Short answer: use both. A tap is faster when it works, a printed code works on almost every phone, and the two fail in different places. A card that carries both covers the gaps in each.
The longer answer depends on who you hand cards to, and it is worth understanding what each one actually does before you pay for either.
What each one is
A QR code
A printed square pattern. The other person opens their phone camera, points it at the code, and taps the web address that appears. Nothing is inside the card. The pattern is the address, written in a form a camera can read.
An NFC card
A card with a small chip and a loop of wire inside, and no battery. The other person holds their phone near the card, and the phone powers the chip for a moment and reads the web address stored on it. The phone then offers to open it. NFC stands for Near Field Communication. It is the same technology phones use to pay at a shop counter.
In both cases, the card holds only a web address. Your name, number and links live on the page that address opens. That matters for everything below.
How they compare
| QR code | NFC tap | |
|---|---|---|
| What the other person does | Opens the camera, points, taps the link | Holds the phone near the card |
| Works on | Almost any smartphone with a camera | Most phones from the last several years, not all |
| Needs an app | No | No, on phones that support it |
| Works from a distance | Yes, across a table or on a poster | No, only within a few centimetres |
| Works in poor light | Badly | Yes |
| Can be printed on anything | Yes: paper, stickers, posters, bills | No, needs the chip |
| What makes it fail | Glare, low light, damaged print, small size | A phone without NFC, a phone case, metal nearby |
| Cost to add | Almost nothing | The chip costs more than ink |
Where the tap wins
Speed in person. Holding a phone against a card takes about a second. Opening a camera, framing a code and tapping the link that appears takes several.
It feels like a gesture. At an event or a meeting, a tap is something you do together. People remember it.
No light needed. A dark restaurant or a dim conference hall is hard for a camera. It makes no difference to a chip.
On iPhones, Apple's own documentation describes reading these tags in the background from the iPhone XS and XR onwards, with no app. Most Android phones with NFC read them too, as long as NFC is switched on, which it usually is by default.
Where the QR code wins
Every phone. Some budget phones still have no NFC reader. Some people have it switched off. Almost every smartphone has a camera that reads QR codes.
Distance. A QR code works on a poster, a standee, a slide at a talk, or the back of a delivery bag. A tap needs the card in someone's hand.
Print. You can put a QR code on anything you can print, at almost no cost. A chip needs a card, sticker or tag built around it.
Familiarity. In India especially, people scan QR codes every day to pay. Almost nobody needs it explained.
Why the answer is both
Each one covers the other's failures.
The person with an older phone scans the code. The person in a dark room taps the card. The person across the table scans from where they sit. You never have to apologise because your card did not work on someone's phone.
The one rule: both must open the same page. If the tap opens one thing and the code opens another, you will forget which you updated, and someone will land on the old one.
What actually matters more than the technology
Both are only a way to open a page. Three questions about that page matter more than QR versus NFC.
- Can you change the page without changing the card? If the card holds an address that you control, you can change your number, job or links any time, and every card you ever handed out shows the new version. If the card holds the page itself, or points somewhere you cannot edit, it is a paper card with extra steps.
- Can the other person save you in one tap? Look for a Save to contacts button on the page. Without it, someone still has to type your number.
- Does it keep working if you stop paying? You bought a physical object. It should keep working.
How Cardless Club does it
Your page lives at cardless.club/yourname. It holds your links, photos,
contact details and a Save to contacts button, and it already shows a QR
button so you can hand it over from your own phone. Making a
page is free while we are in pre-release.
Our cards carry both a chip and a printed code, and both open the same page. Each card points to an address we control on your behalf, so if you ever move it to a different page, nothing needs reprinting. A card keeps working if you never pay for a plan.
The cards are not on sale yet. You can see them here, and the page they will open works on its own today. If you want to see how a page looks for your line of work, the use-case pages show examples.
Questions
Is NFC safer than a QR code?
They are about the same, because both carry only a web address. The risk with any QR code in public is that someone sticks a different code over it, so check printed codes in your shop now and then. A chip needs to be physically held to be read.
Do I need an app to read either one?
No. Modern phones read QR codes with the built-in camera and NFC tags without an app. Avoid any card that only works with its maker's app.
Can I put a QR code on my existing paper card?
Yes. Print a code for your page on the back. You get most of the benefit without buying anything.
Which is better for a shop counter?
Both, on one stand. Customers who are comfortable tapping will tap, and everyone else scans. For reviews, see Cardless Reviews.
Does a metal card work with NFC?
Yes, if it is made for it. Metal blocks the signal, so the chip has to be placed carefully. That is part of why metal cards cost more.