You own it
The metal card is bought once and your page keeps working without a subscription. Most rivals switch your card off the month you stop paying.
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How Card1 stacks up
Most digital card platforms rent you a subscription — stop paying and your card stops opening. Card1's digital card is free, forever, and the engraved metal one is an optional extra. Here's the honest side-by-side.
Card1 versus a typical digital card platform
The full provider-by-provider grid is further down. This is the shape of the difference.
| Card1 | Everyone else, typically | |
|---|---|---|
| What happens if you stop paying | Your card and page keep working, free, forever. Pro features pause; nothing is deleted. | Your card stops opening. The page goes with the subscription. |
| A physical card | Engraved metal, AED 499 once. A separate one-off — your digital card works without it. | A plastic accessory sold separately, or nothing at all. |
| Video and imagery on your page | Header video, cover image, photo gallery and page sections — included with Pro. | Usually absent. Where it exists, it's a higher tier. |
| A private document vault | Certificates, insurance and contracts on your card, with expiring share links and an access log. | Nobody else pairs a business card with one. |
| How features are sold | One Pro tier — everything in it, including whatever we add next. No feature ladder to climb. | Tiered — the thing you pictured is usually two tiers up. |
| Where you are | UK company, UK support, billed in your own currency. | Mostly US platforms and US time zones. |
Provider by provider
Slide the table sideways to see every platform. The feature column stays put.
| Card1 | HeyDrop | Blinq | Popl | HiHello | Linq | Mobilo | Kinect Card | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free digital card | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | varies | trial only |
| Engraved metal card available | ✓ AED 499 once | — digital only | accessory | accessory | — digital only | accessory | accessory | NFC card from £39.99, sold separately |
| Works without a subscription | ✓ yours forever | free tier limited | free tier limited | free tier limited | free tier limited | free tier limited | subscription-led | card yes, digital needs a plan |
| Personal name link (card1.net/you) | ✓ with Pro | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Apple Wallet | ✓ with Pro | paid plan | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI paper-card scanner | ✓ 3 free · 100/mo Pro | ✓ capped free | paid plan | varies | varies | varies | varies | — |
| Lead capture & CRM | ✓ 5 free · unlimited on Pro, incl. CSV | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Document vault (certs, insurance, private docs) | ✓ unique | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bookings + sell from your card | ✓ Pro | — | — | — | — | partial | — | — |
| Video, cover & photo gallery on your page | ✓ included with Pro | varies | varies | varies | varies | varies | varies | — |
| One tier — no per-feature add-ons | ✓ all of Pro, one price | tiered | tiered | tiered | tiered | tiered | tiered | tiered |
| Team / group cards | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| UK-based, UK support | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Typical paid model | Free digital card Pro AED 35/mo metal card AED 499, optional | $9.99/mo ($3.75 annual) | subscription | subscription | subscription | subscription | subscription | from £4.99/user/mo + card from £39.99 |
Comparison based on each platform's public website and pricing pages, checked 28 July 2026. Plans and features change — always confirm current details with each provider. "—" means not offered as a headline feature at the time of checking; "varies" means it depends on their current plan structure.
Free, Pro, and what "included" actually means
This is the part most comparisons skip. Video, imagery and the vault aren't add-ons you buy on top of Card1 Pro — they're in it. Everywhere else, the equivalents are either missing or priced per feature, per seat, or per plan tier.
| Card1 Free | Card1 Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Your own card page and QR code | ✓ | ✓ same page, more on it |
| One-tap save to someone's contacts | ✓ always free | ✓ |
| Links on your card | 2 | 10 |
| Themes | 3 | All 11, plus 5 layouts and fonts |
| Contacts captured from an exchange | 5 | Unlimited, with CSV export |
| AI paper-card scanner | 3 a month | 100 a month |
| Apple & Google Wallet pass | — | ✓ auto-updating |
| Header video or cover image | — | ✓ included |
| Photo gallery and page sections | — | ✓ included |
| The document vault | Public shelf | ✓ included — unlimited, share links, access log |
| Bookings on your page | — | ✓ included |
| Sell from your card | — | ✓ included |
| Your name in the link (card1.net/you) | — | ✓ |
| Analytics | Views and taps | Everything, exportable |
| Price | Free forever | AED 35/mo or AED 349/yr |
Your first 14 days are on Pro, so you can see all of it working before you decide. Nothing to cancel — when the trial ends your card carries on, free, forever.
Why people choose Card1
It's a real card
Laser-engraved metal you are happy to put on the table, with the digital platform built into it rather than bolted on afterwards.
The vault
Nobody else pairs a business card with a document vault: brochures and certificates on your page, contracts and licences behind links that expire.
Everything is included
Video, cover images, photo gallery, page sections, bookings, selling and the wallet pass all sit inside one price. Nothing is sold as a paid extra.
Priced in your currency
A UK company with UK support, quoting in pounds, US dollars, UAE UAE dirhams or Australian dollars — so a team in Dubai or Sydney buys in its own money.
It never goes out of date
Change your details once and every card, printed QR, email signature and saved wallet pass updates itself. Nothing you have handed out goes stale.
Try the free card. Judge for yourself.
Two minutes to a working card — no payment details.
Your first 14 days are on Pro — the wallet pass, video, gallery and the full vault, all switched on. After that your card drops to free and keeps working, forever.
Create my free card