Wave Connect vs Popl: Honest Comparison (2026)

George El-Hage 🔗 LinkedIn

Founder, Wave Connect | 1M+ digital business cards shared via Wave

I've tested 15+ digital business card platforms over the past 6 years, including every Popl plan from free to Teams. This comparison is based on hands-on testing, verified pricing pages, and real user feedback - not spec sheets.

Looking for a Popl alternative? You're not alone. Popl has quietly pivoted from a digital business card company to an event lead capture platform - and that shift changes who it's actually built for.

I'm George, the founder of Wave Connect. Yes, I'm biased - but I've also done the work. I tested every Popl plan, verified their pricing as of February 2026, and dug through thousands of G2 and Trustpilot reviews to separate real complaints from noise. Here's the honest comparison: where Popl genuinely wins, where Wave wins, and why these are really two different products now.

At a Glance - Wave vs Popl (2026)

Wave Connect and Popl have diverged significantly since 2024 - they're now targeting different markets with different core products. Wave is a browser-based digital business card platform focused on team management and everyday networking. Popl has repositioned as an event lead capture and GTM platform that also offers digital business cards. The comparison table below reflects verified features and pricing as of February 2026.

Pricing and features verified February 2026. Sources: wavecnct.com and popl.co/pages/pricing.

The Free Plan - What You Actually Get

Popl's free plan limits you to viewing just 5 contacts - the single most complained-about restriction across G2, Trustpilot, and Capterra reviews. You can create one digital business card for free, but once you've collected 5 contacts, you hit a paywall. You can't view, export, or do anything with new contacts unless you upgrade. Multiple reviewers call this a "bait-and-switch" because Popl markets itself as having a free plan, but the 5-contact cap makes it nearly useless for real networking. On top of that, your free card shows "Powered by Popl" branding and your recipients get pop-ups and emails asking them to create their own Popl card.

Wave's free plan doesn't have any of that. You get unlimited contact viewing, analytics (page views, link clicks, contact saves), full contact export via CSV, and Apple Wallet integration. No "Powered by Wave" branding on your card. No solicitation emails sent to your contacts. No limits on how many people can save your info.

Here's the thing - a free plan is how most people evaluate a platform. If you can't actually test the core functionality without paying, you're not really offering a free plan. You're offering a demo with a paywall. That's what Popl's free tier feels like after your 6th connection.

Pricing Breakdown (February 2026)

Popl's pricing looks competitive until you realize you need the $14.99/mo Pro+ plan just to remove their branding from your card - that's more than double what most competitors charge. Here's the full breakdown of what both platforms actually cost, verified from their pricing pages in February 2026. Popl's Teams pricing isn't published publicly, which is a red flag for anyone trying to budget for a team deployment.

Pricing verified February 16, 2026. Sources: wavecnct.com and popl.co/pages/pricing.

A few things stand out here:

The branding removal cost. On Popl, the $7.99/mo Pro plan still shows "Powered by Popl" branding. To remove it completely, you need Pro+ at $14.99/mo - that's $143.88/year just to have a clean card without Popl's logo on it. Wave removes branding at the $7/mo Pro tier. If you're using a digital business card to represent your company, having another brand's watermark on it defeats the purpose.

Hidden Teams pricing. Popl doesn't publish team pricing on their website. You have to "contact sales" and sit through a demo. Third-party sources suggest it's around $4-5/user/month, but there's no way to verify without going through their sales process. Wave publishes everything: $60/user/year for teams under 100, custom volume pricing at 100+. No surprises.

"Expensive" is the #1 complaint. Out of 5,292 G2 reviews for Popl, 385 mention "Expensive" and 256 mention "Additional Costs." That's a significant pattern. Pricing is by far the most common negative theme in Popl reviews.

Also worth noting: Popl's NFC cards range from $14.99 for a basic phone card up to $89.99 for a gold metal card. Wave offers metal engraved NFC cards too, and they're included free with team plans.

Wave Connect User Management - visual card grid with bulk import and template controls

Two Different Products - Where Each One Fits

Popl's homepage H1 now reads "The GTM platform for in-person lead capture" - they've fully repositioned away from digital business cards as their primary product. This isn't speculation. Their title tag says "Event Lead Capture & Digital Business Card Pricing." Their OG site description says "Event Lead Capture & Badge Scanner App for GTM Teams." Their dedicated Teams page (/pages/popl-teams) redirects to the homepage. Digital business cards are still offered, but they're secondary to Popl's event lead capture platform.

This matters because it changes the comparison entirely. You're not really choosing between two digital business card platforms anymore. You're choosing between:

• Popl: An event lead capture platform that also offers digital business cards
• Wave: A digital business card platform built for teams and everyday professional networking

If your primary need is capturing leads at trade shows and events - badge scanning, AI enrichment, on-floor support - Popl built their entire company around that. They claim 90% of Fortune 500 companies use their event tools, and their badge scanner with 95% AI email match rate is genuinely industry-leading.

If your primary need is giving your team digital business cards they'll actually use every day - at client meetings, in email signatures, at networking events, on LinkedIn - that's what Wave is built for. (For a detailed platform review covering features, pricing, and honest pros/cons, see the Wave Connect breakdown.) Browser-based, no app friction, simple admin controls, and a free plan that actually works. Comparing multiple platforms? Check out our our HiHello comparison for a feature-rich alternative.

