Business card scanner app Scan every card. Pay for none.
The Cardr app for iPhone scans paper cards, badges and QR codes free, with no monthly cap, from the camera or up to 20 photos at once.
No app yet? Make your own free card on the web:
Free forever · No card details · About a minute
cardr.co/anjali-rao
Example of what happens next: Tom Avery scans Anjali’s card, saves Anjali to their contacts and chooses to send their own details back. The next morning at 9 a.m., Cardr Pro reminds Anjali to follow up, with the email already drafted.
Cardr’s iPhone app is a free business card scanner app with no monthly cap: it reads paper cards and badges from the camera or from up to 20 photos at once, reads QR codes, and opens what it read in a form you check before anything is saved. The reading happens on your iPhone. Everyone you scan joins the same contact list your Cardr card fills, with notes and tags, and exports to CSV or vCard.
Hold it still. Check it. Save.
Optical character recognition gets surnames wrong on a fancy card. So Cardr never files a stranger silently: you see every line first.
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01
Open the scanner and pick Paper card
Hold the card or badge in the frame. Once it holds still and Cardr can see a name and a way to reach them, it reads itself; or tap the shutter. Turn on the light in a dim room.
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02
Check what it read
A form opens already filled in: name, company, role, email, phone and link, with what the camera saw one tap below. Fix anything it got wrong. Nothing is saved until you tap Save.
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03
Add a line about them, and keep scanning
Note where you met and what they said. The scanner stays open with the name it just kept at the top, so the next card is a second away.
Three ways in, one form out.
| Way in | What it does |
|---|---|
| Paper card or badge | Reads every line in the frame, top to bottom, once the card holds still or when you tap. A light button for dim rooms |
| From Photos | Up to 20 photos at a time, read one after another on your iPhone, cards held sideways included. Works with the camera off |
| QR code | Any QR: a Cardr card, a contact card, or a link. A contact or a Cardr card is the surer read, so it fills the form first |
What scanning costs on each free plan.
The scanner is the part people use after an event, which is why several products put it behind the paid plan.
| Paper card scanning | Checked | |
|---|---|---|
| Cardr (iPhone app) | Free, with no monthly cap. Badges and QR codes too | From the app, October 29, 2026 |
| HiHello | Free plan caps card and badge scanning at 5 a month | October 29, 2026 |
| Wave Connect | The paper card scanner needs Pro; badge scanning is paid by the credit, at “$2.50 per credit” | October 29, 2026 |
| Blinq | A “Universal contact scanner” on Premium, $9.99 a month or $7.33 billed annually | October 29, 2026 |
| Dot | The paper card scanner is on dot.Profile+, $15 a month | October 29, 2026 |
| Mobilo | Lists a paper card scanner | October 29, 2026 |
Each rival’s row is from its own pricing page, linked from its name, on the date shown. Prices and limits change, so check before you choose.
| If you need | Pick |
|---|---|
| Scans that go straight into Salesforce or HubSpot | Blinq, HiHello or Mobilo: each lists CRM integrations. Cardr has none |
| A scanner on Android | Any of the others with an Android app. Cardr’s app is iPhone only |
| A team scanning badges at a booth, with leads shared | Popl or Wave, which build for event teams |
| The photo of the card kept with the contact | A scanner that stores images. Cardr reads the card and keeps the words, not the picture |
Free on the App Store.
The scanner is in the Cardr app for iPhone. Your card works without it, in Apple Wallet and on any phone.
cardr.co/anjali-rao
Card scanning, answered.
Is there a free business card scanner app with no limit?
Yes. Cardr’s iPhone app scans paper cards, badges and QR codes free, as many as you like. Some others cap the free plan: HiHello’s scans five cards a month, and Wave’s paper scanner needs Pro.
Can I scan business cards from photos I already took?
Yes. Tap From Photos and pick up to 20 at a time. Each one is read on your iPhone, any QR code in it too, and opens the same form to check. The picker runs outside the app, so Cardr sees only the photos you choose, and no photo is stored or sent.
How do I get scanned business cards into Excel?
Export your contact list as a CSV file from Cardr on the web; Excel opens CSV files directly. Export is free, along with the notes and tags you added.
How do I get scanned cards into Outlook?
Export the contact list as a CSV or vCard file, then import it in Outlook. Cardr does not sync with Outlook or any other system directly.
Does the scanner upload the card image?
No. The words are read on your iPhone, and Cardr keeps the details you check and save, not the picture. If you need the card image kept with the contact, choose a scanner that stores images.
Does it work for conference badges?
Paper card mode reads a badge’s printed name and company. Read from a photo, a QR on the badge that holds a link is kept as their link, and a badge’s own scrambled code is left out. Cardr is not a lead-retrieval scanner: it does not connect to event badge systems.
Is there an Android version?
No, the app is iPhone only. Your Cardr card itself works on any phone, and anyone can open your page and send you their details.
Scan theirs. Hand them yours.
Make your free card on the web, and get the iPhone app for the scanner.