The honest UniversalContacts vs Blinq comparison.
Blinq's free plan is genuinely useful — but lead capture, export and analytics are all paid. Our difference is the model: a one-off card, a free live profile with capture and analytics included, and Pro (£3.99/mo) optional.
Product illustration
| UniversalContacts | Blinq | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Buy the card once (£24–£59) — Pro included, 3 months with plastic, 6 with bamboo, 12 with metal (optional £3.99/mo after) | Free plan + Premium $7.33/mo and Business $4.99/user/mo, both billed annually, minimum five cards on Business |
| Free plan | Live profile + QR, plus free lead capture, built-in analytics (views, taps, connections) and a separate card for each profile | 2 digital cards, unlimited sharing, wallet — but lead capture, export and analytics are all paid |
| Lead capture & export | Lead capture free forever; CSV/vCard export + CRM webhook come with Pro — included with every card | Paid — lead capture, export and CRM sync sit on Premium and Business tiers |
| Card analytics | Views, taps and connections — free, no Pro needed | Advanced analytics on the Business tier |
| Wallet pass | Apple & Google Wallet — from the free Toolkit | Apple & Google Wallet |
| Physical NFC card | The core product — £24–£59 by material, one-off | App-first product |
| Design your card | Free Design Studio — 17 templates, 3 materials, live preview | Card design tools on paid tiers |
| A card per audience | A separate card per profile — share only what you want | — |
| Team admin | 5-card team pack £95 — invite the crew by email, each card links itself | Strong (templates, provisioning, CRM sync) |
| Best for | UK small businesses who want to own their card and their leads | App-led individuals and feature-heavy teams |
Prices and features re-checked on 22 September 2026 from blinq.me/pricing, which showed monthly and annual pricing. Check their site for current details — plans change.
What a year actually costs
The free plans are not the comparison. Both are real and both are usable. The comparison is what happens the first time you want to keep a lead, and on Blinq that is the Business plan, which is billed per user, annually, with a minimum of five cards. One person who wants lead capture is therefore buying five.
- Blinq, one person wanting capture: five cards on Business at $4.99 each per month, billed annually — roughly £230 a year, every year, plus the card itself.
- UniversalContacts, same person: a £24 card, once. Capture and analytics are free and stay free. Pro is £39 a year if you want export and a webhook, and most people do not.
Converted at roughly $1.30 to the pound and rounded, from their own pricing page on 22 September 2026. Their page showed monthly and annual pricing.
When Blinq is the right answer
If you are provisioning cards for a team of thirty, want templates enforced centrally, and need the whole thing syncing into a CRM, Blinq does that and we do not. Their admin tooling is genuinely strong and the app is good. The five-card minimum that looks awkward for one person is irrelevant to an organisation buying thirty.
What you are accepting in exchange is that the lead capture, the analytics and the export live behind a subscription that renews. That is a reasonable trade at thirty people. It is a poor one at one.
Blinq's free plan looks generous until you try to capture, see or export a lead — those are Premium and Business there, and free with us. If you want an app-led platform with deep team tooling, Blinq is a fair pick. If you want to own your card and your leads, buy ours once — free live profile, free capture and analytics, Pro optional.