QR codes at trade shows: Uniqode, Flowcode and Scanova compared

Uniqode is the strongest of the three for a trade show booth because it is the only one that runs lead forms, GPS scan location and ad retargeting from one account. Its form responses export to HubSpot or Salesforce rather than to a spreadsheet, which is the detail that decides most booth comparisons. Flowcode wins the argument about what happens after the scan, with an Audience Builder and CDP integrations that neither rival sells. Scanova is the cheapest way to run a single show, because it bills by the month and Uniqode does not.

The exhibitor this comparison has in mind runs a six-metre booth with five staff, three printed banners and 400 flyers at a two-day show. Every banner and flyer carries a code, and the questions that matter are what each scan produces, who can see it, and what the vendor charges once the show has closed and the next one is six months away.

The figures below come from the three vendors’ pricing, product and help pages, read between 22 and 24 September 2026 in US dollars. Uniqode’s per-plan rows were taken from the feature table beneath its pricing cards, Scanova’s from the comparison table on its pricing page, and Flowcode’s from the “Compare features & plans” table on its pricing page, all read in a browser on 24 September.

What does a booth need from a QR code?

A booth needs four things from a code, in this order. First, a form that captures the visitor’s details without a business card. Second, a record of which banner or flyer produced the scan. Third, a route from that record into the CRM before the sales team leaves the hall. Fourth, a way to reach the visitors who scanned and walked away.

Roles for the staff and paperwork for the procurement desk come after those four, and price comes last, because a show that produces no usable leads is expensive at any price. Each of the three vendors covers the list differently. Uniqode spreads the four across its plans, with forms on every tier, GPS from Core and retargeting on Business+; Flowcode concentrates them in its enterprise tiers. Scanova sells each as a line item that a $75 monthly plan can switch on for the duration of the show and off again afterwards.

Uniqode: forms, GPS and pixels under one login

Uniqode’s feature table places the three booth features on three different tiers. A “Forms” row is ticked on all four plans, from Essential at $9 a month billed yearly to Business+ at $399, with a “Form responses per year” figure of 100 on each and add-on responses sold above that.

The row “Tracks scans/GPS coordinates” begins at Core, $49, and the rows “Meta Pixel” and “Google Ads” are ticked for Business+ alone, so a booth that wants all three pays for Business+ and a booth that wants the first two pays for Core.

Uniqode event QR Codes describes the show-floor flow in the vendor’s own words. “Every attendee who scans at a booth or session becomes a trackable contact before they leave the venue”, the page states, and for trade shows specifically, “Visitors scan, complete a brief form”, after which the response “exports automatically to HubSpot or Salesforce”. The same page recommends UTM parameters set at creation so that each banner and flyer reports separately. For the exhibitor, that is three banner codes and one flyer code, each with its own scan count by the end of the second day.

Uniqode’s QR Code Forms guide supplies the form detail. It offers “20+ ready-to-use templates”, fields that “prefill with URL parameters to capture UTM data”, the option to “Set response limits and quotas”, and custom fields “such as date of birth for age-gated offers, consent checkboxes for GDPR compliance, or referral codes”. The guide also names the failure it is designed to prevent, the weekly manual export from a form tool into “Salesforce or HubSpot”.

GPS is the feature most often misunderstood, and the Uniqode GPS analytics guide is precise about it. “GPS location tracking is available for Pro/Core plan and above”, it states; the scanner receives “a location access prompt”, and accurate data appears only “Once they click Allow”. Uniqode’s features overview says the same in four words, “This is permission-based”, and lists the retargeting pair beside it: “Integrate with Meta Pixel to re-target users who scanned your QR Code but didn’t convert”, with an equivalent line for Google Ads. On the show floor, GPS separates a booth scan from a flyer scanned on the train home, and the pixel is what reaches the second visitor a week later.

Flowcode: the conversion platform, at enterprise prices

Flowcode’s pricing page divides into “Flowcode 1 for Individuals” and “Flowcode 2 for Enterprise”, and the booth features sit on the enterprise side. The individual table carries a “Forms” row (480, 1,500 and 3,600 for Free, Pro Plus and Growth) with no unit printed. A “CRM Contacts Collected Limit” row shows a tick for Pro Plus and the words “Tiered packages” for Growth, so contacts can be gathered on a Flowcode landing page even though the table never explains what the form numbers count.

