Blinq vs Haystack (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 24, 2026, we pick Blinq: it is first in our ranking of digital business cards (Haystack is second), and they share a 3.0 GPA.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 and Oct 24, 2026 · graded Oct 24, 2026 by ToolGPA
Blinq grades higher on features and ease of use. Haystack grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Blinq
Digital business cards with contact scanning and event lead capture
Haystack
Digital-only business cards with directory sync for large companies
Which one is for you
Pick Blinq if
- Fits if you want one free card that people open from a QR code or a wallet pass
- Works for event teams that scan badges and send the leads to a CRM they already use
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you capture a lot of leads: each one captured and enriched on Business costs $9.99 on top, and bulk packs are sold through sales
- Tight if you're a team of two or three, since Business bills five cards at least, about $24.95 a month on yearly billing
- Not for you if you want CRM sync for yourself alone, as Premium covers one person and sync, templates and lead capture need Business
- Watch out: the scanner and contact export are Premium, and enforced SSO and SCIM need Enterprise
- Skip it if you'd rather set up your card on a computer, because cards are made in the phone app
Pick Haystack if
- Fits if you want free digital cards and scan a lot of paper cards
- Works for companies that want staff cards created and switched off from their directory
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a physical NFC card, as Haystack sells none and suggests printing your QR code on paper
- Watch out: prices carry a dollar sign without saying US or Australian dollars, and the page takes both
- Not for you if you want your own card design, email signatures or CRM links for free: those need Pro or Business
- Tight if your team is under 10, as Business starts at 10 users, and HRIS sync and custom fields need Enterprise from 250
- Pricey if you pay monthly: Pro is $7.95 against $4.50 yearly, and the 14-day trial takes your card up front
How we grade them
| 3.0GPABlinqVery good | 3.0GPAHaystackVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPremium is $7.33 a month on yearly billing ($9.99 monthly) for one person, close to this category's dearer quarter at $7.50. Business is $4.99 a card, on the cheapest-quarter line, but bills five cards at least and adds $9.99 per enriched lead. | BPro is $4.50 a user a month on yearly billing, inside this category's cheapest quarter ($4.99), though $7.95 monthly. Business is $2.50 a user for 10 users or more, $25 a month at the least. The page doesn't say which dollar. |
| Free plan and trial | BTwo cards, unlimited sharing and contacts, wallet passes and a personal email signature, free with no end date. One person can share a card on that for good; the contact scanner and contact export are Premium. | APersonal is free with no cap on cards, shares, contacts or AI card scans, plus your logo, photos, notes, tags and both phone apps. Custom card design, email signatures and CRM links are the paid part. |
| Features | BCards shared by QR, link, NFC, wallet or watch, a scanner for badges and paper cards, AI enrichment, a notetaker, team templates, managed signatures, event lead capture and native CRM sync. That covers the whole job, spread across three plans. | CUnlimited cards, a paper card scanner, sharing by QR, link, widget and email signature, directory sync, admin templates, CRM links, Zapier, webhooks and a REST API. The listing's gap: no NFC cards, so a physical card means printing its QR code. |
| Ease of use | ABlinq rates 4.9 on the US App Store from 132,692 ratings, the top of our ease ladder. | BNo store rating on record. You make a card in the iOS or Android app and share it by QR, link or widget. Directory sync and admin templates are for companies setting up their staff. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with native sync to HubSpot, Salesforce, Dynamics 365, Zoho CRM and Pipedrive, plus Zapier and an MCP server. No desktop app, so on a computer it's the browser. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Zapier, webhooks and a public REST API. No desktop app. |
| Best for | a free digital card, with paid lead capture for teams | free digital cards with unlimited card scans |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Blinq and Haystack. How we grade
Price against what you get
Blinq starts at $4.99 a month for each person and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Haystack starts at $2.50 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
Blinq scores higher, and starts $2.49 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other digital business cards on the chart, none scores higher than Blinq for less, and none scores higher than Haystack for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Blinq also covers meeting notes.
At a glance
| Blinq | Haystack | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4.99 per user / month, billed annually (Business, five-card minimum) | $2.50 per user / month, billed annually (Business, 10+ users) |
| Free plan | Two cards, unlimited sharing and contacts, QR code, widget, email and SMS sharing, Apple and Google Wallet passes, a personal email signature and virtual backgrounds. | Personal plan, free: unlimited cards, shares and contacts, unlimited AI card scans, logo and photos, social links, notes and tags, and the iOS and Android apps. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of Premium; 30-day free trial of Business | 14-day free trial of Pro and Business; the card is charged only when the trial ends |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Blinq Technologies Pty Ltd | Haystack Australia Pty Ltd |
| Price read from | blinq.me | thehaystackapp.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 24, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Blinq
- Business is billed per team card with a five-card minimum, so a team starts at about $24.95 a month on annual billing.
- Leads captured and enriched on Business cost $9.99 each, billed monthly on top of the per-user price; bulk and unlimited packages are sold through sales.
