How much does trade show lead retrieval cost?

The answer, first

At US shows in 2026 the official lead retrieval rental runs about $390 to $735 per booth for one show, before a processing fee, and connecting your own CRM or app through the show's system costs $910 to $1,370 more. Each show sets its own price, so check your exhibitor manual. Apps you bring yourself range from free capture to $9.99 a lead.

Watch: What does trade show lead retrieval actually cost? (1:16)

What the official scanner costs at real 2026 shows

Each show appoints a lead retrieval vendor and prints its prices in an order form in the exhibitor kit. These are the figures from five of them. Two numbers mean the price before and after the order deadline; every form adds a processing fee of $9.99 to $25.

	Device or app, one show	Each extra user	API, to connect your own CRM or app
National Restaurant Association Show 2026	$579 / $599 (3-user app package or a handheld)	$149	$950
AAPEX 2026	$455 / $525 (one app activation); $625 / $685 (three)	$145	$1,120 / $1,330
PRI Show 2026	$570 to $685 (3-user app package)	$145	$910 to $1,330
AAP Annual Meeting 2026	$549 to $599 (3-user app package)	$149	$950
AIMExpo 2026	$390 / $495 (one-user app); $595 / $695 (three)	$145	Not offered

From each show’s published lead retrieval order form, read on 9 October 2026. Sources below.

What the apps you bring yourself cost

An app of your own works at any show and keeps the leads when the hall closes. These are the prices each vendor publishes; the ones marked “not published” sell through a demo.

	Published price	What a single show costs
MeetDrop	Capture free, unlimited leads. $49 per show for 200 AI follow-up emails; Pro $99 a month	$0 to capture; $49 for the follow-up
Expo Pass	$250 standard per exhibiting company, 5 users; the organizer may charge more	$250 or more
Blinq	$9.99 per lead captured and enriched	About $2,000 for 200 leads
Wave Connect	$2.50 a card or form, $10 a badge scan, prepaid credits	$500 to $2,000 for 200 leads
momencio	$100 to $170 per seat a month, 5-seat minimum, annual	From $6,000 a year
BoothIQ	Free for one person; Team $999 a month	$0 alone; $999 for a team month
Cvent iCapture, Popl	Not published	Ask for a demo

What three people on one booth cost

Three reps at one show is the common small-stand case. On the official system that is a 3-user app package, $549 to $685 at the shows above, and another $910 to $1,330 if the leads are to flow into your CRM rather than arrive as a file. With an app of your own, the same three people capture free on MeetDrop, and a $49 Event Pass writes the follow-up for the show.

The three things to check before you rent

Per device or per booth. Four people working a stand can mean four licences, which is where a modest-looking number stops being modest.

What happens to the data afterwards. Some licences hand you a file at the end; some keep the leads behind a portal with its own expiry date.

Whether it is already in your package. If it is bundled and you only need names, there is nothing to decide — use it.

Where official lead retrieval is still the right call

The official system reads the attendee’s registration data straight off the badge: verified name, company, title and the answers they gave when they registered. If that data is what you need, and it is bundled into your booth package, use it. What it cannot give you is what the person actually said, which is what decides whether the follow-up gets a reply.

Unlimited leads free, no card. Try it at one show before you decide anything.

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