Best Captive Portal Software for Business: Complete Guide and Comparison

Every business with a WiFi network faces the same question: what happens when someone connects? Without a captive portal, the answer is "nothing" - guests get access, you get nothing back. No data, no consent record, no way to know who's on your network. With the right captive portal software, that connection becomes a handshake: you provide internet access, and in return you capture contact information, collect marketing consent, enforce compliance, and control exactly who gets on your network and what they can do.

This guide covers two things. First, a straightforward comparison of the best captive portal software platforms available in 2026 - what each does well, where each falls short, and which is right for your business. Second, a practical step-by-step walkthrough of how to set up a guest WiFi portal from scratch, regardless of which platform you choose.

What Is Captive Portal Software?

A captive portal is the login page that appears when you connect to a WiFi network at a hotel, coffee shop, airport, or office. Technically, it intercepts a device's first HTTP request and redirects it to a splash page where the user must take some action - agree to terms, enter an email, log in with social media - before gaining internet access.

The underlying mechanism is defined in RFC 8952 (Captive Portal API), which standardizes how networks signal to devices that they're behind a captive portal. In practice, captive portal software sits between the access point and the internet, managing the authentication flow, collecting user data, and enforcing access policies.

For businesses, captive portal software transforms guest WiFi from a cost center into a marketing channel and a compliance safeguard. The software runs either as a cloud service, an on-premises appliance, or integrated into your access point controller.

What Are the Best Captive Portal Software Platforms in 2026?

The captive portal market serves very different use cases - a vacation rental host and a multi-site enterprise have almost nothing in common beyond needing a splash page. Here's how the major platforms compare across the criteria that actually matter.

IronWiFi

IronWiFi combines captive portal functionality with enterprise-grade cloud RADIUS authentication, making it uniquely suited for organizations that need both guest WiFi management and employee network security under one platform. The captive portal supports social login, email/SMS capture, voucher codes, and click-through authentication, with a drag-and-drop splash page editor. Where IronWiFi stands apart is in its compliance posture (SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA-ready) and its ability to handle WPA-Enterprise (802.1X) authentication on the same infrastructure - so you get guest portals and corporate network security from a single provider. Compatible with 200+ access point vendors across Cisco, Aruba, Meraki, UniFi, Ruckus, Cambium, and more.

StayFi

StayFi is built specifically for the hospitality and vacation rental market. It replaces the default router captive portal with a branded splash page focused on capturing guest emails for post-stay marketing. StayFi's strength is its deep integration with property management tools and the simplicity of its hardware (a plug-and-play device). It's excellent for short-term rental operators who want to build a direct marketing list, but it's not designed for enterprise network security, multi-VLAN environments, or compliance-heavy industries.

Cloudi-Fi

Cloudi-Fi targets multi-site enterprises with advanced analytics and centralized management. It offers detailed visitor analytics, heatmaps, and integrations with enterprise marketing platforms. Cloudi-Fi works well for large organizations with many locations that need consistent branding and centralized reporting across all sites. Its analytics depth is a genuine differentiator, though it comes at a higher price point than most alternatives.

Purple (Purple WiFi)

Purple specializes in visitor analytics for large venues - stadiums, shopping centers, airports, and conference facilities. Its captive portal feeds data into a robust analytics engine that tracks footfall patterns, dwell times, repeat visits, and visitor demographics. Purple is the right choice when analytics and venue intelligence are your primary goals. It's less focused on network security features and more oriented toward the marketing and operational intelligence side.

Spotipo

Spotipo focuses on small and medium businesses with an emphasis on broad router compatibility and affordable pricing. It supports social WiFi login, email capture, and basic marketing integrations. Spotipo works with a wide range of consumer and prosumer routers (OpenWrt, MikroTik, pfSense, DD-WRT), making it accessible for businesses with existing hardware they don't want to replace. The trade-off is less depth in enterprise security and compliance features.

