Show lead retrieval is a per-event licence, usually priced per device, appointed by the organiser and ending when the hall closes. The alternative is to capture on the phones your team already carries: no licence to count, nothing to return, and the leads stay in one place across every show you do rather than in a different portal for each one.
Side by side
| Show lead retrieval | MeetDrop | |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | Per event, appointed by the organiser | Yours, across every event |
| Priced | Usually per device | Per account — Team includes three seats |
| Sometimes included | Yes, in some booth packages | Free covers unlimited leads, with 10 AI follow-ups a month |
| Captures the conversation | No, the badge record only | Yes — you describe it out loud |
| Writes the follow-up | No | Yes, drafted at the booth for you to send |
| Data after the show | Handed over, or held in the vendor's portal | Stays in your account, CSV export any time |
| Between shows | Nothing — the licence has ended | Same app for site visits and meetings |
The three questions that decide it
What happens to the data afterwards
This is the part people discover late. Some licences hand you a file when the show ends; some hold the leads in a portal with its own expiry date, and a few charge for the export. It is written in the exhibitor services manual, and it is worth reading before the show rather than after it.
Leads captured on your own phones do not have this problem, which is less a feature than an absence of one.
When the show's own retrieval is the better answer
When it is already bundled into your package, when the organiser's registration data is specifically what you need, or when the show restricts capture at the stand to its own tooling. In all three cases use it, and read the manual to find out which one you are in.
It is also the simpler choice if only one person is working the booth and you do one show a year. The case for anything else gets stronger with every extra person and every extra show.
Try it at one show first. Unlimited leads free, no card, alongside whatever the organiser sells you.
Start freePrices and vendor facts checked 20 September 2026. Last reviewed 20 September 2026 by the MeetDrop team. We update this page when either side changes.