Five reps on the organizer's app at PRI 2026 cost $915: a $625 three-phone pack plus $145 for each extra phone. Tendro is $499 for the whole booth, however many phones. Per-scan apps run the other way: Wave Connect's own blog prices a scan at $10, so a 300-scan show is $3,000.
Lead retrieval is priced three ways: per device, per scan, or per event. Which one wins depends almost entirely on how many people scan and how many badges they scan. Below are 14 options, organizer rentals and exhibitor apps side by side, priced at three show sizes.
What is the best lead retrieval app for trade shows?
For three or more reps scanning 50+ leads a show, a flat per-event app. Tendro is $499 per event with unlimited reps, phones and scans.
Disclosure first: this is Tendro's blog and Tendro is on the list. So the case below rests on arithmetic you can redo with the vendors' own published prices, and there is a section on where Tendro loses.
The short version depends on how the other side prices. Against a per-scan meter, a flat $499 wins past about 50 billable scans. Against a Maritz app form, it usually wins from the second rep, and from the first where the app is sold only as a three-activation pack priced above $499, as at PRI 2026. Against Cvent at Central Plains Dairy Expo's 2026 rates, one or two reps pay less, three tie at $499, and flat wins from the fourth. The gap widens with every rep and every badge.
If you are new to the term, what lead retrieval is and how the badge lookup works covers the mechanics. This post is about choosing one.
How do lead retrieval apps compare?
Three things decide it: who resolves the badge, how the price scales (per device, per scan or per event), and whether leads reach your CRM or a CSV.
"Lead retrieval" covers two different products. Organizer systems (Maritz SWAP and XPress Leads, CompuSystems CompuLEAD, Cvent LeadCapture, Swapcard, Whova) are sold through the show and resolve the badge ID against the registration database. Exhibitor apps (Tendro, Wave Connect, Blinq, Popl, iCapture, Captello, momencio, Mobly, BoothIQ) go with you to every show and mostly read the printed badge, then enrich it.
App prices below were checked on September 24, 2026 against each vendor's page. Organizer prices come from public order forms read between September 2 and 24, 2026. "No public price" means the vendor publishes none; third-party figures are labelled as reported.
| Option | Model | Price basis | Badge capture | Offline | CRM | Honest gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tendro | Exhibitor app | $499 per event, unlimited team members, phones and scans | Reads the printed badge, business cards and QR codes, then enriches | Yes, saves to the device first | Salesforce, HubSpot, Pardot, Marketo, Pipedrive, Zoho | Cannot return organizer registration fields |
| Maritz SWAP / XPress Leads | Organizer rental | Handheld $494 to $685 per device, 3-phone app pack $525 to $685 per show (NAB 2025 to FABTECH 2026 forms) | Resolves the organizer badge ID | SWAP yes; XPress Leads makes no claim | Export files; Event API $910 to $1,330 per show | $145 per extra rep, nothing carries to the next show |
| CompuSystems CompuLEAD | Organizer rental | 3-activation app $475 to $545, unlimited $2,800 (HIMSS26 form) | Resolves the badge ID, badge number or email | Live lookups need a connection | "Real-time CRM integration," none named | Only at CompuSystems shows |
| Cvent LeadCapture | Organizer-resold | $249 single, $499 three-pack, $149 extra (Central Plains Dairy Expo 2026 form) | Resolves the badge ID at Cvent-run shows | Not stated by Cvent | None named | Only works where the show runs on Cvent |
| Swapcard | Organizer add-on | No public price; organizers resell it | Resolves the badge or app QR | Yes | Leads API; no connector named | Only where the organizer switched it on for your booth |
| Whova | Organizer add-on | Free to exhibitors where the organizer bought it | QR resolved in Whova's records | Not documented | Excel export | Only at Whova shows |
