NFC Tools vs NFC.cool vs NFC Memo: Which NFC App Should You Pick in 2026
If you search the App Store for an NFC app you will find dozens of options, and most of them look the same at first glance. Read a tag, write a tag, done. But once you start an actual project, like deploying a few hundred tags for a restaurant chain or wiring scans into your backend, the differences between these apps become very real.
In this article we compare three popular choices: NFC Tools by Wakdev, NFC.cool, and our own NFC Memo. We have tried to keep this fair and based on public information from the app stores and official websites. Where NFC Memo is the weaker option, we say so.
The short version
| NFC Tools | NFC.cool | NFC Memo | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platforms | iOS, Android | iOS, Android | iOS (Android planned) |
| Price | Free, Pro edition $3.99 | Free, Platinum subscription | $5.99 one time |
| Best for | Tinkerers and automation fans | All in one scanning | Teams deploying many tags |
| Bulk writing | Limited | Batch modes in paid tier | Core feature, continuous sessions |
| Webhooks | No native webhook | Paid tier | Included, read and write events |
| Write history | Basic | Yes | Full log with UID and timestamps |
| ISO 15693 (ICODE SLIX) | Partial | Not advertised | Full support |
Now the longer story.
NFC Tools: the veteran toolbox
NFC Tools have been around for years and it is probably the most well known NFC app on either platform. The free version reads tag information, writes text, URLs and contacts, and can erase or format tags for reuse. The Pro edition costs $3.99 on Google Play and unlocks a profile system, tag emulation, conditional blocks and more than 200 programmable tasks.
That task system is the real selling point. You can program a tag to toggle WiFi, set an alarm, open an app, or chain conditions together. For personal automation on Android it is honestly hard to beat, and the price is fair.
Where it falls short is repetitive professional work. Writing the same URL to two hundred tags means confirming each write by hand, there is no continuous session mode built for that. And if you want each scan reported to a server, you will need to glue something together yourself with third party tools. NFC Tools was designed for individual users, and it show in the workflow.
NFC.cool: the swiss army knife
NFC.cool takes a different approach. NFC reading and writing is just one part of a bigger scanning suite: QR codes, barcodes, document scanning with OCR, even 3D object capture and room plans on LiDAR equipped iPhones. The core NFC features are free, which include reading and writing more than 25 message types like WiFi credentials, business cards and iOS Shortcuts.
The catch is the Platinum subscription. Advanced batch modes, webhook automation, NFC Safe encryption and Shortcuts integration all sit behind the recurring paywall. If you already need document scanning and QR studio features, the bundle can make sense. If you only came for NFC, you are paying a subscription for one slice of a large app.
For occasional personal use the free tier is generous. For a business deployment, the features you actually need is mostly in the paid tier, and subscription pricing on a utility app is a preference thing. Some people are fine with it, some really are not.
NFC Memo: built for deployments
NFC Memo is the app we make, so apply whatever discount you feel is appropriate here. It costs $5.99 one time on the App Store, with no subscription and no account required. It is currently iOS only, an Android version is in development.
The app is intentionally narrow. It does four things:
- Bulk writing. Enter your content once, start a session, then keep tapping tags. Each write is verified and counted live, with a configurable cooldown between tags. You can inject each tag UID into the URL automatically using a placeholder, which is handy for per tag tracking links.
- Webhooks out of the box. Every successful read or write can POST a JSON payload with the tag ID, content type, payload and timestamp to any endpoint you set. No paid tier, no extra tooling, it is just a toggle.
- Write history. Every write is logged with the tag UID and exact time, so when a client asks which tags went out last Tuesday, you have an answer.
- Password protection. Tags can be locked after writing so they are not overwritten in the field.
Tag support is also broader than usual in one specific direction: besides the common NTAG213, NTAG215 and NTAG216 chips, NFC Memo fully supports ICODE SLIX tags (ISO 15693), which show up a lot in library, laundry and industrial inventory contexts and which many consumer apps cannot write at all.
What NFC Memo does not do: task automation, tag emulation, QR codes, or the two hundred clever tricks NFC Tools offers. If you want your tag to toggle your smart lights, buy NFC Tools, it is the better app for that.
Which one should you pick
Our honest recommendation depends entirely on what you are doing:
- You want to automate your phone or play with a handful of tags. Get NFC Tools. The free version might be enough, and Pro is cheap.
- You want one scanner app for everything, QR, documents and NFC included. NFC.cool is the most complete package, just check which features need Platinum before you commit.
- You are deploying tags at scale, or need scans and writes reported to a backend. This is exactly what NFC Memo is for. One session, hundreds of tags, every event on your server, full history for the audit.
The three apps overlap less than the store listings suggests. Pick by workflow, not by feature count, and you will probably be happy with any of them.
NFC Memo is available on the App Store. Questions about a deployment? Contact us.