Cortex AutoBill vs Lipanet — billing depth vs RADIUS breadth
Lipanet is a widely marketed Kenyan ISP platform with RADIUS authentication, hotspot portals, and M-Pesa paybill integration. Cortex AutoBill focuses on deep PPPoE billing automation — native Daraja STK Push, stuck-payment recovery, credit balances, and subscriber lifecycle SMS via Africa's Talking.
Why Kenyan ISPs Choose Cortex
Native M-Pesa STK Push & C2B
Cortex integrates directly with Safaricom Daraja for STK Push and paybill callbacks — automatic matching, reactivation, and SMS confirmation without a separate payment middleware.
Africa's Talking SMS
Expiry reminders, payment receipts, and bulk renewal campaigns via Africa's Talking — local delivery rates and sender-ID support tuned for Kenyan subscribers.
Payment Reliability Engine
Grace periods, credit balance carry-forward, and stuck-payment auto-correction reduce revenue leakage and angry support calls when M-Pesa callbacks fail.
Feature-by-feature comparison
Every row that matters to a Kenyan ISP.
| Feature | You are hereCortex | Lipanet |
|---|---|---|
| Native M-Pesa STK Push & C2B | ||
| MikroTik PPPoE Automation | ||
| RADIUS Authentication | ||
| Hotspot / Captive Portal Billing | ||
| Africa's Talking SMS | ||
| Grace Period Engine | ||
| Credit Balance & Overpayment Handling | ||
| Stuck Payment Auto-correction | ||
| Bulk SMS Campaigns | ||
| Full Audit Logging | ||
| Multi-tenancy | ||
| Pricing currency | KES | KES |
| Support timezone | EAT (KE) | EAT (KE) |
Pricing comparison
Cortex AutoBill
From KES 15 / client / month
Transparent per-subscriber KES pricing
- KES pricing — no USD exchange risk
- Native M-Pesa & MikroTik included
- EAT business-hours support
Lipanet
Tiered — contact for quote
Per their published pricing
- See feature table for capability gaps
- Pricing model differs — check their site
- Payment reliability features vary
Our honest verdict
Lipanet is a strong fit if you need RADIUS-centric architecture and hotspot portals out of the box. Cortex AutoBill is the better choice for PPPoE-heavy ISPs that want the deepest M-Pesa automation, subscriber credit handling, and SMS retention workflows — without bolting on extra payment middleware.