The short version: You can get 250 to 500 professional business cards for under £20 to £30 (or $25 to $35 in the US) if you use the right printers and avoid the upsell traps. The difference between a cheap card and a bad card is almost entirely in the design choices you make before you hit print.
Why I'm writing about business cards in 2024
Last year I attended three in-person marketing conferences and handed out cards at every one. People still ask for them. Still. In a world where everyone has a LinkedIn QR code and a digital wallet card, a physical card still lands differently in someone's hand.
The problem is that most advice about budget business cards is either "just use Canva and Vistaprint" (too vague) or a sponsored post for a premium print brand dressed up as a budget guide (dishonest). I'm going to give you the specific numbers, the specific printers, and the specific design mistakes that make cheap cards look cheap.
What "budget" means here
I'm defining budget as under £30 / $35 for 250 to 500 cards, including delivery, without compromising on the basics. That rules out same-day high-street printing, which costs three to five times more per card, and it rules out buying a single card from novelty sites, which are useless for networking at scale.
That price point is entirely achievable. I've ordered at it repeatedly. Here's what's available right now.
The printers worth using at this price
Vistaprint
Yes, everyone knows Vistaprint. They're on this list because they deliver reliably and their standard cards (350gsm) are decent for the price. The trick is to never pay list price. They run 40 to 50 percent off promotions almost constantly. 500 standard cards regularly land at around £18 to £22 delivered in the UK, or $20 to $28 in the US. Avoid their glossy finish at this tier. It shows fingerprints and feels cheap to the touch. Go matte.
Moo (Mini Cards or Standard)
Moo's standard pricing is not budget. But their "Printfinity" feature, which lets you put a different image on the back of every card in a pack, is a legitimate differentiator. If you watch for their sale periods (January, Black Friday, sometimes mid-year), you can get 50 cards for around £16 or 200 for £35 to £40. That's not under budget, but Moo cards are so noticeably thick and well-finished that a smaller quantity at slightly above budget is often worth it for client-facing roles. Worth knowing about even if you stretch the budget slightly.
Solopress
UK-based, faster turnaround than most, and very competitive on price for standard litho print. 500 double-sided gloss cards from Solopress can run as low as £13 including VAT if you upload your own print-ready PDF. They're a trade printer that has opened up to consumers. Quality is consistent. A good call if you're ordering in the UK and already have your design sorted.
GotPrint (US)
If you're in the US and want something a step above Vistaprint without the Moo price tag, GotPrint delivers. 500 standard matte cards run around $22 to $28 including shipping. Their upload process is fussier than Vistaprint (you need to format your bleed correctly or they'll flag your file), but the print quality is noticeably cleaner.
Canva Print
Canva's print service has improved. If you're already designing in Canva Free or Pro, their integrated print ordering is convenient and the pricing is competitive: around £20 to £26 for 250 cards in the UK. The downside is that their card stock is slightly lighter than Vistaprint's standard, which you'll feel in the hand. Fine for networking events where you're distributing hundreds. Less ideal if you want cards that feel premium.
The design choices that separate a cheap card from a bad one
This is where most people go wrong. The printer barely matters if the design is doing the wrong things.
- Use one font, two weights. One bold font for your name, the same font in regular weight for everything else. Mixing three decorative fonts is the single fastest way to make a card look amateur.
- Don't fill every millimetre. White space is not wasted space. Cards that are jammed with text, logos, QR codes, social handles, and a headshot in 250 square millimetres look desperate. Pick your three most important pieces of information.
- Your phone number or email, not both. Choose the one you respond to fastest. That one goes on the card. Listing every possible contact method signals disorganisation.
- Avoid the free template trap. Vistaprint and Canva both have free templates. Many of them are fine. Many of them have been used by approximately 800,000 people and will be recognised as a free template instantly by anyone who orders print regularly. Spend one hour customising the colours and fonts to your brand and the card immediately looks more intentional.
