Why an honest comparison?
We know we're not the right choice for everyone. That's fine. What our customers value is that we know what we do, and what we don't do — and that we say so honestly before a contract is signed.
On this page you'll find the same comparison we'd give in a conversation: what we stand for, where the known alternatives are stronger, and when we'll point you to another party ourselves. That's not marketing modesty — it's sales hygiene. A disappointed customer costs more than a passed deal.
The five alternatives we see most often
Not everyone is searching for the same thing, so the comparison splits into five categories. Per category we name the most common solution:
- Zebra CardStudio Professional — vendor desktop tool, per workstation
- HID FARGO Connect — cloud-based identity-issuance platform
- CardExchange Producer — commercial card-production software, multi-vendor
- Entrust Adaptive Issuance — high-end industrial issuance platform
- Silex SX Virtual Link — the USB-over-IP driver we technically replace
Comparison table
One page-wide table with the properties prospects select on most often:
| Property | ConoCard | CardStudio | FARGO Connect | CardExchange | Entrust AI | Silex SX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Server-side service | Desktop tool | Cloud SaaS | Desktop / server | Enterprise platform | USB-over-IP driver |
| Linux | Yes | No | No (cloud) | No | Server tier | No |
| Windows | Yes | Yes | Yes (client) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| REST API | Yes | No | SDK / limited | Tool-dependent | Yes | No |
| On-premise | Yes | Yes | Cloud only | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Driverless over IP | Yes | No | No | No | No | Own driver stack |
| Zebra ZC350 supported | Yes | Yes | Limited | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HID printer supported | On request | No | Yes (vendor) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Multi-printer per host | Source-IP demux | Limited | Cloud routing | Yes | Yes | 1-to-1 |
| 2N Access Commander | End-to-end | No | No | No | Custom only | No |
| Bearer-token auth | Standard | OS user | SSO | Depends | SSO | None |
| Audit log to SIEM | JSON-Lines | Not standard | Vendor-specific | Not standard | Yes | None |
| Data inside customer network | Yes | Yes | Cloud | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-workstation licence | No | Yes | Per user | Yes | Per card | Yes |
| Scale sweet spot | 1 – 100 printers (scales linearly) | 1 workstation | Easily scalable | 1 – 50 printers | Industrial production | 1 printer |
The table is a snapshot based on public product information. For exact specs check the vendor; for your scenario, check us.
Per competitor: honestly reviewed
Zebra CardStudio Professional Vendor desktop tool
Zebra's own design-and-issue tool, shipped with their card printers. Strong in card design (typography, photos, vector work) and runs on a single workstation with a USB cable to the printer.
For one workstation, one printer, one designer — unbeatable. The design tooling itself is mature, with fonts, templates, barcode encoders and photo importers built in. For a dental practice or small business with sporadic card issuance, it's perfectly adequate.
As soon as you have more than one workstation, need an API or want a compliance audit trail, the CardStudio model breaks down. ConoCard is the server-side replacement for that — no per-workstation installs, one REST API, built-in audit log. For most corporate, MSP and multi-site scenarios this is the relevant choice. See also the dedicated CardStudio alternative page.
HID FARGO Connect Cloud SaaS
HID's cloud-based identity-issuance platform. Central, multi-site, with strong integration into the HID printer and credential line. Workflow-oriented: request → approval → print → issue.
For organisations already running an HID fleet and willing to work in the cloud. The approval-workflow piece is more mature than ours. Visitor-credential lifecycle and HID Origo / mobile credentials are deeply integrated. For large HID installed-base customers, a logical default.
Three differences: (1) ConoCard runs entirely inside the customer's network — no US cloud, no data leaving the organisation. (2) We're vendor-neutral on the print side: Zebra ZC350 today, others on request; FARGO Connect targets HID printers. (3) ConoCard is not a per-user subscription, but a per-server-instance licence — for mid-size deployments usually more cost-effective.
CardExchange Producer Multi-vendor desktop / server
A Dutch vendor with a strong product for card production. Many printer brands supported (Zebra, Magicard, Evolis, among others). Several editions from standalone to enterprise server.
Broad multi-vendor printer support today — Magicard, Evolis and others are out of the box. Mature GUI tooling with database connections for traditional issuance workflows. A good match for organisations wanting to drive multiple printer brands now from a single tool.
CardExchange is desktop / Windows-oriented and GUI-first. ConoCard is server-side / Linux-friendly / API-first. For anyone wanting card issuance as an automated step inside their own workflow — HR onboarding, PMS connection, visitor management — ConoCard offers the REST layer where CardExchange doesn't lead with it. End-to-end 2N Access Commander integration is built in to ConoCard.
Entrust Adaptive Issuance Industrial financial / ID production
The heavy hitter in this list. Entrust (formerly Datacard) builds industrial platforms for credit-card and government-ID production — bank cards, passports, government IDs. Proprietary Datacard CE/CR machines with inline embossing (raised lettering), high-speed magnetic-stripe encoding, PCI-compliant EMV chip personalisation and batch processing of thousands of cards per hour from a single machine. Own end-to-end stack including production certification.
