Kemicard vs PassKit: Which Wallet Pass Platform Fits a Salesforce Org?
Both issue Apple Wallet and Google Wallet passes. PassKit is a standalone platform that works with any stack. Kemicard is installed inside Salesforce and renders each pass from a Salesforce record. If you are looking at Kemicard as a PassKit alternative, which one fits depends almost entirely on where your members already live.
At a glance
| Kemicard | PassKit | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A Salesforce app, installed from the AppExchange as a managed package, that issues passes from Salesforce records | A standalone wallet engagement platform for any CRM or stack [1] |
| How it connects to Salesforce | It runs in the org. A Flow, Apex or a button issues and updates the pass. | You send API calls from Flow or Apex, or use Zapier. PassKit posts events back to webhook URLs you configure. PassKit describes its integrations as third-party. [2] |
| Where pass records are held | The pass is rendered from the Salesforce record. There is no second member database. | In PassKit's cloud, on Google Cloud, in a Netherlands or Iowa cluster chosen at signup [3] |
| Scanning | The Kemicard Scanner checks the live Salesforce record and writes the scan back to it | The PassReader app validates against your PassKit account [4] |
| Wallets | Apple Wallet and Google Wallet | Apple Wallet and Google Wallet [1] |
| Apple pass certificate | Managed by Kemicard | You add your own Apple pass certificate [5] |
| Pricing model | Annual subscription by passes issued per year, user licences included | Monthly platform fee by team members, plus pass volume. Billed monthly in arrears; no annual plans. [5][6] |
| Published entry price | $3,500 a year for 5,000 passes and 1 user licence (pricing) | From $39.50 a month for one team member, including 250 multi-use and 250 single-use passes [6] |
| Trying it | Test Drive and free trial from the AppExchange listing | A 45-day trial with no payment method required [5] |
Where PassKit is the better choice
- You don't run Salesforce, or your members live in several systems. PassKit is CRM-agnostic, with APIs, SDKs and webhooks. Kemicard only works inside Salesforce.
- You want to start very small. PassKit publishes its full rate card and starts at $39.50 a month. Kemicard's smallest plan is $3,500 a year.
- Your team is developer-led and wants an API-first platform it can wire into any product, not an app that lives in one CRM.
Where Kemicard is the better choice
- There is no integration to build. PassKit's own Salesforce guide lists a team member "familiar with Salesforce automation or basic API logic" among its requirements [2]. With Kemicard there is no callout, endpoint or Zapier step. The Flow you already run issues the pass from the record (how it works).
- There is one copy of the member. A pass rendered from the record cannot drift from it. Renew, upgrade or lapse the membership in Salesforce and the pass changes with it. An external platform holds its own pass records, kept in step by whatever sync you build.
- Scans land where your reporting already is. A Kemicard scan is written to the Salesforce record, so attendance and redemption are ordinary Salesforce reports and dashboards.
- Your security review already covers it. Passes inherit the org's profiles, permission sets and field-level security, with no second vendor database to assess (security).
Comparing the price is harder than it looks
The two platforms price different things.
- PassKit bills monthly for the multi-use passes you keep on record and the single-use passes you issue. On top of that is a platform fee that rises with the number of team members, and PassKit counts anyone with access to its portal or PassReader app as a team member [5][6].
- Kemicard bills annually by passes issued per year, with user licences included in each plan. Scanning users need Salesforce or Experience Cloud access and an assigned Kemicard licence. An org-wide licence is available for large scanning teams.
Neither price includes the work around it. With PassKit, you also build and maintain the Flow or Apex callouts and the webhook endpoint. With either platform, someone designs the pass and builds the Flow that decides when it is issued.
The fair comparison prices both against the same program: how many members you have, how many staff scan, and who will build and look after the connection. Our build vs buy guide lists that work line by line.
What connecting PassKit to Salesforce involves
PassKit documents the route on its integrations site:
- Set up the program in PassKit.
- Use Flow Builder or Apex to send API calls to PassKit when something happens in Salesforce, such as a lead converting or a contact being added.
- Configure webhook URLs so PassKit can post pass events back [2].
For teams without a developer, PassKit's blog suggests Zapier [7].
That is a sensible design for a platform that has to serve every CRM. It is also exactly the layer Kemicard was built to remove for organizations whose system of record is already Salesforce.
Sources
- passkit.com: product overview
- integrations.passkit.com/salesforce: Salesforce integration, requirements and disclaimer
- PassKit Help: where is my data stored
- PassKit Help: PassReader
- PassKit pricing FAQ: trial, billing, team members, Apple certificate
- PassKit rate card
- PassKit blog: Salesforce CRM integration
"PassKit" here means the company at passkit.com. Apple also uses the name PassKit for its own Wallet developer framework, which is unrelated to this comparison. See all platform comparisons.
Further reading
From the blog
See It Running in a Salesforce Org
Bring your requirements to a demo, or try Kemicard hands-on from the AppExchange.
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