- QR codes: yes, but one job only. If you put a QR code on the back, it goes to one destination. Your LinkedIn. Your booking link. Your portfolio. Not your "link in bio" page with seventeen options. One destination. The person scanning it should know within three seconds if they're in the right place.
- Stick to dark text on a light background. Budget printers calibrate for this. Light text on dark backgrounds can look great on screen and muddy in print, especially at the low ink densities some budget printers use. If you want a dark card, order a sample first.
The upsells you can safely skip
Every budget print site will try to move you up. Here's what to ignore at this price point.
- Rounded corners. They cost an extra £5 to £12 and add nothing to the impression the card makes. Skip it.
- Spot UV coating. Gorgeous on a £200-per-box luxury card. On a budget card it can look patchy and the price uplift is significant.
- Foil options. Same issue. The base card quality needs to match the finish. Foil on a 350gsm card can work, but not at budget printer prices and tolerances.
- Next-day delivery. Unless you have a conference tomorrow, standard delivery is fine. The rush delivery premium on most sites doubles the delivery cost.
One thing the top-ranking guides don't tell you
Order 100 to 250 cards, not 500, for your first run.
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I know it sounds counter-intuitive because the per-unit cost is lower at 500. But your contact details will change. Your job title will change. Your website URL might change. Your QR code destination will definitely change at some point. I have a drawer with approximately 300 cards with an old phone number on them that cost me pennies each and are now completely useless. Order a smaller quantity, use them, then reorder when you know what you'd change.
The exception is if you're attending a large trade event and know you'll distribute aggressively. In that case, 500 makes sense because turnover is fast enough that your details are unlikely to change before you've handed them all out.
How to get your design print-ready for free
Canva exports print-ready PDFs with bleed marks if you're on the Pro plan (£10.99 a month, cancel after one month). If you're on the free plan, you can still export a high-resolution PNG at 300dpi, which most printers accept. Adobe Express has a similar workflow for free. If you want to go further, Affinity Publisher 2 is a one-off payment of £24.99 and handles professional print PDFs with full bleed and CMYK colour profiles, which is worth knowing if you do any volume of print design.
My actual recommendation
For most people reading this: design your card in Canva, keep it simple, order 250 matte standard cards from Vistaprint during one of their regular sales for around £18 to £22 delivered. That's it. That's the budget business card sorted.
If you're UK-based and already have a print-ready file, try Solopress for the price. If you're in the US and care more about card feel than cost, stretch slightly to GotPrint. If you want something people comment on and can afford £35 to £40 for a smaller run, Moo is worth it.
A business card is a first impression in paper form. It doesn't need to be expensive. It needs to be intentional.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to get professional-looking business cards?
Order 250 matte double-sided cards from Vistaprint during one of their regular 40 to 50 percent off promotions, which run frequently throughout the year. UK cost lands around £18 to £22 delivered. Design your card in Canva using one font in two weights, minimal text, and a clean layout. The combination of sale pricing, matte finish, and a simple design produces cards that look professional regardless of cost.
Is 350gsm thick enough for a business card?
Yes. 350gsm is the industry standard for budget and mid-range business cards and feels solid in the hand. Cards below 300gsm feel flimsy and undermine your credibility. Cards above 400gsm (like Moo's 600gsm cards) feel noticeably premium but cost significantly more. For most networking purposes 350gsm is the right call at a budget price point.
Should I put a QR code on my budget business card?
Only if it goes to a single, specific destination that is directly useful to the person you're handing the card to. A QR code linking to your LinkedIn profile or your booking page is valuable. A QR code linking to a general link-in-bio page with multiple options is confusing. Test the QR code after printing by scanning it yourself on a different device before you distribute the cards.
How many business cards should I order on a budget?
Start with 100 to 250 for your first order, even though the per-card cost is lower at 500. Contact details, job titles, and URLs change more often than people expect, and leftover cards with outdated information are a waste of the savings you made on bulk pricing. Order 500 only when you are attending a large event within the next few months and expect to distribute cards at volume.
