Is Brivo or Kisi cheaper per door?

Brivo publishes a starting price around $13.50 per door per month. Kisi is quote-based and varies by tier. At lower door counts, Kisi's entry-level plans can be competitive. For larger multi-door or multi-building deployments, both land in a similar per-door range, with total cost driven more by hardware, installation, and professional services than by the software rate. Get a quote from both for your specific door count.

Are Brivo and Kisi both NDAA Section 889 compliant?

Yes. Brivo is US-headquartered in Bethesda, MD; Kisi is US-headquartered in New York, NY. Both publish NDAA 889 documentation and comply with federal acquisition rules. Both use US-manufactured controllers and contain no covered telecommunications equipment from banned vendors.

Which is better for a multi-tenant commercial building?

Brivo, clearly. It was purpose-built for the multi-tenant CRE model: the property manager holds the master account, each tenant has an independent cardholder pool and access schedules, and tenants self-manage within their allocation. Kisi supports multiple locations and delegated admin but is not designed for operationally independent tenants.

Which is better for a single-tenant tech office?

Kisi. The mobile-first experience, clean hardware, developer-friendly API, and Zapier integrations are all built for the tech-office use case. IT teams at software companies and startups rate its UX the best in the category. Brivo works in single-tenant offices but its multi-tenancy depth is complexity the single-tenant operator does not need.

Does Brivo integrate with security cameras?

Yes. Brivo integrates with Avigilon Alta natively and with several other VMS platforms. Brivo Video ties door events directly to camera clips within the dashboard, a real simplifier for property managers who want access and video in one place. Kisi integrates with select video systems via API; it is a lighter integration, with video typically managed in a separate platform.

What if I am not sure which system fits my building?

Book the free consultation. You walk through your building type, door count, tenant model, and existing camera or alarm infrastructure. You leave with a written recommendation, a per-door cost comparison for your door count, and an honest read on where each system serves you well. Call 855-577-0400 or book online. Tec-Tel installs both Brivo and Kisi.

Compare · Cloud access control

Brivo vs Kisi, from a 15-year integrator.

Two cloud-native access control platforms, both NDAA-compliant, both installed by Tec-Tel. The choice turns on your building type, your tenants, and what your operators actually need day to day.

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NDAA-compliant
Platform-agnostic
1,000+ deployments over 15 years

Brivo wins for multi-tenant commercial real estate, property managers running dozens of buildings, and operators who need deep video integration, visitor management, and elevator control on one platform. Kisi wins for tech-forward offices that want the lightest mobile-first system, developer-friendly API hooks, and a clean experience employees like. Both are cloud-native, both are NDAA-compliant, and Tec-Tel installs both.

§01 At a glance

The criteria access-control buyers actually weigh.

Pick the row that matches your biggest constraint. Claims are sourced to each vendor's public product documentation and NDAA Section 889 statements.

