Compare

Looking for a Clockworks alternative? Here's one that reads more than HVAC.

FrostLogic Explore and Clockworks Analytics start from the same idea: skip the dashboard, rank what's actually broken. Where they part is scope, data residence, and who picks up the phone in the Nordics. Here's exactly where each one is the right pick.

Talk it throughGet your Building Intelligence Score
Or book a time directly
  • Updated August 2026
  • Claims from Clockworks' own published materials
  • EU buyer's perspective

Why we're comparing ourselves to the platform we respect most

Clockworks and Explore agree on the diagnosis. They disagree on the scope.

Anyone researching a Clockworks alternative is often someone who already likes how Clockworks thinks. Clockworks Analytics, a KGS Buildings product that spun out of MIT's Building Science Department in 2008, rejects the same dashboard-and-graph model FrostLogic Explore rejects. A physics-based engine models each piece of HVAC equipment, scores every fault 0 to 10 by its impact on energy, comfort, and reliability, and attaches the avoidable cost in currency. Of every vendor we compare ourselves to, this is the one whose instincts are closest to ours.

So the real question isn't which platform reasons better, it's which one reads further. Clockworks is deliberately HVAC-only fault detection and diagnostics: no forecasting, no what-if simulation, and no continuous certification tracking against BREEAM, LEED, or Nordic Swan in their published materials. Explore reads whatever BMS, energy meter, or IoT sensor data your building already produces, not HVAC alone, and adds forecasting with confidence bounds, continuous compliance tracking, and what-if simulation on top. If your estate is complex mechanical plant and HVAC is the whole problem, Clockworks' depth there is real and hard to beat. If the problem is wider than HVAC, or you manage a portfolio rather than one building, that's where Explore's scope takes over.

Head to head

FrostLogic Explore and Clockworks Analytics, and who each one is actually for.

FrostLogic Explore

Best for teams that want Clockworks-style fault scoring across the whole building, not just HVAC

Explore is ours, so read this entry knowing that. It runs six anomaly-detection methods with causal filtering, forecasts every tracked metric one hour to seven days ahead with confidence bounds, and tracks BREEAM, LEED, and Nordic Swan criteria against live data continuously rather than at audit time. The Frostdynamics engine lets you simulate a change before anyone touches the building. Hosting is in the EU on Hetzner or in your own cluster, with a direct Nordic team, and your data and trained models are exportable from day one. Read-only, always.

The boundary: Explore recommends and isn't a CMMS, so work-order or PM-scheduling execution isn't what either platform does. If your plant is complex HVAC and diagnostic depth there is the whole job, that's Clockworks, below.

Clockworks Analytics

Best at scoring exactly what's broken in your HVAC plant and what it's costing you

Clockworks Analytics, a KGS Buildings product, spun out of MIT's Building Science Department in 2008. A physics-based engine models each piece of HVAC equipment, scores every fault 0 to 10 by its impact on energy, comfort, and reliability, and attaches the avoidable cost in currency. Their site cites more than 500 million square feet under analysis, and a September 2025 Microsoft Azure customer story puts cumulative documented client savings at 69 million dollars. Customers include Kaiser Permanente, Johns Hopkins, and MIT.

The boundary is scope. Clockworks is HVAC diagnostics, deliberately: no forecasting, no what-if simulation, and no certification-compliance tracking in their published materials. Azure-hosted, US company, no published EU data-residency commitment, quote-only pricing. In the Nordics you reach it through service partners such as GK and ISS rather than a direct presence.

Weighing other Clockworks competitors too? BrainBox AI and Nuuka take the autonomous-control route instead of diagnosing only; Facilio wraps energy inside a much broader CMMS. See the full field in our best building energy management software comparison.

Side by side

Clockworks Analytics vs FrostLogic Explore, in one table.