Nomadix

Nomadix provides hardware-based gateway solutions primarily for the hotel and hospitality industry. Their gateway appliances sit between the network switch and the internet uplink, handling captive portal, bandwidth management, and policy enforcement at the hardware level. Nomadix is a proven choice for hotels with complex PMS (property management system) integrations, but the hardware-first approach means higher upfront costs and less flexibility compared to cloud-based solutions.

PacketFence

PacketFence is an open-source network access control (NAC) solution that includes captive portal functionality alongside VLAN management, 802.1X support, and device fingerprinting. It's free, highly customizable, and backed by an active community. The trade-off is clear: deployment and maintenance require significant technical expertise. PacketFence is ideal for organizations with Linux system administration resources who need NAC capabilities without licensing costs.

MyPlace

MyPlace targets small businesses with a straightforward, easy-to-set-up captive portal. It offers social login, email capture, and basic analytics with a clean, modern interface. MyPlace is designed for venues like cafes, restaurants, and small retail shops that want guest WiFi data capture without the complexity of enterprise platforms. Setup is quick and pricing is accessible, but it lacks the depth needed for multi-site or compliance-intensive deployments.

Platform Comparison Table

Platform	Best For	Key Feature	Starting Price	Router Compatibility
IronWiFi	Enterprise security + marketing	Cloud RADIUS + captive portal in one platform; SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA	From $5/month	200+ vendors (Cisco, Aruba, Meraki, UniFi, Ruckus, Cambium...)
StayFi	Vacation rentals & hospitality	Email capture with PMS integration; plug-and-play hardware	From $11/month	Proprietary hardware or select routers
Cloudi-Fi	Multi-site enterprise analytics	Advanced analytics, heatmaps, centralized multi-location management	Custom pricing	Major enterprise vendors
Purple	Large venues & visitor analytics	Deep footfall analytics, dwell time tracking, demographic data	Custom pricing	Major enterprise vendors
Spotipo	Small business, broad hardware	Wide router compatibility; social WiFi at affordable pricing	From $30/month	OpenWrt, MikroTik, pfSense, DD-WRT, UniFi
Nomadix	Hotels (hardware gateway)	Dedicated gateway appliance; PMS integration; bandwidth management	Hardware + license	Works with any network (inline gateway)
PacketFence	Technical teams (open source NAC)	Free; full NAC with 802.1X, VLAN management, device fingerprinting	Free (open source)	Any RADIUS-capable hardware
MyPlace	Small business, simple setup	Quick setup; modern UI; social login and email capture	From $19/month	Select consumer and enterprise APs

How Do You Choose the Right Captive Portal Software?

The "best" captive portal is the one that matches your actual needs. A hotel picking software for vacation rental email capture has different requirements than a university needing NAC with 802.1X. Here's a framework for narrowing the field.

By Business Size

• Small business (1-5 locations): Look for simple setup, affordable pricing, and broad router compatibility so you don't have to replace hardware. MyPlace, Spotipo, or IronWiFi's starter plans work well here.
• Mid-market (5-50 locations): Centralized management, consistent branding across sites, and marketing integrations become critical. IronWiFi, Cloudi-Fi, or Purple are strong choices depending on whether your priority is security, analytics, or both.
• Enterprise (50+ locations): You need multi-tenant management, SSO/SAML integration, SLA-backed uptime, compliance certifications, and API access for custom integrations. IronWiFi and Cloudi-Fi serve this tier; Purple does as well if analytics is the primary driver.

By Industry

• Hospitality & vacation rentals: StayFi (purpose-built for rental hosts), Nomadix (hotels with PMS needs), or IronWiFi (hotels needing both guest portal and WPA-Enterprise for staff networks).
• Retail & restaurants: Social login and email capture are the priorities. MyPlace, Spotipo, or IronWiFi with social auth configured.
• Education: Need 802.1X for students/staff plus guest portal for visitors. IronWiFi or PacketFence (if you have the Linux expertise).
• Events & venues: High concurrency, analytics, and temporary access. Purple or IronWiFi with voucher-based access.
• Enterprise offices: Compliance, VLAN segmentation, and integration with Azure AD/Okta. IronWiFi is the natural fit with its combined RADIUS + captive portal approach.

