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Energy · head to head

EnergyCAP vs Solace PubSub+

EnergyCAP logo

EnergyCAP

Energy

Utility bill and energy management software

From
$1000/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Solace PubSub+ logo

Solace PubSub+

Databases

Multi-protocol event broker sold as software, cloud service or a hardware appliance

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Solace PubSub+ has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: EnergyCAP priced per meter per year, so cost scales with how many utility connection points exist rather than with users or sites; Solace PubSub+ no pricing is published at any tier, so evaluation requires a sales engagement before you can even judge whether it is in budget, and broker tier sizing determines cost in ways buyers frequently get wrong.
  • They diverge on capability: EnergyCAP covers Utility bill management, Solace PubSub+ covers Multi-protocol broker.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which EnergyCAP and Solace PubSub+ actually diverge.

Attributes where EnergyCAP and Solace PubSub+ differ
AttributeEnergyCAPSolace PubSub+
Starting price$1000/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, ApiLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud, Hardware appliance
CategoryEnergyDatabases
Founded1980Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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 EnergyCAP

  • Utility bill management
  • Energy accounting
  • Cost allocation
  • Sustainability reporting
  • Weather normalization
  • Rate analysis
  • Budgeting
  • Benchmarking

Only in Solace PubSub+

  • Multi-protocol broker
  • Dynamic message routing
  • Hardware appliance
  • Event Portal
  • Guaranteed delivery
  • Mission Control
  • Topic hierarchies and wildcards
  • Kafka and MQ bridging

What people use each for

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

EnergyCAP

  • Tracking utility bills and energy consumption across a property portfolionot Solace PubSub+
  • Reporting on energy spend and emissions for an organisationnot Solace PubSub+

Solace PubSub+

  • A bank building an event mesh across regions where a Java JMS application and an MQTT mobile client must share the same topic spacenot EnergyCAP
  • An exchange or trading platform with a latency budget that needs the hardware appliance rather than a software brokernot EnergyCAP
  • An airline distributing operational events to ground systems, aircraft and partner APIs over different protocolsnot EnergyCAP
  • A manufacturer bridging factory MQTT telemetry into an enterprise Kafka estate without writing translation servicesnot EnergyCAP

Where each one falls short

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

EnergyCAP

  • Priced per meter per year, so cost scales with how many utility connection points exist rather than with users or sites
  • No figure is published at any level, and every package is quoted by sales
  • Emissions, interval data, bill capture and bill pay are separately priced add ons rather than part of the core platform

Solace PubSub+

  • No pricing is published at any tier, so evaluation requires a sales engagement before you can even judge whether it is in budget, and broker tier sizing determines cost in ways buyers frequently get wrong.
  • The free Standard edition has hard capacity and support limits, which makes it useful for development but means any real deployment triggers a commercial negotiation.
  • The proprietary SMF protocol gives the best performance and feature coverage, so teams that lean on it acquire real switching costs even though open protocols are supported.
  • Operating a self-managed high availability broker pair with disaster recovery is a specialist task, and Solace expertise is scarce in the hiring market compared with Kafka skills.
  • Event Portal and Mission Control are licensed as part of platform packages, so the governance tooling that makes an event mesh manageable is not simply included with the broker.

Pricing, plan by plan

EnergyCAP

$1000/month
  • Essential$1000/month
    • Utility bill management
    • Energy tracking
    • Basic reporting
  • Professional$2500/month
    • Advanced analytics
    • Sustainability reporting
    • Budgeting tools
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Unlimited users
    • Custom integrations
    • API access

Solace PubSub+

Free
  • Software Event Broker StandardFree
    • Free for production within capacity limits
    • Single node, capped connections and queues
    • No vendor support
  • Solace Cloud$undefined/year
    • Managed brokers in tiers from ENT-250 to ENT-100K
    • Foundation, Accelerate and Scale platform packages
    • Fixed subscription or annual consumption drawdown
  • Software Enterprise self-managed$undefined/year
    • Deploy in your own Kubernetes, VMs or data centre
    • High availability and disaster recovery
    • Support with SLA
  • Hardware appliance$undefined/year
    • Purpose-built appliance with FPGA message offload
    • Deterministic low latency
    • Sold with support contract

Which should you pick?

Choose EnergyCAP if

  • You need utility bill management.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want energy accounting.
EnergyCAP review

Choose Solace PubSub+ if

  • You need multi-protocol broker.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud, Hardware appliance.
  • You also want dynamic message routing.
Solace PubSub+ review

Questions people ask

Is EnergyCAP or Solace PubSub+ better?
Neither clearly leads. EnergyCAP starts at $1000/month and Solace PubSub+ at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, EnergyCAP or Solace PubSub+?
Solace PubSub+ has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $1000/month for EnergyCAP and Free for Solace PubSub+.
Does EnergyCAP or Solace PubSub+ run on more platforms?
EnergyCAP runs on Web, Api. Solace PubSub+ runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud, Hardware appliance.
Can I use Solace PubSub+ for free?
Yes. Solace PubSub+ has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. EnergyCAP starts at $1000/month.
What is EnergyCAP best used for?
EnergyCAP is most often used for tracking utility bills and energy consumption across a property portfolio, reporting on energy spend and emissions for an organisation. Of those, tracking utility bills and energy consumption across a property portfolio and reporting on energy spend and emissions for an organisation are not what Solace PubSub+ is typically brought in for.
What can EnergyCAP do that Solace PubSub+ cannot?
EnergyCAP covers Utility bill management, Energy accounting, Cost allocation, Sustainability reporting. Solace PubSub+ covers Multi-protocol broker, Dynamic message routing, Hardware appliance, Event Portal.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

EnergyCAP: What is EnergyCAP's pricing model?

EnergyCAP pricing is based per meter per year. The company allows customers to customize their package by adding premium features such as emissions tracking, interval data analytics, finance modules, bill capture, and bill pay services based on business needs.

Source
Solace PubSub+: Is there a free version of Solace?

Yes, the Standard edition of the software event broker is free for production within capacity limits, with no vendor support.

EnergyCAP: How much does EnergyCAP cost?

EnergyCAP does not publish specific pricing amounts. Customers must contact sales for a customized quote based on their meter count and selected features.

Source
Solace PubSub+: Does Solace publish prices?

No. Cloud, software and appliance are all quoted, based on broker tier from ENT-250 to ENT-100K and licensing model.

Solace PubSub+: Why buy an appliance in 2026?

Deterministic low latency with message processing offloaded to hardware, which matters in capital markets and little elsewhere.

Solace PubSub+: Can it replace Kafka?

Not for log retention and stream reprocessing. It is stronger at multi-protocol routing and guaranteed delivery, and the two are often bridged.

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