Augmented reality mobile applications offer the five best business card scanner apps as the ultimate solution to a traditional problem. Currently, with the click of a button, you can scan business cards directly into your phone and store an unlimited number of contacts. Also, the top business card scanner app not only performs the scan and storage function, but it comes together with numerous useful attributes that make you work smarter, more organized, and connected.
To help you choose the right card scanning software, I have tested nearly a hundred apps including the ones from your smartphone, from CRM applications with 5 best business card scanner apps cards and from those developed explicitly for both broad and specific user groups. A number of the solutions are beginning to look the same and the features are the same, so, I narrowed down the list to top five that do it best.
Take a look at my top 5 business card scanners. Click any app to find out why I selected it, or you may read on further for more account on business card readers.
What makes the best business card scanner app?
To choose the 5 best business card scanner apps I made a list which included most if not all of the options out there. I then downloaded each app, set up my accounts, and tested each one with two business cards: I had two versions in mind, one with a plain design that I thought should be easily readable for any reliable app and one with a complex design that I thought could confuse even the best of them.
- Accuracy. Whether the names, email addresses, phone numbers and other details listed on the cards have been entered accurately or not.
- Ease of use. How easy to get accustomed to the app.
- Contact storage. How the app approaches contact management.
- Integration and sharing options. The quantity and the breadth of the contact options one can export or sync with other platforms such as email clients and CRM software.
- Organization. The possibility to arrange, categorize, and group contacts choosing the needed order.
Also, I thought about apps that offered special features, like multiple card capture, AI, design suites and company contact management capabilities.
The best business card scanner apps at a glance
Name | Best for | Standout features | Pricing |
ABBYY BCR | iPhone users | Very accurate scans, contactless card sharing with QR codes | Free plan available; Paid plans from $7.99/month or $29.99/year. |
BizConnect | Accuracy | Verification phase for extra accuracy, task setting, and reports | Free plan – scan 600 cards; paid plan from $6.99/user/month |
Covve | Maintaining relationships with contacts | Follow-up reminders, intuitive interface, activity tracking | The free plan, which has limited features; the Pro plan, at $12.99/month or $119.99/year with unlimited features. |
Haystack | A free option | Vibrant visual representations of cards, automatic information gap-filling | Free |
HiHello | Customization | Wide range of social media fields, including unconventional ones | Free plan is available, and paid plans start from $6 per month. |
Best iPhone business card scanner app for ease of use
ABBYY BCR (iOS)
![ABBYY BCR (iOS)](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/picA2-2-1024x504.jpg)
ABBYY BCR pros:
- Very accurate scans
- Intuitive to use
- Cards sharing based on contactless principles with QR codes.
ABBYY BCR cons:
- Their Android version is no longer supported.
One of the most widely used business card scanner apps is ABBYY, and there are a few reasons for it. These are the two key advantages of the app – its simplicity and accuracy. It will bold certain numbers or letters that are not absolutely right in a different color, though, in my case, everything was alright.
As far as storage goes, you have a variety of options: you can add contacts to the app’s Cardholder and/or sync them with your phone’s contacts, or have them in Salesforce. However, this feature is even better when you have the option of doing all three procedures at once right after your scan, which means you will not have to save the contacts to different places manually. Besides that you can export contacts in a CSV.
You will also be able to include your Facebook and LinkedIn information under the usual fields like name, telephone number, and address for your contacts–as well as for your own digital business card. And also being like other apps on the list, the business card is given using QR code to share it without having physical contact.
I tried the app on my iPhone, however, if you are also an Android user, take note the Android version is no longer available for new subscriptions or in-app purchases since August 2023 and ABBYY already discontinued support since September 2023. This is a deal breaker for some, but not for an iPhone user like I am, ABBYY is a great option. It is not as flashy and powerful as other apps, but it covers all basics of business card scanner app, including Salesforce integration, contact export options, and auto-backup mechanisms.
ABBYY BCR offers a free version; pricing for the paid version is $7.99 per month or $29.99 annually.
Best business card scanner app for accuracy
BizConnect(Android, iOS)
![](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/picA1-2-1024x477.jpg)
BizConnect pros:
- Great for accuracy
- Really intuitive to use
- They also have extra features – including task setting and reports
BizConnect cons:
- Accuracy verifications can take around 5 minutes
BizConnect renders the closest to the perfect scan I have stumbled upon. It is the only app that kept discovering accounts on social media and linking them, showed blurry and strange fonts and identified those letters which others just ignored.
This particular scanning process has extra verification to guarantee the highest level of this. It took about five minutes to verify my hardest business card, but I could still see all the contact info for this to happen—it’s just a last extra check.