Three specific domains: (1) embossing — the raised lettering on a credit card, not possible on a ZC350. (2) PCI Level 1 EMV chip personalisation at industrial speed — loading bank cards and payment cards with cryptographic keys under PCI-DSS Level 1 production certification. (3) ICAO 9303 passport production — government travel documents with specific security requirements. For those three scenarios Entrust is the market leader, and ConoCard simply doesn't have the hardware factory or certification frameworks.
For access cards, employee badges, visitor passes, member cards and visitor passes at volume, ConoCard is in fact a very good choice — including 50k+ cards per day. We scale linearly with the number of ZC350 printers, not with software licences (no per-card fee, no nine-month procurement cycle). Contactless encoding is standard in our v1. For anyone needing magnetic-stripe encoding or hologram laminate (ZC350L variant): the printer supports those accessories; integration into ConoCard is scoped per concrete deal. For 99% of companies that don't have to produce a bank card or passport, Entrust is overkill in complexity and cost — a hotel, a corporate office, a casino, an MSP with a handful of customers, a stadium with 50k visitor passes per event: just a binary, ZC350s, a 2N and hello@conocido.nl.
Silex SX Virtual Link USB-over-IP driver
A driver stack from Silex that forwards a printer's USB connection (or other USB peripheral) over IP. The Zebra ZC350 with the network option has a Silex SX-200 chip on board; that's what Silex Virtual Link uses on the host side.
It's the official vendor driver — if you want to stay in the Silex stack and run on Windows, it's the "safe" choice. Known, supported, generic for USB peripherals other than card printers too.
ConoCard replaces the Silex SX Virtual Link pattern. We've reimplemented the protocol in pure Rust, without a kernel-driver install, running on Linux and Windows, with a REST API on top. No tray app, no Windows driver maintenance, no 1-to-1 server-to-printer mapping. With us it's multi-printer via source-IP demux. For anyone currently running Silex and feeling the pain: that's exactly the migration we're built for.
When not ConoCard?
Three scenarios where we'd rather refer you than sell you the wrong expectation:
- You don't use a Zebra ZC350. Right now we really only support that printer. We're open to adding other models (Magicard, Evolis, IDP, HID FARGO) — for concrete deals we'll scope it together. If you need a working solution today for a Magicard or Evolis: CardExchange Producer is a reasonable fallback. For HID printers, FARGO Connect is the natural route.
- You produce bank cards, passports or national IDs. That's industrial card production requiring specific hardware (embossing machines, EMV personalisation at PCI Level 1 speed, ICAO 9303 passport stack) and certifications. For that you look at Entrust Adaptive Issuance — we don't have it and don't want to build it. Note: this is about those specific card types, not about volume. Access cards at 50k+/day is where ConoCard is strong; standard security features like hologram laminate (ZC350L) or magnetic stripe are supported at the printer-hardware level — integration into ConoCard is scoped per concrete deal.
- You want a graphical desktop tool for one workstation. One designer, one printer, sporadic issuance — that's what CardStudio Professional is built for. We add nothing there but complexity.
In all three scenarios you can still build with us, but it becomes custom work and won't beat the alternatives above on time to a working product.
When yes ConoCard?
Mirror of the above. ConoCard is the right choice if:
- You have Zebra ZC350 printers (one or many) and want to move away from per-workstation CardStudio + Silex Windows driver stacks.
- You use or are considering 2N Access Commander as your access-control system — we integrate end-to-end.
- You want card issuance integrated into your own workflow (HR, PMS, visitor management, ticketing) via REST.
- You want data inside your own network — no cloud middleman.
- You want audit logs to your SIEM for compliance reporting.
- You run a Linux stack or have a team that can rely on a Rust binary.
- You want a direct conversation partner — no sales funnel, no 9-month procurement cycle.
Frequently asked questions
Which card printer software is the best?
There is no "best" — only a "best for your situation". For one workstation with one Zebra printer, CardStudio is fine. For a large HID fleet in the cloud, FARGO Connect is the natural choice. For multi-vendor enterprise issuance at industrial scale, look at Entrust. For server-side, driverless ZC350 control with 2N integration, ConoCard is your match. Define your context first, then choose.
When is ConoCard not the right choice?
See the "When not ConoCard" section above. Briefly: (1) you don't have a Zebra ZC350, (2) you produce bank cards, passports or national IDs requiring embossing + PCI Level 1 EMV personalisation or ICAO 9303 — that's Entrust territory, or (3) you want a graphical desktop tool for one workstation. Volume is not a barrier (50k+/day is just multiple ZC350s in parallel). For hologram laminate (ZC350L) or magnetic stripe, the printer supports the accessories; ConoCard integration is scoped per concrete deal.
Is ConoCard cheaper than FARGO Connect?
Different pricing models, so hard to compare directly. FARGO Connect charges per user / card on a cloud subscription; ConoCard is a commercial licence per server instance. For mid-size installations we usually come out cheaper, but every case is different — let's discuss yours.
Can you help me choose if I'm still unsure?
Yes. We run scope conversations without commitment. If it turns out one of the alternatives fits you better, we'll say so. A passed deal costs us less than a disappointed customer.
Do you partner with the other parties mentioned?
We're open to partnerships where they make sense. The 2N route is strategically most relevant for us — we're actively working on integration there. For the printer vendors (Zebra, Magicard, Evolis) we have technical relationships; for the software platforms (CardExchange, Entrust) we depend on the buyer context.