Linq alternatives without the hardware
What their store states today, and what a card with nothing to post looks like.
Linq makes cards, badges and hubs, and their store states that products need an active subscription before they work. Here there is nothing to post: your card is a link and a code the day you publish it, and one card is free.
Hardware, and what it commits you to
A card with a chip is a pleasant object and it has one drawback worth naming: it ties the thing in your pocket to an account that has to stay open for it to do anything. Their own store says so in a line of its own.
Starting with the link turns that around. The link works from the first minute, a code on a paper card does the same job for every phone rather than the newer ones, and you can add a tag later if you want the tap.
Linq and VisitingCards.store, row by row
Their column is their own store's words; where a plan price did not load for us, the row says so rather than guessing.
| What it is | VisitingCards.store | Linq |
|---|---|---|
| What they sell | A digital card on your own link, and a free card maker whose download is print-ready. | NFC cards, badges and hubs from their own store, each one bought once: the Linq Card at "$14.99", a custom card at "$34.99", a custom badge at "$39.99", a custom mini card at "$24.99" and a laser-engraved metal card at "$59.99".Their page, checked on 22 September 2026 |
| What their own page says it costs | From $0.99 a month. Free plan too. One card on your own link is $0, for as long as you like. | The store states "All products require an active subscription before activating to your account. Product purchases do not include account access." The plan price itself did not load on the pages we read.Their page, checked on 22 September 2026 |
| A plan that costs nothing | One card on your own link, free for as long as you like, with a small line naming the site. | Their page did not say. |
| A pass in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet | A pass for Apple Wallet and one for Google Wallet, both built in.  | Their page did not say. |
| A form on the card for people to write to you | A lead form on every card that keeps every message; with Pro, the people who write to you are listed in your own dashboard. | Their page did not say. |
| A card with a chip, sold by them | Yes: our print shop makes Frosted Transparent Plastic with NFC Chip and Anodized Black Matte Aluminum NFC, in packs of 25, 50 or 100, with your card's address written on every chip. A tag you already own works too. | Cards, badges, mini cards and metal cards are sold from their own store.Their page, checked on 22 September 2026 |
| Numbers on who opened it | Views, contact saves and taps on each button, in your dashboard. | Their page did not say. |
Everything in their column was read on Linq's own pages on 22 September 2026, and each row links the page it came from. Prices move, so check theirs there before you decide.
Their plan prices are drawn by a script their public pages run, and we could not read them the way a reader would. The row says so instead of guessing, and the link goes to their own store.
Linq compared with this site
They make things: a card, a custom card, a badge, a mini card and a metal one, each with a price on their store. Our print shop makes printed cards too, two of them with an NFC chip, in frosted plastic and in black aluminium, but no badge and no mini card: for those, buy from somebody who makes them.
What we make is the page the tap would open, and the parts around it: a print-ready design you can take to any shop, a pass in the wallet, a lead form, and the alerts. The tag is theirs; the details are ours.
Where Linq is the better choice
Two clear cases for buying theirs, with nothing shaved off them.
- Anyone who wants a badge or a mini card with a chip: they make and ship both themselves, and our print shop makes neither.
- An event team handing out branded hardware, which is what most of their store is.
Start with the link
Nothing here waits on the post.
Create your free card
Your own link, your details, and a QR code that opens it. Free to start.
Create your free card→NFC business card
What a tap card is, what we do not sell, and what to write to a tag you own.
NFC business card→QR code business card
A square code on the paper card that opens your details on their phone.
QR code business card→Business card maker
Type your details, pick a design, download a print-ready file. No account and no watermark.
Business card maker→Questions about cards with chips
Can I use a tag I already bought with this?
Yes. Copy your card's link, write it to the tag with any free tag-writing app, and a tap on that tag opens your card.
Does a QR code work as well as a tap?
It reaches more phones. Every camera reads a code; a tap needs a phone that is awake, unlocked and held right against the card.
What happens to a tag if I change my number?
Nothing has to happen. The tag holds your link and your link holds your details, so editing the card is the whole job.
Is there anything to pay before my card works?
No. Publish it on the free plan and it is live, with its own address and its own code, before any payment page appears.
Publish first, buy a tag later
The link is the useful half and it is free. A tag is a five-minute job afterwards, with a tag you picked yourself.