Best Food Allergy Cards Compared (2026): $8.99–$18.99

If you travel with a food allergy, a card in the local language is one of the most useful things you can carry. This guide compares the three services people most often weigh up — SelectWisely, Equal Eats and AllergyCard — on price, languages, format and how each one handles a multi-country trip.

Disclosure: AllergyCard is our product. We have tried to keep every claim checkable, and we say plainly where the other two are the better buy.

Quick comparison:

How we compared

We looked at what a traveller actually has to decide: which languages are covered, what one payment gets you, whether you can see the card before buying, whether it comes as plastic or a file, and what changes cost later. Prices and language counts come from each service's public product pages, with the month we checked them. We did not test the other services' translations, so we make no claims about their quality.

What to Look for in a Food Allergy Card

The right language for the kitchen. The card has to be in the language the cook reads, not just the one on the menu. If your destination isn't covered, nothing else matters.

Your exact allergens. A card that only covers "nuts" or "seafood" leaves room for guesswork. Look for one that names each allergen, and lets you add unusual ones.

Cross-contact. "No peanuts" is not the same as "no peanuts, and no shared fryer oil". If trace amounts matter to you, the card has to say so.

Format. A plastic card survives years in a wallet and works with a dead phone. A file can be reprinted, shown on screen and changed. Many travellers carry both.

Total cost for your trip. One country or several makes a big difference, because most services charge per card, per language.

The Main Competitors

SelectWisely

SelectWisely is one of the longest-running allergy card services.

• Laminated wallet cards, with email delivery also offered
• 60+ languages (67 listed on its site)
• A broad catalogue beyond food: drug allergies, diabetes, asthma, latex and airport security cards
• Price: not shown on the catalogue page; individual product pages carry it — the English-only Vegan card is $16.99 for a pack of two (checked August 2026)

Strengths: long track record, the widest language list, durable plastic cards, medical and non-food cards. Limitations: priced per card and per language, so a multi-country trip adds up; no preview before buying; physical cards take time to arrive.

Equal Eats

Equal Eats sells ready-made and customised cards plus an app.

• Instant PDFs and plastic cards
• 50+ languages (58 listed on its product pages)
• Common allergens plus intolerances, coeliac disease and diets
• App for iOS and Android; English cards are free in the app, other languages need a subscription
• Price: $9.99 per instant PDF, $18.99 per plastic card, customised cards from $19.99 (checked October 2026)

Strengths: wide language coverage, both plastic and instant PDF, an app on both phone platforms, cards for intolerances and diets. Limitations: priced per card and per language; customised cards cost more; the app's non-English cards are a subscription.

AllergyCard

AllergyCard is the newest of the three; it launched in April 2026.

• Build and preview a card free, with no account
• 14 languages: Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Greek and English
• Card text comes from fixed phrases written for each allergen and instruction, not translated on the fly; the Chinese and Japanese wording has been checked by native speakers
• 30+ allergens, plus your own (marked as AI-translated so you know to double-check them)
• Seven templates: cards to show at the table, cards for the kitchen, and a wallet-size card
• Price: free to build and preview; $8.99 once for a print-ready PDF and phone-ready PNG, covering every language and template, with unlimited re-downloads. A plain-text English card is free to print

Strengths: see the card before you pay; one payment covers every language; edit and re-download at no cost; instant download. Limitations: far fewer languages than the other two; no plastic card (you print it yourself); food allergies only; the shortest track record.

Feature Comparison

Competitor details from their public product pages: SelectWisely checked August 2026, Equal Eats October 2026.

Which Service Is Right for You?

Choose SelectWisely if...

• You need a language that neither of the others covers
• You want a durable plastic card in your wallet
• You need a drug allergy or other medical card
• A long track record matters to you

Choose Equal Eats if...

• You want an instant PDF or a plastic card in one of 50+ languages
• You have intolerances or diet restrictions alongside your allergies
• You use Android and want your cards in an app

Choose AllergyCard if...

• You are visiting more than one country we cover — one $8.99 payment covers every language
• You want to see exactly what the card says before paying
• You are leaving soon and need the card today
• Your allergen list is long or unusual and you want it on one card
• You expect to change the card later

Our Recommendation for 2026

One destination, and you want something durable: a plastic card from SelectWisely or Equal Eats is hard to beat.

A language we don't cover: SelectWisely or Equal Eats. Their language lists are several times longer than ours.

Several destinations in East or Southeast Asia, or Europe: build an AllergyCard free and check it before you pay. One payment covers every language, so a Japan–Korea–Thailand trip costs the same as a single card.

Not sure: many travellers use both — a plastic card for the country they visit most, and a downloaded card for everywhere else.

Frequently asked questions

Which food allergy card is cheapest for a multi-country trip?

AllergyCard, because one $8.99 payment covers every language it supports. SelectWisely and Equal Eats charge per card and per language, so three destinations means three cards — $29.97 for three Equal Eats PDFs, for example.

Which has the most languages?

SelectWisely lists 67 languages and Equal Eats 58. AllergyCard supports 14.

Can I get a plastic card from AllergyCard?

Not directly. You get a print-ready PDF and a phone-ready PNG; many people print on card stock and laminate it. For a professionally made plastic card, choose SelectWisely or Equal Eats.

Is there an app?

Equal Eats has an app for iOS and Android. AllergyCard's iOS app is free to download and shows your card offline, reads it aloud in the local language and scans packaged food. SelectWisely sells physical and emailed cards.

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Looking specifically at SelectWisely? See the detailed head-to-head: SelectWisely alternative — AllergyCard vs SelectWisely (2026).

Last updated October 2026. SelectWisely details were checked in August 2026 and Equal Eats details in October 2026 against their public product pages; prices change, so verify before buying. Corrections: support@allergycard.app.