FrostLogic Explore and Clockworks Analytics, compared on focus, AI behaviour, coverage, forecasting, certification tracking, data residency and pricing.
FrostLogic ExploreClockworks Analytics
Core focusSensor intelligence layer: ranked decision queue across BMS, meters, IoTHVAC fault detection and diagnostics on complex plant
How the AI actsRecommends; your team decidesDiagnoses and prioritises faults; your team decides
CoverageFull building telemetry: BMS, meters, IoT sensorsHVAC equipment only
Forecasting and simulation1 hour to 7 days ahead, with confidence bounds, plus what-if simulationNot a published feature
Certification complianceContinuous: BREEAM, LEED, Nordic SwanNot published
EU data residencyYes (Hetzner, GDPR-native) or self-hostedNo published commitment; Azure-hosted
PricingPer building, on requestQuote only

Clockworks claims come from clockworksanalytics.com and Clockworks' published materials, including a September 2025 Microsoft Azure customer story, as of August 2026. "Not published" means we could not find it, which is not proof it does not exist.

Transparent pricing, no sales call to see it

See FrostLogic Explore pricing

Before you shortlist

Five questions that settle Clockworks vs Explore faster than any comparison.

Ask these on the first call with either vendor, including us. The field narrows itself fast.

  1. Is the problem HVAC specifically, or the whole building? If every dollar of waste traces back to mechanical plant, Clockworks' HVAC-only depth is hard to beat. If meters, IoT sensors, or non-HVAC systems are part of the picture too, that's outside its published scope.

  2. Do you need forecasting and what-if simulation, or diagnosis of what's already broken? Clockworks scores faults after they happen. Explore forecasts ahead and lets you simulate a change before it's made. Decide which stage of the problem you're actually trying to solve.

  3. Does either vendor track certification criteria continuously, or only at audit time? Clockworks' published materials don't describe continuous BREEAM, LEED, or Nordic Swan tracking. Ask directly if compliance evidence matters to you.

  4. Where does the data live, and who do you call in the Nordics? Clockworks is Azure-hosted with no published EU residency commitment, and reaches the Nordics through service partners such as GK and ISS. Explore is EU-hosted on Hetzner, or self-hosted, with a direct Nordic team.

  5. Are you buying a CMMS, or do you need one at all? Neither platform is a CMMS. If work-order execution is the gap, look at that separately; scoring fault severity doesn't close it.

For the wider field, read our best building energy management software comparison.

Before you ask

Clockworks Analytics vs FrostLogic Explore, the questions we get.

If your problem is entirely complex HVAC plant and you want the deepest fault diagnosis on that equipment, Clockworks is hard to beat, and we say so plainly. If you need coverage beyond HVAC, forecasting, or continuous certification tracking, Explore reads further.

Clockworks is a physics-based fault detection and diagnostics engine for HVAC equipment specifically, scoring each fault 0 to 10 by cost. Explore is a sensor intelligence layer that reads any BMS, energy meter, or IoT sensor data, not HVAC alone, and adds forecasting, what-if simulation, and continuous compliance tracking on top.

The underlying philosophy is close: both rank what's actually broken instead of showing a dashboard. The scope differs. Clockworks is HVAC-only by design. Explore reads the whole building and forecasts ahead rather than diagnosing only what has already failed.

Clockworks has no published EU data-residency commitment and runs on Microsoft Azure. In the Nordics it's reached through service partners such as GK and ISS rather than a direct presence. FrostLogic Explore is EU-hosted on Hetzner, or self-hosted, and built GDPR-native with a direct Nordic team.

Clockworks is quote-only, with no published pricing we could find. FrostLogic Explore is also priced per building, on request.

BrainBox AI and Nuuka take an autonomous-control route instead of diagnosing only. Facilio wraps energy analytics inside a much broader CMMS. Our best building energy management software comparison covers the full roundup.

See the decision queue on your own building.

Book a 20-minute demo on your own data, or start with the free Building Intelligence Score. Either way, we'll tell you straight whether Explore's wider scope is what you need, or whether Clockworks' HVAC depth is the better fit.

Talk it throughBook a time directlyGet your free Building Intelligence Score