The RTLS accuracy hospitals need — powered by AI, at less than half the cost.
If you’re weighing a CenTrak quote, you already know the trade-offs of infrared-based RTLS: paying to put hardware in every room, non-standard batteries to replace across the fleet, and a disruptive install. Penguin Location Services delivers room- and sub-meter accuracy with AI and BLE 5.1 — far less to buy, install and maintain, deployed worldwide. Here’s the honest side-by-side.
Penguin Location Services delivers hospital-grade RTLS for less than half the total cost of legacy infrared systems — hardware and software combined.
Based on customer-reported evaluations and Penguin deployment pricing. Reflects total cost of ownership across hardware and software; individual results vary by facility, scope and configuration.
Penguin Location Services vs CenTrak, compared
Two capable healthcare RTLS platforms. The real divergence is the technology approach — and everything it drives downstream in hardware, software, batteries and total cost.
| Dimension | Penguin Location Services BLE 5.1 + AI location intelligence |
CenTrak Multi-mode Clinical-Grade RTLS™ |
|---|---|---|
| Core locating technology | Proprietary BLE 5.1 engine. AI/ML resolves location from the full pattern of signals across multiple antennas (spatial diversity) — accurate in multipath, without relying on explicit angle-of-arrival. | Multi-mode infrared hybrid. Second-Generation Infrared (Gen2IR™) plus Low-Frequency RF, UHF Active RFID, Wi-Fi and BLE. |
| How room-level is achieved | AI on standard BLE. Room- and sub-meter accuracy computed in software — no infrared or ultrasound emitters required. | Infrared in every room. An infrared emitter is placed in each room, since IR light doesn’t pass through walls. |
| Accuracy | Sub-meter ~95% · room-level ~99%. Sub-meter the majority of the time, with ~99% room-level accuracy where room-level certainty is required. | Room- & bed-level. Certainty-based room- and bed-level location via infrared. |
| Badges & tags | Rechargeable · ~3× lower cost. Off-the-shelf, rechargeable badges you can buy from any supplier — roughly a third the cost of proprietary tags. | Proprietary badges. Purpose-built battery-powered badges, purchased from the vendor. |
| Batteries | Recharge & reuse. Rechargeable badges, bought once and reused — no consumable batteries to purchase. | Specialized batteries. Non-standard lithium cells (not off-the-shelf) — a recurring purchase and fleet-wide replacement task; CenTrak offers it as a managed service. |
| Infrastructure | Penguin locator dev kit. Penguin’s own locator hardware replaces gateways at about a third of the cost (~3× cheaper). Wiring is comparable — the device cost is where you save. | Gateways + in-room devices. Wired gateways and in-room repeaters, plus battery-operated in-room beacons (Monitors, Virtual Walls™). |
| Software & licensing | Modern AI SaaS. A single AI-driven platform licensed at a fraction of a legacy RTLS platform — a major part of the total-cost gap. | Proprietary platform license. Vendor platform licensed alongside the proprietary hardware ecosystem. |
| Total cost model | Accessible by design. Less than half the total cost across hardware and software — built to remove cost as the #1 barrier to RTLS adoption. | Proprietary ecosystem. Tags, badges, hardware and software purchased from the vendor. |
Penguin details from penguinin.com. CenTrak details from CenTrak’s published materials at centrak.com, current as of 2026. CenTrak®, Gen2IR™, Virtual Walls™ and Clinical-Grade RTLS™ are trademarks of CenTrak, Inc. Provided for informational purposes; verify current specifications with each vendor.
One platform, every use case
The same AI-driven Penguin infrastructure powers a full range of hospital location services — so you can start with one and add the rest without new hardware.
Staff duress
Instant, room-level alerts when a team member presses their badge.
Asset tracking
Find pumps, wheelchairs and equipment in seconds, not hours.
Infant protection
Tamper-aware monitoring and exit control for mother-baby units.
Wayfinding & indoor navigation
Turn-by-turn navigation that gets patients and visitors to the right door.
Automated attendance
Accurate, touch-free staff and patient presence records.
Wander prevention
Protect at-risk patients and residents at every exit.
