Compared
Portal Hound vs a VPN.
Both give a remote worker a company address. A VPN gives it to everything they do; Portal Hound gives it only to the portals you approve, under a named identity, with a log. That difference decides which one you want for offshore staff in other companies' systems.
Side by side
| Business VPN | Portal Hound | |
|---|---|---|
| What goes through it | Everything on the computer, including personal browsing, unless split tunnelling is configured per device | Only portals an administrator approved. Everything else uses the worker's own connection |
| Identity | Usually one VPN login per person, sometimes shared | One identity per worker, created on and tied to their computer; approving each computer is a step |
| What's logged | Connection logs; application logs vary | Which worker reached which portal and when. No page contents, ever |
| Decryption | Some corporate VPNs inspect traffic | Never. Traffic stays encrypted end to end between browser and portal |
| Revoking one person | Disable their VPN account | One click; nobody else affected, no shared password to rotate |
| Liability for personal traffic | Personal browsing flows through your company | Personal browsing never touches your gateway |
| Typical cost | Per user per month, plus admin time | Plans by team size; see pricing |
When each one fits
Choose a VPN when
Staff need access to internal networks, file shares and installed applications, not just web portals, and you want all their work traffic on your network.
Choose Portal Hound when
Offshore staff work in other companies' web portals under their own logins, and you need to say exactly who reached what, from one address, without carrying their personal traffic.
Use both when
You already run a VPN for internal systems and want a separate, narrower path for the offshore group's external portals, with its own log.
Neither is a way around
A portal's terms. If a platform prohibits offshore access, a company address doesn't change that. Both tools are for access you're authorized to have.
Questions
Can Portal Hound replace our VPN?
Only if your offshore team's work is all in web portals. It doesn't reach file shares, databases or installed applications.
Is it a VPN underneath?
It uses an encrypted tunnel to carry approved portal traffic to the gateway, but the gateway cannot route general traffic, cannot be used as a VPN, and never decrypts. The allowlist is enforced on the gateway, not on the worker's computer.
Does it work alongside a VPN?
Yes. Approved portals go through Portal Hound; everything else follows whatever your VPN client does.
Related
See it with your own portals.
Fifteen minutes with the worker app and the admin console answers most of this.