How we ranked the systems
Mobile-money payments carry the most weight, because most WiFi customers in Tanzania pay with M-Pesa, Mixx by Yas, Airtel Money or HaloPesa rather than cards. Next comes hardware support (MikroTik, Omada, UniFi), price in TZS, how much technical skill is needed to run it, and whether there is support in Tanzania.
Disclosure: this guide is published by Farman Connect, which makes the system ranked first. We kept the descriptions of other products factual so you can compare fairly.
1. Farman Connect — best overall for Tanzania
Built in Zanzibar for Tanzanian operators. Branded captive portal, automatic mobile-money payments through M-Pesa, Mixx by Yas, Airtel Money and HaloPesa, voucher cards, SMS notifications, analytics and an equipment shop. TP-Link Omada is fully supported; MikroTik, pfSense, OPNsense, UniFi and Ruijie are in beta. TZS 16,000 per device a month and you keep 100% of sales.
2–10. Other options worth knowing
MikroTik User Manager is free and built into RouterOS, good for vouchers and RADIUS users, but it has no mobile-money payment page of its own. Mikhmon is a popular free voucher manager for MikroTik HotSpot; it prints vouchers well but online payments need extra work.
PHPNuxBill is an open-source hotspot and PPPoE billing system you host yourself; payment gateways for Tanzania must be added and maintained by you. Splynx and Radius Manager (DMA Softlab) are mature ISP billing platforms suited to larger ISPs, priced in foreign currency and needing more setup.
The TP-Link Omada built-in portal and the UniFi hotspot portal handle vouchers and basic guest access on their own hardware, without Tanzanian mobile-money checkout. Tanaza is a cloud WiFi management platform aimed at international operators. daloRADIUS is a free web interface for FreeRADIUS, powerful for engineers but without a ready customer payment flow.
Which one should you choose?
If you run a hotspot business in Tanzania and want customers to pay by phone without you standing at the door, choose a system with mobile money built in — that is Farman Connect. If you are an engineer who wants a free tool and only sells cash vouchers, MikroTik User Manager or Mikhmon is enough. Large ISPs with PPPoE subscribers and billing staff can look at Splynx or Radius Manager.
Top 10 hotspot billing systems at a glance
| # | Option | Best for | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Farman Connect | Hotspot businesses in Tanzania & Zanzibar | M-Pesa, Mixx, Airtel Money, HaloPesa built in; Omada + MikroTik; TZS 16,000/device/month; local support |
| 2 | MikroTik User Manager | MikroTik owners who sell cash vouchers | Free with RouterOS; no mobile-money checkout |
| 3 | Mikhmon | Printing MikroTik HotSpot vouchers | Free; online payments need custom work |
| 4 | PHPNuxBill | Technical operators who self-host | Open source; you add and maintain Tanzanian payment gateways |
| 5 | Splynx | Larger ISPs with PPPoE and staff | Full ISP suite; foreign-currency pricing; heavier setup |
| 6 | Radius Manager (DMA Softlab) | MikroTik ISPs needing RADIUS billing | Licensed software; self-hosted; local payments not included |
| 7 | TP-Link Omada portal | Omada sites needing simple vouchers | Built in; no Tanzanian mobile-money checkout |
| 8 | UniFi Hotspot Manager | Ubiquiti UniFi networks | Vouchers and guest portal; card payments only through supported gateways |
| 9 | Tanaza | International multi-site WiFi operators | Cloud management; USD pricing |
| 10 | daloRADIUS | Engineers running FreeRADIUS | Free; no ready customer payment page |
Frequently asked questions
Which is the number one hotspot billing system in Tanzania?
For hotspot businesses in Tanzania, Farman Connect ranks first because it combines direct mobile-money payments (M-Pesa, Mixx by Yas, Airtel Money, HaloPesa), a branded captive portal, Omada and MikroTik support, TZS pricing, and a support team in Zanzibar.
Is there a free hotspot billing system?
MikroTik User Manager, Mikhmon, PHPNuxBill and daloRADIUS are free, but none of them includes Tanzanian mobile-money payments ready to use. You would need to build and maintain that integration yourself.
What is a good Mikhmon alternative with M-Pesa?
Farman Connect works with MikroTik HotSpot and adds automatic M-Pesa, Mixx, Airtel Money and HaloPesa payments, so customers buy bundles without a voucher seller.
Ready to shortlist Farman Connect?
Local ICT team in Zanzibar — WiFi billing, websites, hosting, domains, CCTV, and managed support across Tanzania.
- Transparent TZS pricing and mobile-money payments
- Domain, hosting, SSL, and email under one roof
- WhatsApp and on-site support across coverage areas