A detailed comparison of Visylix and Verkada across cloud VMS architecture, AI analytics, camera flexibility, pricing, and enterprise scalability in 2026.
Platform Overview: Open Architecture vs Vertically Integrated Cloud
Verkada has rapidly grown in the cloud managed video surveillance market by offering a vertically integrated solution where proprietary cameras, cloud software, and storage are sold as a single bundled package. This approach simplifies procurement and deployment, especially for organizations that value a turnkey experience and prefer to avoid managing on premise infrastructure. Visylix, developed by Aptibit Technologies, takes a fundamentally different approach as an open architecture, AI native video management platform that works with any ONVIF compliant camera and supports cloud, on premise, edge, and hybrid deployment models.
The strategic difference is one of philosophy. Verkada controls the entire stack from camera hardware to cloud backend, which enables tight integration but locks customers into a single vendor for both hardware and software. Visylix separates the software intelligence layer from the hardware layer, giving organizations the freedom to choose cameras from any manufacturer, deploy infrastructure wherever it makes sense, and avoid the long term risks of hardware vendor lock in.
This comparison examines both platforms across AI analytics capabilities, camera and hardware flexibility, deployment architecture, scalability, and pricing to help security leaders and technology architects make an informed decision for their video management needs in 2026.
AI Analytics: 10 Native Models vs Bundled Cloud Analytics
Visylix integrates 10 production ready AI models directly into its video processing pipeline: face recognition at 99.7 percent accuracy, person tracking with re identification, automatic number plate recognition, object detection, crowd density estimation, pose estimation, PPE and safety gear detection, heat map generation, motion detection, and unique person counting. All models run on GPU accelerated inference using TensorRT and OpenVINO, delivering real time analytics that process video without requiring it to leave the deployment environment.
Verkada includes cloud based analytics in its platform, offering people detection, vehicle detection, occupancy monitoring, unusual activity detection, and license plate recognition on select camera models. These capabilities are useful for common security scenarios, but the analytics catalog is narrower than what Visylix provides natively. Advanced capabilities like pose estimation, PPE compliance monitoring, crowd density estimation, and heat map generation are not available on the Verkada platform. Because Verkada analytics run in the cloud, there is inherent latency involved in sending video from cameras to cloud servers for processing and returning results.
For organizations whose use cases require deep, specialized AI analytics such as industrial safety compliance, crowd management for large venues, or real time behavioral analysis, Visylix broader native AI suite provides capabilities that Verkada cannot match. For organizations that need straightforward people and vehicle detection in a managed package, Verkada bundled analytics may be sufficient.
Camera Flexibility and Hardware Independence
One of the most significant differences between these platforms is their approach to camera hardware. Verkada requires the use of its own proprietary cameras. Organizations cannot connect existing third party cameras, which means adopting Verkada involves replacing all existing camera hardware regardless of its age or condition. This creates a substantial upfront investment and produces ongoing dependency on a single hardware vendor for replacements, expansions, and upgrades.
Visylix supports any ONVIF compliant camera, which includes models from Hikvision, Dahua, Axis, Hanwha, Bosch, Vivotek, and hundreds of other manufacturers. Organizations can retain their existing camera investments, mix cameras from different brands across sites, and select the best camera for each specific use case without worrying about software compatibility. This open approach also provides negotiating leverage, since organizations are never dependent on a single camera supplier.
For organizations with significant existing camera infrastructure, the cost of replacing all cameras with Verkada proprietary hardware can be prohibitive. Visylix ability to work with existing cameras dramatically reduces the migration cost and allows organizations to upgrade hardware incrementally based on operational needs rather than platform requirements.
Deployment Architecture, Scalability, and Data Sovereignty
Verkada operates on a cloud only architecture. All video is processed and stored in Verkada cloud infrastructure, with cameras connecting directly to their cloud backend. While this simplifies management and eliminates on premise servers, it creates complete dependency on cloud connectivity. If internet access is disrupted, live monitoring and cloud based analytics are unavailable. Organizations in regulated industries or regions with strict data sovereignty requirements may also face challenges storing video on third party cloud infrastructure outside their control.
Visylix supports cloud, on premise, edge, and hybrid deployment architectures, all managed through a single unified interface. Organizations can process and store video entirely on premise for maximum data sovereignty, deploy at the edge on NVIDIA Jetson devices for distributed locations with limited bandwidth, or use a hybrid approach that combines local processing with cloud management. The platform supports over one million concurrent streams through its zero copy architecture with sub 500 millisecond WebRTC latency.
This flexibility is particularly important for large enterprises with diverse site requirements. A corporate headquarters might use cloud deployment, a secure government facility might require fully on premise processing, and remote field offices might benefit from edge AI, all managed from the same Visylix instance. Verkada cloud only model cannot accommodate this diversity of deployment needs.
Pricing and When to Choose Each Platform
Verkada uses per camera annual subscription pricing that bundles hardware, cloud software, storage, and analytics into a single fee. While this simplifies budgeting, it also means organizations pay recurring fees for hardware they have already purchased, and the per camera cost is substantially higher than the software only pricing of platforms like Visylix. If an organization cancels its Verkada subscription, the cameras lose most of their functionality since they depend on the Verkada cloud for operation.
Visylix uses transparent per stream pricing that includes all 10 AI models and all platform capabilities with no hidden add on fees. Because Visylix is hardware agnostic, organizations can source cameras at competitive market prices and are not locked into recurring fees tied to specific hardware. Over a three to five year period, the total cost of ownership for a Visylix deployment with third party cameras is typically significantly lower than an equivalent Verkada deployment.
Choose Verkada if you prioritize a fully managed, zero maintenance experience, have no existing camera infrastructure to preserve, are comfortable with cloud only deployment and proprietary hardware lock in, and your analytics needs are limited to standard people and vehicle detection. Choose Visylix if you need deep AI analytics beyond basic detection, require flexibility to use existing cameras or choose hardware from any manufacturer, need deployment options beyond cloud only, want predictable per stream pricing without hardware tied subscriptions, or are building deployments at large scale with thousands of streams.