“CRM Integrations” is ticked for Pro Plus ($25 a month on annual billing or $60 monthly) and for Growth at $250 a month on annual billing only. Geolocation follows the same split: “Advanced Geolocation Data” is Growth only, and the Growth card promises “Analytics included for first 10,000 scans with geo-location data”. Above Growth, the enterprise cards describe what this comparison calls conversion tooling. Growth Plus, priced by usage, lists “Native CRM and CDP integrations” and an “Audience Builder for retargeting”; Enterprise adds “Custom API integrations for use case creation, analytics, and FlowID retargeting”, “Advanced CRM and CDP integrations for personalization”, “AI-driven campaign optimization with SmartFlow” and a “Real-time conversion suite with custom tracking pixels”. The Flowcode platform page frames the identity layer as “FlowID: A 360° Fan Identity”, built to “Capture rich, first-party data that powers personalization, retargeting, and understanding of every customer”, and names live events among the use cases it supports.

For the five-person booth, the seat arithmetic favours Flowcode at the low end. Pro Plus lists “3 collaboration seats” on its card and 5 “Platform Seats” in the table, “Teams” is ticked from Pro Plus, and “Custom Admin Permissions” waits for Growth. What the exhibitor cannot buy from the price list is a GPS row below $250 a month or a monthly plan with geolocation. The forms row gives no unit to plan against, and the conversion suite that makes Flowcode distinctive carries no printed price at all.

Scanova: the cheapest way to run one show

Scanova’s comparison table ticks “Lead Generation” from Lite at $9 a month, “Zapier Integration” from Standard at $35, and “Exact GPS Location of Scans”, “Users” (5) and “Phone Support” from Pro at $75. The ad platform integrations are listed under Standard on the same page, and both monthly and annual billing are on offer.

For a two-day show, one month of Pro at $75 buys the form, the GPS pop-up and the four ad platforms, and that is the whole booth list for less than a fifth of Uniqode’s Business+ monthly rate. The descriptions on the same page are specific. For GPS, “End-users will see a pop-up prompting them to allow/deny location access before viewing the content”. For Lead Generation, the vendor promises to capture contact information at the moment of the scan, and a note on the same row adds that lead pages carry a “Powered by Scanova” footer. Ad platforms, “Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Meta Pixel, and LinkedIn Ads”, two more than Uniqode’s pair. Scanova’s event page confirms that registration data can be exported “anytime from your Scanova dashboard” and calls the data capture “particularly useful for networking events and trade shows”.

What Scanova lacks is the native CRM route and the paperwork. The CRM step is a CSV or Excel export of the lead list, or a Zapier connection to “6,000+ apps” from $35; user controls beyond the five Pro seats, “Custom User Permissions” and “User Access by Tags”, are Enterprise features. The compliance statement is a single line, “ISO/IEC 27001:2022, GDPR, and SOC2”, with no trust portal behind it. For an exhibitor whose procurement desk asks for a SOC 2 report by name, that line is the beginning of a conversation rather than the end of one.

How the three were scored

The weights total 100 and follow the booth list, so the row that combines forms, GPS and retargeting carries the most. Uniqode takes that row and two others, Flowcode takes the conversion row outright, and Scanova takes the price row outright.

• Forms, GPS and retargeting working in one account, with a CRM route (30 points): Uniqode 27, Scanova 20, Flowcode 16. Uniqode runs all three on Business+ with HubSpot or Salesforce export, Scanova runs all three on Pro with a file export, and Flowcode prints a forms row without a unit and keeps GPS on Growth.
• Conversion tooling after the scan (25 points): Flowcode 25, Uniqode 16, Scanova 15. Audience Builder, CDP integrations, FlowID and custom tracking pixels stand against a Meta Pixel and Google Ads pair and a four-platform ad integration.
• Paperwork for an enterprise procurement desk (20 points): Uniqode 19, Flowcode 15, Scanova 9. Uniqode publishes SOC 2 Type I and Type II, ISO 27001:2022, HIPAA and GDPR with a trust portal listing 22 documents including a BAA. Flowcode publishes SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, CCPA and a HIPAA claim on a SafeBase portal with access on request, and Scanova publishes one line.
• Price for a single two-day show (15 points): Scanova 15, Flowcode 8, Uniqode 2. A $75 month stands against a $60 month without GPS and a $4,788 year.
• Roles for booth staff (10 points): Uniqode 9, Flowcode 7, Scanova 6. Uniqode has role-based access from Plus with 3 users and 5 on Business+, Flowcode has seats and Teams from Pro Plus with admin permissions on Growth, and Scanova has 5 users on Pro with custom permissions reserved for Enterprise.

The totals are Uniqode 73, Flowcode 71 and Scanova 65, a spread of eight points between first and third that reflects three products built for three different buyers.

The three on one table

Uniqode is the only vendor of the three with forms, GPS and retargeting on the same account. Flowcode is the only one with an audience-building layer above the QR code, and Scanova is the only one that prices all three booth features by the month. The table records where each feature starts and the day the page was read.

