Purple vs Beambox
Beambox and Purple both turn guest WiFi into a marketing and customer-data channel through a branded captive portal. Beambox is built for independent hospitality and retail venues, pairing a plug-and-play access point with email, SMS and review automation. Purple covers the same guest-WiFi marketing ground but extends into staff and multi-tenant WiFi, footfall and dwell analytics, Passpoint/OpenRoaming, and the security and compliance posture larger, multi-site organisations need.
Last fact-checked 2026-06-05. Beambox: An all-in-one SMB guest WiFi marketing platform that turns captive-portal sign-ins into an email and SMS customer list..
Best for Purple
Multi-site brands, venues, airports, retail and enterprise IT teams that need guest plus staff WiFi, location analytics, marketing automation and multi-tenant or roaming connectivity under one platform.
Best for Beambox
Independent cafes, pubs, restaurants, salons, retail shops and small accommodation providers that want a low-cost, plug-and-play way to capture customer contacts from WiFi and run email, SMS and review campaigns.
Feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | Purple | Beambox |
|---|---|---|
| Product surface Beambox is focused on guest-WiFi marketing; Purple spans guest, staff and multi-tenant networking. | Guest, staff and multi-tenant WiFi, captive portal, analytics and marketing in one platform | Guest WiFi captive portal with built-in email, SMS and review marketing |
| Captive portal | Branded, customisable splash with multiple auth and data-capture options | Customisable, passwordless branded portal that recognises returning guests and captures contact data |
| Analytics Purple is geared to operational location analytics; Beambox to marketing-list insight. | Footfall, dwell time and location analytics for venues and multi-site estates | Visit frequency, timing and basic behaviour insights |
| Marketing automation Beambox includes review management as a core feature. | Purple Engage: WiFi-triggered email and SMS journeys | Behaviour-triggered email and SMS, drag-and-drop designer, AI templates, plus automated review requests |
| Hardware / AP support | Vendor-agnostic; integrates with major enterprise AP vendors | Works with most business routers; cloud integrations with UniFi and Ruckus; optional plug-and-play AP with trial |
| Roaming / connectivity Roaming/Passpoint is a Purple differentiator. | Passpoint and OpenRoaming via SecurePass for seamless, secure roaming | Not advertised |
| Pricing transparency | Published pricing and online calculator; free Connect tier | Published plans from £29/month (billed yearly); 30-day trial, no permanent free tier |
When Purple is the right call
Purple is the stronger fit when WiFi has to do more than feed a marketing list. If you run multiple sites or a large venue, need staff and guest networks plus iPSK multi-tenant WiFi, want footfall and dwell analytics to inform operations, require seamless secure roaming through Passpoint/OpenRoaming, or have to satisfy enterprise procurement on ISO 27001, GDPR, CCPA and B Corp, Purple is built for that scale.
When Beambox is the right call
Beambox is a genuinely good fit for an independent venue that wants results without complexity. For a single cafe, pub, salon or shop, its plug-and-play access point removes the hardware hurdle, and the captive portal, email and SMS automation, AI campaign templates and automated review management come bundled at a low monthly price. If your goal is simply to turn WiFi sign-ins into a marketing list and online reviews, Beambox is straightforward and cost-effective.
Frequently asked
What is the main difference between Purple and Beambox?
Beambox is an SMB-focused guest-WiFi marketing platform centred on captive portals, email/SMS and review automation. Purple covers that and adds staff WiFi, iPSK multi-tenant WiFi, footfall/dwell analytics, Passpoint/OpenRoaming and enterprise-grade compliance, suiting larger and multi-site organisations.
Does Beambox include marketing automation?
Yes. Beambox offers behaviour-triggered email and SMS automation with a drag-and-drop designer and AI-generated templates, plus automated review requests, all driven by captive-portal sign-ins.
Is there a free version of either platform?
Purple offers a free Connect tier. Beambox does not have a permanently free plan; it offers a 30-day trial, after which paid plans start at £29/month billed yearly.
Where Purple beats Beambox
See the product hub and the industries where teams pick Purple over Beambox.
See Purple running on your infrastructure
Purple deploys as a cloud overlay on your existing access points — Cisco, Aruba, Ruckus, Juniper Mist, Meraki, Ubiquiti. No hardware swap, live in weeks.