Purple vs SecureW2
Purple and SecureW2 both deliver cloud RADIUS and passwordless WiFi, but from different starting points. SecureW2 is an identity and PKI company: its centre of gravity is EAP-TLS, certificate lifecycle, and deep Microsoft Entra ID and Intune integration through the JoinNow and CloudRADIUS brands, with a strong base in education. Purple is a broader WiFi platform: guest, staff, and multi-tenant WiFi with marketing automation, first-party data, and analytics alongside cloud RADIUS.
Last fact-checked 2026-06-15. SecureW2: certificate-based authentication and cloud RADIUS specialist, operating CloudRADIUS and JoinNow, with a strong education and Microsoft following.
Best for Purple
Venues and enterprises that need guest experience, analytics, and marketing automation on the same platform as their 802.1X auth. Mixed-use environments (retail, hospitality, stadiums, MDU) where captive portal, iPSK, and RADIUS coexist.
Best for SecureW2
Pure IT and security deployments where the requirement is certificate-based authentication and managed PKI, especially Microsoft-first and education environments integrating deeply with Intune and Entra ID.
Feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | Purple | SecureW2 |
|---|---|---|
| Product surface | Guest, staff and multi-tenant WiFi, captive portal, RADIUS-as-a-Service, analytics, marketing automation | CloudRADIUS, JoinNow onboarding, managed PKI |
| RADIUS-as-a-Service | Yes - native, multi-region, with full EAP method support | Yes - core product under the CloudRADIUS brand |
| EAP-TLS / certificates | Supported; managed PKI available | Core strength - integrated managed PKI and onboarding |
| iPSK (Identity PSK) | Yes - first-class product, powers Multi-Tenant WiFi | Not offered - SecureW2 moves customers off shared PSKs to certificates |
| Captive portal | Full brandable portal builder, multi-language, accessibility support | Onboarding portal only; not a marketing splash experience |
| Marketing automation | Purple Engage - WiFi-triggered email/SMS, 70+ CRMs, loyalty | Not in product scope |
| Analytics Different lenses - Purple is marketer plus IT, SecureW2 is IT plus security. | Footfall, dwell, repeat-visit, cohort benchmarks | Authentication logs and access telemetry |
| Identity provider integration | Entra ID, Okta, Google Workspace, JumpCloud, OneLogin, SAML, LDAP | Entra ID, Okta, Google Workspace, OneLogin, on-prem AD |
| Microsoft Intune fit | Supported via standard SCEP / certificate delivery | Official Intune CA partner - device-compliance-gated cert issuance is a flagship |
| Multi-tenant / MDU | Yes - Private Area Networks with iPSK per tenant | Not the product focus |
| Compliance | ISO 27001, GDPR, CCPA, Cyber Essentials, B Corp | ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR (markets FedRAMP compliance, not authorisation) |
| Pricing transparency | Published pricing calculator | Sales-led; no public pricing |
When Purple is the right call
If WiFi is a customer-experience surface, not just an auth plane - retail chains, hospitality, stadiums, MDU, coworking - Purple combines the captive portal, footfall analytics, and marketing automation that SecureW2 does not carry, with proof like a 57x return at Harrods. You also want Purple if iPSK and multi-tenant isolation are part of the brief, or if you run a mixed AP fleet across Cisco Meraki, HPE Aruba, Ruckus, Juniper Mist, and Ubiquiti UniFi under one platform, with a free Connect tier and published pricing at the entry point.
When SecureW2 is the right call
If the requirement is pure certificate-based 802.1X with the deepest possible Intune and Entra ID integration, SecureW2's JoinNow and CloudRADIUS are purpose-built for it - and its official Intune CA partnership (device-compliance-gated issuance and auto-revocation) goes deeper than any WiFi-first vendor. Microsoft-first IT shops and education customers with a mature PKI strategy and no marketing-facing WiFi use case will find SecureW2 more specialised at the certificate-lifecycle edges.
Frequently asked
Does Purple offer managed PKI like SecureW2?
Yes. Purple provides managed certificate issuance tied to RADIUS-as-a-Service, with auto-renewal and MDM delivery. SecureW2 has been in managed PKI longer and goes deeper for customers whose use case is specifically certificate lifecycle management at scale.
Can Purple replace SecureW2 for staff WiFi?
In most deployments, yes. WPA2/3-Enterprise with EAP-TLS against Entra ID, Okta, or Google Workspace runs the same way on either platform. The migration is usually a weekend: stand up Purple alongside, add it as a secondary RADIUS, move SSIDs across, decommission SecureW2.
Which is better integrated with Microsoft Intune?
SecureW2 is the safer pick for Microsoft-first IT teams whose primary MDM is Intune, thanks to its official Intune CA partnership. Purple supports Intune via standard SCEP and the Microsoft connector, which covers most use cases but does not go as deep on Intune-specific automation.
Does Purple do captive portals that SecureW2 does not?
Yes. Purple ships a full captive portal builder, multi-language support, social login, SMS verification, GDPR consent capture, and marketing automation triggers - none of which are in SecureW2's product scope, where the portal is an onboarding step rather than a marketing experience.
Where Purple beats SecureW2
See the product hub and the industries where teams pick Purple over SecureW2.
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 SecureW2, 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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