Arsom Pass · Compare
How Arsom Pass compares with other discovery pass platforms
Arsom Pass is a Canadian platform for launching a paid discovery pass in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. If you’re launching a discovery pass and need to pick a platform, this page compares it with Bandwango, Proxi, Open Pass, Tourismo, Otipass, Adelya City-Pass, PassKit and building in-house, using what each vendor publishes on its own website.
Key takeaways
- Arsom Pass puts the pass in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. Most of the platforms compared here describe a web app or a dedicated app.
- None of the discovery pass platforms on this page publishes its prices. Arsom Pass is priced by quote and costs less than Bandwango; for the others, compare quotes built on the same sales scenario.
- Arsom Pass competes on services: printed cards with a single-use QR code, each sale credited to the business that brought it in, a dedicated account manager.
- Several competitors offer things Arsom Pass doesn’t offer today or doesn’t advertise: dozens or hundreds of customers, a third-party distribution network, offline redemption.
Where this information comes from
Arsom Pass is our product, so we are not a neutral party. For that reason, everything we say about another vendor comes from its own public pages, read on November 12, 2026 and listed under each table.
"Not published" means we looked for the information on those pages and did not find it. "Not mentioned" means the feature is not described there. It may still exist, so ask the vendor before you rule it out. Offers change, and a demo will tell you more than a web page will, ours included.
Arsom Pass, Bandwango, Open Pass and Tourismo
Three platforms built first for destinations and tourism organizations, in North America and the United Kingdom.
| Criterion | Arsom Pass | Bandwango | Open Pass | Tourismo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vendor country | Canada | United States | United Kingdom | Canada |
| Who it is for | Established organizations, entrepreneurs, local content creators | Destination organizations, chambers of commerce, downtown districts, associations, higher education | Destinations and destination organizations, UK and Ireland | Destinations and tourism organizations |
| What the pass is | A pass in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, no app | A mobile website, no app, saved to the home screen | A mobile pass shown on the phone | QR check-in trails and passports, "without a custom app" |
| Apple Wallet and Google Wallet | Yes | Not mentioned | Not mentioned | Not mentioned |
| Paid pass sold to consumers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| Sales channels | Online, reseller businesses, printed card | Client website, third-party reseller network, affiliate links | Sales site, Tiqets, Viator, GetYourGuide, trade partners | Not published |
| Printed cards | Yes, numbered, with a single-use QR code | Not mentioned | Optional extra | Not mentioned |
| Redemption at the business | On any phone or computer, no hardware | GPS, PIN, button, or a venue QR code scanned by the Pass Holder | App or online portal | QR check-in, points and tiers |
| Sale credited to whoever made it | Yes, through a promotional QR code for each business | By affiliate link and promo code. In-store sale by a business: not mentioned | Resellers paid on commission, with sales and commissions in a dashboard | Not mentioned |
| Paying the businesses | Sales export by business for your payouts | Bandwango pays merchants on the client’s behalf | Monthly statements and commission payments (managed service) | Not mentioned |
| Public price | Not published. By quote | Not published. "Annual license fee" | Not published. "Request Pricing" | Not published. "One simple license" |
| Stated timeline | Not published | "Under an hour" self-serve. 60 to 90 days for a paid pass | Not published | Not published |
| Stated customers | No named customer yet. First network being set up | "350+ organizations" | Not published | Not published |
Sources
- Arsom Pass
- Bandwango
- Bandwango, What makes Bandwango unique
- Bandwango, Passholder experience
- Bandwango, Paid attraction passes
- Bandwango, Connect
- Bandwango, Gifting campaigns for paid passes
- Bandwango, QR code redemptions
- Bandwango, Why a paid pass is one of the best revenue moves a destination can make (2026-07-23)
- Destinations International, Bandwango
- Open Pass, Multi-attraction passes
- Open Pass, Trade partners
- Tourismo
- Tourismo, Engagement Engine
- Tourismo, Alberta Ale Trail case study
Checked on November 12, 2026. Bandwango’s "under an hour" and "60 to 90 days" describe two different cases: the first is a simple pass built with its self-serve tool, the second is a paid pass, counted from the day the merchant list is received.
