How to choose a digital visiting card maker
Twelve checks, five questions to email support, five red flags. Written to be run against every maker on your shortlist, ours included.
Evaluate any digital visiting card maker across twelve objective criteria: no app requirement for viewers, profile data retention if hosting lapses, self-serve dashboard editing, direct UPI payments without third-party commissions, privacy-first visit analytics, downloadable QR codes, custom branding removal, contact data export, reachable Indian support, transparent 3-year total cost, team user management, and registered company standing. Personal cards start free; a Beeps Card commercial profile is ₹199/year.
Profile from ₹199/year · works with no card · add the NFC card for ₹1,699 whenever you want one
The 12-point checklist
Each point: what to ask, and why it matters more than it sounds.
Can the receiver view it without an app?
How to check: Open the demo profile on a fresh phone. No install prompt anywhere.
Why it matters: Any friction at the receiving end kills sharing. The web page is the product; app-walled cards tax the wrong person.
What happens if I stop paying?
How to check: Ask directly: does my page stay up in year three if I pay nothing?
Why it matters: A digital card is hosting, and hosting has a cost. An evasive answer means the cost is hidden - or the page dies.
Can I edit everything myself?
How to check: Change your designation in the demo dashboard. Timed it?
Why it matters: The entire value of digital is self-serve updates. If edits need a support ticket, you have bought a slow paper card.
Does it do UPI payments?
How to check: See a live payment flow on a demo profile.
Why it matters: For Indian professionals this is the difference between a brochure and a business page.
What do the analytics actually show?
How to check: Ask for a screenshot of their analytics screen.
Why it matters: Views that count bots, or "analytics" that means a page counter, waste the best feature of going digital.
Can I download my QR for print?
How to check: Export the QR and print it once.
Why it matters: Your QR belongs on invoices, boards and packaging too. If it is locked inside their app, it is half a feature.
Can their branding be removed?
How to check: Check the demo profile corner - and whether removal is a paid tier.
Why it matters: Free tiers usually pay for themselves with the maker’s logo on your page. Know the exit price.
Who owns my data if I leave?
How to check: Ask for export and what happens to your link.
Why it matters: Your profile is your business asset. A confident maker answers instantly; a hesitant one is telling you something.
Is support a human in India?
How to check: Message pre-sales support before paying anyone.
Why it matters: Your card is a multi-year dependency. Response quality before payment predicts response quality after.
What does it cost over three years?
How to check: Card + all yearly fees + the features you actually need.
Why it matters: Sticker prices hide subscription reality. Three years is the honest comparison window.
Does it scale to a team?
How to check: Ask about central billing and per-member profiles.
Why it matters: Even solo users change companies. Team features are the difference between a card and a system.
Is the vendor a real business?
How to check: Look for a registered entity, a phone number, an address.
Why it matters: Your link has to keep resolving for years. Anonymous listings answer to no one.
Free tools vs paid profiles
| What you get | HiHello Personal (free) | Beeps Card |
|---|---|---|
| Price | HiHello Personal (free)Free forever | Beeps Card₹199/year (Basic) |
| Profiles | HiHello Personal (free)4 digital business cards | Beeps CardOne on Basic; Pro holds 2 to 5 |
| Sharing | HiHello Personal (free)QR, widgets, email and SMS; Apple and Google Wallet | Beeps CardA link and its own QR code, and the NFC card if you want one |
| Appointment booking | HiHello Personal (free)Not listed on the free plan | Beeps CardOn Basic |
| Enquiry form | HiHello Personal (free)Not listed on the free plan | Beeps CardOn Basic |
| UPI payments | HiHello Personal (free)Not listed on the free plan | Beeps CardOn Pro, ₹299/year |
| Analytics | HiHello Personal (free)Not listed on the free plan | Beeps CardOn Pro: a weekly visits chart |
| The maker's branding removed | HiHello Personal (free)Not listed on the free plan | Beeps CardOn Pro |
HiHello's column is its free Personal plan, as listed on its pricing page [source] on 28 September 2026; "not listed" means that plan's list does not mention it. Other free plans differ - Linktree's includes unlimited links [source] - which is why the checklist above matters more than any one table. Each maker we have compared has its own page against our profile: HiHello, Linktree, QRCodeChimp, and the Indian makers Cardlio, DziCard and IdentiQ. Free is a real option for personal cards; see the honest take in the complete guide. Beeps Card publishes this guide and sells one of the products compared.
Email support these five questions
The answers - and the speed of the answers - tell you everything.
Run them against us too: contact the Beeps team and time the reply.
Five red flags
"No subscription ever" on a hosted profile
Hosted pages cost money every month. Either the price is bundled upfront or the page is simpler than advertised - find out which before, not after.
The demo profile is hard to find
A maker confident in what opens after the tap shows it in the first screen. Hesitation here is the loudest signal on this page.
Pricing only visible after signup
Legitimate makers publish plans. Dark patterns at signup predict dark patterns at renewal.
Reviews that all sound the same
Template reviews with no specifics are a marketing asset, not feedback. Look for the imperfect five stars - those are real.
No company behind the product
No address, no registration, no invoice - nobody accountable for a link that must stay alive for years.
Maker questions
What is the best digital visiting card maker in India?
There is no single best - there is best-for-your-needs. Free plans genuinely cover a personal card: HiHello’s free Personal plan includes four digital business cards, and Linktree’s free plan includes unlimited links. For a business profile with products, UPI, booking and enquiries, Beeps Basic is ₹199/year and Pro ₹299/year, published in full on our pricing page. Run the 12-point checklist against any shortlist, ours included.
Are free digital business card makers actually free?
Many are free forever, and the free plan is a smaller version of the paid one. Check whose branding shows on your page, and whether payments, bookings and analytics are included - HiHello’s free plan, for example, lists cards, an email signature and QR sharing. That is a fair trade for a personal card. The moment the card is your business presence, the paid tier is the product you were evaluating all along.
Sources: HiHello [source]
Is ₹199/year a fair price for a digital visiting card?
Compare it to what it replaces: a reprint every time your number, role or company changes. A hosted page that never needs reprinting, takes bookings and enquiries, and comes with human support, at ₹199/year is priced like software precisely because it is software - that is the honest frame.
Can I move my digital card to another maker later?
Your content, yes - export it (see checklist point 8). Your link, sometimes - it depends on whether you control the domain behind it. This is the single most important question to ask before years of printing QR codes with anyone’s link, ours included.
Do I need the NFC card from the same maker as my profile?
Practically, yes - the chip is programmed to open your profile, and makers manage their own cards. Choose the maker first on profile quality, then add their card. The NFC side has its own comparison in our best NFC card guide.
Sources
Free plans are each maker's own pricing page, read on the date shown.
- HiHello, source page. Checked .
- Linktree, source page. Checked .