Buying guide
Free captive portal software, and what the word free is doing
Search this and almost every result is a 14 or 30 day trial wearing the word free. This page checks each vendor against its own pricing page, names the two with a real free plan, and says what each one costs you instead of money.
The direct answer
Of the seven platforms checked here, two publish a genuinely free forever plan: VoqadoWiFi and GoZone WiFi. The other five offer a 14 or 30 day trial and then a paid plan starting between $40 and $69 a month. GoZone’s free tier is ad supported, so your guests see advertising; VoqadoWiFi’s is capped at one location and 500 logins a month and works only with TP-Link Omada and Ubiquiti UniFi hardware.
Who wrote this. VoqadoWiFi did, and VoqadoWiFi is one of the options below. Read it with that in mind. Every competitor figure is quoted from the vendor’s own public pricing page with the date it was read, and each one is linked so you can check it.
Every vendor, checked against its own pricing page
| Platform | What you get without paying | Free forever? | Entry price as published |
|---|---|---|---|
| VoqadoWiFi | Starter: 1 location, 500 guest logins a month, branded portal, email capture, review automation, CRM, CSV export. No card. | Yes | $0, then $49 per month |
| Beambox | 30 day trial, then a paid plan | No, trial only | $40 USD per month, billed yearly |
| Social WiFi | 14 day trial, then a paid plan | No, trial only | Not published. Prices are shown as "per month" with no figure. |
| Spotipo | 14 day full access trial, no card required | No, trial only | $59 per location per month, or $49 billed annually |
| MyPlace | Free trial, then a paid plan | No, trial only | $49 per location per month |
| CaptiFi | 30 day trial that requires a payment method and a refundable hardware deposit | No, trial only | $69 per month, or $59 billed annually |
| GoZone WiFi | A genuinely free forever plan | Yes | $0 forever on Business Starter, then $39 per month |
Every figure above was read from the vendor’s own pricing page on September 24, 2026. Prices change without notice, so follow the links and check before you decide.
The honest footnote about being the only free one
One other platform in this comparison, GoZone WiFi, also publishes a free forever plan. Their own pricing page describes it as an ads based login, so the free tier is funded by advertising shown to your guests. VoqadoWiFi shows your brand and nobody else’s. That is the distinction, and it is worth stating precisely rather than claiming to be the only free option in the world.
Free plan, free trial and free software are three different things
| Kind | What it means | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| Free forever plan | A capped tier that does not expire and takes no payment method. | The cap, and usually narrow hardware support or advertising. |
| Free trial | Full access for 14 or 30 days, then a paid plan or the service stops. | Nothing up front, then the full price once your venue depends on it. |
| Free trial with a card | The same, but a payment method is taken before it starts. | The risk of forgetting to cancel, which is the point. |
| Free and open source | Software you host and maintain yourself. | Your time, permanently. Hosting, upgrades, deliverability and consent are yours. |
The distinction matters more here than in most software categories, because a captive portal becomes load bearing quickly. Once your guest network depends on it and your list lives in it, switching is disruptive. A trial that expires after you have wired it into the venue is a much stronger commercial position for the vendor than for you.
The free option most venues forget they already have
Before paying anyone, including us: the captive portal built into your own controller is free, already installed, and enough for a real set of cases.
- The portal built into UniFi or Omada. Already on the hardware you own. Terms page, simple password or vouchers. Collects nothing you can market to.
- pfSense or OPNsense captive portal. A firewall distribution with a capable portal. Excellent control, and you own every upgrade and every outage.
- CoovaChilli. The long standing open source access controller. Powerful, RADIUS oriented, and genuinely demanding to operate.
Use the built in portal if you want a terms page, a password or vouchers and nothing else. Add a Social WiFi platform only when you intend to keep the guest email address and actually send something to it. If you will not send anything, the built in portal is the right answer and it costs nothing.
Where VoqadoWiFi is the wrong choice
Naming this is the only reason to trust the rest of the page.
- You do not run Omada or UniFi. Two vendors, and no plans for a third. Beambox and CaptiFi support far more hardware, and if compatibility is your constraint one of them is the better answer.
- You want to charge for WiFi. Paid access is not built. UniFi’s own hotspot does this, and so do several platforms above.
- You have no hardware at all. CaptiFi includes access points with the plan. VoqadoWiFi ships nothing and assumes you already have a network.
- You need more than three locations on a paid plan. Growth covers three; past that you are into a custom quote, and larger operators may find Purple or Cloud4Wi a better structural fit.
- You need deep PMS or point of sale integration. Social WiFi the company and Cloudi-Fi have spent years on this. VoqadoWiFi exports CSV and syncs to Mailchimp on the paid plan, and that is the extent of it.
If the free plan does fit
One location, Omada or UniFi hardware, and an intention to actually mail the list. That is the shape of venue this was built for.
No card. The setup guide tells you on its first screen if your hardware is not supported, rather than after it has your email address.
Questions about free plans
Is there genuinely free captive portal software?
Yes, but only two kinds. Free plans from a commercial vendor, of which there are very few, and open source software you host yourself such as CoovaChilli, pfSense with a captive portal, or a UniFi or Omada controller using its own built in portal. Everything else marketed as free is a trial.
Why is almost everything in this category a trial rather than a free plan?
Because of hardware and compatibility cost. Vendors that ship you access points, or that maintain integrations with twenty different controller brands, have real per customer costs from day one and cannot absorb a free tier. The vendors with free plans are the ones that support few vendors and ship nothing.
What is the catch with a free plan?
There is always one, and it is worth naming. GoZone funds its free tier with advertising shown to your guests. VoqadoWiFi caps the free plan at one location and 500 guest logins a month and supports only two hardware vendors. Read the limit before you read the marketing.
Can I just use the captive portal built into UniFi or Omada?
Yes, and for some venues you should. Both can show a terms page, take a simple password or issue vouchers, at no cost. What neither does is keep the guest email address somewhere you can use it, or send anything after the visit. If you do not intend to market to the list, do not add a second system.
Is open source captive portal software a realistic option?
For a technical operator, yes. pfSense, OPNsense, CoovaChilli and similar have run guest networks for years. Budget for the work: you are taking on hosting, upgrades, deliverability and the legal side of consent yourself, and none of that is free in the sense that matters.
What does the free VoqadoWiFi plan actually include?
One location, 500 guest logins a month, a branded captive portal, guest email capture, Google review automation, NPS surveys, a guest CRM and CSV export. It takes no card and does not expire. It supports TP-Link Omada and Ubiquiti UniFi and nothing else.