Arsom Pass and Proxi
A self-serve US platform aimed at destination marketing organizations, Main Streets and chambers of commerce.
| Criterion | Arsom Pass | Proxi |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor country | Canada | United States |
| Who it is for | Established organizations, entrepreneurs, local content creators | Destination marketing organizations, Main Streets, chambers of commerce |
| What the pass is | A pass in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, no app | A passport that runs in the phone’s browser, no app |
| Apple Wallet and Google Wallet | Yes | Not mentioned |
| Paid pass sold to consumers | Yes | Yes, if the organizer chooses: free or paid |
| Taking payment | Your Stripe account or Arsom’s, taxes calculated at checkout | Through Stripe, paid to the organizer’s account minus Stripe fees |
| Printed cards | Yes, numbered, with a single-use QR code | Not mentioned |
| Redemption at the business | On any phone or computer, no hardware | QR code, geolocation, 4-digit code, receipt or photo |
| Sale credited to whoever made it | Yes, through a promotional QR code for each business | Not mentioned |
| Commitment | Annual subscription | Self-serve, no contract |
| Public price | Not published. By quote | Free, Pro and Premium plans, priced by an online calculator, amounts not shown as text. Translation at $50 a month per language and per map (Pro) |
| Stated timeline | Not published | Not published |
Checked on November 12, 2026. Proxi’s pages describe a passport challenge (check-ins, leaderboard, badges) rather than an offer that is redeemed and counted at the business.
Arsom Pass, Otipass and Adelya City-Pass
Two French vendors that work mainly with tourism offices and local governments.
| Criterion | Arsom Pass | Otipass | Adelya City-Pass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vendor country | Canada | France | France |
| Who it is for | Established organizations, entrepreneurs, local content creators | Tourism offices and local governments | Tourism offices, regions and networks |
| What the pass is | A pass in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, no app | Physical or digital card, mobile app, website | Physical or digital (NFC, barcode or QR code), dedicated app |
| Apple Wallet and Google Wallet | Yes | Not mentioned | Not mentioned on the City Pass pages |
| Paid pass sold to consumers | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sales channels | Online, reseller businesses, printed card | Not published | At the tourism office, online, through a reseller |
| Printed cards | Yes, numbered, with a single-use QR code | Yes, with stock management | Yes, with stock tracked by location and status |
| Redemption at the business | On any phone or computer, no hardware | Control app, barcode or NFC readers, including without a connection | Mobile app (NFC, barcode or QR code, manual entry) with an offline mode |
| Sale credited to whoever made it | Yes, through a promotional QR code for each business | Not published | Unlimited resellers, with a tally of sales. Commission rule not published |
| Paying the businesses | Sales export by business for your payouts | Automated invoicing and settlement | Sales and visit counts for settlement |
| Public price | Not published. By quote | Not published. Software as a service | Not published |
| Stated timeline | Not published | Not published | 4 weeks |
| Stated customers | No named customer yet | Not published | More than 50 tourism offices, regions and networks |
Sources
Checked on November 12, 2026. Adelya’s website also has a Wallet section in its menu. We could not establish whether it applies to the City Pass.
Arsom Pass, PassKit and building in-house
Two ways of doing it yourself: start from a general Wallet pass tool, or write your own software.
