Polestar alternative

Need indoor positioning without the fingerprinting complexity? Crowd Connected offers self-calibrating accuracy with complete analytics and wayfinding - transparently priced, with no vendor lock-in.

Location data from a wide area made accessible
Polestar is a French indoor positioning platform founded in 2002 and based in Toulouse. Their NAO Suite platform uses fingerprinting technology and has established partnerships with major infrastructure providers including Cisco Spaces. The platform is primarily deployed in airports, hospitals, cruise ships, and industrial facilities.
Polestar strengths

What Polestar does well

Polestar has 20+ years in the market and deep expertise in mission-critical environments like airports and healthcare. Their partnerships with providers like Cisco Spaces give them real infrastructure integration depth, especially for large enterprise deployments.

However, their fingerprinting approach comes with the same fundamental constraints every fingerprinting system has. Initial calibration is labour-intensive. Recalibration is required whenever your venue changes. And like most established vendors, Polestar doesn’t publish pricing - you need to contact sales.

Indoor venue with location technology
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Indoor venue with location technology
How we're different

Why Crowd Connected solves Polestar's limitations

Self-calibrating technology eliminates the calibration burden that plagues fingerprinting systems. Our patented Anchor-Shift Fusion algorithm adapts automatically as your environment changes - no manual recalibration, no maintenance cycles, no vendor consultants required.

We’re also genuinely transparent. Our complete pricing is published. Our free tier supports unlimited commercial use with no device limits. And we integrate with the same mapping and infrastructure providers Polestar does, but with a modern composable API-first architecture that’s easier to integrate.

Crowd Connected analytics heatmap dashboard
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Crowd Connected analytics heatmap dashboard

Why choose Crowd Connected?

Complete solution

Positioning, wayfinding, analytics, and customer experience in one platform. No multi-vendor complexity, no licensing sprawl across different tools.

Composable architecture

REST APIs, webhooks, and data exports give you complete flexibility. Integrates with major mapping platforms without vendor lock-in or custom integration overhead.

Self-calibrating

our patented Anchor-Shift Fusion algorithm continuously recalibrates as your building changes. No fingerprinting work, no recalibration cycles, no maintenance burden.

Privacy first

Location data stays within your venue boundaries. You control what's collected, where, and when. No data tracking beyond your specific needs.

Frequently asked questions

How does Crowd Connected compare to Polestar's NAO Suite?
Both deliver industrial-grade indoor positioning suitable for mission-critical environments. The key difference: Polestar uses fingerprinting requiring continuous recalibration maintenance, while we use self-calibrating our patented Anchor-Shift Fusion algorithm. You get the same reliability without the calibration overhead.
Can we migrate from Polestar without reinstalling beacons?
Most likely yes. If Polestar is using standard Bluetooth infrastructure, we’re compatible. We can import floor plans and beacon configurations to get up and running without additional hardware installation. Verify your specific beacon setup with our team for certainty.
Does Crowd Connected support the same Cisco Spaces integration as Polestar?
We integrate with major infrastructure and mapping platforms via REST APIs. If Polestar’s Cisco Spaces integration is critical to your workflow, we can build custom integrations. Contact our team to discuss your specific requirements.
What's your pricing for enterprise deployments?
We publish our full pricing online - no hidden tiers, no ‘contact sales’ gatekeeping. For large deployments, we offer volume pricing and custom SLAs. Everything is transparent upfront. You can see what enterprise costs before talking to sales.
How reliable is Anchor-Shift Fusion for mission-critical use?
Anchor-Shift Fusion is designed for continuous operation without recalibration. It maintains 2-5m accuracy indoors and degrades gracefully in challenging environments rather than failing outright. Many critical venues - including hospitals and airports - use BLE-based positioning because it’s inherently more resilient than fingerprinting.
Can Crowd Connected handle multi-building enterprise deployments?
Yes, without limit. Enterprise customers with dozens or hundreds of venues use our platform. Scaling across multiple buildings, multiple time zones, and complex organisations is built into our architecture, not bolted on afterward.
OUR CLIENTS

Trusted by global brands

Proven at scale

From university campuses to the world's largest exhibitions

Crowd Connected has powered indoor positioning at over 200 venues across 30 countries - from Canterbury Christ Church University to CES in Las Vegas. Our patented Anchor-Shift Fusion algorithm delivers self-calibrating accuracy that maintains itself without recalibration, and one infrastructure powers positioning, occupancy sensing, and tag tracking. Indoor positioning starts free, with unlimited commercial use.
Blue-dot indoor wayfinding on a phone at an exhibition
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Blue-dot indoor wayfinding on a phone at an exhibition