EverLights and Gemstone differ most in who installs and what the warranty covers. Gemstone sells only through authorized dealers, with a lifetime warranty on registered track lights and 10 years on controllers and track. EverLights runs its own crews in five US markets, sells ClickLights DIY kits at $1,675 per 100 ft, and gives 5 years on parts when its own crew installs. Every figure here is from each brand's own pages.
Written by the GlowBid founder; facts checked on each brand's site on October 28, 2026. I run a permanent lighting company in Ottawa and I build quoting software, not lights. GlowBid is not a dealer for either brand and has no partnership with either. Where Trimlight's comparison page describes EverLights, the claim is credited to Trimlight.
EverLights vs Gemstone at a glance#
Each row comes from the brand's own product, warranty or dealer page. Gaps are left as gaps.
|
Gemstone Lights |
EverLights |
| Who installs |
Authorized dealers only; no DIY for track or floods |
Its own crews in five US markets; dealers elsewhere; DIY ClickLights kits |
| Node spacing |
9 in |
Not published by EverLights; Trimlight's comparison says 9 in |
| Node build |
3 LEDs per light, 4 diodes each; IP67; 46 lumens |
RGBW with true warm white; 70 lumens |
| White |
Warm white diode, 2800K to 7000K |
True warm white (RGBW) |
| Rated life |
50,000 hours |
50,000 hours |
| Track or channel |
Over 150 track types and colours |
Aluminum channel in 5 kit colours, clear or grey caps |
| Power and control |
Hub2 app, no monthly fees; 2.4 or 5 GHz Wi-Fi or Bluetooth |
24 V supply; booster every 75 ft; Smart Bridge with up to 20 receivers |
| Parts warranty |
Track lights lifetime; controllers, track, power 10 years; register in 30 days |
5 years if EverLights installs; 1 year on colour-changing otherwise; warranty page says 1 to 10 years |
| Labour |
Not covered by Gemstone |
1 year only when EverLights installs; excluded from the warranty otherwise |
| Dealer entry |
No fee; starter kit up to $10,000; 5 years in business and $2 million revenue |
"Minimal startup costs that include product," no figure |
| Published price |
Not published |
No install price; 100 ft kit $1,675 |
All five big brands share one table on the permanent lighting brands compared hub. This page takes the two apart from the installer's side: who else sells on your street, what the warranty leaves on your books, and how each one goes up.
$1,675EverLights 100 ft DIY kit
30 daysGemstone warranty registration window
75 ftEverLights power booster spacing
Who else can sell the same lights on your street?#
On Gemstone, other Gemstone dealers. On EverLights, other dealers, the manufacturer's own crew in five metros, and the homeowner with a kit.
Gemstone's FAQ says installs are by authorized dealers only, with no DIY option for track or flood lights. Its dealer page also says plainly that there are no exclusive territories. So the competition is other Gemstone dealers, but every Gemstone house in your area was hung by a dealer, not by the homeowner on a weekend.
EverLights sells three ways. Its install page lists its own locations in Phoenix, Dallas, Southern California, St. George and Las Vegas, from a base in Lindon, Utah, with third-party dealers and distributors elsewhere. And anyone can buy ClickLights kits on its site. In those five metros you would compete with the manufacturer. Everywhere else, the homeowner can price the lights before you knock. The 100 ft kit is $16.75 a foot for the lights, channel, bridge and receiver, before any ladder time. Our EverLights cost per foot page builds an installed rate from that kit.
What does each warranty cover after year one?#
Parts, not labour, on both. Gemstone covers the parts longer on paper; EverLights' term depends on who hung the lights.
Gemstone's warranty page gives track and deck lights a lifetime term, based on an estimated lifespan of 50,000 hours, and says the coverage is not reduced by how long the lights actually run. Power kits, controllers, extensions, cables, connectors and track get 10 years. Flood and patio lights get 5. Registration must be done within 30 days of install, and the FAQ says the warranty is not honoured after that. Labour is not covered; your dealer may offer its own.
EverLights' install page lists 1 year on colour-changing lights, rising to 5 years on parts plus 1 year labour when EverLights installs, and 15 years on the Classic line. Its warranty page says 1 to 10 years by product and install method, with the schedules shown as images. The rules a dealer has to live with are in the text:
- Labour is excluded on every install. EverLights recommends a labour warranty and maintenance contract from a third-party installer.
