The honest UniversalContacts vs HiHello comparison.
HiHello's free plan is solid — 4 digital cards and unlimited sharing. But lead capture and export sit on paid tiers, and free scans cap at five a month. Here is where we actually differ.
Product illustration
| UniversalContacts | HiHello | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Personal + Professional $6/mo ($72 billed yearly), Business $5/user/mo ($60 per user/year) |
| Free plan | Live profile + QR, plus free lead capture, built-in analytics (views, taps, connections) and a separate card for each profile — no monthly caps | 4 digital cards, unlimited sharing — but lead capture is a paid tier and scans cap at 5/mo |
| Lead capture & CRM | Lead capture free forever; export + CRM webhook with Pro — included with every card | Custom lead forms and CRM integrations sit on the Business tier |
| Card analytics | Views, taps and connections — free, no Pro needed | Included on their free plan too |
| Wallet pass | Apple & Google Wallet — from the free Toolkit | Apple & Google Wallet |
| Card/badge scanning | Not needed — your card shares and captures on the tap | 5 scans/mo free, 20/mo Professional, unlimited on Business |
| Physical NFC card | Core product — £24–£59 one-off | App-first product |
| Design your card | Free Design Studio — 17 templates, 3 materials, live preview | Virtual card design on paid tiers |
| A card per audience | A separate card per profile — share only what you want | — |
| Best for | UK users who want a card they own — with capture and analytics free | App-led individuals and teams who scan lots of printed cards |
Prices and features re-checked on 22 September 2026 from hihello.com/pricing, which showed monthly and yearly pricing. Check their site for current details — plans change.
What a year actually costs
HiHello's free tier is the most generous in the category on card count — four digital cards, unlimited sharing. What its free tier does not do is capture a lead for you, and it caps scanning at five a month. Scanning lifts on Professional; lead capture is the Business tier.
- HiHello, one person who outgrows five scans a month: Professional at $6 a month, $72 billed yearly — roughly £55 a year, every year. They do not sell a physical card, so that sits on top of whatever you buy elsewhere.
- UniversalContacts, same person: a £24 card, once, with analytics included. Pro at £39 a year is optional and adds export and a webhook.
Converted at roughly $1.30 to the pound and rounded, from their own pricing page on 22 September 2026, which showed monthly and yearly pricing. Their Business tier is $5 per user per month, $60 per user per year, for five to a hundred users.
When HiHello is the right answer
If you want several digital cards and never intend to hand over a physical one, HiHello's free tier does more than ours on card count and the apps are polished. If your company already runs on Google Workspace and you want signatures and cards managed centrally, their Business tier is built for exactly that.
The difference is where the lead ends up. On a free HiHello card, somebody who wants to reach you has to type your details in themselves. That is the half we do not charge for, and it is the half that turns a conversation into a callback.
If you only ever want a free digital card, HiHello is fine. But the moment you want to capture a lead, lift the scan cap, or own and export your contacts, that is a paid tier there and free with us — on a physical card you own outright, Pro included, no monthly CRM bill.