The trade-offs of infrared RTLS — and how Penguin answers them
These aren’t knocks on CenTrak; they’re the built-in trade-offs of an infrared architecture. Here’s what evaluators raise most — and how Penguin Location Services’ AI-driven approach removes each one.
The quote is the shock
Infrared hardware in every room, plus proprietary software.
Penguin comes in at less than half the total cost — hardware and software combined — because AI replaces the per-room infrastructure, the software is a fraction of a legacy license, and Penguin takes no margin on hardware.
Locked to one vendor
Proprietary tags and non-standard batteries to keep buying.
Penguin badges are off-the-shelf and rechargeable — buy them from any supplier, recharge and reuse. No proprietary tags tied to one vendor, no specialized batteries, no fleet-wide replacement program to fund and staff.
Hardware in every room
Infrared needs an emitter per room, and a disruptive install.
Penguin gets room- and sub-meter accuracy from AI and BLE 5.1 — nothing to mount in every room, and a faster, less disruptive path to going live.
What accessible RTLS looks like — an example
Illustrative first-year total cost for a typical 200-bed hospital tracking 1,000 assets with 500 badges. Not a CenTrak quote — real pricing depends on your building and scope.
Legacy infrared RTLS (typical)
~$210,000
Penguin Location Services
~$77,000
≈ 63% lower first-year cost
Illustrative model using typical per-unit costs (in-room devices/gateways, tags, badges and first-year software/maintenance). Ask for an exact estimate for your facility below.
Get your free RTLS estimate
Tell us about your facility and we’ll send a tailored estimate — plus help with your RFP or a replacement-cost analysis against your current CenTrak quote. No obligation.
Penguin Location Services vs CenTrak: common questions
Is there a lower-cost alternative to CenTrak for hospital RTLS?
Yes. Penguin Location Services is an AI-driven RTLS built on BLE 5.1 that delivers room- and sub-meter accuracy at less than half the total cost of legacy infrared systems like CenTrak — across hardware and software combined — because it replaces per-room infrared infrastructure with AI and takes no margin on hardware.
How is Penguin’s technology different from CenTrak’s?
CenTrak reaches room level using Second-Generation Infrared (Gen2IR) with an emitter in each room, as part of a multi-mode hybrid (infrared, RF, UHF RFID, Wi-Fi, BLE). Penguin uses BLE 5.1 with proprietary AI/ML algorithms that resolve location from the full pattern of signals across multiple antennas — achieving room- and sub-meter accuracy without infrared or ultrasound.
Can I buy Penguin badges from any vendor?
Yes. Penguin badges are off-the-shelf and rechargeable, so you can source them from any supplier at roughly a third the cost of proprietary tags — with no vendor lock-in, no specialized batteries to keep buying, and no fleet-wide battery-replacement program.
Does Penguin require infrared hardware in every room like CenTrak?
No. Because Penguin achieves room- and sub-meter accuracy in software with AI and BLE 5.1, there is no infrared emitter to buy, mount and maintain in every room — which means lower cost and a faster, less disruptive installation.
How do CenTrak badges compare to Penguin’s?
CenTrak uses proprietary, battery-powered badges purchased from the vendor, with specialized (non-standard) replaceable batteries. Penguin Location Services uses off-the-shelf rechargeable badges you can buy from any supplier at roughly a third the cost — with no vendor lock-in and no consumable batteries to keep replacing.
Does Penguin cost less than CenTrak RTLS?
In customer-reported evaluations, Penguin Location Services has come in at less than half the total cost of legacy infrared RTLS across hardware and software combined — because AI replaces per-room infrared infrastructure, the software is a fraction of a legacy license, and Penguin takes no margin on hardware.
What use cases does Penguin’s RTLS support?
Penguin runs staff duress, asset tracking, infant protection, wander prevention, wayfinding and indoor navigation, and automated attendance — all on one AI-driven BLE 5.1 platform. Because they share the same infrastructure, you can start with one use case and add others without new hardware.
© 2026 Penguin Location Services. Comparison information is drawn from each company’s published materials and is provided for informational purposes only. CenTrak®, Gen2IR™, Virtual Walls™ and Clinical-Grade RTLS™ are trademarks of CenTrak, Inc. Penguin is not affiliated with or endorsed by CenTrak.