BizConnect is designed to be user-friendly and easy to use, providing many features without overwhelming users. From the Holder screen, there is a list of your contacts with their cards representing them with their name, title, company and how old they were.
Nearly every contact in the card has a pop up options menu that can be used to call, email, and share without opening the card. At the top of this screen you’ll see color-coded choices to export, import, add to CRM, and perform other actions. Scan button is positioned at the bottom and unmissable.
Clicking on Scan would offer options such as card (front and back), a QR code, and scan in batch (one card after the other). As soon as the scanning finishes, you’ll receive a processing message, and within a few minutes, your contact will be completed. However, it is slower than other apps on this list, but we think it is worth the wait.
Along with star view, it also provides to-dos, activity tracking, and reports showing leads captured per day and month. There is a CRM as well, a stripped-down one that lets you add deal stages, contacts, and activities with a revenue option tracking all won deals. Syncing your CRM system (HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho, Pipedrive) is simple through account connection and choosing the contacts you need to export.
Or, if you have a desire to connect with other apps, it’s possible to do that with BizConnect and Zapier integration. With Zapier, you can link up BizConnect to thousands of other apps, for example, add all new BizConnect business contacts to other apps—and have them added back to BizConnect. Two examples of this are given below.
BizConnect price: The free plan allows scanning of up to 600 cards, while paid plans start at $6.99 per user per month.
Best business card reader app for maintaining relationships
Covve(iOS, Android)
![Covve(iOS, Android)](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/picA5-2-1024x416.jpg)
Covve pros:
- Great for follow-up reminders
- Intuitive, friendly interface
- Ability to record both your activities and the way you interact with them.
Covve cons:
More vague as it’s personal Customer Relationship Management.
Does it ever happen to you that you simply forget to follow up with people? Yes, of course, that’s exactly why I was delighted when I found out that Covve scans the business cards and stores your contacts together. Also, it helps you manage your relationship with these contacts.
From the communication point of view Covve offers by call, SMS, email and WhatsApp. Secondly, you follow-up after communicating with the contacts, you can add them to a list of people you’ve talked to recently, so you know who you’ve covered and who needs your attention.
By superimposing a scanned and saved contact, you can now utilize the auto-remind feature to reach out to someone on a regular basis. You can do it by regularity, say, weekly, or you can select a particular week every month. The model also will provide you with information about which reminders are due during the current week, which reminders are in the future, and which reminders you missed. It is like a mini customer management system.
The app differs from the basic business card scanning or contact storage app as it isn’t any of the apps that hold contacts alphabetically or by date added like some others ones. After all, it tags these contacts as “relationships.” While scanning in one of these relationships, the app will set up a reminder alert every three months. It will also ask you when you last contacted it. From that on, you can add flags or any other random notes.
The AI assistant is one of the features offered and can be found through the settings for even faster task completion. The assistant helps with simplifying data entry: just send your emails, including instructions, to a unique address of Covve AI and the AI will organize the data in your personal Covve. It can also just set reminders to get in touch with the person. The email they provide is too long and complicated, what you can do is change the email of the assistant into a simpler one that will be easier to remember and to type.
In terms of accuracy, there was nothing I could not handle even my business card kept making mistakes. This was a good complement to this already great app.
What’s more, Zapier can integrate Covve with thousands of apps, so you can enter a contact into your calendar when you scan a card on Covve. Let’s see a couple of examples to get us going.
Covve price: Free plan gives you 20 contacts, auto-reminders, activity logs, and tagging; $12.99/month or $119.99/year for the Pro plan which comes with unlimited everything
Best free business card scanner app
Haystack (iOS, Android)
![Haystack(iOS, Android)](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/picA3-2-1024x442.jpg)
ABBYY BCR pros:
- Very accurate scans
- Intuitive to use
- Cards sharing based on contactless principles with QR codes.
ABBYY BCR cons:
- Their Android version is no longer supported.
One of the most widely used business card scanner apps is ABBYY, and there are a few reasons for it. These are the two key advantages of the app – its simplicity and accuracy. It will bold certain numbers or letters that are not absolutely right in a different color, though, in my case, everything was alright.
As far as storage goes, you have a variety of options: you can add contacts to the app’s Cardholder and/or sync them with your phone’s contacts, or have them in Salesforce. However, this feature is even better when you have the option of doing all three procedures at once right after your scan, which means you will not have to save the contacts to different places manually. Besides that you can export contacts in a CSV.
You will also be able to include your Facebook and LinkedIn information under the usual fields like name, telephone number, and address for your contacts–as well as for your own digital business card. And also being like other apps on the list, the business card is given using QR code to share it without having physical contact.