- A third-party install must use EverLights components (bridge, receiver, power booster, connectors and data buffers) and follow its instructions, or the warranty can be void.
- On a system bought from a dealer, the warranty starts at full app activation.
- Transfer with a house sale needs registration within 90 days of the original purchase.
- Damage from roof, gutter or soffit failure and poor drainage is excluded.
The two pages disagree on Classic, and the kit page lists both a 3 year and a one year term, so get the schedule for your install date in writing. The clause that says whose ladder it is in year two lives in our permanent lighting installation agreement template.
How does each one go up on the house?#
Gemstone goes in its own track; EverLights often goes on the gutter. Gemstone's product page lists over 150 track types and colours, so the daytime look is a colour match on the fascia. Its FAQ puts the lights 9 inches apart, 3 LEDs per light.
EverLights' own home page says only that the lights face outward or downward. Trimlight's comparison page, accurate as of February 27, 2025 by its own date, says EverLights mounts on the top lip of the gutter or in the drip edge, with a channel for homes without gutters or flashing. Since EverLights' warranty excludes damage from gutter failure, look hard at the gutter before you quote it as the mount.
EverLights publishes its power layout, and it changes your materials list:
- A power booster about every 75 ft, each covering 75 ft, fed from either end.
- A data buffer on unlit wire longer than 5 ft between the receiver and the first light, including after a Y-split.
- One Smart Bridge pairs with up to 20 wireless receivers; two receivers make two zones.
Gemstone's pages we read give watts and lumens per light but no run length per Hub2. Ask the rep for the limit before you lay out a long house.
What will the homeowner do in the app?#
Both run colours, patterns and schedules from the phone. Gemstone's FAQ says its app has no monthly fees, and its pages list over 14,000 premade patterns, a pattern builder, Autopilot for holidays and sports, and sunset-to-sunrise scheduling. Its FAQ says the Hub works on 2.4 or 5 GHz Wi-Fi and can run over Bluetooth with no Wi-Fi at all. That last one saves a January call when the homeowner changes routers.
The EverLights App lists 200-plus patterns and presets, scheduling and control from anywhere with internet. The bridge has an Ethernet port, the kit ships a 2 ft Ethernet cable, and the phone must be on the same Wi-Fi as the bridge to pair. Its support page says a firmware download can take up to 5 minutes.
Set the app up at handover either way. On an EverLights dealer job, activate it before you leave the driveway, because that is when the warranty starts.
What does each one cost to start?#
Gemstone publishes the bar; EverLights publishes neither a bar nor a price. Gemstone's dealer page charges no fee to become a dealer. You buy a starter kit, listed as up to $10,000 CAD/USD in the onboarding steps and roughly $10,000 to $15,000 excluding track in the FAQ. You carry $2 million in liability insurance, finish onboarding within 90 days, and have your first job approved by a Gemstone rep before you sell to the public. Its program page asks for 5 years in business, $2 million in annual gross revenue, sales staff, skilled installers and financing options. There is an annual minimum, with no figure published.
EverLights' dealer page promises "minimal startup costs that include product," training, marketing and technical support, and says no specialty tools are needed. No dollar figure, so book the call and get it in writing. For all six programs side by side, see permanent lighting dealer programs compared.
For a Canadian installer, Gemstone is a Calgary company, and its dealer page says every product carries ETL certification for both Canada and the United States. The EverLights pages we read do not mention Canada.
Worked example: one two-storey, two order lists#
A two-storey with a front gable: 120 ft of roofline (50 ft on the upper storey), a 24 ft ridge line, 36 ft of peaks and two unlit jumps of 4 ft and 6 ft. That is 180 lit feet, measured from one owned photo with the front door as the reference. You can price this house in the free tool and read the footage by run. GlowBid's default track line, US dollars before tax; installers set their own rates.