Criterion	Brivo	Kisi
Primary use case	Multi-tenant commercial real estate and enterprise. Built for property managers running multiple buildings with multiple tenants, each needing separate access schedules, reporting, and cardholder management.	Tech-forward offices and co-working spaces. Built for organizations where employees expect a smartphone unlock experience and IT teams want a clean, low-overhead system they can manage themselves.
Pricing model	Per-door subscription, cloud-hosted. Brivo publishes a starting price around $13.50 per door per month, which is one of the more transparent price points in cloud access control. Hardware billed separately.	Per-door subscription, cloud-hosted. Kisi pricing is quote-based through resellers and varies by door count and tier. Entry-level plans for small offices are available; enterprise pricing for larger deployments requires a conversation.
Door hardware support	Brivo DP2 and ACS300 controllers paired with readers from HID, Allegion, and others. Supports electric strikes, maglocks, and exit devices. Broad compatibility with existing wired door infrastructure.	Proprietary Pro Controller paired with a Kisi Reader Pro or third-party readers. Clean, compact, purpose-built for the Kisi cloud. Less flexibility for retrofitting onto legacy panel infrastructure than Brivo.
Mobile credentials	Brivo Mobile Pass, iOS and Android, via Bluetooth and NFC. Also supports legacy proximity cards and key fobs for mixed-credential environments.	Mobile-first by design. The Reader Pro accepts smartphone unlock via Bluetooth and NFC, one of the smoothest we install. Also supports key fobs and cards for users without smartphones.
NDAA Section 889	Compliant. Brivo is US-headquartered in Bethesda, MD. NDAA 889 documentation is published on the Brivo website.	Compliant. Kisi is US-headquartered in New York, NY. NDAA 889 documentation is published on the Kisi website.
Video integration	Integrates with Avigilon Alta and several third-party VMS platforms. Brivo Video is a native cloud-video add-on that ties access events directly to camera footage. Strong for unified video and access.	Integrates with select video platforms via API. Smaller ecosystem than Brivo but the API is well-documented. Most Kisi deployments manage video through a separate VMS.
Tenant and multi-building management	Built for multi-tenant real estate. Each tenant has a separate cardholder pool, reporting, and access schedule. Property managers control the master account; tenants self-manage within their allocation. Brivo's strongest use case.	Supports multiple locations under one account with location-level admin delegation. Works for multi-site single-tenant environments. Not designed for the multi-tenant CRE model where tenants are operationally independent.
API and developer access	Open REST API and a developer program, used by property management platforms, visitor management systems, and elevator control integrators. Active ecosystem in the CRE tech stack.	A well-regarded REST API developers find the easiest in mid-market access control. Webhook support, Zapier integration, and documented endpoints make it popular with IT-led deployments.

§02 Where Brivo wins

Pick Brivo when these matter most.

Multi-tenant commercial buildings

Built for property managers running buildings with multiple independent tenants. Each tenant has its own cardholder pool, reporting, and access schedules; the property manager holds the master account. No other cloud access platform handles this model as cleanly.

Property management scale

Operators managing 20, 50, or 100+ buildings from one platform use Brivo for a reason. The account hierarchy, tenant self-management tools, and centralized reporting are purpose-built for commercial real estate at scale.

Native video and elevator integration

Brivo Video ties access events directly to camera footage, so a door alert puts the clip a click away. Brivo also integrates with elevator dispatch and floor-level access control, a CRE requirement for high-rise office buildings.

Transparent published pricing

Brivo publishes a starting price around $13.50 per door per month, uncommon transparency in this category. Procurement teams appreciate a real number to anchor to before the first sales call.

§02 Where Kisi wins

Pick Kisi when these matter most.

Employee mobile experience

Kisi's smartphone unlock is among the smoothest end users get from any reader we install. The Reader Pro is compact and clean. For tech-forward offices where employees expect consumer-grade UX, Kisi is the right fit.

IT-led deployments

Built for IT teams that want to own the system end-to-end without a specialized integrator managing it daily. The dashboard is clear, the hardware is clean, and the learning curve is lower than most enterprise access platforms.

Developer-friendly API and Zapier

Kisi's REST API is one of the most usable in mid-market access control. Webhook support, documented endpoints, and Zapier let IT teams wire Kisi into HRIS, visitor management, and productivity tools without heavy professional services or code.

Single-tenant office environments

Tech companies, startups, co-working operators, and single-tenant corporate offices are Kisi's natural home: clean onboarding, fast credential provisioning, and self-service management. The Pro Controller suits clean installs where aesthetics matter and the door count is manageable.

§03 Per-door pricing reality

What cloud access control actually costs per door.

Brivo is one of the few cloud access-control vendors to publish a baseline: around $13.50 per door per month, cited in Brivo's own materials. At that rate, a 20-door building runs roughly $3,240 per year in software, before hardware. Kisi quotes through resellers; per-door cost varies by tier and door count, with more accessible entry-level plans for small offices and enterprise pricing requiring a direct conversation.

Hardware is billed separately on both. Brivo's DP2 and ACS300 controllers paired with HID or Allegion readers run $150 to $400 per door depending on configuration. Kisi's Pro Controller and Reader Pro land in a similar range. Installation, commissioning, and cabling are separate. In Tec-Tel quotes, a full door (controller, reader, electric strike or maglock, installation) typically runs $800 to $1,500 all-in for a standard interior office door.

