Access control in a coworking space is not the same as access control in a conventional office. In a conventional office, you give an employee a key card and they have access. A coworking space holds five kinds of person at once. A hot-desker, who may enter only on the days they booked. A dedicated desk member, who may enter at any hour. A meeting room user, who may enter that room only while they have it. A day-pass buyer, who may enter for one day. A visitor, who may reach reception and nothing more. Software holds those rules, and hardware applies them at the door. Together they decide whether the space runs smoothly, or whether a community manager lets people in all day.
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The system has three layers, and all three need to work together.
This is your coworking platform (Nexudus, Optix, OfficeRnD, Cobot, or a bespoke system). It holds the membership data, the booking data, and the access rules. It decides who should have access to which doors, at which times, based on their plan, their bookings, and their status.
This is the middleware that translates the software's decisions into instructions for the hardware. Kisi, Salto KS, and Paxton Net2 are the three dominant platforms in the UK coworking market. They each have their own cloud dashboard, their own API, and their own mobile apps for members.
This is the physical lock, reader, or controller installed on each door. It takes instructions from the access control platform and either unlocks the door or denies entry. The hardware can be a smart lock (battery-powered, wireless), a wired controller with a card reader, or a hybrid system.
Kisi (getkisi.com) is a cloud-based access control platform designed for modern workspaces. More coworking platforms connect to it than to any other access system. Nexudus, Optix, Cobot and several others reach it directly.
Kisi's core hardware is the Controller Pro 2, which costs $850 (around £670). This is the essential component for each door. Optional additions include the Reader Pro 2 ($475), Terminal Pro ($595), and a Wiegand board ($150) for connecting to existing third-party readers. All hardware comes with a 5-year warranty and over-the-air firmware updates.
| Plan | Monthly cost per location | Users per location | Locations | Integrations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $99 (~£78) | 50 | 1 | None included |
| Essential | $199 (~£157) | 125 | Up to 5 | 1 included |
| Pro+ | $299 (~£235) | 250 | Up to 10,000 | Up to 4 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Kisi strengths: Cloud-native. Members unlock doors with their phone (no cards or fobs needed). The broadest integration ecosystem in the market: Nexudus, Optix, Cobot, Spacebring, and others. The Wiegand board connects to card readers you already have. You keep those readers, and add the Kisi cloud on top. Real-time access logs and analytics. 24/7 support.
Where Kisi falls short: The software cost is in addition to your coworking platform cost. Take one site paying £125 a month for Nexudus and £157 a month for Kisi Essential. That is £282 a month, before any extra part of the coworking platform. The Standard tier includes zero integrations, which means the Nexudus or Optix connection requires at minimum the Essential tier. Hardware costs add up quickly across multiple doors: four doors means four controllers at $850 each ($3,400). Annual contracts offer discounts, but the upfront hardware investment is significant.
Salto (saltosystems.com) is a Spanish manufacturer with a long history in electronic access solutions across hospitality, education, and commercial property. Salto KS (Keys as a Service) is their cloud-based platform that has become the dominant access control choice in the European coworking market.
How it works: Salto KS is a cloud-based, keyless system. Members unlock doors with the Salto KS mobile app. Space managers create users, assign access groups, and set time-based permissions from the Salto KS dashboard or through their coworking management platform. Access can be granted in real-time: when a member's booking starts, the door unlocks for them. When it ends, access is revoked.
Integration: Salto KS integrates with Nexudus, Optix, OfficeRnD, Spacebring, and Coworks. The link usually works through access groups. Your coworking platform puts each member into a group, by their plan or their booking. Salto KS then opens the matching doors. Time-bound access (doors unlock only during booking hours) is supported and is a key advantage for meeting room and hot desk scenarios.
Salto hardware: Salto's product range is extensive. Three of its products suit coworking. Electronic door handles, which run on a battery and need no wiring, for meeting rooms and offices. Wall readers, for a main entrance or a shared area. Smart cylinders, which fit an existing door without a new lock.
Pricing: Salto does not publish standard pricing. Hardware costs vary by product type and volume. The Salto KS cloud platform charges a per-door monthly fee. A usual space controls 5 to 10 doors. Operators report £150 to £400 a month for the software. The hardware costs £200 to £800 for each door, by the product. Contact Salto or a Salto-certified installer for specific quotes.
Salto strengths: Established, reliable hardware with a strong reputation across the commercial property sector. The battery-powered door handles are genuinely wireless (no door wiring needed), which makes installation faster and cheaper. Time-bound access linked to bookings is well-implemented. Strong support network in the UK with certified installers.
Where Salto falls short: No published pricing makes comparison difficult. The per-door software cost adds to the total. The Salto KS mobile app is functional but not as polished as Kisi's app. You may want members to book and open doors in one app. Salto KS needs its own app instead, and the coworking platform app cannot unlock a door. That gets in the way.
Paxton (paxton-access.com) is a UK-based manufacturer that has been making access control hardware since 1985. Paxton Net2 is their networked access control system, widely used in UK offices, schools, and commercial buildings. It was not built for coworking. Many spaces inherit it, because they move into a building that already has Paxton hardware.