| Wave Connect | Exhibitor app | $10 per scan on Wave's own blog (Aug 2026); its pricing page says contact sales | Reads the printed badge, then enriches | Yes | Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Pipedrive; Dynamics 365 on its blog | The meter grows with every scan; no organizer record |
| Blinq | Exhibitor app | $9.99 per lead plus seats at $4.99 per user a month billed annually or $6.99 monthly, 5-seat minimum | Organizer API where granted, otherwise badge OCR | Yes | HubSpot, Salesforce, Dynamics, Zoho, Marketo | The show's cost is unknown until the month closes |
| Popl | Exhibitor app | No public price; quote only, unlimited leads | Reads the printed badge, then enriches | Yes | Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Marketo, Pardot, Eloqua | No self-serve price for a 1 to 3 show team |
| iCapture (Cvent) | Exhibitor app | Annual, reported from $8,000 | 130+ badge providers, plus cards and photos | Yes | Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, Eloqua, Pardot, Dynamics | Annual contract behind a demo |
| Captello | Both | No public price; about $500 per event license reported | 300+ registration integrations, plus OCR | Yes | Salesforce, Marketo, Pardot, HubSpot, Dynamics | HubSpot connector listed at $3,000 a year extra |
| momencio | Exhibitor app | $100 per seat a month, 5-seat minimum, from $6,000 a year | Organizer API (bought separately), QR, OCR | Claimed | All six major CRMs, as paid add-ons at unlisted prices | 12-month term, no mid-cycle cancellation |
| Mobly | Exhibitor app | No public price; Vendr median $14,795 a year | Reads the printed badge, then enriches | Yes | Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot, Zoho, Pipedrive | Annual contract of roughly $10k to $33k |
| BoothIQ | Exhibitor app | Individual free; Team $999 a month | Reads the printed badge only | Yes | CSV below Enterprise | CRM sync is Enterprise only |
Two columns do most of the work. Price basis tells you how the bill grows. Badge capture tells you what data you walk away with.
What does lead retrieval cost at 100, 300 and 1,000 scans?
A 5-phone organizer app pack is $797 to $915 whatever you scan. Per-scan apps run roughly $1,000 to $10,000. A flat $499 app stays at $499.
The assumptions: one show, every scan a unique lead that enriches, which is the worst case for per-scan meters. Organizer prices are the PRI 2026 Maritz SWAP form at its standard tier, one of the 12 public order forms we priced line by line, before API, printer, delivery and tax. Blinq seats are on monthly billing, the cheaper basis for a single show.
| Option | 100 scans | 300 scans | 1,000 scans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tendro, any team size | $499 | $499 | $499 |
| Cvent LeadCapture, 5 phones ($499 + 2 x $149) | $797 | $797 | $797 |
| Organizer app, 5 phones ($625 + 2 x $145) | $915 | $915 | $915 |
| Organizer handheld, 1 device ($605) | $605 | $605 | $605 |
| Organizer handheld, 3 devices | $1,815 | $1,815 | $1,815 |
| Organizer handheld, 5 devices | $3,025 | $3,025 | $3,025 |
| Wave pay-as-you-go ($10 per scan) | $1,000 | $3,000 | $10,000 |
| Blinq ($9.99 per lead + 5 seats x $6.99, one month) | $1,033.95 | $3,031.95 | $10,024.95 |
The arithmetic, so you can check it:
- Wave: 300 x $10 = $3,000. Its smallest prepaid pool, 500 leads at $8, is $4,000 upfront, so pay-as-you-go is the cheaper route for one show. At 1,000 scans the 1,500-lead pool at $7 is $10,500, still more than paying $10,000 as you go. Wave's published ladder is on its blog; its pricing page says pricing is by annual lead volume and routes to sales.
- Blinq: 300 x $9.99 = $2,997, plus five seats for one month at $6.99 = $34.95. Seats are $4.99 a month on annual billing, but that is 5 x $4.99 x 12 = $299.40 upfront, so monthly is cheaper for one show. The lead charge is an upper bound: Blinq doesn't charge for duplicates, and some captures cost a partial credit whose amount it doesn't publish (Blinq pricing).
- Organizer handheld: $605 per device at PRI 2026's standard tier, $525 early, $685 late. Five devices is $3,025 at standard and $3,425 late.