What Popl Does Better (Honest Assessment)

Popl's event lead capture features are genuinely best-in-class - no digital business card competitor comes close to their badge scanning, AI enrichment, or on-floor support infrastructure. I'm not going to pretend Wave is better at everything. Here are the areas where Popl has clear advantages, and I'd be doing you a disservice to downplay them.

1. Event badge scanning + AI enrichment. Popl's universal badge scanner works at any event, and their AI email enrichment claims a 95% match rate using 20+ data partners. If your team works trade shows regularly, this is a legitimate differentiator. Wave offers badge scanning too, but Popl's enrichment engine is more mature. Check out our trade show lead capture guide for a broader look at the space.

2. LinkedIn QR scanner. Popl is the only platform I've found that can scan LinkedIn QR codes. That's a unique feature nobody else offers. If your team captures a lot of LinkedIn connections at events, this is genuinely useful.

3. On-floor event support. Popl provides live phone support from 9am-9pm EST specifically for teams at events. That's not standard customer support - that's dedicated on-floor assistance when your badge scanners hit a snag at a conference. Nobody else does this.

4. Offline scanning. Popl's scanning works without internet. Convention centers are notorious for terrible WiFi, so this is a practical advantage for event-heavy teams.

5. Deep CRM integrations with custom field mapping. Popl integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Monday.com, and Microsoft Dynamics - with custom field mapping that lets you route lead data exactly where it needs to go. Wave has native CRM integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive, but Popl's mapper is more flexible for complex sales workflows.

6. Wide NFC product variety. Cards, stickers, keychains, wristbands, badges - Popl sells NFC hardware in more form factors than any competitor. If you want a physical NFC product beyond standard cards, they have the widest selection.

7. Auto follow-up sequences. Popl can automatically send emails or texts to new contacts based on rules you set. This is valuable for high-volume event teams that can't follow up with every lead manually.

What Wave Does Better

Wave wins on free plan usability, zero recipient solicitation, transparent pricing, browser-based simplicity, and documented enterprise security - the things that matter most for teams using digital business cards as their primary networking tool. Here's where Wave has clear advantages over Popl, especially if you're not running large-scale events.

1. Free plan that actually works. Unlimited contact viewing, analytics, export, Apple Wallet - all free. No 5-contact paywall, no branding, no solicitation. If you want to test a digital business card platform before committing, Wave lets you use the real product at no cost.

2. Zero recipient solicitation. When someone receives your Wave card, they see your information and nothing else. No "Powered by Wave" badge. No pop-up asking them to create their own card. No marketing emails from Wave. Your contacts stay your contacts. This is probably the single biggest complaint I see about Popl in reviews - the recipient experience feels like a marketing funnel for Popl, not a clean exchange of your info.

3. Transparent pricing. Everything is published. $7/mo Pro. $60/user/year Teams. Custom volume pricing at 100+ users. Free trial, no credit card, no sales demo required. Compare that to Popl's "Contact Sales" teams page.

4. Branding removal at $7/mo. Popl requires the $14.99/mo Pro+ plan to fully remove their branding. Wave includes branding removal in the $7/mo Pro plan. That's $84/year vs $143.88/year for the same thing.

5. Browser-based, no app required. Wave works entirely in the browser. No app download for you or your recipients. For team deployments, this means higher adoption - nobody has to convince their team to install another app.

6. SOC 2 Type II certified. Wave's security is independently audited. For enterprise buyers, IT teams, and anyone in regulated industries, this documentation matters. Popl doesn't publicly display SOC 2 certification status.

Wave Connect Template Section Locking - standardize brand elements across your entire team

7. Simple UX. Wave is rated #1 easiest to use on G2. Multiple Popl reviewers describe their card design tools as "not impressive" compared to competitors, and Android users report significantly worse performance than iOS users (crashes, black screens, missing features).

8. Free Teams trial. You can try Wave's full team features without a credit card or a sales call. Popl requires contacting their sales team and scheduling a demo. If you're evaluating platforms and want to get hands-on before committing budget, that difference matters.

9. No cancellation headaches. Several Popl reviewers report difficulty cancelling - no visible cancel button in the app or dashboard. Wave has straightforward cancellation with no hidden steps. Comparing other platforms? See how Wave stacks up against Blinq and Mobilo too. For a broader look at the market, check our roundup of the best Popl alternatives for 2026.

Which One Should You Choose? My Recommendation

The right choice depends entirely on your primary use case - event lead capture or everyday digital business cards. These really are different products now. Here's my honest recommendation based on testing both.

Choose Popl if:

• Your team works trade shows, conferences, and events as a primary lead source
• You need AI-powered badge scanning with email enrichment at scale
• LinkedIn QR scanning is important to your workflow
• You need on-floor event support and offline scanning
• You have budget for $14.99/mo+ per person and hidden teams pricing
• You want the widest variety of physical NFC products

Choose Wave if:

• You need digital business cards for your team's everyday networking
• You want a free plan that actually lets you test the product (no 5-contact limit)
• Zero recipient solicitation matters to your brand
• You want published, transparent pricing
• You prefer browser-based tools (no app download required)
• You need SOC 2 Type II certified security
• You want to remove branding without paying $14.99/mo
• You need a free Teams trial (no sales demo required)