aurora Solar covers 3D solar design, Shade analysis, LIDAR integration, Performance simulation. Cognite Data Fusion covers Asset-centric data model, Entity matching, P&ID parsing, 3D contextualisation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Aurora Solar: How much does Aurora Solar cost per month?

Aurora Solar Basic costs $159/month billed monthly or $135/month billed annually (save $288/year). Premium costs $259/month monthly or $220/month annually (save $468/year). Enterprise pricing is custom per project. Monthly plans have no minimum commitment and can be cancelled at any billing period end. Annual plans require a one-year commitment.

Source
Cognite Data Fusion: Is Cognite a historian?

No. It reads from historians such as PI System and adds context. You still need the historian underneath.

Aurora Solar: What features does Aurora Solar Premium add over Basic?

Premium adds LIDAR-assisted modeling, bankable shade reports, and battery modeling for backup, self-consumption, and arbitrage scenarios. Both tiers include 50 projects per month and support 1 user.

Source
Cognite Data Fusion: How is it priced?

Consumption-based on data, compute and users, quoted per customer. Nothing is published.

Aurora Solar: How many users and projects can I have on Aurora Solar?

Basic and Premium plans support 1 user with a 50-project monthly limit. Enterprise plans support unlimited users and custom project limits; Enterprise pricing and terms are custom and determined through sales.

Source
Cognite Data Fusion: How long does a deployment take?

First useful graph in a few months is realistic; full plant contextualisation across a site is typically a year or more.

Cognite Data Fusion: Can we do the contextualisation ourselves?

Technically yes, the SDKs and matching tools are open, but most customers use Cognite or a partner for the first site.

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