Wave Connect vs Dot Card: 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 6 years, including Dot's full product lineup. This comparison is based on hands-on use with both platforms, verified pricing, and real-world deployment experience.

If you're reading a dot card review, you're probably trying to figure out whether Dot's sleek NFC hardware is worth it, or if there's a better way to go digital with your business card. I've spent a lot of time with both Dot Card and Wave Connect, and here's the short version: they're built for completely different people.

I'm George, founder of Wave Connect. I'll be upfront about the bias. But I've also purchased Dot products, tested every sharing method, and compared pricing page by page as of February 2026. This is an honest look at where Dot genuinely excels, where Wave is the better fit, and who should pick what.

At a Glance: Wave Connect vs Dot Card (2026)

Wave and Dot take fundamentally different approaches to digital business cards. Dot sells you premium hardware and gives you a basic free profile. Wave gives you a full-featured free profile and sells you hardware if you want it. The table below shows how they stack up across the features that matter most.

Prices and features verified on dotcards.net as of February 2026. I personally tested both platforms' sharing and profile features in the same month.

How I Tested This

Where Dot Wins (Honest Assessment)

Dot makes genuinely excellent hardware, and they offer more physical form factors than any competitor in the space. I'm not going to downplay that. If premium NFC hardware is your top priority, Dot has earned their 4.8/5 stars across 4,000+ reviews. Here's where they shine:

Hardware Variety (6 Form Factors)

This is Dot's biggest advantage, period. They offer a standard card ($30), an adhesive dome that sticks to your phone ($30), an ultra-slim insert for under your phone case ($30), a silicone wristband ($30), a stainless steel metal card ($50), and a combo bundle ($70). Nobody else comes close to this kind of selection. If you want a physical NFC product that matches your style, Dot gives you real choices. For how NFC products compare to traditional QR codes, check out our QR vs NFC business cards guide.

The dot.band Wristband

The wristband is genuinely unique. No other digital business card company offers an NFC wristband. For people at festivals, conferences, or creative events where pulling out a card feels too formal, just tapping your wrist against someone's phone is effortless. It's clever, and it works.

One-Time Purchase Simplicity

Buy a Dot product for $30, set up your free profile, and you're done. No monthly fees required for basic contact sharing. Your info updates for free, forever. There's something appealing about that simplicity, especially if you don't need analytics, contact export, or CRM integrations.

Industrial Design

Let's be real: Dot's hardware looks good. The matte finishes, the waterproof construction, the stainless steel metal card. These are well-made products with premium materials. Their design team clearly cares about aesthetics, and it shows.

Where Wave Wins

Wave's advantages are all about what happens after the tap, not the tap itself. Where Dot focuses on beautiful hardware, Wave focuses on what you actually do with the connections you make: track them, export them, sync them to your CRM, and manage them across a team.

Free to Start (No Hardware Required)

You can create a Wave Connect digital business card in minutes without spending a cent. Share it via QR code, link, email, SMS, or Apple Wallet. Dot requires a $30 minimum purchase before you can share anything. That's a meaningful difference if you want to try before you buy, or if you don't want physical hardware at all.

Free Analytics and Contact Export

On Dot's free profile, you can't see who viewed your card and you can't export your contacts. Both features require the dot.Profile+ subscription at $15/month. That's $180/year just to see basic analytics and download a CSV of your contacts.

Wave includes both free. You can see every card view, tap, and link click, and export your full contact list whenever you want. No paywall, no subscription.

CRM Integrations

If you use Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive, Wave syncs your new contacts directly into your CRM. Dot doesn't offer CRM integrations at any tier, not even on Plus. For B2B sales teams, this alone can be a dealbreaker.

Teams Management

Wave has a full admin dashboard for managing teams: bulk Excel import, card templates, role-based permissions, and team analytics. Dot has no team features at all. It's built for individuals, not organizations. If you're evaluating options for a team deployment, see our digital business cards for teams guide for a broader comparison.

Professional Profile vs. Social Hub

Dot's profile is essentially a Linktree-style page: your photo, a bio, and a grid of social media links (Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Venmo, CashApp). That's great for creators and influencers. But in a B2B setting, it can look casual. Wave's profile is designed as a professional digital business card with structured fields for company, title, contact info, and one-tap save to contacts.

Lead Capture

Wave lets you capture leads at events with badge scanning and contact forms. Dot doesn't offer any lead capture functionality. If trade shows and conferences are part of your workflow, that's a significant gap.

Pricing Breakdown (February 2026)

Dot's pricing model is hardware up front plus an optional subscription, while Wave is software-first with optional hardware. The sticker prices look different, but the real question is what you end up paying over a year once you factor in the features you actually need.

Dot Card Pricing

Wave Connect Pricing

The real cost comparison: A Dot card ($30) plus a year of Profile+ ($180) runs you $210 in year one, and $180 every year after that. Wave Pro with the same analytics, export, and branding removal costs $84/year. And if you don't need branding removal, Wave gives you analytics and export for $0. For a broader look at how free and paid plans compare across the industry, check out our best digital business card roundup.

Who Should Choose What

This isn't a "one is better than the other" situation. Dot and Wave are built for different people with different needs. Here's my honest breakdown:

Choose Dot Card If You:

• Want premium NFC hardware: Dot's 6 form factors and stainless steel metal card are genuinely best-in-class for physical product variety. See our best NFC business cards guide for the full landscape.
• Prefer zero ongoing costs: Buy once, share forever. If basic contact sharing is all you need, Dot's no-subscription model is appealing.
• Are a creator or influencer: Dot's Linktree-style profile with payment links (Venmo, CashApp, PayPal) is tailor-made for creators who want a personal brand hub.
• Love the wristband idea: The dot.band is genuinely unique. If hands-free NFC sharing at events sounds like your thing, nobody else offers it.

Choose Wave Connect If You:

• Manage a team: Admin dashboard, bulk import, templates, and team analytics. Dot has no team features at all.
• Need CRM integration: Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive sync. Dot offers zero CRM connectivity.
• Want free analytics and export: Don't pay $15/month for features that should be included. Wave gives you both at $0.
• Need a professional profile: Structured business card format vs. social media link hub. Better for B2B first impressions.
• Want to start free: No hardware purchase required. Create your card, share it digitally, and add NFC hardware later if you want it.
• Capture leads at events: Badge scanning and contact forms that Dot simply doesn't offer.

Bottom line: Dot is a hardware company that gives you a profile. Wave is a software platform that also sells hardware. If networking is core to your business workflow, Wave gives you the tools to actually do something with your connections. If you want a beautiful physical product with simple contact sharing, Dot delivers. For more on how Wave compares with other platforms, see our Wave vs Blinq comparison and our Wave vs V1CE breakdown (another NFC hardware competitor).