There has been a noticeable increase in event managers choosing to rent event badge printers and manage event check-in with their own teams instead of relying on full-service providers.
The main reason behind this shift is cost. Event budgets are under pressure as supplier pricing and venue expenses continue to rise in an uncertain economic climate.
As a result, onsite badge printing managed in-house is becoming a more attractive option. By removing the need for external staff, event organizers can significantly reduce costs. Full-service badge printing providers typically charge for staffing, travel, and accommodation, which can quickly add thousands to the overall quote.
This challenge is even more pronounced in the United States, where sourcing a local onsite badge printing provider is often difficult. In many cases, companies must travel from out of state or across regions, increasing both cost and complexity.
However, before deciding to rent event badge printers and run your own onsite badge printing operation, it is important to understand what is involved and whether your team is fully prepared.
Renting event badge printers means hiring the equipment and software needed to run onsite badge printing at your event, allowing you to manage attendee check-in without relying on a full-service provider.
Renting event badge printers and managing your own onsite badge printing can seem straightforward. Enter a name, press print, and you are done.
In reality, it only works smoothly if you are properly prepared. The following questions will help you decide if your team is ready to handle event check-in in-house.
You need a dedicated person to organize your onsite badge printing setup. Consider the following:
Running onsite badge printing requires more than one person. You will need a team to manage queues, assist attendees, troubleshoot issues, and ensure badge data is accurate throughout the check-in process.
At least one team member should be confident working with computers and printers. They should be able to handle issues such as printer errors, paper jams, alignment problems, or software and laptop issues without delay.
Even the best plans can fail. Make sure you are prepared for unexpected situations such as:
If you are confident that your team can manage these responsibilities and you have the time and resources to prepare properly, then renting event badge printers could be the right choice.
If not, you may want to consider an assisted rental option where a technician supports your onsite badge printing setup and helps ensure everything runs smoothly.
Choosing to rent event badge printers is often a smart financial decision, especially if you run a limited number of events each year or your venue location makes transporting your own equipment impractical.
When planning your onsite badge printing setup, you generally have two options:
Understanding the difference between these two approaches is critical to the success of your event check-in.
When you rent event badge printers from a hardware rental company, you are simply renting equipment, not a complete onsite badge printing solution.
This means the responsibility for building your event check-in system sits entirely with you. You will need to source and manage:
Even if the rental company offers software, it is often provided through a third party and may not be fully tailored to your event requirements.
Every component must work together, and missing something as small as a cable can disrupt your entire check-in process with little time to recover.
You will also need to install software, configure printer settings, align badge designs, and test everything shortly before your event begins. In many cases, this happens the day before or even on the morning of the event.
If you have prior experience with onsite badge printing, this process is manageable. If not, it introduces a significant level of risk that can impact your event operations.
Are you looking for a hardware rental company only? If so check out Choose2Rent or One World Rental
When you rent event badge printers from an event service provider, you are investing in a complete onsite badge printing solution rather than standalone equipment.
This is essentially a fully prepared check-in system delivered to your venue, ready to use with minimal setup. This approach is particularly valuable if you are managing onsite badge printing for the first time.
Key benefits include:
For many event organizers, this approach reduces risk while still allowing them to benefit from the cost savings of renting event badge printers instead of hiring a fully managed service.
Watch this video to see just how easy it is to rent your event badge printer setup with us
The cost to rent event badge printers and run onsite badge printing will vary depending on the size of your event, your location, and how your rental provider structures their pricing.
Most providers charge in one of two ways:
Understanding how these pricing models work is important to avoid unexpected costs.
At first glance, daily pricing can appear more affordable. For example, a badge printer listed at $150 per day may seem like a good deal. However, many providers enforce a minimum rental period. If that minimum is three days, your actual cost becomes $450 even if your event only runs for one day.
You also need to consider additional charges for non-event days. These can occur due to delivery and collection schedules. For example, if your event takes place on a Monday but delivery only happens during the week, you may be charged for Friday through Monday, even if the equipment is not in use for all of that time.
