Learn · 29 October 2026
Predbat alternative: battery planning without Home Assistant
Looking for a Predbat alternative? How Predbat and ShiftCharge differ on setup, control and cost, and which kind of battery owner each one suits.
Join the betaPredbat is a free, open-source battery planner that runs inside Home Assistant. It is one of the most capable tools available to UK battery owners, with a large community and a long list of supported inverters. If you already run Home Assistant and enjoy tuning it, it is an excellent choice.
Not everyone wants that. Some people would rather not run a home server, edit configuration files or keep add-ons up to date. This guide is for them: what you give up and what you gain by choosing a hosted planner such as ShiftCharge instead.
What Predbat is
Predbat runs as part of Home Assistant on a computer in your home. It reads your tariff, solar forecast and household history, works out a charge and discharge plan, and controls your inverter through Home Assistant integrations.
You set it up by installing Home Assistant, adding the integration for your inverter, and editing a configuration file. It is very flexible: almost every part of its behaviour can be tuned.
What ShiftCharge is
ShiftCharge is a hosted app. There is nothing to install at home: you connect your inverter account and your Octopus account, and ShiftCharge plans the battery every day from your tariff prices, the solar forecast and how your home uses power.
It is built for people who want the outcome without the setup. The app leads with a plain sentence about what the battery is doing, shows tomorrow’s plan, and keeps the details one tap away.
Setup and upkeep
Predbat needs Home Assistant running reliably at home, plus the right integration for your inverter. Updates to Home Assistant, the integration or Predbat itself are yours to manage.
ShiftCharge needs your inverter login or API token and your Octopus account. Updates happen on our side.
Control and flexibility
Predbat gives you a great deal of control. If you want to change how it weighs a decision, you can, and you can see the reasoning in detail.
ShiftCharge offers fewer settings by design. You can pause it, take over the battery at any time and see why a plan looks the way it does, but you are trusting it with most of the decisions.
Cost, hardware and privacy
Predbat is free. ShiftCharge is free during its beta and will be a paid service afterwards.
Predbat supports more inverter brands. ShiftCharge works with Growatt today, with GivEnergy and Solis in open beta.
Predbat can run locally, so your data stays in your home. ShiftCharge runs in the cloud and talks to your inverter through the manufacturer’s app connection, with your credentials stored encrypted.
Which to pick
Choose Predbat if you already run Home Assistant, like being able to tune things, or have an inverter ShiftCharge does not support yet.
Choose ShiftCharge if you want a planner that works from a phone with no home server, and would rather have a plain-English answer than a dashboard of options.
Common questions
- Is ShiftCharge based on Predbat?
- No. ShiftCharge is its own planner, built and run separately. The two tools solve the same problem in their own ways.
- Can I run Predbat and ShiftCharge at the same time?
- Not on the same battery. Two planners sending different instructions to one inverter will fight each other. Pick one, or pause one while you try the other.
- Do I need Home Assistant for ShiftCharge?
- No. ShiftCharge connects to your inverter through the manufacturer’s app connection, so there is nothing to run at home.
Want this running in your home?
ShiftCharge is in private beta. Join the waitlist and we will reach out when there is a slot open for your hardware and tariff.
Join the beta