The Uniqode price problem for a twice-a-year exhibitor

The retargeting that completes Uniqode’s booth list sits on Business+ at $399 a month billed yearly, which is $4,788 for an exhibitor whose booth opens twice a year. The pricing FAQ leaves no monthly alternative: “We currently only offer annual subscription plans”.

Core at $49 covers forms and GPS for $588 a year, but the quota of 100 form responses a year is the same on every plan, so a booth that collects 300 leads across two shows is into add-on responses before the second show opens. Two procurement conveniences are also gated by tier on the same table. “Filling infosec questionnaire” and “Access to the trust portal” are ticked for Business+ only, so a Core customer does not get either row. Scanova’s Pro plan, by contrast, switches the same three booth features on for $75 in the month of the show and off in the month after, and no Uniqode plan can be bought that way.

Why Flowcode wins the conversion argument

An exhibitor whose measure of a show is revenue attributed to it, rather than leads captured at it, should read Flowcode’s enterprise cards first. Audience Builder, native CRM and CDP integrations, FlowID and a conversion suite with custom tracking pixels describe a retargeting and attribution stack that Uniqode’s Meta Pixel and Google Ads pair and Scanova’s four ad platforms do not attempt.

The price is a demo rather than a card, and the individual plans do not carry it; the buyer for whom Flowcode wins is the one who exhibits at twenty shows a year and wants every visitor in one identity profile. Scanova wins the other argument, which is cost. A $9 Lite month buys the form, and a $75 Pro month buys the form, GPS and the ad platforms; both can be cancelled before the invoice for the second show arrives. The exhibitor who runs two shows a year and keeps the leads in a spreadsheet between them has no reason to pay more.

Questions exhibitors ask about trade show QR codes

What is the best QR code generator for trade shows?

Uniqode, for an exhibitor who wants lead forms, GPS scan location and retargeting from one account, with responses exported to HubSpot or Salesforce, at the cost of an annual plan and a Business+ price for the retargeting. Flowcode suits the enterprise exhibitor who measures shows by attributed revenue and will buy its conversion tooling through a demo. Scanova suits the booth that runs two shows a year and wants a $75 month rather than a $4,788 year.

How do you track leads from a trade show QR code?

Each banner and flyer gets its own dynamic code with UTM parameters, so the analytics dashboard reports which placement produced each scan. The code should point at a form, so that the visitor’s details arrive with the scan rather than on a business card. On Uniqode, the events page states that responses export automatically to HubSpot or Salesforce, with integrations from Core; on Scanova, the lead list exports as CSV or Excel; on Flowcode, CRM integrations start at Pro Plus and the forms row prints counts without a unit.

Is Flowcode good for events?

Flowcode’s platform page names live events among its use cases, and its enterprise cards carry the strongest post-scan tooling here: an Audience Builder, CDP integrations, FlowID and custom tracking pixels. Its individual plans are weaker for a booth, because their forms row prints no unit, advanced geolocation sits on the $250 Growth plan, and monthly billing exists on Pro Plus alone.

Can a QR code tell you where it was scanned?

Only a dynamic code can, and only with the scanner’s permission. Uniqode’s help centre says GPS tracking is available from Core and that the scanner receives a location access prompt, and Scanova’s pricing page says end-users see a pop-up to allow or deny location access before viewing the content. Without permission, the vendors fall back to less precise location data, and Uniqode’s help centre keeps an article on scans that appear where no code was placed.

Does Scanova work for trade show booths?

Yes, and its event page describes the data capture as particularly useful for networking events and trade shows. Lead Generation starts at $9 a month on Lite, the four ad platform integrations at $35 on Standard, and exact GPS location, 5 users and phone support at $75 on Pro, all on monthly billing if required. The trade-offs are a “Powered by Scanova” footer on lead capture pages and a CRM step that is an export or a Zapier connection rather than a native connector.

How many QR codes do I need for a trade show?

One per placement, because a shared code cannot tell the banners apart. The six-metre booth with three banners and one flyer run needs at least four dynamic codes, and one per staff badge brings it to nine. Uniqode’s Essential plan allows 15 dynamic codes, Scanova’s Lite 10, and Flowcode’s Pro Plus 50, so none of the three entry plans is the constraint. For codes that never change destination, such as a floor map or a schedule, QRCodePrime’s events page makes the point that “you only need one code for all attendees” and offers 10 dynamic codes free without a watermark.

The test to run on the show floor

Before the doors open, one member of staff scans each banner code from the aisle and one flyer code from the car park, and submits a test lead on each. Three things need checking: that the lead reached the CRM or the lead list, that the location prompt appeared and the two locations differ, and that the pixel fired for the retargeting audience.

Uniqode’s Business+ passes all three from one login, and Scanova’s Pro passes the first two and hands the third to an ad platform. Flowcode passes the third best of all and routes the first through a landing-page form whose quota the price list prints without a unit.

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