Blinq vs Wave Connect (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 24, 2026, we pick Blinq: it is first in our ranking of digital business cards, and they share a 3.0 GPA.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 and Oct 24, 2026 · graded Oct 24, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
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
Wave Connect
Digital business cards with AI badge scanning on prepaid credits
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 Wave Connect if
- Fits if you staff a booth and want badge scans sent to a CRM without renting the show's scanner
- Works for a team of three or more that wants cards and CRM sync on one plan
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you scan a lot: credits cost $250 for 115, a badge takes 4 and they expire after 12 months
- Tight if you want CRM sync alone or as a pair, since it starts on Teams, which bills three users at least
- Watch out: removing Wave branding and a branded QR code need Pro, at $7 a month yearly or $9 monthly
- Not for you if you need SSO, SCIM or unlimited lead-capture users without a quote, as those are Enterprise only
How we grade them
| 3.0GPABlinqVery good | 3.0GPAWave ConnectVery 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. | CPro is $7 a month on yearly billing ($9 monthly in the iOS app), near this category's dearer quarter at $7.50. Teams is $5 a user, the middle, with three users at least. Scanning credits cost extra: $250 for 115. |
| 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. | BThe free card comes with a personal email signature, unlimited sharing and contacts, wallet passes, a lead form and personal analytics, with no end date. The 10 AI scanning credits are a one-off taste. |
| 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. | BCards with galleries, video and booking, a scanner that reads badges, paper cards and LinkedIn QR codes offline, waterfall enrichment, signatures for Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail, team templates and native CRM sync. That covers the whole job. |
| Ease of use | ABlinq rates 4.9 on the US App Store from 132,692 ratings, the top of our ease ladder. | AWave Connect rates 4.8 on the US App Store from 1,604 ratings, the top of our ease ladder. |
| 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 native sync to HubSpot, Salesforce, Dynamics 365, Zoho, Pipedrive and HighLevel, and Zapier to 5,000+ apps. No desktop app. |
| Best for | a free digital card, with paid lead capture for teams | small teams scanning event badges into a CRM |
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 Wave Connect. 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. Wave Connect starts at $5 a month for each person and scores 3.3.
They score the same, and Blinq starts $0.01 a month lower. Of the other digital business cards on the chart, none scores higher than Blinq for less, and none scores higher than Wave Connect 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 | Wave Connect | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4.99 per user / month, billed annually (Business, five-card minimum) | $5 per user / month, billed annually (Teams, three-user minimum) |
| 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. | a digital card, a personal email signature, unlimited sharing and contacts, Apple and Google Wallet, a lead capture form, personal analytics and 10 trial credits for AI scanning. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of Premium; 30-day free trial of Business | 7-day free trial of Pro; 14-day free trial of Teams |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Blinq Technologies Pty Ltd | Wave Connect Inc. |
| Price read from | blinq.me | wavecnct.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.
Wave Connect
- AI scanning uses credits: 4 per event badge and 1 per paper card, LinkedIn QR or lead form; 100 credits plus 15 free cost $250 and last 12 months.
- Teams needs at least 3 users, and CRM sync, templates and locked fields start there.
- Enforced SSO, SCIM provisioning and unlimited lead-capture users need Enterprise, which is quoted.
- Removing Wave Connect branding and using a branded QR code need Pro or higher.
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.
Wave Connect
- Digital card and sharing
- Contact details, photo gallery, video and files, calendar bookings and a link in bio, shared by QR code, text, email, wallet pass, phone widget or offline.
- AI badge and card scanner
- Snap an event badge with only a name and company and Wave finds the rest; it also reads paper cards and LinkedIn QR codes, and keeps scanning offline.
- Waterfall enrichment
- Several data sources plus AI search look for each contact's email, phone and LinkedIn. Failed lookups and duplicate scans are not charged.
- CRM sync
- Teams syncs leads natively to HubSpot, Salesforce, Dynamics 365, Zoho, Pipedrive and HighLevel with custom field mapping, or to 5,000+ apps through Zapier.
- Email signatures
- Branded signatures for Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail; Teams admins set signatures for the whole team.
- Team admin
- Templates, bulk import from a spreadsheet, bulk edits and locked fields, admin, manager and viewer roles, and a shared lead dashboard.
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.
Wave Connect
Free$0
A digital card and personal email signature, unlimited sharing and contacts, wallet passes and a lead form.
Pro$7
per month, billed annually ($9 billed monthly in the iOS app)
Branded QR code and profile, custom colors and fonts, no Wave branding, AI lead capture with enrichment and offline mode.
Teams$5
per user / month, billed annually (3-user minimum)
Admin platform, templates and locked fields, team lead capture with qualifiers and voice notes, CRM sync and a shared credit pool.
EnterpriseCustom
Enforced SSO, SCIM, unlimited lead-capture users on an annual credit package, CRM setup and a dedicated account manager.
Wave NFC Business Card$23
one-time, per card
NFC card linked to your Wave profile. Custom printed $42, metal $53, phone tap or bracelet $23.
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.
Wave Connect
- Annual discount
Save about 22% with yearly Pro
The US App Store lists Pro at $84 a year against $9 a month, and Wave's pricing page shows Pro at $7 a month billed annually.
- Other savings
Bonus credits on larger lead capture packs
Wave adds free credits to bigger packs: 5 extra with 50, 15 with 100, 35 with 200 and 70 with 400 credits.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Blinq or Wave Connect?
As of Oct 24, 2026, Blinq is cheaper to start with: $4.99 a month for each person, against $5 a month for each person for Wave Connect. Blinq starts at $4.99 per user / month, billed annually (Business, five-card minimum), and Wave Connect starts at $5 per user / month, billed annually (Teams, three-user minimum).
Which has a free plan, Blinq or Wave Connect?
As of Oct 24, 2026, both Blinq and Wave Connect 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.