Above Surveying vs Neara: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Above Surveying and Neara to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Above Surveying
5.7/10
UK drone inspection and data company for utility-scale solar plants. It pairs aerial thermographic surveys with its SolarGain cloud platform for inspection, QA and digital twin data.
Neara
6.8/10
Neara builds physics-based 3D digital twins of electric utility networks from LiDAR, imagery and GIS data, used for resilience, wildfire, vegetation and capacity planning.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 5.7/10 | 6.8/10 |
| Integration | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Security | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Cost | 4/10 | 3/10 |
| Analytics | 7/10 | 9/10 |
| Ease of Use | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Customization | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 9/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | Contact for pricing |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Contact for pricing | Contact for pricing |
| Features | ||
| Asset Registry | ||
| Digital Twin | ||
| GIS and Mapping | ||
| Drone Inspection | Not listed | |
| Engineering Simulation | Not listed | |
| Inspection Automation | Not listed | |
| Inspection Checklists | Not listed | |
| LiDAR Processing | Not listed | |
| Power Line Inspection | Not listed | |
| SCADA and IoT Integration | Not listed | |
| Work Orders | Not listed | |
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Above Surveying
- Higher Cost score (4/10 vs 3/10)
Why choose Neara
- Higher Analytics score (9/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Customization score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for utilities (10/10 vs 6/10)
Pros & Cons
Above Surveying
Pros
- Built only for solar: thermography finds hotspots, string faults, junction box failures and PID at the module level.
- One platform covers the full lifecycle, from topographic surveys and construction monitoring to O&M inspections.
- SolarGain accepts data from third-party providers as well as Above's own flights, so the platform is not tied to Above's survey service.
- Large track record: Above reports more than 10,000 sites, and its acquisition of ucair expanded its reach in Europe.
- ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 certified.
Cons
- No public pricing; every engagement needs a quote.
- Only useful for solar assets, not other infrastructure.
- No published integrations list, API documentation or security and trust page.
- Few independent user reviews on G2, Capterra or similar sites.
Neara
Pros
- Physics-based simulation of wind, ice, thermal and flood loading on real network geometry, beyond simple clearance checks
- Reuses a utility's existing LiDAR, imagery and GIS data instead of requiring new capture
- Strong customer evidence, including close to 90 percent of Australian network utilities and large US and European utilities
- Reported results such as reassessing condemned poles, cutting planned replacements from 25,000 to 4,000 at one US utility
- Brings planning, design, vegetation and wildfire workflows into one model
Cons
- No public pricing, and sold only as an enterprise agreement
- Narrowly built for overhead electric networks
- Results depend on the quality and coverage of the LiDAR or imagery data
- Almost no independent user reviews on G2, Capterra or Reddit
Not sold on either?
Air Inspection Automation (AiA)Our product
Plans DJI drone inspection missions for power line towers from LiDAR scans: it finds the towers, places photo stops, checks clearance, and splits the route into battery flights.
Made by the team behind b stack radar. Shown here because it fits this topic. It is not part of our rankings. How we rank tools
Frequently Asked Questions
Neara scores higher on our Industrial & Infrastructure Software criteria: 6.8/10 against 5.7/10 for Above Surveying. The largest gap is in Analytics: 7/10 for Above Surveying and 9/10 for Neara.
No, neither Above Surveying nor Neara lists a free plan.
Neara is the better fit for utilities: we rate it 10/10 for them, against 6/10 for Above Surveying.
