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Energy · head to head

Enphase Enlighten vs FaunaDB

E

Enphase Enlighten

Energy

Microinverter monitoring and management platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
FaunaDB logo

FaunaDB

Databases

Document-relational database whose hosted service closed in 2025 and whose core is now unmaintained Apache 2.0 code.

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Enphase Enlighten only works with Enphase microinverter systems, not compatible with other solar equipment; FaunaDB the hosted service was wound down in 2025, so there is no managed Fauna to buy; every remaining user either operates a JVM cluster themselves or migrates, and both are projects rather than tasks.
  • They diverge on capability: Enphase Enlighten covers Real-time monitoring, FaunaDB covers Document-relational model.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Enphase Enlighten and FaunaDB actually diverge.

Attributes where Enphase Enlighten and FaunaDB differ
AttributeEnphase EnlightenFaunaDB
Pricing modelUnknownfreemium
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb
CategoryEnergyDatabases
Founded20062012

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Enphase Enlighten

  • Real-time monitoring
  • Per-module performance
  • Alert notifications
  • Mobile app
  • API access
  • SunPower
  • Tesla
  • SSL encryption

Only in FaunaDB

  • Document-relational model
  • FQL v10
  • Distributed ACID transactions
  • HTTPS access
  • User-defined functions
  • Attribute-based access control
  • Document history
  • Event streaming

What people use each for

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

Enphase Enlighten

  • System monitoringnot FaunaDB
  • Performance optimizationnot FaunaDB

FaunaDB

  • Keeping an existing Fauna-backed application alive on self-hosted infrastructure while a migration is planned and fundednot Enphase Enlighten
  • Extracting historical data from a Fauna dataset that can no longer be reached through the hosted APInot Enphase Enlighten
  • Studying a production implementation of deterministic distributed transactions, since the full server source is now readable under Apache 2.0not Enphase Enlighten
  • Forking the engine deliberately, where an organisation has JVM and distributed-systems staff and wants a document-relational store it fully controlsnot Enphase Enlighten

Where each one falls short

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

Enphase Enlighten

  • Only works with Enphase microinverter systems, not compatible with other solar equipment
  • Requires 10-year paid subscription after initial free period for core monitoring
  • Cloud-based system requiring internet connection for real-time data access

FaunaDB

  • The hosted service was wound down in 2025, so there is no managed Fauna to buy; every remaining user either operates a JVM cluster themselves or migrates, and both are projects rather than tasks.
  • The open-sourced repository has had no substantive activity since May 2025 and the drivers were frozen alongside it, so you inherit responsibility for security patches in a Scala distributed database that almost nobody else is running.
  • FQL has no wire or dialect compatibility with anything else, so migrating off is a rewrite of every query, index and access rule in the application rather than a data export.
  • No BI tool, ORM or CDC connector speaks FQL, so reporting and analytics always required exporting the data first, and that export tooling is now also unmaintained.
  • The community was small before the shutdown and has dispersed since, so operational answers, tuning advice and people who have run a Fauna cluster in anger are all scarce when something breaks.

Pricing, plan by plan

Enphase Enlighten

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Enphase Enlighten review.

FaunaDB

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 100K read ops
    • 50K write ops
    • 1GB storage
  • Pro$25/month
    • Pay per use
    • Priority support
    • Advanced features

Which should you pick?

Choose Enphase Enlighten if

  • You need real-time monitoring.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want per-module performance.
Enphase Enlighten review

Choose FaunaDB if

  • You need document-relational model.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want fql v10.
FaunaDB review

Questions people ask

Is Enphase Enlighten or FaunaDB better?
Neither clearly leads. Enphase Enlighten starts at Free and FaunaDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Enphase Enlighten or FaunaDB?
Enphase Enlighten starts at Free and FaunaDB at Free.
Does Enphase Enlighten or FaunaDB run on more platforms?
Enphase Enlighten runs on Web, iOS, Android. FaunaDB runs on Web.
Can I use Enphase Enlighten for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Enphase Enlighten best used for?
Enphase Enlighten is most often used for system monitoring, performance optimization. Of those, system monitoring and performance optimization are not what FaunaDB is typically brought in for.
What can Enphase Enlighten do that FaunaDB cannot?
Enphase Enlighten covers Real-time monitoring, Per-module performance, Alert notifications, Mobile app. FaunaDB covers Document-relational model, FQL v10, Distributed ACID transactions, HTTPS access.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Enphase Enlighten: Is Enphase Enlighten free to use?

The standard Enlighten app comes included with any Enphase microinverter system at no extra charge for the first 10 years from installation, after which it costs $49/year minimum.

Source
FaunaDB: Can I still sign up for Fauna as a service?

No. Fauna Inc. wound down the hosted service in 2025 and the company website is no longer serving. The only way to run Fauna now is to build and operate the open-sourced server yourself.

Enphase Enlighten: What is the cost for Enlighten Manager premium upgrade?

Enlighten Manager upgrade costs $9.99/month with month-to-month cancellation, or a one-time lifetime subscription is available through the Enphase store.

Source
FaunaDB: What licence is the open-sourced code under?

Apache 2.0, with the copyright held by a FaunaDB Foundation. That is a permissive OSI licence with no competing-use clause, so you may run it, modify it and even offer it as a service.

Enphase Enlighten: What data does Enlighten monitor?

Enlighten pulls data from IQ Microinverters, the IQ Gateway, IQ Batteries, and Enphase EV chargers into a single monitoring view, showing near real-time panel-by-panel performance data.

Source
FaunaDB: Is the open source version the same software that ran the cloud?

It is the core database engine. The control plane, billing, dashboard and multi-tenant operational tooling that made it a service are not part of the release, so you are running the engine, not the product.

Enphase Enlighten: Does Enlighten send alerts for system issues?

Yes, Enlighten continuously monitors system performance and highlights deviations, with customers able to choose to receive alerts upon certain conditions.

Source
FaunaDB: What should I migrate to?

There is no drop-in target. Teams that valued the document model with relationships usually land on Postgres with JSONB, and teams that valued the serverless HTTP access pattern usually land on DynamoDB or a managed Postgres with an HTTP driver. Either way the query layer is rewritten.

FaunaDB: How hard is it to self-host?

It builds as a fat JAR and runs as a multi-node JVM cluster. There is an OPERATING.md, but no supported packaging, no operator, no upstream releases and no support contract, so budget for a distributed-systems engineer, not a container.

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