Comparison

Hex NFC vs NFC Kit

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Hex NFC

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The ultimate NFC toolkit, for FREE! Hex NFC brings the power of the iPhone's full capabilities to you in a professional-grade package for zero cost. Along with full support for practically every NFC chip currently available, Hex NFC also supports scanning of transit cards like PASMO/Suica and modern passport chips. A passport's chip opens only with the number and dates from its photo page: type them in, or let the camera read them. The image is read on your iPhone and never kept. We've gone to great lengths to utilise every capability the iPhone has to offer, to give users the one NFC app they'll ever need. Supported and tested on real silicon: - NTAG210μ, NTAG213, NTAG216, NTAG424 DNA - MIFARE Ultralight EV1, MIFARE Ultralight C - MIFARE DESFire EV3 - ICODE SLIX, ICODE SLIX2 - FeliCa (Japanese transit cards, PASMO/Suica) - eMRTD / ICAO 9303 (Modern passports) Many other NFC chips of similar types (e.g. NTAG215) are supported as well. A number of them have been tested on our own simulators, and we will confirm them on real silicon as chips become available. Type 4 tags from makers other than NXP can be read and written too, and so can a phone set up to act as a tag. The chip support matrix in our online documentation shows what has been confirmed for each chip. Confirmed Unsupported (iPhone can not scan): - MIFARE Classic EV1 The app allows you to perform essentially any action an NFC chip can receive including: - Read - Write records (Text, URL, Social Media Link, Search Engines, Files, Email, Contacts, Phone Number, Text Message, FaceTime, Map Location, Crypto Link, Wi-Fi Access) - Password Protect (Write only or full read/write), Incorrect Password Limits (permanent lock), 3DES and AES encryption - Memory Dump - Set up a blank MIFARE DESFire EV1, EV2 or EV3 card as an NDEF tag, then read and write it like any other tag (confirmed on EV3 so far) - Destructive & Irreversible Actions: Erase, Format, Permanent Lock, Remove NDEF setup - Advanced (APDU) Console for advanced users Quality of life features: - Pre-build a chip profile, then write it to as many cards as you need, one tap at a time - Save presets for later writes or overwrites - Review and reuse historical chip states - Lock and protection changes are checked by reading the chip back where possible, rather than trusting an ACK Warning: This app includes a number of dangerous features that could render your chip permanently disabled. They are clearly marked and warned against, you won't be able to do it by accident as they require you to input the chip's UID to perform. However we take no responsibility for unintentional or intentional damage to your chips. Use irreversible actions at your own risk.

About

NFC Kit

Features
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NFC Kit reads, writes, erases and protects NFC tags. No ads, no account. READ • UID, chip type, capacity and tag status at a glance • Decodes every NDEF record type: link, text, Wi-Fi, contact card, phone, email, message, coordinates, MIME • Full memory view in HEX, ASCII or binary with colour-coded regions • Export the memory as .txt or .bin WRITE • Ten content types, each with its own form • Capacity is checked before writing, and the tag is read back and compared byte by byte • Edit, reorder and delete individual records • Erase the NDEF content or reformat the tag TAG SECURITY (NTAG213/215/216, Ultralight EV1) • Set and remove the PWD/PACK password • Choose the first protected page (AUTH0), block reads too (PROT), limit attempts (AUTHLIM) • Lock a tag permanently to read-only, behind a two-step confirmation • Passwords live in the Keychain and travel through iCloud Keychain, end-to-end encrypted HISTORY AND AUTOMATION • Every scan is saved; search, star and give tags a nickname • One-tap templates, batch writing with a counter and a per-tag error log • Copy content to another tag, back a tag up to a file, export and import history as JSON • Shortcuts actions for Siri and automations LIFETIME UNLOCK - $4.99, ONE-TIME, NO SUBSCRIPTION These three features require the purchase; everything else in the app stays free forever: • iCloud backup of the tag history • Export and import of tag data • Reading and editing raw tag memory The purchase restores on every device on the same Apple Account, and the app has a Restore Purchases button. WHAT iOS DOES NOT ALLOW - SAID UP FRONT iOS does not let apps read MIFARE Classic data (only the UID), copy a UID onto another tag, emulate a tag, or join Wi-Fi automatically from a tag. These are system limits that no app gets past. The app includes a page explaining all of them. Requires iOS 18, so an iPhone XR or newer.

Screenshots

Hex NFC4 screens
NFC Kit4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Hex NFC at none against NFC Kit's 1. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. NFC Kit sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Hex NFC asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference Ā· 5 level
Hex NFC versus NFC Kit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHex NFCNFC Kit
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 9 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHex ProMinh Duc Do Tran

In-app purchases

None

Hex NFC

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

NFC Kit

One-time1
  • Lifetime Unlock$4.99

Questions

Is Hex NFC free?
Hex NFC is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is NFC Kit free?
NFC Kit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Hex NFC or NFC Kit have ads?
Neither Hex NFC nor NFC Kit shows ads.

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