About qardo

A calmer card wallet for everyday barcodes and passes.

qardo is built for the messy middle between paper cards, screenshots, and native wallets. It keeps barcode-based cards easy to reach without forcing your first save through an account wall, and it keeps hosted preview and self-hosted operator lanes separate from the calm stable production story.

Open qardo See deployment lanes

Production stays local-first Hosted preview stays explicitly labeled Self-hosting stays separate for operators

Short version

Best when you want control, not another shopping ecosystem.

qardo is strongest when the job is saving, tidying, and showing generic barcode cards fast without signing up first, while keeping hosted preview and operator paths easy to distinguish.

Operator / self-hosting

Operator setup starts in the docs.

The public operator lane points to the existing docs entry surfaces: start with the docs map for repo guidance, then open the self-hosting baseline for deployment truth. The wallet app stays the calm everyday Local lane.

Operator docs map Self-hosting baseline

local-first production hosted preview labeled self-hosted operator path

What qardo is

Built for everyday card carrying, not platform theater.

qardo keeps loyalty cards, barcodes, and passes handy when native wallets feel too narrow and shopping apps feel too heavy. It is designed to stay understandable: the wallet is local-first today, with sign-in and sync rolling out carefully instead of being over-promised.

Save the cards you actually get.

qardo is aimed at real-world barcode cards, photo imports, and manual cleanup work, not only issuer-supported wallet passes.

Keep production light.

The production lane stays focused on a no-sign-in-needed, local-first wallet so first use stays quick and trust stays easier to earn.

Roll out bigger features carefully.

Account auth, sync, recovery, and paid packaging only show up when they are actually ready, without muddying the calmer local-first story.

Deployment lanes

One product, three honest entry lanes.

qardo keeps the public story readable: stable production is the local-first wallet, hosted preview is the account-backed lane for evaluated sync, and self-hosting is a separate operator path for teams running their own deployment.

Stable production

Local-first, ready now.

The production app is for calm everyday card carrying on this browser or device. It does not assume cloud sync or account creation as the default starting point.

Hosted preview

Account-backed features, still state-labeled.

Signup, recovery, and hosted preview sync belong to the hosted preview or beta lane only when that deployment enables them. They stay labeled as preview instead of being described as the universal production baseline.

Self-hosted operator

Run qardo on your own stack.

Self-hosting is for operators who want control over infrastructure, providers, and rollout policy. It is a deployment path, not the default expectation for everyday wallet users.

Operator docs map Self-hosting baseline

Comparison

How qardo compares to the wallets people check first.

After Stocard's standalone app disappeared into Klarna, the market split into three camps: native phone wallets, device-locked wallet apps, and privacy-first niche tools. qardo belongs in the third camp, but with a softer landing than most niche alternatives.

Apple Wallet

Great for issuer-backed passes on iPhone.

Best for: Apple users carrying supported passes, tickets, and payment cards inside the iPhone ecosystem.
Tradeoff: It is strongest when merchants explicitly support Apple Wallet, not when you need a general-purpose place for all your barcode cards.
qardo is better when: you want a calmer, manual card wallet that is not tied to iOS-only rules.

Google Wallet

Great for Android-native passes and account convenience.

Best for: Android users who already live inside Google's account and payment flow.
Tradeoff: Generic loyalty card management is secondary to the broader wallet ecosystem and merchant integrations.
qardo is better when: you want local-first storage, simpler card organization, and less platform ceremony around everyday barcodes.

Samsung Wallet

Great for Samsung-native convenience.

Best for: People already committed to Samsung devices and Samsung's built-in wallet experience.
Tradeoff: The product fit drops fast once you leave that hardware lane.
qardo is better when: you want the same card workflow on whichever phone or browser is in your hand.

Stocard / Klarna

Now part of a bigger shopping and fintech app.

Best for: Former Stocard users who are willing to move into Klarna's broader ecosystem.
Tradeoff: The standalone Stocard product is gone, so loyalty-card storage now sits inside a different product contract.
qardo is better when: you want a dedicated card wallet experience instead of a card feature living inside a shopping app.

Catima

Strong privacy choice for Android and F-Droid users.

Best for: Android users who want an open-source, offline-first loyalty card wallet with a utilitarian feel.
Tradeoff: It is Android-only and aimed at a more technical audience.
qardo is better when: you want a gentler path across browser and mobile surfaces, plus room for sign-in and hosted preview sync later without forcing it on day one.

Why qardo fits

A better answer to screenshots, paper clutter, and overbuilt wallets.

No account wall first.

qardo's production story starts with carrying a card on this device, not with registration friction before a user has even decided the product is worth trusting.

Cleaner card hygiene.

The product is built around finding the right code fast, then cleaning up the rest later instead of letting dead cards pile up forever.

Truthful product promises.

qardo keeps its brochure grounded in what is live now instead of hiding behind vague future tense.