- Organizer app: PRI 2026 sells the app only as a three-activation pack at $625, then $145 per extra phone, so five phones is $915.
- Tendro: $499 per event, "unlimited team members, unlimited phones and unlimited scans" (Tendro pricing).
Break-even against the meters is low. Wave at $10 a scan passes $499 at the 50th scan. Blinq passes it at the 47th lead, once the $34.95 in seats is counted.
Across a calendar the gap compounds. Six shows at 300 scans each is 1,800 leads. Even at Wave's lowest published rate, $6 per lead on its 3,000-lead pool, 1,800 leads is $10,800. Three rented handhelds at a PRI-priced show is $1,815, or $10,890 across six. Tendro at list is 6 x $499 = $2,994, and a season pass gets a per-event rate that drops with volume. The calculator on the quote page prices a season.
Should you rent the organizer's lead retrieval or bring your own app?
Rent when you need registration-form fields or have one or two reps at a Cvent show. Bring your own app for several reps or several shows.
The organizer's system has one thing no outside app can match: it returns the registration record behind the badge. Maritz says it plainly in its developer docs: the badge QR "does not contain full registrant information," and the scanner has to call Maritz's service to get it. So if you qualify leads on fields the attendee typed at registration, like buying role or budget band, the rental is the only way to get them.
The costs are structural. Maritz charges $145 for every extra activation, its Event API costs $910 to $1,330 per show, and that API is licensed for "One (1) Show and One (1) Company." The next show might be CompuSystems or Cvent, with a different app, a different export and a different login. Order late and the price climbs one or two tiers: a PRI 2026 handheld goes from $525 early to $685 late.
An exhibitor app flips that trade. You lose the registration fields. You keep one workflow, one export and one CRM mapping across every show, and the price stops scaling with headcount. Where the organizer's system is the better buy, the section after next says so.
Which lead retrieval app is best for which team?
Multi-rep, multi-show teams: Tendro. One or two reps at a Cvent show: Cvent LeadCapture. Annual program with registration data: iCapture.
Best for multi-rep teams, several shows a year: Tendro. $499 per event covers every rep, phone and scan, and it doesn't change when a colleague joins the booth on day two. It reads the printed badge, business cards and QR codes, works offline and pushes to Salesforce, HubSpot, Pardot, Marketo, Pipedrive or Zoho within 10 seconds of capture on a live connection. How it handles scanned badge data is in is phone badge scanning secure and, for EU shows, our GDPR badge scanning guide. Honest gap: it can't return the organizer's registration fields.
Best for one or two reps at a Cvent-run show: Cvent LeadCapture. At Central Plains Dairy Expo's 2026 rates, $249 for one license is half of Tendro's price, two licenses are $398, and the three-pack at $499 ties it. Honest gap: it works only where the show runs on Cvent, and it hands back the fields the organizer chose to release. More in our Cvent LeadCapture pricing breakdown.
Best when registration data is the whole point: the official organizer app. Maritz SWAP, XPress Leads or CompuLEAD, whichever the show contracted. You can't choose the vendor; the registration contract decides. Honest gap: per-device pricing and a new system at each show.
Best for a program that already pays for organizer integrations: iCapture. It resolves badges through 130+ badge providers, plus cards and photos. Honest gap: an annual contract, reported from $8,000, behind a demo. Compare it to a flat per-event cost in our iCapture pricing notes.
Best for a solo attendee with under 50 scans: Wave Connect or Blinq. Pay-as-you-go at about $10 per lead is cheaper than Tendro's $499 below 47 to 50 scans. Both work offline and enrich from the printed badge. Honest gap: the meter never stops, so a good show is an expensive show.
Best for teams that want unlimited users and leads on one quote: Popl. It states "unlimited users, unlimited events, unlimited leads" with no consumption fees. Honest gap: quote only, so you can't price it without a sales call. Our Popl alternatives page has the rest.
Best for organizer integrations and OCR in one app: Captello. 300+ registration integrations plus OCR. Honest gap: demo-only purchase, and the HubSpot connector is listed at $3,000 a year on top.