By Feature Priority

• Marketing and data capture first: StayFi, Purple, Spotipo, or IronWiFi. Look for social login options, CRM integrations, and automated email workflows.
• Security and compliance first: IronWiFi (SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA-ready with cloud RADIUS), PacketFence (full NAC), or Cloudi-Fi (enterprise compliance features).
• Analytics first: Purple (deepest analytics), Cloudi-Fi (multi-site analytics), or IronWiFi (session analytics with RADIUS logs).

By Hardware Compatibility

This is often the deciding factor. Check whether the software supports your existing access points before evaluating features. Replacing hardware to accommodate software is backwards.

• Enterprise APs (Cisco, Aruba, Meraki, Ruckus): All major platforms support these.
• UniFi: IronWiFi, Spotipo, and PacketFence have strong UniFi integration.
• Consumer/prosumer routers (MikroTik, OpenWrt, DD-WRT): Spotipo and IronWiFi offer the broadest support here.
• Any hardware (inline gateway): Nomadix works regardless of AP vendor since it sits between the switch and the internet.

See IronWiFi's full compatible hardware list for detailed vendor support.

How Do You Set Up a Guest WiFi Portal?

Whether you've picked a platform or you're still evaluating, the setup process follows the same fundamental steps. Here's the complete walkthrough.

Step 1: Choose Your Approach

There are two architectural models for captive portals:

For most businesses, cloud-based is the right answer. Lower upfront cost, faster deployment, and the vendor handles reliability and updates.

Step 2: Configure Your Network

The network setup is the same regardless of which captive portal you choose.

1. Create a dedicated guest SSID. Keep it separate from your corporate/employee network. Name it something recognizable: "YourBusiness-Guest" or "YourBusiness-WiFi".
2. Set up VLAN isolation. The guest VLAN should have no route to your internal network. Guests can reach the internet and the captive portal - nothing else. This is non-negotiable for security.
3. Configure bandwidth limits. Set per-user and per-SSID bandwidth caps to prevent a single guest from saturating your connection. Typical per-user limits: 5-25 Mbps down, 2-10 Mbps up, depending on your available bandwidth.
4. Set up the walled garden. Before authentication, users need to reach the captive portal page and any OAuth providers (Google, Facebook, Apple) for social login. Whitelist these domains in your access point's walled garden or pre-authentication ACL.
5. Point authentication to your captive portal. Configure the access point to redirect unauthenticated clients to your captive portal's external URL (for cloud-based) or internal server (for on-premises).

Step 3: Design Your Splash Page

The splash page is what guests see. It needs to accomplish three things in five seconds: establish trust (your branding), explain the deal (free WiFi in exchange for X), and make the action obvious (big, clear login button).

• Branding: Your logo, brand colors, and a welcoming message. This is not the place for a novel. One headline, one line of context, and the login form.
• Login methods: Display the authentication options you've configured (social buttons, email field, access code input). Put the most popular option first and most prominent.
• Terms and conditions: A checkbox linking to your terms of service and privacy policy. Required for legal compliance. Keep it visible but not obstructive.
• Mobile-first design: Over 80% of captive portal interactions happen on phones. If your splash page isn't optimized for a 375px-wide screen, it's broken.

Step 4: Set Up Authentication Methods

Choose login methods based on what you want to collect and how much friction your guests will tolerate.

Method	Data Collected	User Friction	Best For
Social Login (Google/Facebook/Apple)	Name, email, profile photo, age range	Low (one tap if already signed in)	Retail, hospitality, events
Email Capture	Email address, optionally name	Medium (typing required)	Marketing-focused businesses
SMS Verification	Verified phone number	Medium-high (two-step)	Security-conscious venues, identity verification
Click-Through (T&C only)	None (just consent)	Lowest possible	Public spaces, libraries, minimal data needs
Access Code / Voucher	Voucher usage only	Low-medium (enter code)	Hotels (per-room codes), events, conferences
802.1X / RADIUS	Full identity from directory	Medium (initial profile setup)	Enterprise, education

A practical combination for most businesses: Offer social login as the primary option (fastest for users, richest data for you), email as a fallback for users who don't want to use social accounts, and click-through for anyone who refuses to share data (depending on your tolerance). For enterprise environments, add 802.1X RADIUS authentication for employees on the same infrastructure.

