Swapcard Connects the Room. We Get Everyone into It.
Swapcard is an engagement and networking platform, with lead capture and onsite hardware sold as add-ons. eventcloud is the registration end of the show: a form and price schedule per audience, badges printed at a self-service kiosk, and lead retrieval on every seat. Nobody counts your visitors. Competitor facts checked 27 October 2026. Sources and dates are listed below.
Swapcard runs the networking on top of a show; eventcloud runs the registration, badges and door underneath it, and lead retrieval comes with every seat.
eventcloud
Registration and the Door
Where It Shines
A ticket group per audience, each with its own form, price schedule and confirmation email
Badges designed in real millimetres and printed at a self-service kiosk as people arrive
Check-in and session scanning on any phone, with one link and a PIN
Lead retrieval on exhibitors' own phones, with no charge from us per scanner or per lead
Attendees find each other by name or company in the event app and chat one to one
Visitors, delegates and exhibitor staff are never counted
The engagement platform partner for Freeman-managed events through 2027 SW3
Where It Falls Short
Per-user rates for attendees and exhibitors, on top of a licence fee SW2
Lead capture is an add-on on every plan, with qualifiers on the upper plans SW2
Badge printing at check-in comes through its Swapcard Go hardware add-on SW2, SW5
Checked 27 October 2026. Sources are listed below.
Side by Side
Fifteen Rows, Including the Six Swapcard Wins.
Grouped by stage. A Coming soon cell is something eventcloud is building now, and the row goes to Swapcard until it ships. Which one would your show use first? Tell us.
eventcloud
Swapcard
Registration Experience
Separate Paths for Attendees, Exhibitors and SpeakersTie
eventcloudYes
A ticket group for each audience, with its own form, price schedule and confirmation email.
SwapcardYes
Separate paths for attendees, exhibitors and speakers.SW1
Checked
Tiered PricingTie
eventcloudYes
Price tiers that switch themselves by date, from early bird to door price, with group rates on any paid price.
Check membership as people register and give members their own price. Member rates already run on a private ticket group. Need verification at sign-up? Tell us.
SwapcardYes
Member validation, with member and non-member pricing.SW1
Checked
Onsite
Badge Design and Printing at Check-inDepends
eventcloudYes
Your own designer in real millimetres, and a self-service Badge Kiosk that prints as people arrive: visitors type their ticket number and printing checks them in.
SwapcardYes, Add-on
Custom badge designs, with kiosks that print from a QR scan and bulk printing through its Swapcard Go hardware add-on. SW2SW5
Checked
Session Scanning and Access ControlDepends
eventcloudYes
Pick a session on the check-in link and each scan admits or refuses by booking or ticket type, flags re-entry and keeps a running count against capacity. Running zones as well as sessions? Drop us a line.
SwapcardYes, Add-on
SwapAccess, an add-on: checkpoints for sessions and zones, entry and exit scans, and an offline mode. SW2SW6
Checked
Exhibitors and Sponsors
Lead Capture and QualifiersDepends
eventcloudYes
Exhibitors use their own phones to scan the QR code on each attendee's badge or in their event app, rate and qualify each lead, add notes and export to Excel, and we charge nothing per scanner or per lead.
SwapcardYes, Add-on
Lead capture sold as an add-on on every plan, qualifiers on the upper plans, and leads exported to Excel or synced to a CRM.SW2
Checked
Exhibitor Self-service (stronger: Swapcard)
eventcloudComing Soon
A portal where each exhibitor registers stand staff linked to their stand. Stand staff register through their own private ticket group, each with a ticket email. Tell us how your exhibitors work.
SwapcardYes
Exhibitor self-service, plus an Exhibitor Marketplace where exhibitors buy lead tools themselves. SW1SW4
Checked
Interactive Floor Plan (stronger: Swapcard)
eventcloudComing Soon
Floor plans with stand sales. Selling stands this year? Talk to us.
Matchmaking between attendees in the event app. Attendees already find each other by name or company and chat one to one. Are meetings why people come? Let us know.
SwapcardYes
Built around networking: matchmaking, meeting booking and hosted-buyer programmes. SW1SW7
Checked
Messaging Between Attendees (stronger: Swapcard)
eventcloudYes
One-to-one chat in the event app: attendees find each other by name or company on their phones, and you can switch it off per event.
SwapcardYes
Messages, connection requests and one-click meeting requests.SW7
Checked
Branded Attendee AppDepends
eventcloudPartial
A branded web app with nothing to download: the agenda, a personal agenda with booked sessions, messaging, the exhibitors' lead scanner and each attendee's ticket. Want it under your own name? Ask us.
SwapcardYes, Add-on
iOS and Android apps published under your name, with or without Swapcard's name inside, sold as add-ons.SW2
Checked
Admin, Team and Services
Attendees and Exhibitors Left Uncounted (stronger: eventcloud)
eventcloudYes
Never counted: visitors, delegates and exhibitor staff stay off the bill.