→ Brivo: around $13.50/door/month published starting price for software; hardware and installation billed separately.
→ Kisi: quote-based per-door pricing; varies by tier and door count; transparent small-office entry plans online.
→ Both platforms: hardware cost per door $150 to $400 depending on controller and reader type.
→ Full door cost all-in (hardware, installation, commissioning): $800 to $1,500 per standard interior office door in Tec-Tel quotes.

§04 5-year TCO and exit cost

Total ownership cost and what switching actually looks like.

Both are per-door SaaS subscriptions, so the 5-year cost is predictable: monthly per-door rate times door count times 60 months, plus amortized hardware. For a 30-door deployment, Brivo at $13.50/door/month runs roughly $24,300 in software over five years. Kisi lands in a comparable range on the quotes we benchmark. Hardware cost is similar for both. Brivo professional services run higher for complex multi-tenant setups; Kisi is simpler for single-tenant office installs.

Exit cost is underappreciated. Neither locks you to hardware as tightly as a closed ecosystem like Verkada, but switching platforms still means replacing controllers and readers, since each vendor's hardware is optimized for its own cloud. Controller replacement at $150 to $400 per door plus reinstallation makes a mid-contract switch expensive. Evaluate alternatives at a hardware refresh boundary or a building expansion, not mid-warranty. Tec-Tel walks customers through exit-cost modeling as part of vendor selection.

→ Brivo 5-year software cost example: 30 doors at $13.50/door/month = $24,300 over 5 years, before hardware and installation.
→ Kisi 5-year cost: comparable range for similar door counts based on benchmarked quotes; verify with a direct quote.
→ Exit cost: controller and reader replacement at $150 to $400 per door plus reinstallation if switching mid-life.
→ Best time to switch: at hardware refresh boundary or major building expansion, not mid-warranty.

Questions buyers ask us

FAQ

Is Brivo or Kisi cheaper per door?: Brivo publishes a starting price around $13.50 per door per month. Kisi is quote-based and varies by tier. At lower door counts, Kisi's entry-level plans can be competitive. For larger multi-door or multi-building deployments, both land in a similar per-door range, with total cost driven more by hardware, installation, and professional services than by the software rate. Get a quote from both for your specific door count.
Are Brivo and Kisi both NDAA Section 889 compliant?: Yes. Brivo is US-headquartered in Bethesda, MD; Kisi is US-headquartered in New York, NY. Both publish NDAA 889 documentation and comply with federal acquisition rules. Both use US-manufactured controllers and contain no covered telecommunications equipment from banned vendors.
Which is better for a multi-tenant commercial building?: Brivo, clearly. It was purpose-built for the multi-tenant CRE model: the property manager holds the master account, each tenant has an independent cardholder pool and access schedules, and tenants self-manage within their allocation. Kisi supports multiple locations and delegated admin but is not designed for operationally independent tenants.
Which is better for a single-tenant tech office?: Kisi. The mobile-first experience, clean hardware, developer-friendly API, and Zapier integrations are all built for the tech-office use case. IT teams at software companies and startups rate its UX the best in the category. Brivo works in single-tenant offices but its multi-tenancy depth is complexity the single-tenant operator does not need.
Does Brivo integrate with security cameras?: Yes. Brivo integrates with Avigilon Alta natively and with several other VMS platforms. Brivo Video ties door events directly to camera clips within the dashboard, a real simplifier for property managers who want access and video in one place. Kisi integrates with select video systems via API; it is a lighter integration, with video typically managed in a separate platform.
What if I am not sure which system fits my building?: Book the free consultation. You walk through your building type, door count, tenant model, and existing camera or alarm infrastructure. You leave with a written recommendation, a per-door cost comparison for your door count, and an honest read on where each system serves you well. Call 855-577-0400 or book online. Tec-Tel installs both Brivo and Kisi.

Get a straight comparison

A free consultation picks the right system for your building.

Tec-Tel installs both Brivo and Kisi, so there is no incentive to push one. Bring your building type, door count, and tenant model. The Tec-Tel team gives you a per-door cost comparison and a written recommendation. HQ in Morganville, NJ. Call 855-577-0400 or book online.

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