Solar leadgen agencies have a narrower routing requirement than most verticals: zip territory assignment, installer caps, and exclusivity. Every homeowner should reach exactly one qualified installer in their area, and that installer should receive no more leads than they can handle that day.
The software market offers a wide range of options — from Zapier workflows to enterprise platforms — but most weren't built with solar's specific rules in mind. Here's what actually matters and how the main tools compare.
The four features that matter for solar routing
Not all lead routing features matter equally for solar. These four do:
- Zip and state territory rules: Each installer has a geographic footprint. The router needs to match a lead's zip to the right installer's territory, with state-level filtering for multi-state campaigns where contractor licensing applies.
- Daily installer caps: Solar crews have real capacity. A cap enforcement system that routes overflow leads to the next eligible installer in real time prevents oversaturation complaints.
- Exclusive mode: One homeowner should receive one installer's call. Double-selling destroys conversion rates and installer trust simultaneously.
- Installer-facing dispute portal: Bad leads happen. When they do, installers need a structured channel to flag them — not your personal email.
Comparison: solar lead routing tools
| Tool | Zip/state rules | Daily caps | Exclusive mode | Dispute portal | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheets + Zapier | Manual only | No native cap | Not enforced | Email/manual | $50-300/mo + eng time |
| LeadMove | Yes, native (zip + state) | Daily/weekly/monthly | Yes, per campaign | Yes, installer portal | $149-499/mo |
| LeadProsper | Yes, Pro+ tiers | Yes, Pro+ tiers | Yes | Yes, enterprise | $499+/mo |
| Boberdoo | Yes (ping/post model) | Yes | Yes | Yes | $1,000+/mo |
| Custom build | Fully custom | Fully custom | Fully custom | Rarely included | $20k-80k upfront |
Zapier and Sheets: where they break
Most solar agencies start here. It works for 2-3 installers with clean, non-overlapping zip lists. The moment you add a 4th installer whose territory borders the existing three, you need logic that Zapier simply doesn't have: native cap tracking, overlap resolution, and real-time exclusivity enforcement.
At 500 leads/month routed to 6 installers with different territories and caps, you're looking at 3,000+ routing decisions per month that need to happen in under a second each. Zapier's polling delay (1-15 minutes on most plans) means installers get leads that are already stale. Task limits become a cost problem at scale.
LeadProsper: strong but priced for larger operations
LeadProsper handles solar routing well — zip rules, caps, exclusivity, and an installer portal are all available on Pro plans. The issue is price: $499/mo starting, with typical agencies landing at $700-1,500/mo once volume kicks in. That makes sense for agencies with 20+ installers running complex workflows, but for a 6-12 installer operation, you're paying for features you won't use.
LeadProsper also has a steeper setup curve. The platform is feature-rich, which means more configuration time upfront. This is fine if you have someone dedicated to the setup, but slower for small teams.
Boberdoo: built for aggregators, not direct distribution
Boberdoo's core model is ping/post auctions — sending a lead preview to multiple buyers who bid, then delivering to the highest bidder. Solar agencies running direct relationships with known installers rarely need an auction layer. At $1,000+/mo with an enterprise sales process, Boberdoo is a significant investment for capabilities you'd use only partially.
If you're building an aggregator business and plan to reach 50+ installers with auction-based pricing, Boberdoo makes sense. For agencies distributing leads to a defined set of 5-20 installers at fixed prices per lead, it's overkill.
Custom builds: when they make sense
Custom-built solar routing systems appear at agencies with 50+ installers, complex auction mechanics, or deep integrations with proprietary installer CRMs. At that scale, the $20,000-80,000 dev investment and ongoing maintenance can pay back. Below 50 installers, it almost never does — especially when the initial build takes 2-4 months and leaves you with undocumented logic when the developer leaves.
The right tool for solar routing depends on installer count and whether you need auction functionality. For most agencies distributing directly to a known set of installers, the routing problem is simpler than it looks — and so is the software choice.