Best Captive Portal Software for Aruba: 9 Options and How to Choose

*Updated October 2026*

Short answer: The best captive portal software for Aruba is MyPlace, if you run a restaurant, hotel or bar on Aruba and want guest WiFi to build your email list and generate Google reviews. If you only need a login page with terms, Aruba’s built-in guest portal is included and fine. If you’re an enterprise that needs sponsored access and device policy, look at Aruba’s own ClearPass Guest.

Aruba access points ship with a capable built-in guest portal, but it was designed for access control, not marketing. It doesn’t validate emails, build a marketing list, or sync guest data to the tools you run campaigns from. This guide compares 9 captive portal software options that work with Aruba guest WiFi, including Aruba’s built-in portal and ClearPass Guest, and shows how to choose based on what you need: authentication, network access control, branding, data capture, or marketing.

*How we picked: MyPlace is our product, so read our entry knowing that. We’ve listed where each competitor genuinely wins, and every integration and pricing claim was checked against the vendor’s own pages in October 2026.*

Choosing for marketing? Five things to check first

Captive portal software is usually evaluated as an IT purchase. If you run marketing for a restaurant group or hotel, the network side is table stakes. These five things decide whether guest WiFi produces anything you can use:

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• Branding and splash control: your logo, colors, offers, and terms on the login page, editable per location without a developer.
• Email validation: real-time verification at login, so you build a campaign-ready list instead of a file of typos and fakes.
• Review requests: automated Google review invitations after the visit, triggered by the WiFi login.
• CRM and email sync: guest data flows into the tools you already run campaigns from (HubSpot, Mailchimp, Klaviyo), not a CSV you export by hand.
• Multi-location management: one dashboard, per-venue splash pages, and roll-up reporting across sites.

The comparison table below covers all nine options. MyPlace is built around this marketing workflow, and StayFi does the same job for vacation rentals. IronWiFi, Aruba’s built-in portal, ClearPass Guest and the open-source options are network-first. Purple, Cloud4Wi and Cloudi-Fi focus on enterprise access and analytics.

Comparison at a glance

What to look for in an Aruba captive portal

You’ll see this category sold as captive portal software, hotspot management, or guest WiFi management. The job is the same: authenticate guests, control network access, and decide what happens to the data. Five things separate the tools:

Which Aruba you run. “Aruba” covers several product lines, and support varies by tool. Aruba Central is the cloud management platform for Aruba access points (now on HPE GreenLake). Aruba Instant access points run a virtual controller in the access point itself. Mobility Controllers are the campus option. Aruba Instant On is the separate small-business line, managed from its own app. Check the tool explicitly supports yours before you buy.

Integration method. Third-party portals plug into Aruba through its external captive portal: the access point redirects guests to the portal, the portal collects the login, then hands the guest back to Aruba to be let online. Some tools also use RADIUS for authentication and session tracking. On Instant On, an external portal requires an external RADIUS server, so check the tool provides one.

Authentication options. Email login is the standard for hospitality. Depending on the tool you can add social login, SMS, vouchers, sponsored access, or SSO through Microsoft Entra ID and Google Workspace. More options matter if you serve mixed audiences (guests plus staff, or members plus visitors).

Branding and splash page control. Aruba’s built-in portal covers colors, logo, background, terms and a promotional banner. Dedicated captive portal software adds per-location splash pages, custom questions at login, seasonal updates without touching the network config, and brand templates you set once and roll out across every venue.

What happens to the data. This is where tools diverge most. Some validate emails in real time and sync to your CRM or email platform. Others store a raw list you have to export, or don’t keep marketing data at all. If the goal is marketing, data quality and integrations are the deciding factor, not the splash page.

1. MyPlace

MyPlace is the guest engagement platform for multi-unit restaurant groups, hotels, bars, and entertainment venues, including those running Aruba networks.

It works with your existing Aruba network through Aruba’s external captive portal. No extra hardware. Guests log in with email or social accounts, emails are validated in real time, and returning guests reconnect automatically. Setup steps are in the Aruba integration guide.

What separates MyPlace from network-focused tools is what happens after login: captured guest data feeds automated review generation (Google and TripAdvisor) and syncs to marketing tools like HubSpot, Mailchimp, and Klaviyo. Across 500+ locations, MyPlace customers collect verified guest emails at about $0.22 each, versus roughly $1.91 for manual collection methods. AVA MediterrAegean in Winter Park, part of the multi-venue Riviera Dining Group, generated 64 Google reviews in 30 days, 95% of them five-star. Session limits, bandwidth control, GDPR/CCPA consent records, and multi-location management are handled from one dashboard.

Best for: hospitality businesses on Aruba, from a single restaurant to a multi-location group, that want guest WiFi to produce emails and reviews, not just access.

Pricing: from $49/mo per location, 14-day free trial.

2. StayFi

StayFi is guest WiFi built for vacation rentals. Hosts and property managers use the WiFi login to collect guest contact details they can market to later. On Aruba, StayFi adds its own small device to your existing network, and lists support for Instant On and Central-managed setups.

It’s designed around rental properties rather than restaurants, bars or hotels, so it fits best when the WiFi lives in a holiday home, not a busy venue.

Best for: vacation rental hosts and property managers running Aruba.