| Criterion | Arsom Pass | PassKit | In-house build |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A discovery pass platform | A general Wallet pass tool: loyalty, membership, coupons, gift cards, tickets | Your own software |
| Apple Wallet and Google Wallet | Yes | Yes | To be built. Apple Developer account at US$99 a year |
| Selling the pass and taking payment | Yes, through your Stripe account or Arsom’s, taxes calculated at checkout | Not described on its website | To be built |
| Businesses, offers and redemption | Each business sets its offers and has its own redemption login. Every redemption is recorded | Card scanning with PassReader. Multi-business pass not mentioned | To be built |
| Printed card with a single-use QR code | Yes | Not mentioned | To be built |
| Sales credited by business | Yes | Not mentioned | To be built |
| Public price | Not published. By quote | Yes: from US$39.50 a month, then per-card fees | Your team’s time, or your contractor’s |
| Commitment | Annual subscription | No annual contract, 45-day trial | Not applicable |
| Maintenance and support | Included, with a dedicated account manager | Self-serve | Yours to handle |
Checked on November 12, 2026. The US$39.50 PassKit plan includes 250 multi-use cards and 250 single-use cards. The Apple Developer account is a separate fee, paid to Apple.
Where Arsom Pass differs
With no public prices to line up, the comparison comes down to services. These are the ones we suggest you check with every vendor.
- The pass lives in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. The Pass Holder has no app to download and can recover the pass by email.
- You can sell a printed card carrying your artist’s illustration. Each numbered card has a single-use QR code that activates one pass only. The codes are delivered as print-ready files.
- Each sale is credited to the business that brought it in, through a promotional QR code for each business. The dashboard export is what you work from to pay commissions.
- A business redeems an offer on the phone or computer it already owns, with its own login. Every redemption is recorded.
- Every operator has a dedicated account manager, and we build what operators ask for.
On the pages we read, none of the discovery pass platforms compared here mentions a native Apple Wallet or Google Wallet pass. That does not prove none of them has one. The full feature list is on the Arsom Pass page.
When to choose another platform over Arsom Pass
Arsom Pass is the wrong choice for some projects. Here are the cases, vendor by vendor, where we would look elsewhere if we were you.
Bandwango over Arsom Pass
Choose Bandwango if you are a North American destination organization and want a vendor that knows that customer well: it reports "350+ organizations with live passports." Its passes can also be resold through a third-party network of resellers and distributors (it names Viator and GetYourGuide), and it pays your merchants for you. Arsom Pass has no such distribution network, and paying the businesses stays in your hands, working from the sales export.
Open Pass over Arsom Pass
Choose Open Pass if you are a destination in the UK or Ireland and want to hand off more than the technology. Its managed service covers branding, recruiting attractions, negotiating contracts, monthly statements and commission payments. With Arsom Pass, choosing the businesses and signing them is your job. The references Open Pass cites on its website are in the UK and Ireland.
Tourismo over Arsom Pass
Choose Tourismo if your project is a trail or a points challenge for a destination. Its pages describe QR check-in trails with points and tiers, sold under one license together with a content hub and destination analytics. We did not find a pass sold to consumers on those pages. Arsom Pass is built for a paid pass whose holder redeems offers at participating businesses.
Proxi over Arsom Pass
Choose Proxi if you want to start self-serve, with no contract, with a passport challenge: participants check in from stop to stop with a QR code, geolocation or a 4-digit code. Its website is aimed at destination marketing organizations, Main Streets and chambers of commerce, and the passport can be free or paid, with payment through Stripe. Arsom Pass is built for a paid pass whose holder redeems offers at participating businesses, and it is set up with an account manager rather than self-serve.
Otipass over Arsom Pass
Choose Otipass if you are a tourism office or a local government in France and the tourist pass is only one of your projects: the company also has product lines for citizen multi-service passes, youth passes and culture passes. Redemption runs on an app or on barcode and NFC readers, and it works without an internet connection. That matters for venues with readers at the door or poor coverage. Arsom Pass redeems on a phone or a computer, with no reader, and we do not advertise an offline mode.
Adelya City-Pass over Arsom Pass
Choose Adelya if you are a French tourism office and want a vendor already working with more than 50 tourism offices, regions and networks. Its pass comes as an NFC card, its redemption app has an offline mode, and it lists distribution through works council (CSE) partners and a four-week setup. Arsom Pass does not publish a timeline and has no customer it can name today.
PassKit over Arsom Pass
Choose PassKit if you have a technical team, only need to issue Wallet passes, and want to know the price before you call anyone. It is the only vendor on this page with a published rate: from US$39.50 a month, with no annual contract and a 45-day trial. Going by what its website describes, selling the pass, running the network of businesses and handling payouts are left for you to build.
