Purple vs Portnox
Purple and Portnox both offer cloud RADIUS for enterprise WiFi, but they sit in different categories. Portnox is a cloud-native NAC: network access control, agentless device profiling, posture assessment, and wired plus wireless coverage under one policy engine, with its own cloud certificate authority. Purple is a WiFi platform: guest, staff, and multi-tenant networks with captive portal, footfall analytics, and marketing automation alongside RADIUS.
Last fact-checked 2026-06-15. Portnox: cloud-native network access control platform with integrated RADIUS, device profiling, and risk-based policy.
Best for Purple
Venues and enterprises where WiFi is the primary surface - retail, hospitality, stadiums, MDU, coworking - and where captive portal, analytics, marketing automation, and iPSK matter as much as the auth plane.
Best for Portnox
Organisations whose primary driver is network access control across wired and wireless, with device posture, agentless profiling, and risk-based policy as the headline requirements.
Feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | Purple | Portnox |
|---|---|---|
| Product category | WiFi platform (guest, staff and multi-tenant) with cloud RADIUS | Cloud-native NAC with integrated RADIUS |
| RADIUS-as-a-Service | Yes - multi-region, full EAP methods, per-AP billing | Yes - included in the NAC subscription |
| Wired network coverage | WiFi-first; wired via standard 802.1X | Full wired plus wireless NAC, including switch enforcement |
| Device profiling | Basic device classification | Agentless profiling and fingerprinting is a headline feature |
| Posture assessment | Via MDM integration | Native - posture checks on connect and periodically |
| Captive portal | Full brandable portal builder with marketing automation | CLEAR guest portal available; guest counts capped on base tiers |
| iPSK (Identity PSK) | Yes - first-class product, powers Multi-Tenant WiFi | Not advertised - certificate and 802.1X-first |
| Analytics | Footfall, dwell, repeat-visit, cohort benchmarks | Security and compliance reporting |
| Marketing automation | Purple Engage - email, SMS, 70+ CRMs, loyalty | Not in product scope |
| Identity provider integration | Entra ID, Okta, Google Workspace, JumpCloud, SAML, LDAP | Entra ID, Okta, Google Workspace, OneLogin, JumpCloud, Active Directory |
| Compliance | ISO 27001, GDPR, CCPA, Cyber Essentials, B Corp | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR-aligned |
| Pricing transparency | Published pricing calculator | Some per-device pricing published; full platform by quote |
When Purple is the right call
If the driver is customer-facing WiFi - captive portal, branding, footfall analytics, marketing automation, multi-tenant iPSK, or venue-scale guest experience - Purple is built for the job and Portnox is not, with outcomes like a 57x return at Harrods to prove it. Teams running Cisco Meraki, HPE Aruba, Ruckus, Juniper Mist, and Ubiquiti across a varied venue estate also find Purple's hardware-agnostic posture more natural than a NAC that wants deep switch integration, and Purple's free Connect tier and published pricing remove procurement friction.
When Portnox is the right call
If the driver is network access control across wired and wireless - agentless device profiling, posture on connect, risk-based policy, its own cloud certificate authority, and unified visibility of every endpoint on the corporate network - Portnox is purpose-built and holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001. Security-first enterprises with SOC teams that own the network will find NAC depth that no WiFi-first vendor matches. That is a different job from guest engagement, where Purple leads.
Frequently asked
Does Purple replace a NAC?
Partially. Purple handles RADIUS-based 802.1X authentication and per-device VLAN assignment, which covers the most common NAC use case for WiFi. What Purple does not do is agentless device profiling, posture assessment against a compliance baseline, and wired-switch enforcement - those are NAC-specific capabilities that Portnox provides.
Can I run Purple and Portnox together?
Yes. A common pattern is Portnox for wired and corporate-endpoint NAC and Purple for guest, staff, and multi-tenant WiFi, particularly where the WiFi use case calls for captive portal and analytics that Portnox does not focus on. They share identity and coexist cleanly.
Which is more appropriate for a retail or hospitality chain?
Purple, in most cases. Retail and hospitality place the customer-facing WiFi experience at the centre - captive portal, first-party data, loyalty integration, analytics - which is Purple's core. Portnox is more natural in industrial, healthcare, and regulated-enterprise contexts where endpoint posture matters more than guest UX.
How do the two compare on RADIUS specifically?
Both deliver cloud RADIUS with multi-region redundancy, EAP-TLS, PEAP, Entra ID / Okta / Google Workspace integration, and SIEM feed. The difference is what sits around it - Purple adds captive portal, analytics, and marketing; Portnox adds agentless profiling, posture checks, and its own certificate authority.
Where Purple beats Portnox
See the product hub and the industries where teams pick Purple over Portnox.
See Purple Passwordless WiFi
Replace shared passwords with EAP-TLS, iPSK, Passpoint, or SAML/SSO. Identity-based credentials on your existing access points.
Industries where teams switch to Purple
Compare Purple with other vendors
Still building a shortlist? See how Purple stacks up against the other vendors teams evaluate alongside Portnox, or browse every comparison on the captive portal software hub.
See Purple running on your infrastructure
Purple deploys as a cloud overlay on your existing access points - Cisco Meraki, HPE Aruba, Ruckus, Juniper Mist, Ubiquiti UniFi, Cambium, Extreme, and Fortinet. No hardware swap, and you can be live in weeks.
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