Step 5: Connect Marketing Integrations

The data you collect is only valuable if it flows into systems that can act on it. Configure these integrations during setup, not as an afterthought.

• Email marketing (Mailchimp, Constant Contact, SendGrid): Automatically add WiFi-captured emails to a dedicated list or segment. Set up a welcome email that triggers when a new contact is added.
• CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho CRM): Create or update contacts with WiFi session data - visit date, location, duration. Sales teams get visibility into which prospects have visited your physical location.
• Marketing automation (Zapier, Make): Build workflows triggered by WiFi events. Example: when a guest connects for the third time, trigger a loyalty offer via email.
• Analytics (Google Analytics): Track splash page views, conversion rates by login method, and drop-off points. Treat your captive portal like a landing page and optimize accordingly.

Step 6: Configure Compliance Settings

This step is not optional. If you collect personal data through your captive portal - and if you're doing email or social login, you are - you have legal obligations.

For a deeper dive into GDPR requirements for guest WiFi, see our GDPR-compliant guest WiFi guide. For broader data privacy considerations, our WiFi data privacy guide covers the full landscape.

Step 7: Test and Launch

1. Test every login method on iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. Apple's CNA and Android's captive portal detection behave differently - verify both.
2. Test the walled garden. Can unauthenticated users reach the splash page? Can they complete social login (which requires OAuth redirects to Google/Facebook/Apple domains)?
3. Verify VLAN isolation. From a guest device, try to access internal resources. You should be blocked.
4. Test bandwidth limits. Run a speed test from a guest device. Confirm limits are enforced.
5. Verify marketing integrations. Log in through your captive portal and check that the contact appears in your email platform/CRM.
6. Test data consent. Verify the GDPR checkbox works, the privacy policy link resolves, and consent is logged.
7. Simulate high load. If you expect many simultaneous connections (events, conferences), test with as many devices as you can. Captive portals that work with 10 users sometimes break with 200.

What Authentication Methods Should Your Captive Portal Support?

The authentication method question comes down to a trade-off between data richness and user friction. More friction means fewer people complete the login. Less friction means less data. The art is finding the balance that matches your business goals.

Social login hits the sweet spot for most consumer-facing businesses. Users tap one button, you get their name, email, and profile information without them typing anything. The catch: some users refuse to connect social accounts to a WiFi network, and platform changes can break OAuth integrations.

Email capture is the universal fallback. Everyone has an email address. The data quality is lower (people use throwaway emails) but the friction is moderate and the captured addresses feed directly into your marketing stack.

SMS verification provides the strongest identity confirmation for guest networks. Phone numbers are harder to fake than emails, and the two-step verification (enter number, receive code, enter code) confirms the person is real. The downside: it's the highest-friction method and requires an SMS gateway, which adds per-message cost.

For enterprise environments, the authentication conversation shifts entirely. Guests use the captive portal methods above, but employees and managed devices should authenticate via 802.1X with RADIUS. This provides individual identity, VLAN assignment based on role, and a full audit trail - none of which captive portal login methods can match. IronWiFi handles both on the same platform, which eliminates the need for separate systems for guest and employee WiFi.

Consider offering Passpoint (Hotspot 2.0) as well. Passpoint allows devices to automatically authenticate to your network without ever seeing a captive portal - useful for return visitors and partner roaming. Our Passpoint vs. captive portals comparison covers when each approach makes sense.

What Compliance Requirements Apply to Guest WiFi?

Operating guest WiFi means collecting personal data, and collecting personal data means regulatory obligations. Here's what applies, how to comply, and what your captive portal software needs to support.