I tried the app on my iPhone, however, if you are also an Android user, take note the Android version is no longer available for new subscriptions or in-app purchases since August 2023 and ABBYY already discontinued support since September 2023. This is a deal breaker for some, but not for an iPhone user like I am, ABBYY is a great option. It is not as flashy and powerful as other apps, but it covers all basics of business card scanner app, including Salesforce integration, contact export options, and auto-backup mechanisms , Haystack is a solid choice.
Haystack price: Free
Best business card scanner app for customization
HiHello (iOS, Android)
![HiHello (iOS, Android)](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/picA4-1-1024x483.jpg)
HiHello pros:
- Plenty of customization options
- Great scanning accuracy
- A broad spectrum of social media industries
HiHello cons:
- Honestly, nothing worth mentioning
‘HiHello’ is unique with the user-friendly and intuitive interface.’ It starts you right in a smooth process of entering your personal details—your name, title, company, and phone number—and get your own digital business card instantly. HiHello also possesses a unique trait that is the provision of different work and personal cards (like Haystack) but with several sharing options: QR caode, email, text and even Apple Wallet.
The other strong point of the app in terms of customization. It permits a range of individualized aspects like color choices, designs, logos, and social media links. This grouping cleverly puts these platforms under Communication, Payment, and Music sections and offers choices as diverse as the business cards we are used to like LinkedIn and Facebook. There are also those less known options like Venmo, Spotify, and Twitch.
Scanning is very accurate and precise—I didn’t need to modify any fields, but the app allows for re-scanning or reviewing the scanned data if the situation requires. It automatically differentiates contacts into the work and private categories, but this can be manually adjusted after scanning.
HiHello allows you to connect it with your Google Contacts so that you can access your contacts from anywhere. However, you can use Zapier to interact with over 3000 more apps if you wish. Here are some created workflows for a start.
HiHello price: Free plan available; paid plans from $6/month
Other ways to scan business cards
Do you only occasionally scan business cards? In fact, you could live without an app exclusive to cards. Instead, try the business card readers built into the app already on your phone. It will scan business cards and copy text—you will need to manually save the contacts to your address book.
Evernote Scannable. The ever-popular app Evernote, which has an app for scanning business cards. Just scan a business card, and Evernote will usually automatically recognise and store it as a Business Card with fields for the contact info along with a picture of the card and any notes you want. When you’re done with that, you can add the contact to your address book or have Evernote remind you to follow up with them.
![scan business cards](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/picA6-2.jpg)
OneNote. Finally, there is OneNote, a note-taking app by Microsoft that is similar to Evernote. The Microsoft Office Lens, a companion app, can scan business cards and other docs and save them to your OneNote notebook free of charge. Now, right click on the business card scans in OneNote, and copy the text, and then add it to your address book on either Mac or Windows desktop.
Google Lens. The Google Lens could also be used as an alternative emailing business card scanner since it’s most of the newer Android phones. Although it is not the best Android OCR app, it’s definitely the easiest one to begin with. Just try capturing your card, tap on the Lens icon, and save it to your phone contacts.
CamCard (Business). The cam card scanner is one of the greatest options for an individual who wants their business cards to have more of a dynamic nature If you work in different industries, your digital card can have multiple roles for different jobs (Haystack and HiHello, for instance). The app also demonstrates the views that your cards get and you make a number of connections. Precision of the scanning accuracy is the only downside of using this app.
ScanContacts. The best free business scanning app for HubSpot users of all is ScanContacts.
Log into your HubSpot account to get started, and once you’re in, the CRM automatically saves contact details for all your new contacts.
Eight. Furthermore, this service not only has great scanning performance but also can let you share information with other users of this Eight service by using Bluetooth. Alternatively, you can just share your contact info with them using the QR code or URL, even if the person you want to share with is not an Eight user.
CRM. In case your team uses a CRM app to manage your contacts and customers, its mobile app may incorporate business card scanning as a functionality. Insightly, Nutshell, noCRM, and others have their mobile apps that feature the business card scanning. Although Zoho’s Scanner is very precise, it is separate from the CRM app. While HubSpot’s app has the scanner embedded in its mobile CRM app, like Nutshell and noCRM, it’s available for free.
Alternatively, you can opt to make use of a scanner app or the OCR tool in Google Drive. They can function like the best apps to recognize text but, you still need to copy it and then put it into work.
Prior to putting another app in your stack, it is important that you first look to see if an app that you are already using will do the job.
As the amount of digital business cards and contactless QR code sharing functionality that so many apps have today continues to grow, it’ll be exciting to watch how these apps adapt to this new reality.