Pricing: from $19/mo, plus $99 for StayFi hardware (StayFi doesn’t state the billing unit).

3. Cloudi-Fi

Cloudi-Fi is a cloud captive portal for large organizations, with a focus on secure, compliant guest access across many countries. It has the broadest published Aruba coverage on this list: Central, Instant On, Instant access points, Mobility Controllers and AirWave.

Its strength is enterprise compliance and global rollouts. It isn’t built for review generation or hospitality marketing, and pricing is quote-only.

Best for: global enterprises and hotel chains that need secure, compliant guest access on Aruba.

Pricing: quote only.

4. Cloud4Wi

Cloud4Wi is a guest WiFi and network access platform for workplaces and retail chains. It supports Aruba Central and Aruba wireless controllers alongside other enterprise vendors.

Its focus is secure guest access and location data across many sites. Smaller hospitality operators usually don’t need this weight.

Best for: workplaces and retail chains that need secure guest WiFi and network access control.

Pricing: from $200/mo on the Professional plan, billed annually.

5. IronWiFi

IronWiFi is a cloud RADIUS and captive portal service aimed at IT teams. It publishes setup guides for Aruba Central, Instant On, Instant access points and Mobility Controllers, and brings 802.1X, RADIUS authentication and directory integrations (Google Workspace, Entra ID, Okta) to Aruba networks.

If your requirement is security-first network access control, with per-user credentials and detailed logs, IronWiFi is built for exactly that. It’s not a marketing tool, and hospitality teams without IT support will find it heavier to run.

Best for: schools, government and IT teams that need secure WiFi login (RADIUS).

Pricing: guest WiFi from $13 per access point per month with a $65 monthly minimum.

6. Purple

Purple is an enterprise WiFi and analytics platform for large venues: airports, stadiums, shopping centers and universities. It supports Aruba Instant and Aruba Central, and Instant On with some limitations. It has merged with the splash page provider Splash Access.

Purple’s strength is scale: enterprise SLAs, footfall analytics, and deployments across hundreds of sites. For a restaurant group it’s typically more platform (and more procurement) than the job needs.

Best for: large venues and enterprises with dedicated IT and a need for location analytics.

Pricing: free Connect tier, paid plans quote-based.

7. Aruba built-in guest portal

Aruba Central and Aruba Instant include a built-in guest splash page. It’s more capable than most built-in portals: anonymous click-through with an optional guest key, self-registration with email or SMS verification, social login (Facebook, Google, LinkedIn), and sponsored guest access. You can set colors, logo, background image, terms, and a promotional banner, plus session time and data limits. Instant On has its own simpler guest portal, managed from the Instant On app.

The honest assessment: for access control it’s genuinely good, and it’s included. But it wasn’t built for marketing. There’s no email validation for list quality, no marketing-list management, no CRM sync and no review requests.

Best for: businesses that need access control and terms acceptance with no extra budget, and don’t need the guest data.

Pricing: included with Aruba.

8. HPE Aruba ClearPass Guest

ClearPass Guest is Aruba’s own visitor management application. It runs on ClearPass Policy Manager and handles self-registration, sponsor approval, social login, and an advertising module for offers at login. It’s what large Aruba estates use when guest access has to fit company security policy.

It’s powerful and deeply tied into Aruba, but it’s an enterprise security product. You need ClearPass Policy Manager running, licenses sized by endpoint count, and someone to administer it. There’s no review generation or marketing sync.

Best for: enterprises, campuses and hospitals on Aruba that need sponsored guest access and device policy.

Pricing: licensed per endpoint (100 to 10,000+), perpetual or 1, 3 or 5-year subscriptions, quoted through Aruba resellers.

9. Open-source captive portals

PacketFence is open-source network access control used by campuses and large organizations, and it supports Aruba controllers and access points. pfSense and OPNsense are open-source firewalls with a captive portal built in. With Aruba, the firewall sits in front of your guest network and runs the guest login itself.

You get free community editions and full control over the login flow and data. The trade-off: you need your own firewall or server and someone to run it. None connects to marketing tools out of the box, and anything beyond a login page, such as email capture or review requests, means custom code.

Best for: IT teams and providers that want full control and are happy to run their own firewall or server.

Pricing: free community editions. pfSense Plus from $129/yr per install, OPNsense Business Edition 149 EUR/yr, PacketFence cloud from $5,000/yr.

How to choose Aruba captive portal software

Match the tool to the job, not the feature list:

• You want marketing outcomes (email list, Google reviews, repeat visits), at one location or twenty: MyPlace.
• You run vacation rentals: StayFi.
• You want enterprise authentication (RADIUS, 802.1X): IronWiFi.
• You’re already on ClearPass, or need sponsored access tied to security policy: ClearPass Guest.
• You’re a large venue or global enterprise with analytics or compliance needs: Purple, Cloud4Wi or Cloudi-Fi.
• You want free and basic: Aruba’s built-in guest portal.
• You have IT staff and want full control on your own hardware: PacketFence, pfSense or OPNsense.

Whichever you pick, confirm three things: it supports your Aruba line (Central, Instant, Mobility Controller or Instant On), it uses Aruba’s supported external captive portal and RADIUS setup rather than workarounds, and the guest data ends up somewhere you can actually use it.

Frequently asked questions