cardPresso
cardPresso is a Portuguese software company that develops perpetual-license ID card design, printing, and encoding software (cardPresso and ID-ALL product lines), sold through a direct sales team and a 332-partner reseller network across 93 countries to organizations issuing physical identity credentials.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersLisboa, Portugal
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What cardPresso does
cardPresso is a Portuguese software company that develops and sells ID card design, printing, and encoding software for organizations that issue physical identity credentials. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Santo Isidoro, Mafra, Portugal, with a US subsidiary in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the company maintains a headcount of 11-50 employees and operates as a privately held entity with no external funding disclosed. The company sells two product lines — cardPresso (5 editions from XXS to XXL) and ID-ALL (4 editions from Starter to Expert) — as perpetual software licenses available on Windows (7+) and macOS (High Sierra 10.13+). The technology stack integrates with 30+ card printer brands (Evolis, Zebra, HID Fargo, Matica, Magicard, IDP, Dascom, Datacard), multiple encoder types (RFID, magnetic stripe, contact smartcard, signature pads, fingerprint scanners), and a wide range of database backends (SQLite, MS Excel/Access, Google Sheets, MySQL, PostgreSQL, ODBC, Active Directory, CSV/TXT). Smart card encoding supports MIFARE Classic, DESFire, Ultralight, NTAG, ICODE SLI, SLE4428/4442/5528/5542, and AT24C I2C standards.
The company's business model is built on one-time perpetual software license sales, supplemented by upsell paths through multi-device plugin packs (in increments of 5 users) and the XXL edition's Net License feature (up to 16 PCs). Free technical support is provided as a differentiator rather than a revenue stream. Go-to-market combines a direct sales team (reachable via [email protected] and regional phone lines in the US, Brazil, UK, Portugal, and Europe) with a global channel partner network of 332 resellers and distributors operating across 93 countries. The company markets through a 5-language website (English, Portuguese, French, German, Spanish), a Knowledge Center support portal, and a Trade-in Program for existing customer upgrades. Customer segments include any organization requiring physical ID credentials (enterprise, government, education, healthcare, SMB) plus the partner/reseller channel that delivers the software to end customers. The company self-attests to GDPR and CCPA compliance and maintains active software development with 20+ versioned releases between 2020 and 2025.
cardPresso firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- cardPresso
- Legal name
- CARDPRESSO, Lda
- Website
- https://cardpresso.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- cardPresso is a Portuguese software company that develops perpetual-license ID card design, printing, and encoding software (cardPresso and ID-ALL product lines), sold through a direct sales team and a 332-partner reseller network across 93 countries to organizations issuing physical identity credentials.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
cardPresso industry classification
Industry- Product category
- ID Card Design and Printing Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- OCR, ICR & Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) (BPAAAKAB)
Keywords
Where cardPresso is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Lisboa
- HQ country
- Portugal
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
cardPresso business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Software Licenses (Perpetual): CARDPRESSO sells perpetual software licenses across multiple edition tiers (5 editions for cardPresso: XXS, XS, XM, XL, XXL; 4 editions for ID-ALL: Starter, Standard, Advanced, Expert). Each edition unlocks progressively more advanced features. Licenses are sold as one-time purchases with optional upgrades. The company also offers multi-device plugin packs (sold in increments of 5 users) for ID-ALL, allowing multiple computers to share a single license concurrently.
- Network License (XXL Edition): The cardPresso XXL edition includes a Net License feature that allows sharing one active license with up to 16 PCs within the same network scope and subnet mask, providing an upsell path for larger deployments.
- Feature Plugins and Add-ons: Additional features and capabilities (such as the Multi-device plugin, Active Directory plugin) are sold as add-on plugins that extend the functionality of the base edition, creating upsell and expansion revenue.
- Free Technical Support: High-quality technical support is provided free of charge to all customers, including technotes, video tutorials, phone, Skype, and email support. This is positioned as a key differentiator rather than a revenue-generating service.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | cardPresso: 5 editions (XXS → XXL); ID-ALL: 4 editions (Starter → Expert). All tiers are perpetual one-time licenses with free software updates. |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
cardPresso product offering
Product offeringCore offering
cardPresso develops and sells two perpetual-license ID card software platforms — cardPresso (5 editions from XXS to XXL) and ID-ALL (4 editions from Starter to Expert) — that let organizations design, print, and encode professional ID cards, badges, and credentials. The software integrates with 30+ card printer brands, signature pads, fingerprint scanners, and webcams, and connects to databases including SQLite, Excel, Access, Google Sheets, MySQL, PostgreSQL, ODBC, Oracle, and Active Directory, with encoding support for barcodes, magnetic stripes, and contactless/contact smart chips (MIFARE, DESFire, NTAG, ICODE, SLE, AT24C). Sales are conducted through a direct sales team and a global network of 332 partners across 93 countries, with free technical support included.