Building in-house over Arsom Pass
Build your own if the pass is your main product, you have developers on staff and you need something no platform covers. The list of things to build is long: Apple and Google pass issuance, payment and taxes, single-use codes, redemption logins for businesses, the dashboard, and then the upkeep of all of it. The 20-question guide goes through that decision.
Where to go next
The Arsom Pass page
Who does what, the three ways to sell, what Arsom charges. See the productThe 20-question guide
Costs, revenue, pass pricing, first businesses, choosing a platform. Read the guideYou’re starting on your own
For the entrepreneur or local content creator starting from zero. See the pageYou represent an organization
Tourism boards, BIAs, merchant associations, guide publishers, local media. See the pageSee how Arsom Pass fits your project.
Tell us about your businesses, your selling price and your channels. We’ll tell you what Arsom Pass covers, what it doesn’t, and send a quote. No obligation.
roman@arsom.quebec · Canada · United States · France · A dedicated account manager
Frequently asked questions
What are the alternatives to Bandwango?
As of November 12, 2026, going by their websites, the main alternatives to Bandwango for a paid discovery pass are Arsom Pass (Canada: a pass in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, printed cards with single-use QR codes, each sale credited to a business), Proxi (United States: self-serve passport in the phone’s browser), Open Pass (United Kingdom: managed service), and Otipass and Adelya City-Pass (France: tourism offices). Arsom Pass, priced by quote, costs less than Bandwango. Tourismo (Canada) describes points-based trails instead. Bandwango keeps the edge on stated customer count and on its third-party distribution network.
What are the alternatives to Otipass and Adelya City-Pass?
As of November 12, 2026, for a tourism office that wants a pass in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet with no app, Arsom Pass is an alternative to Otipass and Adelya City-Pass. Bandwango and Proxi offer a pass that opens as a mobile web page, and Open Pass offers a managed service in the UK. None of these vendors publishes its plan pricing.
Is Arsom Pass cheaper than Bandwango, Otipass or Adelya?
Than Bandwango, yes. For Otipass and Adelya we can’t say: neither publishes its prices, and Arsom Pass is priced by quote (an annual subscription plus a small commission on each paid pass sold). Ask every vendor to quote the same sales scenario.
Which platform publishes its prices?
Among Bandwango, Proxi, Open Pass, Tourismo, Otipass, Adelya and PassKit, only PassKit shows its plan prices in plain text: from US$39.50 a month, then per-card fees. Proxi prices its plans through an online calculator and only shows the translation price as text. PassKit is a general Wallet pass tool, and its home page does not describe a discovery pass that works across several businesses. Arsom Pass is priced by quote.
Can I launch a discovery pass with PassKit?
PassKit issues Apple Wallet and Google Wallet passes, so the pass itself is covered. Its website does not describe selling to consumers, offers by business, sales attribution or payouts. Put those in your development budget before you compare prices. Arsom Pass delivers those parts already assembled, by quote.
Wallet pass or web app: what’s the difference for the Pass Holder?
A Wallet pass sits in the phone’s Wallet app, next to boarding passes and tickets. A web app opens in the browser, from a link sent by email or a shortcut saved to the home screen. Arsom Pass uses a Wallet pass; Bandwango describes a web app.
How long does it take to launch a pass?
Stated timelines run from under an hour to 90 days, depending on what is being launched. Bandwango states under an hour for a simple self-serve pass and 60 to 90 days for a paid pass. Adelya states four weeks. The others publish nothing, Arsom Pass included: ask for the timeline with your quote.
Does Arsom Pass have customers yet?
We can’t name a customer yet. Our first network is being set up, so there are no results to publish. If references in your sector are a requirement, Bandwango and Adelya state theirs on their websites.
Should I build my own platform?
Rarely for a first pass. Building in-house makes sense when the pass is your main product and you have a team to maintain it. The guide covers that decision.