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 four with a free forever tier, and says what each one costs you instead of money.
Reviewed by Pierre Subeh, Founder, VoqadoWiFi · Written by the VoqadoWiFi team · Updated
The direct answer
Four platforms checked here publish a free forever tier: VoqadoWiFi, GoZone WiFi, Purple Connect and Captive WiFi. GoZone’s free plan is an ads based login. Purple Connect lists guest data capture only on its paid Capture tier. Captive WiFi Starter has unlimited visits for one venue but no integrations. VoqadoWiFi captures emails free, capped at one location and 500 logins a month, on Omada or UniFi only.
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, guest email capture, CSV export. No card, no ads. | Yes | $0, then $49 per month |
| Purple | Connect, a free tier: secure captive portal, branded splash pages, 25 supported languages, network analytics. A 30 day free trial of Capture and Engage. | Yes, with a catch: Connect is described as "Best for: single venues getting started with WiFi analytics". First party data capture, CRM integration and email verification are listed as what Capture adds to Connect, so the free tier does not list collecting guest contact details. | Connect is free; Capture and Engage prices are not published ("Speak to an expert") |
| Spotipo | 14 day full access trial, no credit card required | No | $59 per location per month, or $49 per location per month billed annually ($590 a year) |
| StayFi | No trial stated on the pricing page; email marketing is free up to 200 contacts with an active access point or PMS integration | No | "Starting at just $19/month"; the pricing page is a calculator and does not state what the $19 covers |
| GoZone WiFi | Business Starter is free forever, with an ads based login | Yes, with a catch: The plans page marks the free tier "* Ads-based login", so guests see advertising on the way in. Automated email campaigns start on Essentials at $39 a month. | $0 "Forever!" on Business Starter (ads based login), then $39 per month |
| Beambox | 30 day trial, then a paid plan; the first Plug & Play Beambox is included with the trial if your hardware is not supported | No | $40 USD per month, billed yearly |
| CaptiFi | 30 day free trial; a payment method is needed to start it, and hardware carries a £60 refundable deposit | No | Lite at £19.99 a month or £190 billed yearly (prices shown in local currency; our check was served GBP) |
| MyPlace | Free trial, then a paid plan; trial length not stated on the pricing page | No | $49 per location per month |
| Social WiFi | 14 days for free, no credit card needed during the trial, then a paid plan | No | $69 a month for a food and beverage venue as shown to a US visitor ($699 a year if paid annually); prices vary by visitor country |
| IronWiFi | Free trial offered; length not stated on the pricing page | No | Guest WiFi from $13 per access point per month, with a $65 a month Guest WiFi minimum |
| Adentro | Not stated | No | Not published; adentro.com/pricing returned 404 and the site offers "Book a demo" |
| Captive WiFi | Starter is free forever with no credit card: 1 venue, unlimited WiFi visits, a basic branded splash page, self serve onboarding and basic analytics. It lists "No Integrations". | Yes, with a catch: Starter lists "No Integrations", and customer feedback, the API, webhooks and advanced reporting are listed on the paid Growth plan only. | Starter is free forever; Growth is $42 per venue per month billed annually, or $50 billed monthly (the page also prices in GBP, EUR and AED) |
Every figure above was read from the vendor’s own pricing page on October 9, 2026. Prices change without notice, so follow the links and check before you decide.
The honest footnote about being the only free one
Three other platforms checked here also publish a free forever tier. GoZone WiFi’s plans page marks its free Business Starter plan as an ads based login, so guests see advertising on the way in. Purple’s free Connect tier covers a branded captive portal and network analytics; its pricing page lists collecting guest contact details as part of its paid Capture tier. Captive WiFi’s free Starter plan covers one venue with unlimited WiFi visits, but lists no integrations, and customer feedback, its API and webhooks are on the paid Growth plan only. VoqadoWiFi’s free Starter plan captures guest emails with no advertising, includes review requests (switched on venue by venue as guest email goes live), and covers one location and 500 guest logins a month on Omada or UniFi hardware.
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. Capable, RADIUS oriented, and 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, with 25 hardware integrations and staff WiFi on the same platform, a better structural fit.
- You need PMS or point of sale integration. Social WiFi lists CRM and hotel marketing integrations; VoqadoWiFi has none. It 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. Check your hardware with the compatibility checker first, before you give anyone your email address, us included.
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?
We can only see the pricing pages, not the reasons behind them. What the pages show: most vendors here offer a 14 or 30 day trial, and the four that publish a free forever tier each attach a catch, from ads on the login to a cap on locations and logins. The next answer lists each one.
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. Purple Connect is free for a branded portal and analytics, but lists guest data capture only on its paid Capture tier. Captive WiFi Starter is free for one venue with unlimited WiFi visits, but lists no integrations and keeps customer feedback, its API and webhooks on its paid Growth plan. 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 and CSV export. Mailchimp sync, guest profiles and email campaigns (sending as email goes live at your venue) are on Growth at $49 a month. It takes no card and does not expire. It supports TP-Link Omada and Ubiquiti UniFi and nothing else.
Keep reading
Best captive portal software, rankedThe same field judged on capability rather than price.Best WiFi marketing softwareFree WiFi marketing softwareWhich free plans keep guest emails, and which can send them anything.What guest WiFi marketing costsIncluding the line items nobody puts on a pricing page.What Social WiFi isSet up a free portal on your hardware