Product overview
cardPresso develops and sells two distinct ID card software product lines: cardPresso and ID-ALL. cardPresso is offered in 5 editions (XXS, XS, XM, XL, XXL) spanning basic card design through advanced multi-user network deployments with full encoding support. ID-ALL is the company's professional-grade offering in 4 editions (Starter, Standard, Advanced, Expert), delivering more advanced operations including special panel management and multiple encoding types. Both products are offered as perpetual software with optional multi-device and network license plugins. The company also provides supplementary documentation products including user manuals, quick start guides, data sheets, and licensing brochures, plus a Knowledge Center support portal.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- ID-ALL: Professional ID card software for designing, printing and encoding ID cards
- cardPresso
Products and services
- cardPresso cardPresso is the company's primary ID card software product, enabling users to design, print, and encode ID cards. Available in 5 editions (XXS, XS, XM, XL, XXL) ranging from basic card design to advanced multi-user network environments with magnetic, smart card, and RFID encoding capabilities, running on Windows 7+ and macOS 10.13+.
- ID-ALL ID-ALL is a professional-grade ID card software used to design, print, and encode ID cards. Available in 4 editions (Starter, Standard, Advanced, Expert) offering scalable features from simple card designing to advanced operations including special panel management and multiple encoding types, running on Windows 7+ and macOS 10.13+.
Quantifiable outcome
- Trusted by 332 partners worldwide serving customers in 93 countries since 2012
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use cardPresso
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
cardPresso technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
AI capability2 records
cardPresso partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
cardPresso competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Entrust: Entrust (via the legacy Datacard business) sells ID Works and Datacard/Entrust issuance software for the same physical-card design and printing workflows that cardPresso serves, paired with a full issuance hardware line.
- HID Global: HID Global sells Asure ID and Fargo printer-bundled card-issuance software targeting the same enterprise ID/credential market as cardPresso, with a much broader portfolio across physical access control and secure issuance.
- Evolis: Evolis ships Evolis Premium Suite (formerly Badge Studio) with its Primacy, Agilia, KC, Avansia and other card printers that cardPresso integrates against, making it a direct competitor with hardware-attached distribution.
- IDP Group: IDP manufactures Smart, CUBO, SOLID and Swiftpro card printers supported by cardPresso and sells complementary issuance software of its own, targeting the same SMB-to-mid-enterprise issuance segment.
- Zebra Technologies: Zebra offers CardStudio card-design software bundled with its ZC, ZXP and ZC-series card printers that cardPresso explicitly supports, competing head-on for the same SMB and enterprise card-issuance use cases.
- Magicard: Magicard bundles its own card-design software with Pronto, Rio Pro, 360 NEO and other printers that cardPresso directly supports, going after the same education, SMB and enterprise issuance segment.
- Matica Technologies: Matica produces card printers (MC310, MC660, XPS) plus its own desktop issuance software, competing with cardPresso for the same mid-market and enterprise issuance customers that cardPresso's drivers explicitly support.
Direct peers
- CardExchange: CardExchange is a standalone ID-card design and printing software vendor with comparable encoder and database support, competing with cardPresso and ID-ALL for the same SMB and reseller-driven customer base.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
cardPresso social profiles
Digital presencecardPresso compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
cardPresso financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
cardPresso leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
cardPresso subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
cardPresso funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
cardPresso M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about cardPresso
What does cardPresso do?
cardPresso develops and sells two perpetual-license ID card software platforms — cardPresso (5 editions from XXS to XXL) and ID-ALL (4 editions from Starter to Expert) — that let organizations design, print, and encode professional ID cards, badges, and credentials. The software integrates with 30+ card printer brands, signature pads, fingerprint scanners, and webcams, and connects to databases including SQLite, Excel, Access, Google Sheets, MySQL, PostgreSQL, ODBC, Oracle, and Active Directory, with encoding support for barcodes, magnetic stripes, and contactless/contact smart chips (MIFARE, DESFire, NTAG, ICODE, SLE, AT24C). Sales are conducted through a direct sales team and a global network of 332 partners across 93 countries, with free technical support included.
Is cardPresso a public or private company?
cardPresso is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was cardPresso founded?
cardPresso was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is cardPresso based?
cardPresso is headquartered in Lisboa, Portugal, in the Europe region.
How does cardPresso make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Software Licenses (Perpetual) is the primary driver. The others are network License (XXL Edition), feature Plugins and Add-ons and free Technical Support.
Who are cardPresso's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Entrust, HID Global, Evolis, IDP Group, Zebra Technologies, Magicard and Matica Technologies. CardExchange is listed as a direct peer.
Does cardPresso have an API?
No public API is recorded for cardPresso.
What industry is cardPresso in?
cardPresso's product category is ID Card Design and Printing Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAAAKAB, OCR, ICR & Intelligent Document Processing (IDP). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.