SwapcardNo
Per-user rates for attendees and exhibitors, on top of a licence fee.SW2
Checked
Organiser Seats Left Uncounted (stronger: Swapcard)
eventcloud
We count team seats and nothing else: visitors, delegates and exhibitor staff never touch the bill.
Unlimited events on every plan, at the same annual price for one event or many.SW2
Checked
Monthly Billing, Cancel Any Time (stronger: eventcloud)
eventcloudYes
Billed monthly per seat; cancel any time and keep access to the end of the period.
SwapcardNo
Annual subscriptions only, ended with notice 90 days before the term.SW2
Checked
How to read it. Yes, Partial, No and Not confirmed describe each platform today; Not confirmed means we could not confirm it from public sources on the date checked, and it never means no. Coming soon marks a feature eventcloud is building now, and the row still goes to whoever does it today. Competitor facts are dated at the foot of the page. Tell us if one has changed. Swapcard and its product names, including Swapcard Go and SwapAccess, are trademarks of their owner, used here only to identify the products compared; eventcloud is not affiliated with Swapcard.
What Gets Counted
What Each Bill Counts.
Units, never amounts. What a vendor counts tells you how the bill moves when your event grows.
eventcloud Counts
Team seats
Visitors, delegates and exhibitor staff are not counted.
Swapcard Counts
Attendees and exhibitors
A licence fee plus per-user rates for attendees and exhibitors; organiser seats are not limited SW2.
The trade-off runs both ways: Swapcard does not count organiser seats, and we do. Units from Swapcard's pricing page, checked 27 October 2026.
Unlimited, with the Small Print Printed Large.
Here is everything we do cap, in one paragraph.
Unlimited events, registrations and attendees on every plan. We count team seats, not tickets, so your bill does not rise because your event sells out. The limits that do exist are operational, not commercial: 99 of one ticket type per order line, 10,000 orders per Excel export, five languages per event, and one subdomain and one sending domain per organisation.
Two Jobs, Two Tools
Registration Underneath, Engagement on Top.
Big shows often run two systems: one to register people and one to get them talking. Swapcard is built for the talking. eventcloud is the registration half, door and lead scanners included, and we are upfront about how the two meet.
Attendees move across as an Excel export with every registration answer. A data API and webhooks are coming soon. Want a live connection between the two? Tell us.
A ticket group per audience: visitors, delegates, stand staff and speakers each get their own form, price schedule and confirmation email.
Badges from the answers: the badge designer pulls live data from any registration question, and a self-service kiosk prints each badge as people arrive.
Leads on every seat: exhibitors use their own phones to scan the QR code on each attendee's badge or in their event app, rate each lead and export to Excel, with no charge from us per scanner or per lead.
Where the Facts Come From
Sources.
Every competitor fact on this page links here. Labels carry the source's own date and flag older, vendor-authored and aggregator sources, so you can weigh them yourself.
Swapcard publishes no figures. Its pricing page describes annual subscriptions that combine a licence fee with per-user rates for attendees and exhibitors, says every plan includes unlimited events, and sells extras such as lead capture as add-ons (Swapcard pricing page, checked 27 October 2026). eventcloud counts team seats, never attendees or exhibitors. Our own plans are on the pricing page. You can build the whole event, rehearse checkout with Stripe test cards and rehearse check-in on a draft event for free; you subscribe when you are ready to publish.
Does eventcloud do networking or matchmaking?
Attendees can find each other by name or company in the event app and chat one to one, and you can switch messaging off for any event. Coming soon: matchmaking. Got hosted buyers to pair with exhibitors? Tell us how your meetings run.
Can exhibitors scan leads?
Yes. Lead retrieval comes with every seat: exhibitors use their own phones to scan the QR code on each attendee's badge or in their event app, rate and qualify each lead, and export their leads to Excel. No charge from us per scanner or per lead. You decide whether exhibitors get it with their pass or buy it at checkout for a price you set. Swapcard sells lead capture as an add-on.
Can visitors register free while stand staff use a private link?
Yes. Run a free public ticket group for visitors and a private group for stand staff that only its link reaches, each with its own questions. When a pass asks for each attendee's details, everyone needs their own email address, and one address can hold only one of that pass.
Can we print badges on site?
Yes. Turn any laptop and the printer beside it into a self-service Badge Kiosk: visitors type their ticket number, check their badge and print it, and printing checks them in. You can also print any attendee's badge from the dashboard before the doors open, on 4x6 inch, A4, A5, A6, Letter or custom stock. Swapcard prints through its Swapcard Go hardware add-on or its onsite teams.
Can we use Swapcard and eventcloud together?
Through Excel: eventcloud exports attendees, with every registration answer, and orders. Coming soon: a data API and webhooks. Need the two systems talking in real time? Tell us what should flow where.
The enterprise suite: housing, abstracts and OnArrival onsite. We count team seats, not registrants.
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Registration, Badges and Check-in
Register the Show. Count Nobody but Your Team.
Set up a ticket group per audience, design the badges and rehearse the door and the kiosk on a draft event, then subscribe when you are ready to publish.
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