Popl is known for its digital business cards, shared by QR code or NFC. The American vendor also offers a lead capture plan for trade shows, with AI badge reading and contact enrichment. Exhibitors comparing Popl and Scanlead often want to know which plan they really need to scan badges, and how much it costs.
This page answers based on what each vendor publishes, pages consulted on 25 September 2026. It starts with what Popl does better.
At a glance
| Criterion | Popl | Scanlead |
|---|---|---|
| Published price and unit | Team plans, including Event Lead Capture, on quotation (source); individual plans in the French App Store, incl. VAT: Pro €3.49, Pro Plus €16.99 (period not stated), Pro Plus Yearly €164.99 (source) | Free; Pro €19 excl. VAT per month (1 user); Pro+ €39 excl. VAT per month (up to 5) |
| Commitment | Contracts paid in advance, automatically renewed, non-refundable, in US dollars (source) | No commitment, cancel at any time |
| Free plan / trial | Free plan for sharing your digital card (source); free Pro or Pro+ trial (source) | Free plan: 50 captures per month, no credit card |
| App languages | English stated on the App Store (source) | French, German, English, Italian, Spanish |
| Badge | Whole badge read by AI, reserved for Event Lead Capture; individual Pro: 5 badge scans for life (source) | Badge QR code if it contains a vCard, a contact or a profile URL |
| Business card | Yes, AI OCR (source) | Yes, photo read automatically |
| Offline | Yes (source) | QR code and manual entry: yes, sync without duplicates. Card reading: connection required |
| Qualification | Customisable questions, reserved for Event Lead Capture (source) | Hot, warm, cold, plus notes, from the free plan upwards |
| File export | CSV from the dashboard, not on the free plan (source) | CSV and Excel, on every plan |
| CRM | Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics, Pardot, Marketo, Pipedrive, Zoho natively, from Pro upwards (source) | API and webhooks (Pro, Pro+) to Make or Zapier; direct link with CRMlead |
| Team | Sub-teams, SAML SSO, SCIM (source) | Pro+: up to 5, roles, "Added by" column |
What Popl does better
- It reads any badge. Popl reads the text printed on the badge and completes it with AI, without depending on the QR code, even an encrypted one (source). Scanlead only reads QR codes that contain a vCard, a contact or a profile URL.
- It enriches contacts. Popl advertises data from more than 20 partners (source). Scanlead does not enrich contacts.
- It records voice. Recording of stand conversations, dictated notes, questions filled in automatically (source). Scanlead has no voice notes.
- It connects natively to CRMs, from Salesforce to HubSpot (source). Scanlead goes through its API and Make or Zapier.
- Its digital card goes further. Sharing via NFC, Apple Wallet or Apple Watch (source). Scanlead's "My card" displays a vCard QR code with your contact details, without NFC.
- It targets large organisations: sub-teams, SSO, SOC 2 Type 2 certification (source), phone support during the show (source).
What Scanlead does differently
- Trade show capture has a published price. €19 excl. VAT per month for one user, €39 excl. VAT for a team of up to five. At Popl, the plan that scans badges and asks qualification questions is on quotation.
- Badges, qualification and export from the free plan upwards. 50 captures per month, cards, badges and manual entries included, with CSV and Excel export.
- An interface in English, as well as French, German, Italian and Spanish.
- An export designed for Excel. CSV (comma-separated in English, semicolons when the interface is in another European language) that Excel reads with accents intact, or an Excel file, with headers in English.
- The API and webhooks from Pro upwards. At Popl, the API key requires team administrator rights (source).
- Statistics per show and comparison between shows.
What it really costs
Example: three trade shows a year, three people on the stand, badges and business cards to capture.
Popl. You need the Event Lead Capture team plan, the only one that includes the badge scanner and the qualification questions. Its price is not published: Popl gives it "over a meeting" (source). So the calculation is not possible without a quotation.
Scanlead. Pro+ for the three show months: 3 × €39 = €117 excl. VAT, or €390 excl. VAT per year with annual billing.
For a single person who mainly shares their digital card, Popl Pro Plus Yearly costs €164.99 incl. VAT in the French App Store (source). Pro with annual billing at Scanlead costs €190 excl. VAT. Popl can therefore work out cheaper, but the full badge scanner and the qualification questions remain reserved for Event Lead Capture (source).
When to choose Popl, when to choose Scanlead
Popl is the right choice if your shows have badges without a readable QR code, if you want enriched contacts and recorded conversations, if leads must go straight into your CRM, or if you are equipping a large team with SSO. Also if an NFC digital card is your main need.
Scanlead is the right choice if you want to know the price before you start, work in English, capture business cards and badges with a readable QR code, qualify in one tap and export to Excel, with five people at most.
Switching tools
At Popl, leads are exported as CSV, from the dashboard only, on paid plans (source). Team contracts renew automatically unless cancelled 30 days before the end of the term (source).
On the Scanlead side, contacts come in by manual entry or via the API (Pro and Pro+). Keep the Popl export for past contacts and start your next show in Scanlead.
How the organiser's badge scanner compares, published prices included: Alternative to the organiser's badge scanner. And after the show: Trade show leads to your CRM.