How it works. Paxton Net2 runs on a local server or PC in your building. It manages up to 1,000 doors and 50,000 users. Members use proximity cards, key fobs, or the Paxton mobile app to access doors. The system is managed through the Net2 desktop software, with each door controlled by a Net2 Plus controller.
Integration: Nexudus offers a native Paxton Net2 integration that synchronises member data with Net2 access groups. When a member's plan is activated or deactivated in Nexudus, the corresponding Net2 access permissions are updated automatically. This is a significant advantage for spaces that already have Paxton hardware, as it avoids the cost of ripping out existing infrastructure.
Pricing: Paxton hardware is typically more affordable than Kisi or Salto. A Net2 Plus 1-door controller costs around £250 to £350. Proximity card readers cost £30 to £80 each. Keyfobs and cards are £2 to £5 each. The core Net2 system carries no subscription, because it runs on your own server. Paxton Connect, their cloud add-on for remote control, does cost a monthly fee.
Paxton strengths: UK-based company with excellent availability of hardware and installers. Lower hardware costs than Kisi or Salto. No recurring software fee for the core system. The Nexudus integration means coworking-specific automation is possible. Massive installed base in the UK, so many buildings already have Paxton hardware.
Where Paxton falls short: Net2 is a PC-based system, not cloud-native. This means it requires a local server or dedicated PC, which adds complexity and a point of failure. The mobile unlock experience is not as smooth as Kisi or Salto KS. Time-bound, booking-based access (where a door unlocks only during a meeting room booking) is more limited than with Kisi or Salto KS. Integration options beyond Nexudus are limited for the coworking sector. For new installations where you are choosing hardware from scratch, Kisi or Salto KS are generally better fits for a coworking environment.
| Feature | Kisi | Salto KS | Paxton Net2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Cloud-native | Cloud (KS) / on-premises (ProAccess) | PC-based (Net2) / cloud add-on (Connect) |
| Member access method | Mobile app, cards, fobs | Mobile app, cards, key tags | Cards, fobs, mobile app |
| Hardware per door | Controller Pro 2: $850 | Varies: £200-800 per door | Net2 Plus controller: £250-350 |
| Software cost | From $99/month per location | Per-door monthly fee (contact for quote) | No core fee (Paxton Connect extra) |
| Coworking integrations | Nexudus, Optix, Cobot, Spacebring | Nexudus, Optix, OfficeRnD, Spacebring | Nexudus |
| Time-bound booking access | Yes (via integration) | Yes (native) | Limited |
| Wireless door hardware | Controller is wired, readers optional | Yes (battery-powered handles) | Wired controllers |
| Best suited for | New installations wanting cloud simplicity | Spaces needing wireless door hardware and time-bound access | Buildings with existing Paxton infrastructure |
Take a usual space with one main entrance, four meeting rooms and two office zones. That is seven controlled doors. Here is what the three providers cost.
| Cost element | Kisi | Salto KS | Paxton Net2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware (7 doors) | ~$5,950 (~£4,690) | ~£2,100-4,200 | ~£2,100-2,800 |
| Monthly software | $199/month (Essential) | ~£200-350/month (estimated) | £0 (core) or ~£30-50 (Connect) |
| Year 1 total | ~£6,575 | ~£4,500-8,400 | ~£2,460-3,400 |
| Year 2 onwards (annual) | ~£1,885 | ~£2,400-4,200 | ~£360-600 |
These costs are on top of your coworking management platform subscription. Take a space on Nexudus at £141 a month, with Kisi Essential at $199 a month. That is about £300 a month for the software alone, before any other tool. Over five years, the software alone costs £18,000.
Read the article again and one thing runs through it. Which access hardware you may buy is decided by which platforms your coworking software has connected to.
That is not a rule of the trade. Each coworking vendor holds a member and a booking in its own form. Each lock maker holds a credential and a door in another. Somebody must build a bridge, so each vendor builds a few, and everything else is left out. Two subscriptions and two apps follow from the same cause.
A shared foundation moves that work. A member, a plan, a booking, a door and an access grant are declared once, for every operator system. A connection to a lock maker is built once against the foundation, and every space with that hardware has it. A grant is narrow: one door, for one period, and every use is logged.
We explain that in bespoke software for a whole sector. We describe the market it creates in what does an interoperable software market look like.
A bespoke system connects directly to your access control hardware through its API. There is no middleware subscription. There is no per-location fee. There is no restriction on which access control provider you can use.
Your booking system and your door hardware share the same data. When a member books a hot desk for Tuesday, the system grants building access on Tuesday. When a meeting room booking starts at 2pm, the meeting room door unlocks at 1:55pm and locks again at the end of the booking. When a membership is cancelled, all access is revoked immediately. When a day-pass is purchased, the buyer gets access for that day only.
The access rules are yours to define. Zone-based access (quiet zone only for certain plan types). Escalation rules (if a door is forced open, notify the community manager). Visitor pre-registration that grants temporary access to reception areas. Emergency override that unlocks all doors simultaneously. After-hours access limited to dedicated desk members. All of this is configurable because the system is yours.
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