Many event organizers prefer providers that charge per event rather than per day because it offers predictable pricing with no hidden costs.
For example, with a per event model, you can rent event badge printers for a fixed price regardless of event duration. This simplifies budgeting and removes uncertainty from your onsite badge printing setup.
A basic onsite badge printing setup typically includes:
Based on typical pricing, these core components cost approximately $410 per event.
Additional Costs to Consider
To run a complete onsite badge printing solution, you also need consumables and software:
This brings your subtotal to around $729.
You will also need event check-in software to manage attendees and print badges. Pricing can vary, but for a mid-sized event of around 500 attendees, this can cost approximately $1,000.
At this stage, your total is around $1,729.
Shipping and collection costs are another important factor. Typical pricing is around $250 for delivery and $250 for collection per kiosk.
This brings the total cost for a complete onsite badge printing setup to approximately $2,229 for a single kiosk.
If you compare this to daily rental models with a three-day minimum, the effective cost works out to roughly $743 per day for a fully equipped onsite badge printing solution.
The key difference is that with a complete rental package, you avoid hidden fees, missing components, and last-minute complications.
When you consider everything included in a complete solution, renting event badge printers remains one of the most cost-effective ways to manage onsite badge printing.
It allows you to reduce staffing costs while still delivering a professional check-in experience, especially when working with a provider that offers a fully configured system ready to use at your venue.
Up to this point, we have focused on renting event badge printers and managing your own onsite badge printing. We have covered how it works, what is involved, and the differences between rental options.
The next question is whether renting event badge printers is worth it compared to hiring a badge printing company to handle everything for you.
In many cases, the answer is yes, provided you have the resources, time, and internal capability to manage your own onsite badge printing and you choose the right partner to support you.
The main advantage is cost. When you rent event badge printers, you are paying for equipment rather than equipment, staff, and travel. This can significantly reduce your overall event spend.
If reducing costs is your primary goal, then managing onsite badge printing yourself is a strong option.
Here’s a quick comparison table that pitches renting event badge printers against hiring an event badge printing company.
| Factor | Rent Event Badge Printers | Hire a Badge Printing Company |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Lower overall cost. You only pay for equipment and software. | Higher cost due to staffing, travel, and management fees. |
| Setup Responsibility | You or your team handle setup, testing, and operation. | Fully handled by the provider from setup to execution. |
| Onsite Badge Printing Control | Full control over your onsite badge printing process and attendee experience. | Limited control as the provider manages the process. |
| Technical Knowledge Required | Moderate to high depending on setup. Requires familiarity with printers and software. | Minimal. The provider manages all technical aspects. |
| Risk Level | Medium. Issues must be handled by your team or remote support. | Low. Experienced staff handle issues in real time. |
| Flexibility | High. You can adjust processes and workflows as needed. | Lower. Changes may depend on the provider’s processes. |
| Support | Remote support or optional onsite technician depending on package. | Full onsite support included. |
| Speed of Check-in Setup | Fast if pre-configured, but depends on preparation and testing. | Immediate. Systems are set up and managed for you. |
| Scalability | Scalable with proper planning and additional equipment. | Easily scalable with additional staff and resources. |
| Best For | Events focused on cost savings with internal resources available. | Events prioritizing convenience, reliability, and minimal workload. |
However, if you are not fully confident in your ability to run the process without issues, handing everything over to a badge printing company may seem like the safer choice.
But there is a middle ground.
If you want to rent event badge printers while still reducing risk, there are flexible options that allow you to balance cost savings with support.
This option gives you a complete onsite badge printing solution delivered directly to your venue. The system is pre-configured with your badge designs and event data, fully tested, and ready to use.
Setup is simple. Connect power, load your badges, and start checking in attendees.
You also benefit from real time remote support. Instead of relying on slow email responses, you have direct access to a technician who can assist immediately and even access your system remotely if needed.
This option provides additional peace of mind by placing an experienced technician onsite with your team.