GDPR (European Union)

If any of your users are in the EU - which includes EU tourists connecting to WiFi at your US hotel - GDPR applies. The key requirements for captive portals:

• Lawful basis for data collection: Consent (checkbox on the splash page) or legitimate interest (providing the WiFi service). Consent is the safer and more common approach.
• Transparency: Tell users exactly what data you collect, why, and how long you keep it. Link to a clear privacy policy from the splash page.
• Data minimization: Only collect what you need. If you only want email addresses, don't also require phone numbers.
• Right to erasure: Users can request deletion of their data. Your captive portal must support data export and deletion per user.
• Data retention limits: Don't keep data forever. Set automated retention policies - typically 12-24 months for marketing data.

CCPA (California)

CCPA applies if you do business with California residents and meet certain revenue or data volume thresholds. Requirements overlap significantly with GDPR but add specific obligations around the sale of personal information and the right to opt out.

Industry-Specific Requirements

• Healthcare (HIPAA): If guest WiFi is in a healthcare facility, ensure guest and patient data are completely segregated. The captive portal system itself should not process PHI, but HIPAA's security requirements still apply to the network infrastructure.
• Payment processing (PCI-DSS): If your network carries payment card data, guest WiFi must be fully segmented from cardholder data environments. VLAN isolation is a must, not a nice-to-have.
• Education (FERPA, CIPA): Educational institutions may need content filtering on guest networks and compliance with student data protection regulations.

How Does a Captive Portal Integrate with Your Marketing Stack?

Guest WiFi generates first-party data at a scale that most physical businesses can't match through any other channel. Every guest who connects gives you at minimum an email address and a timestamp. With social login, you also get name, profile photo, and demographic signals. With analytics, you get visit frequency, dwell time, and location patterns.

The value comes from integrating this data with your existing marketing tools.

Email Marketing

The most common integration. WiFi-captured emails flow to your email platform (Mailchimp, Constant Contact, SendGrid, or whatever you use), where they trigger automated welcome sequences. A typical workflow:

1. Guest connects and authenticates via email or social login
2. Captive portal pushes the contact to your email platform tagged with location, date, and login method
3. A welcome email sends within 24 hours (thanking them for visiting, offering a discount for return visit)
4. For repeat visitors, the system recognizes them and triggers a loyalty-focused message instead

CRM Integration

For B2B environments, conference centers, and coworking spaces, pushing WiFi data to your CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho) creates a physical-visit record on the contact timeline. Sales teams can see when a prospect visited your office or attended your event.

Marketing Automation

Platforms like Zapier and Make connect your captive portal to virtually any marketing tool. Build workflows that trigger based on WiFi events: new guest connection, return visit, long dwell time, or specific location. The captive portal becomes an input into your broader automation engine.

Analytics and Reporting

Beyond marketing, captive portal data feeds operational intelligence. Track peak hours to optimize staffing. Measure the effectiveness of promotions by correlating foot traffic with campaign dates. Compare visit patterns across locations. This data becomes more valuable over time as patterns emerge.

How Should You Evaluate Captive Portal Software?

Here's a quick checklist to run through before committing to any platform.

1. Hardware compatibility: Does it work with your existing access points? Check before anything else.
2. Authentication methods: Does it support the login options your guests expect and your business needs?
3. Compliance: Can it handle GDPR consent, data retention, subject access requests, and audit logging?
4. Marketing integrations: Does it connect to your email platform, CRM, and automation tools?
5. Scalability: Will it work at your current size and the scale you're growing toward? Multi-site management?
6. Security: Does it support VLAN isolation, bandwidth control, and (if needed) 802.1X for employees?
7. Analytics: Does it provide the visitor insights you need? Session data, demographics, visit patterns?
8. Support: What support do you get? Community forums (open source) vs. dedicated support team (commercial)?
9. Total cost: Factor in software licensing, potential hardware costs, SMS fees, and the time cost of setup and maintenance.

The captive portal market has enough options that you shouldn't have to compromise on the features that matter most to your business. Start with your hardware and compliance requirements (these are non-negotiable constraints), then optimize for the marketing and analytics capabilities that drive your specific use case.

Guest WiFi was already a business necessity. Captive portal software makes it a business advantage.