- Premium covers one person only; native CRM sync, templates and lead capture need Business, and enforced SSO and SCIM need Enterprise.
- Cards are set up in the iOS or Android app; the browser dashboard is where Business admins manage team cards.
Haystack
- Prices carry a dollar sign without saying whether they are US or Australian dollars; the page lists USD and AUD as payment options.
- Haystack sells no NFC cards; it suggests printing your card's QR code on paper cards if you want something physical.
- Card design, smart email signatures and CRM integrations need Pro or Business; HRIS integrations and custom fields are Enterprise features.
- Business is for teams of 10 or more, and Enterprise starts at 250 users with usage-based pricing.
Key features
Blinq
- Cards and sharing
- Two cards free and five on Premium, shared by QR code, link, email, SMS, NFC, Apple or Google Wallet, phone widgets or Apple Watch. Recipients need no app.
- Universal contact scanner
- From Premium, scan event badges, paper cards, QR codes and LinkedIn profiles, offline too, and save them straight to your contacts.
- AI enrichment and notetaker
- Enrichment fills in a contact's photo, title, phone, verified email and LinkedIn from 25+ sources. AI Notetaker records and summarizes the conversation. Both start on Premium.
- Team cards and signatures
- Business admins build templates with locked fields, create cards for the team in a browser dashboard and manage branded email signatures and virtual backgrounds.
- Event lead capture
- Business tags leads to an event campaign, adds custom qualifier forms and reports cost per lead and attribution, with leads synced to the CRM as they are captured.
- CRM sync and MCP
- Native sync with HubSpot, Salesforce, Dynamics 365, Zoho CRM and others, Zapier, and an MCP server that lets Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot search your contacts.
Haystack
- Digital cards
- Unlimited cards with a logo, profile image, gallery, theme colors, social and video links, a portfolio, brochures and a calendar scheduler.
- AI card scanner
- Scan paper business cards into contacts without limit on every plan, including the free one, and add notes and tags.
- Sharing
- Share by QR code, personalized link, iOS and Android home screen widgets, or a smart email signature.
- Directory sync
- Sync employees from Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace or an HR system so new hires get a card on day one and leavers' cards switch off.
- Admin controls
- An admin dashboard with card templates and employee permissions, such as locking synced job titles while people add their own links.
- CRM, Zapier and API
- Send new contacts met in person or over Microsoft Teams to a CRM, or connect other tools through Zapier, webhooks and a public REST API.
Plans
Blinq
Free$0
Two cards with unlimited sharing and contacts, wallet passes, a personal email signature and virtual backgrounds.
Premium$7.33
per month, billed annually ($9.99 billed monthly)
One person: up to five cards, the contact scanner, AI notetaker, AI enrichment, a branded QR code, custom colors and contact export.
Business$4.99
per user / month, billed annually ($6.99 billed monthly)
Billed per team card, five cards minimum. Adds templates, admin email signatures, lead capture, native CRM sync, analytics and MCP.
EnterpriseCustom
Recommended above 100 people: enforced SSO, SCIM provisioning, subteam admins, invoice billing, volume pricing and a dedicated CSM.
NFC Classic card$24.99
one-time, per card
A tap-to-share card linked to your Blinq profile, no subscription needed. Phone sticker $19.99, metal $49.99, custom printed from $59.99.
Haystack
Personal$0
For sole operators: unlimited cards, shares, contacts and AI card scans, with logo, photos and social links.
Pro$4.50
per user / month, billed annually ($7.95 billed monthly)
Custom card design, user permissions, custom links, smart email signatures, CRM integrations and analytics. Currency not stated.
Business$2.50
per user / month, billed annually ($4.95 billed monthly)
For teams of 10 or more: everything in Pro plus teams for organizing shared contacts. Currency not stated.
EnterpriseCustom
For 250+ users: usage-based pricing, HRIS integrations, custom fields, contract terms and dedicated customer success.
Ways to pay less
Blinq
- Annual discount
Save about 27% to 29% with annual billing
Blinq's pricing page shows Premium at $7.33 a month billed annually against $9.99 monthly, and Business at $4.99 against $6.99 per user.
- Other savings
Up to 25% off NFC cards ordered in bulk
Blinq's NFC shop takes 10% off orders of 20 to 49 cards, 15% off 50 to 99, 20% off 100 to 199 and 25% off 200 or more, applied in the cart.
Haystack
- Annual discount
Up to 40% off with annual billing
Haystack's pricing page marks annual billing -40%: Pro is $4.50 per user a month billed annually against $7.95 monthly, Business $2.50 against $4.95.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Blinq or Haystack?
As of Oct 24, 2026, Haystack is cheaper to start with: $2.50 a month for each person, against $4.99 a month for each person for Blinq. Blinq starts at $4.99 per user / month, billed annually (Business, five-card minimum), and Haystack starts at $2.50 per user / month, billed annually (Business, 10+ users).
Which has a free plan, Blinq or Haystack?
As of Oct 24, 2026, both Blinq and Haystack have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.