| Line |
Footage |
Rate |
Amount |
| Roofline |
120 ft |
$25 per ft |
$3,000.00 |
| Ridge line |
24 ft |
$25 per ft |
$600.00 |
| Upper storey premium |
50 ft of roofline |
10 percent |
$125.00 |
| Peaks |
36 ft |
$28 per ft plus 15 percent pitch premium |
$1,159.20 |
| Jumps (2, unlit) |
10 ft |
$12 per ft |
$120.00 |
| Wi-Fi controller |
1 |
$250 |
$250.00 |
| Total |
|
|
$5,254.20 |
| Deposit to book, 30 percent |
|
|
$1,576.26 |
That is $29.19 per lit foot. The customer's price did not depend on the brand. The order did:
| On this house |
Gemstone |
EverLights |
| Lights for 180 lit ft |
240 at 9 in |
Spacing not published by EverLights; 240 if Trimlight's 9 in is right |
| Power plan |
Ask the rep for run length per Hub2 |
180 ft in 75 ft booster sections is 2.4, so three powered sections by our arithmetic |
| Unlit wire |
Jumps priced as their own run |
The 6 ft jump is over 5 ft: one data buffer; the 4 ft jump needs none |
| Install day |
Register the warranty within 30 days |
Activate the app before you leave; it starts the warranty |
| Warranty to print |
Lights lifetime, system parts 10 years, your labour term |
The schedule for your install date, plus your labour term |
| Kit reference |
No kit sold |
Kits in 50 ft steps; 180 ft falls between the 150 and 200 ft kits |
Now year two. One node on the ridge line goes dark in December. On a registered Gemstone job, the light is covered and the ladder is yours or the homeowner's, per your agreement. On an EverLights job you installed as a dealer, the install page's 1 year term on colour-changing lights has run out, so the part may be on you too, unless the warranty page's schedule for your install date says longer. That is the paragraph to get in writing before you sign. Footage from a photo is an estimate; confirm it on site before track or channel is cut.
When to choose Gemstone#
Pick Gemstone over EverLights when you already run an established exterior business that meets the 5 year and $2 million bar, when you want every Gemstone house in town to have come from a dealer, and when the warranty paragraph is your strongest sales line. It also suits a Canadian installer who wants ETL certification for both countries from a Calgary maker. Accept that there is no territory and that every labour promise is yours to write and price.
When to choose EverLights#
Pick EverLights over Gemstone when you work outside its five company locations, you want a low published startup, and your houses have sound gutters or drip edges. Go in knowing the homeowner can buy the same lights as a kit, the warranty excludes labour, and a dealer-sold warranty starts at app activation. Confirm spacing, dealer terms and the warranty schedule directly, because its public pages leave them open.
Homeowners: dealer-only or kit?#
Ask who installs. A Gemstone system comes only from an authorized dealer; an EverLights system may come from a dealer, from EverLights' own crew in five US metros, or from a kit you hang yourself. Then ask what the warranty covers on your exact install, who pays the ladder after year one, and, on Gemstone, whether the warranty was registered within 30 days. Neither brand publishes an installed price per foot, so ask for footage by run on every quote.
Mistakes on EverLights and Gemstone quotes#
- Printing "lifetime" on an EverLights quote. EverLights' terms run 1 to 10 years by product and installer. Print the schedule for your install date.
- Skipping Gemstone registration. Past 30 days the warranty is not honoured. Register on install day, before you pack the ladder.
- Forgetting data buffers. On EverLights, unlit wire over 5 ft needs one. Count jumps from the drawing, not from memory.
- One power supply for a long EverLights house. A booster goes in about every 75 ft. Lay out the power before you price.
- Quoting gutter mounts on a tired gutter. EverLights excludes damage from gutter failure. Look before you promise.
- Believing a competitor's comparison page. Trimlight's EverLights page is Trimlight's case. Check every figure on EverLights' own pages.
Before you carry either line#
Build the new line next to your current one on your rate card: per-foot rates by run type, the controller and boosters as add-on lines, and the brand's warranty paragraph in the scope block. Then re-quote three houses you sold last year and check the margin holds.
In GlowBid, each brand and spacing is its own product line, drawn once on a photo you own; the footage, bill of materials and price come from the same runs, with a materials buffer you set (default 10 percent). The quote PDF carries the warranty terms and your labour term. The customer signs on their phone and pays a Stripe deposit, which carries Stripe processing plus a GlowBid platform margin under 1 percent, shown before you connect Stripe. Core is $69 a month or $299 a year, with a 7-day trial, no card, and a 30-day money-back on a first yearly payment. See the pricing. For each brand against the others, read JellyFish vs Gemstone, EverLights vs Trimlight, Oelo vs EverLights and Gemstone vs Oelo.