Also on the list, with narrower fits: momencio (from $6,000 a year on a 12-month term, badge API and CRM integrations bought separately), Mobly (Vendr median $14,795 a year), BoothIQ (free for one person, $999 a month for a team, CRM sync only on Enterprise), and Whova or Swapcard, which only exist at shows run on those platforms.
Where does Tendro lose on price or capability?
A one- or two-rep booth at a Cvent-run show, free organizer apps, and buyers who need registration fields only the organizer's lookup returns.
Price. At Central Plains Dairy Expo's 2026 Cvent rates, one LeadCapture license is $249 and the three-pack is $499, so a one-person booth pays half, a two-person booth pays $398, and a three-person booth pays the same. Where the organizer bought Whova or enabled ATIV's BadgeScanner, the exhibitor app is free. And a solo rep with under 50 scans pays less on Wave's or Blinq's meter.
Capability. Tendro reads what is printed on the badge and enriches it. It does not resolve the organizer's badge ID, because no outside app can without the organizer's API. If your qualification depends on a field from the registration form, rent the official app for that show.
Access. A few shows restrict outside capture; ask us about yours. Some ban it outright: AWS re:Invent's 2026 sponsor rules say "Outside devices, lead retrieval software, or APIs are not permitted." Check the exhibitor manual before you rely on any outside app.
The cheapest way to test the capability side is the free desk test: 25 test scans with real enrichment, no credit card. CRM sync starts with your first paid event. Scan old badges and business cards from your last show, judge the enrichment, then decide. When you have your show's order form, price your booth against it.
Can a lead retrieval app read the organizer's badge data?
Only the organizer's system, or an app it grants API access, resolves the badge ID. Other apps read the printed badge and enrich it.
On most large North American shows the badge code is a pointer, like a license plate. CompuSystems says a third-party reader gets a badge's ID number and the attendee's name, while the full record needs the official app, because the registration provider usually encrypts the data. Blinq, momencio, iCapture and Captello can use the organizer's feed when the show grants or sells it. The OCR apps (Tendro, Wave, Popl, Mobly, BoothIQ) read the face of the badge.
There are exceptions. Some shows print a vCard or MeCard QR that any app can decode offline, and ATIV's free scanner reads only codes the organizer set up for it. Our QR code types breakdown covers which is which, including where OCR is the only route.
What should you check before buying a lead retrieval app?
Price at your real scan count, CRM push versus CSV, offline capture, your next show's badge format, and whether outside apps are restricted.
- Price at your real numbers. Take last show's scan count and rep count and run them through each price basis above. A per-scan quote that looks small at 50 leads looks different at 400.
- Where the lead lands. A native CRM push and a CSV are different products. BoothIQ's Team plan, Whova and ATIV export files; lead retrieval CRM integrations covers what each connector writes.
- Offline. Most apps now claim it. XPress Leads makes no claim, CompuLEAD's live lookups need a connection, and Maritz's developer path requires your own booth internet. Why venue WiFi fails.
- The badge at your next show. Check the exhibitor manual for the lead retrieval vendor and the badge format. Our event pages list both for shows we've researched.
- Outside-app rules. Read the manual for anything that limits third-party capture.
How was this lead retrieval comparison put together?
App prices were checked on vendor pages on September 24, 2026. Organizer prices come from public order forms read September 2 to 24.
Organizer prices come from public order forms (PRI 2026, FABTECH 2026, HIMSS26, Central Plains Dairy Expo 2026), read from extracted text, not by eye. App prices come from each vendor's pricing page or help center. Figures from third parties (iCapture's $8,000, Captello's $500, Mobly's Vendr median) are labelled as reported. G2 ratings are left out because G2 blocked direct reads on the day of checking, and a snippet is not a source.
I'm Ali. I was an early engineer at Socio and an engineering manager at Webex Events after Cisco acquired it, so I've seen how organizer-side event software gets sold. That is why this list includes the organizer systems most app roundups leave out: for most exhibitors the rental is the real alternative. For the per-show numbers behind the rentals, see what organizer lead retrieval actually costs.