For a business card, buy NTAG213. If the tag only stores a link to your online profile, which is how most digital business cards work, its 144 bytes of user memory is plenty. Go for NTAG215 or NTAG216 only when you insist on storing the full contact card on the chip itself, and even then a link is usually the better design.
What actually differs between the three chips
All three come from the same NXP family. NXP’s product page says the NTAG 21x chips provide “full compliance to the NFC Forum Tag 2 Type technical specification”, so any NFC phone can read them without special software. They share the 13.56 MHz frequency, a rated write endurance of 100,000 cycles and a data retention time of 10 years.
The one thing that changes is memory. WakDev, the company behind the NFC Tools app, puts it plainly on its NTAG215 page: the chips share the same security and compatibility, and “only the memory size sets them apart.”
| Chip | User memory (NXP) | Roughly fits (WakDev) | Typical use (WakDev) |
|---|---|---|---|
| NTAG213 | 144 bytes | around 130 characters of URL | Web link, simple action, business card with redirect |
| NTAG215 | 504 bytes | around 480 characters | vCard, richer content |
| NTAG216 | 888 bytes | around 850 characters | Multiple records, large amounts of data |
The case for NTAG213
Most digital business cards store a single URL. Somebody taps your card, their phone opens the link, and your profile page loads with a button to save you to Contacts. A QRCard link, for example, follows the pattern https://qrcard.in/c/yourname. That’s nowhere near the limit of around 130 characters that WakDev gives on its NTAG213 page, and WakDev lists “business card with redirect” as a typical NTAG213 job.
The bigger win is that the profile behind the link can change without anyone touching the card. New phone number, new job title, new booking link: you edit the profile and the same tag keeps working. If you write the details onto the chip itself, every change means rewriting every card you own, and you can’t rewrite the ones you already handed out.
My take: buy NTAG213 unless you need the data to work offline. A bigger chip doesn’t make the tap faster, the range longer or the iPhone experience better. You pay for room you won’t use.
When NTAG215 or NTAG216 makes sense
There are honest reasons to want more memory:
- The contact card itself goes on the chip. WakDev’s NTAG215 page calls that chip “the ideal compromise when the content goes beyond a simple link,” and lists vCards as its typical use. An offline vCard opens even when the person tapping has no signal.
- Several records. The NTAG216 page says “The NTAG216 is the natural choice when data volume comes first.” It has enough room for a detailed vCard with several numbers, postal addresses and notes.
- A long URL. Tracking parameters and long paths add up. If yours runs past the NTAG213 limit, a bigger chip fixes it, though a shorter link is the cleaner fix.
Even NTAG216 runs out fast. WakDev says “Embedding a photo in the vCard remains out of reach” on it, and for a detailed contact card with a photo it recommends encoding a short redirect link instead. Want your headshot to appear on tap? You’re back to a link.
A real example
Picture a realtor at an open house who wants every visitor to leave with their details. Option one: an NTAG216 card with a full vCard holding two phone numbers, the office address and a note. It works offline, but the moment the realtor switches brokerages, every card in the box is out of date and the ones already given away stay wrong forever.
Option two: an NTAG213 card holding the realtor’s profile link. The visitor taps, sees the photo, listings link and a save button. After a brokerage switch, the realtor updates the profile once, and every card ever handed out now shows the new details. The cheaper chip wins.
Things that matter more than the chip
Metal. Avery Dennison’s article on on-metal tags states that “Traditional NFC tags cannot be read when they’re applied to metal surfaces.” Metal business cards and metal phone cases need an on-metal tag, which adds a ferrite layer “which isolates the magnetic field from the metal surface.” Ask the seller whether the card is built for metal before you order a metal finish.
Range. NXP gives an operating distance of up to 100 mm, depending on field strength and antenna geometry. In practice the phone has to be held close, so tell people to tap the top of their phone to the card.
iPhone behaviour. According to WakDev, automatic background reading works from the iPhone XS and XR onwards. Older models back to the iPhone 7 can read and write through NFC Tools on iOS 15.6 or later, but the user has to start the scan in the app. This is the same for all three chips. If iPhone owners are a big part of your audience, our guide on whether NFC business cards work with iPhone covers the details.
Locking. All three chips can be locked to read-only, and WakDev warns that this is irreversible. They also support a 32-bit password that blocks rewriting without making it permanent. If you might change the link later, use the password, not the lock.
Limitations
A link-based card is only as good as the page behind it. If the person tapping has no signal, or the service hosting the profile shuts down, the card shows nothing useful. A vCard stored on an NTAG215 or NTAG216 still works. If you hand out cards where phones have no data, that matters, and you should buy the bigger chip.
QRCard itself doesn’t sell NFC cards. It gives you an NFC-ready profile URL that you write to any compatible tag yourself, so the chip choice is yours. Our step-by-step guide on how to write a URL to an NFC tag walks through it, and the broader NFC business cards guide explains how tap-to-share fits with a QR code on the same card. If you’re thinking about storing a contact file directly, read what a vCard file is first so you know what goes into one.
How to buy
- Decide whether the tag holds a link or a full contact card. A link means NTAG213.
- Check the listing names the chip exactly. “NFC card” alone tells you nothing.
- If the card or the place you’ll keep it is metal, buy an on-metal version.
- Order a couple of spares, write one, and test it on an iPhone and an Android phone before writing the rest.
FAQ
Is NTAG213 enough for a digital business card?
Yes, if the tag holds a link. NTAG213 has 144 bytes of user memory, which WakDev puts at around 130 characters of URL. A profile link is far shorter than that.
Do NTAG215 and NTAG216 work better with iPhones?
No. WakDev notes that the three chips share the same compatibility and security features. Only the memory size is different, so a bigger chip doesn’t read faster or more reliably.
Can I put my photo on an NFC business card?
Not inside the chip. WakDev says embedding a photo in a vCard is out of reach even on the NTAG216, the largest of the three. Write a short link to a profile that shows the photo instead.
Why won’t my NFC card read when it’s in a metal case?
Metal blocks ordinary NFC tags. Avery Dennison says traditional tags cannot be read on metal surfaces. Use an on-metal tag with a ferrite layer, or keep the card away from metal.