Wispman vs Oversight: ISP Billing Software Compared for Kenyan WISPs

If you're running a WISP or hotspot operation in Kenya and shopping for billing software, you've probably come across both Wispman and Oversight. They serve the same market — MikroTik-based ISPs collecting M-Pesa payments from subscribers — but they make different decisions about pricing, features, and what's included out of the box.

This comparison lays out those differences plainly so you can make an informed decision for your network.

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Pricing Model: The Most Important Difference

Wispman uses a per-client pricing model above a base threshold. You pay a monthly base fee that covers up to 99 clients, and every client above that costs extra — per client, per month.

Here's what that looks like in practice:

Wispman pricing:

• Hotspot only: KSh 1,500/mo for up to 99 clients, then +KSh 13 per client
• PPPoE only: KSh 2,500/mo for up to 99 clients, then +KSh 23 per client
• Full stack: KSh 3,000/mo for up to 99 clients, then +KSh 28 per client

Oversight uses a flat-rate tiered model. You pick a plan based on your subscriber count and router count, and that's the price — no per-subscriber charges, no surprises.

Oversight pricing:

• Starter: KSh 1,500/mo — up to 100 subscribers, 1 router
• Basic: KSh 2,500/mo — up to 175 subscribers, 2 routers
• Growth: KSh 3,500/mo — up to 310 subscribers, 3 routers
• Scale: KSh 5,500/mo — up to 500 subscribers, 5 routers
• Pro: KSh 8,000/mo — up to 800 subscribers, 10 routers
• Business: KSh 12,000/mo — up to 2,000 subscribers, 20 routers

The difference becomes significant the moment you cross 99 subscribers. Consider a PPPoE operator with 200 active subscribers:

Wispman: KSh 2,500 + (101 × KSh 23) = KSh 4,823/mo

Oversight: KSh 2,500/mo flat (Basic plan covers up to 175), or KSh 3,500/mo on Growth for up to 310.

At 200 subscribers, Oversight's Growth plan at KSh 3,500 is KSh 1,323 cheaper per month than Wispman. That's KSh 15,876 saved annually — on billing software alone.

At 300 subscribers the gap widens further. At 500 subscribers, the per-client model becomes genuinely painful.

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What's Included: Router Backup

This one surprises most operators when they look closely.

Wispman charges extra for router configuration backup — an add-on fee on top of your monthly plan:

• Hotspot plan: +KSh 199/mo
• PPPoE plan: +KSh 249/mo
• Full stack: +KSh 399/mo
• And scaling up to +KSh 1,499/mo on their higher tiers

Router backup is not a luxury feature. If your MikroTik configuration gets wiped — hardware failure, accidental reset, firmware issue — recovering without a backup means manually rebuilding subscriber profiles, PPPoE secrets, queue trees, and firewall rules from scratch. For a network with hundreds of subscribers, that's days of work and real downtime for your customers.

Oversight includes router configuration backup on every plan at no additional charge. It is not an add-on. It is part of what you pay for.

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M-Pesa Integration

Both platforms support M-Pesa payments. The question is how.

Wispman lists "M-Pesa payment workflows" as a feature on their PPPoE and full stack plans. The implementation details matter here — specifically whether payments are collected via STK Push (Daraja API) or via SMS confirmation parsing.

Oversight uses Daraja STK Push for M-Pesa payments. Here's what that means for your subscribers:

1. Subscriber's package expires, they get a payment prompt
2. They enter their M-Pesa PIN on their phone
3. Safaricom confirms the payment to Oversight's server in real time
4. Oversight re-enables their PPPoE secret on the MikroTik immediately
5. Subscriber is back online — typically within 30 seconds of payment

No SMS parsing. No manual reconciliation. No subscriber calling you asking why their internet is still off after paying.

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Subscriber Portal

Wispman includes a self-service subscriber portal on their Basic plan and above — not on the entry-level Hotspot plan.

Oversight includes a self-service subscriber portal from the Basic plan upward as well, where subscribers can check their account status, view payment history, and initiate renewals without contacting you.

For a small ISP team, a subscriber portal that reduces inbound "when does my package expire" messages is worth more than it sounds.

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Multi-Router Support

Both platforms support multiple routers. Oversight's tier structure makes this explicit — each plan specifies exactly how many routers are included, from 1 router on Starter up to 20 routers on Business.

This matters for networks that have grown beyond a single MikroTik — a core router at the main site, secondary devices at distribution points, or separate equipment for hotspot deployments. Managing all subscribers from a single dashboard regardless of which router they're on is a basic operational requirement at that stage.

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Who Each Platform Suits

Wispman is an established platform with a track record in the Kenyan market. If you have under 99 subscribers and don't expect to grow significantly beyond that threshold, the per-client pricing model works in your favour — you pay less than a flat-rate plan would cost at low subscriber counts.

Oversight is the better fit if:

• You have or expect to have more than 100 subscribers — flat-rate pricing becomes cheaper at scale and stays predictable
• You're running multiple routers or plan to expand your network infrastructure
• You want router backup included without a separate line item on your bill
• You want M-Pesa STK Push without SMS-based reconciliation

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The Core Question

ISP billing software is infrastructure. You pay for it every month whether your network grows or not. The model that punishes growth — charging more per subscriber as your subscriber base expands — works against the economics of running a WISP.

Flat-rate pricing means your billing cost is predictable. You know exactly what you're paying in month one and in month twelve, regardless of how many subscribers you've added. For a business where margins are already tight and infrastructure costs are fixed, predictability in your software costs matters.

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Oversight is a MikroTik billing and subscriber management platform built for Kenyan WISPs and hotspot operators. Flat-rate pricing, router backup included, M-Pesa STK Push, and multi-router support from a single dashboard. Start a free trial at oversight.co.ke.