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Cybersecurity · head to head

HID Global vs Periscope Holdings

HID Global logo

HID Global

Cybersecurity

Physical access control, credential issuance and workforce authentication hardware and software

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Periscope Holdings logo

Periscope Holdings

Government

Statewide e-procurement systems and supplier networks for large public agencies

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: HID Global sales run through integrators, so the price you get depends on which partner quotes it and there is no published list to negotiate against.; Periscope Holdings it is scaled and priced for statewide programmes, so a single city or county typically finds both the implementation effort and the cost out of proportion to its needs.
  • They diverge on capability: HID Global covers Physical access readers, Periscope Holdings covers Sealed bid solicitation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which HID Global and Periscope Holdings actually diverge.

Attributes where HID Global and Periscope Holdings differ
AttributeHID GlobalPeriscope Holdings
PlatformsWeb, Windows, iOS, AndroidWeb
CategoryCybersecurityGovernment

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in HID Global

  • Physical access readers
  • Mobile access
  • Seos credential technology
  • Card issuance
  • Workforce authentication
  • Visitor management

Only in Periscope Holdings

  • Sealed bid solicitation
  • Supplier registration network
  • Contract catalogues
  • Cooperative purchasing
  • Spend and compliance reporting
  • Supplier diversity tracking

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

HID Global

  • An enterprise moving from plastic badges to phone-based credentials without replacing every reader in the estatenot Periscope Holdings
  • A government agency needing card issuance and PKI credentials under a national identity programmenot Periscope Holdings
  • A hospital consolidating access control, visitor screening and clinician authentication onto one credentialnot Periscope Holdings
  • An organisation retiring cloneable legacy proximity cards after a physical penetration test found them trivially copiednot Periscope Holdings

Periscope Holdings

  • A state building a central procurement portal serving many agencies and local entitiesnot HID Global
  • A large agency needing statutory sealed bidding with a public opening recordnot HID Global
  • A purchasing programme that must report spend and supplier diversity across entitiesnot HID Global
  • A state wanting local governments to buy from its awarded cooperative contractsnot HID Global

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

HID Global

  • Sales run through integrators, so the price you get depends on which partner quotes it and there is no published list to negotiate against.
  • Mobile credentials are charged per identity as an ongoing fee, which converts a one-off card cost into a recurring per-employee subscription that budgets rarely anticipate.
  • Large estates run mixed generations of readers, so a credential upgrade is a multi-year hardware programme and the software licence is a small fraction of the true cost.
  • Legacy credential technologies still widely deployed have documented cloning weaknesses, and HID commercial interest in selling the replacement does not remove your exposure in the interim.
  • The portfolio spans hardware, firmware and several acquired software products, so integration between HID own components is less consistent than the single-vendor pitch implies.

Periscope Holdings

  • It is scaled and priced for statewide programmes, so a single city or county typically finds both the implementation effort and the cost out of proportion to its needs.
  • The interface reflects the age and regulatory weight of the platform, and suppliers routinely describe registration and bidding as harder than on newer portals, which can suppress bid response.
  • Ownership has changed twice since 2021, from independent to mdf commerce to KKR, so roadmap and support continuity should be written into the contract rather than assumed.
  • Sibling products inside mdf commerce cover adjacent procurement ground, which means an apparently competitive shortlist may contain two products with the same owner.
  • Statewide implementations are multi year projects with heavy configuration and change management, and the professional services cost commonly exceeds the software over the contract term.

Pricing, plan by plan

HID Global

On request
  • HID Access and Identity Products$undefined/year
    • Hardware, credentials and software quoted through channel partners
    • Credential costs charged per card or per mobile identity
    • Reader hardware and installation quoted separately

Periscope Holdings

On request
  • BuySpeed$undefined/year
    • Quoted per programme, scaled to entities served and transaction volume
    • Multi year statewide contracts with implementation priced separately
    • Supplier side registration fees form part of the commercial model on some programmes

Which should you pick?

Choose HID Global if

  • You need physical access readers.
  • You work on Web, Windows, iOS, Android.
  • You also want mobile access.
HID Global review

Choose Periscope Holdings if

  • You need sealed bid solicitation.
  • You also want supplier registration network.
Periscope Holdings review

Questions people ask

Is HID Global or Periscope Holdings better?
Neither clearly leads. HID Global starts at On request and Periscope Holdings at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, HID Global or Periscope Holdings?
HID Global starts at On request and Periscope Holdings at On request.
Does HID Global or Periscope Holdings run on more platforms?
HID Global runs on Web, Windows, iOS, Android. Periscope Holdings runs on Web.
What is HID Global best used for?
HID Global is most often used for an enterprise moving from plastic badges to phone-based credentials without replacing every reader in the estate, a government agency needing card issuance and pki credentials under a national identity programme, a hospital consolidating access control, visitor screening and clinician authentication onto one credential, an organisation retiring cloneable legacy proximity cards after a physical penetration test found them trivially copied. Of those, an enterprise moving from plastic badges to phone-based credentials without replacing every reader in the estate and a government agency needing card issuance and pki credentials under a national identity programme are not what Periscope Holdings is typically brought in for.
What can HID Global do that Periscope Holdings cannot?
HID Global covers Physical access readers, Mobile access, Seos credential technology, Card issuance. Periscope Holdings covers Sealed bid solicitation, Supplier registration network, Contract catalogues, Cooperative purchasing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

HID Global: Do we have to replace readers to use mobile credentials?

Often yes, at least in part. Reader capability determines which credential technologies work, and that hardware cost dominates the business case.

Periscope Holdings: Who owns Periscope Holdings?

mdf commerce acquired it in 2021, and mdf commerce was itself acquired by KKR in 2024.

HID Global: Are mobile credentials cheaper than cards?

Not necessarily. Cards are a one-off cost per employee, mobile identities are typically a recurring charge, so the crossover depends on staff turnover.

Periscope Holdings: Is it suitable for a single city?

Usually not. It is built and priced for statewide or very large agency programmes.

HID Global: Can we buy directly from HID?

Generally not for access control deployments. Products are sold and installed through channel partners, so partner selection is part of the buying decision.

Periscope Holdings: What is BuySpeed?

The e-procurement platform behind its statewide deployments, covering solicitation through catalogue ordering and reporting.

Periscope Holdings: Can we see what a state paid?

Yes. State procurement awards are public records and typically disclose the full multi year contract value.

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