They will handle setup, ensure everything runs smoothly, and support your staff throughout the event. This is ideal if you want to rent event badge printers but prefer expert oversight during critical moments.
You can also combine assisted support with a do-it-yourself approach. For example, a technician can help with setup and the initial check-in period before handing over to your team.
If you prefer a hands-off approach, a fully managed service allows you to outsource your entire onsite badge printing operation.
The provider supplies the equipment, staff, and expertise, managing everything from setup to live check-in. This ensures a seamless experience while still keeping costs controlled through the use of local staffing where possible.
Renting event badge printers is one of the most cost-effective ways to manage onsite badge printing, but it only works well if your team is prepared to support it.
If you have the right resources in place, it can deliver significant savings without compromising the attendee experience. If not, choosing a supported or fully managed option can help you achieve the same outcome with less risk.
Ultimately, success comes down to choosing the right approach and the right partner to support your event.
Typically, you have 2 choices depending on the style of event badge you want. For inkjet, full color badge printing, the Epson C3500 or it’s successor the C4000e, or if you want thermal printing, the Zebra ZD621 direct thermal printer.
This depends on 3 main factors:
– How many people you’re expecting to check-in during your busiest hour
– How efficient your badge printing software and team are-
– How attendees are checking-in e.g. with QR code, or manual name entry
Using our badge printers and software you can expect to realistically print around 4 badges per-minute per kiosk station when factoring in human interactions. We base our quotes on 1 kiosk per 230 people in the busiest hour.
You can improve printer efficiency by networking 2 tablets to 1 printer, but this requires a more complex setup.
Event badge printing providers get booked up fast.
The closer you leave it to your event the more chance you have of not being able to find a supplier that can help you.
As a general rule, you should book your event badge printing solution no later than 8 weeks before your event. This gives you enough time to prepare badge designs, attend training, upload your attendees, and dispatch the equipment to your venue in plenty of time.
We never recommend on the day setup, it is always best to set up the day before as this gives you time to work out any issues that may arise.
However, we do understand that you may not have the time or budget for a pre-day setup. Our do-it-yourself badge printing solution can be set up from out of the box to printing badges in around 10-minutes.
The technical answer is yes.
However, PVC badge printing requires specialist printers and not all rental providers including us offer them. This is because they are very expensive to hire due to their specialist components, size, and weight for shipping.
PVC badges for onsite badge printing are limited to single sided prints only. This means that if you want something printed on the rear of the badge, like event information, these must be printed offsite in advance of your event as to print both sides onsite would require you to manually flip the cards between prints which would slow down check-in a lot.
Our badges are tear-resistant paper based. They are fully recyclable and they come pre-perforated for single and dual clip lanyards, so you don’t need plastic holders. This improves your event sustainability but also aids your check-in efficiency.
For lanyards we always recommend open-ended (dual clip) lanyards with bulldog (crocodile) clip attachments. These make it extremely easy and fast to process check-ins because it eliminates difficulties trying to clip a badge using a trigger clip.
This will depend on your badge design. If you have a simple design with minimal color and coverage you can expect to yield between 400 and 500 badges per ink set.
For full coverage designs with coloured backgrounds you can expect a yield of 150-250 badges per ink set.
We always recommend a minimum of 15% over the maximum anticipated numbers you’re expecting. You will have re-prints to do. We always ship more badges than you need, so we have that covered for you.
Using our solution that is tuned for attendee self-service you will need 1 person per 2 kiosks. For large numbers of attendees arriving you might want to consider additional support for crowd and queue management at the very start of your event.
If you are planning to rent event badge printers and want a reliable onsite badge printing setup without the stress, we can help.
We provide fully configured event check-in systems that are delivered ready to use, tested in advance, and supported in real time.
Whether you are running a small event or a large conference, we can help you build an onsite badge printing solution that works from the moment your doors open.
👉 Get a quote to rent event badge printers today
👉 Explore our onsite badge printing solutions
Unique Attendees
Sessions Delivered
Exhibitor Leads Generated
Badges
Printed
