A quantitative comparison has been performed between two commercial near-infrared (NIR) vein-viewing systems which are designed to supplement the clinician's traditional skills in locating veins by means of visualization and palpation. The AccuVein AV300 and Novarix IV-eye real-time imaging systems employ very different imaging geometries; the former generates an image from reflected NIR light produced by a beam scanned across the surface, while the latter illuminates the viewed region at four points on the periphery and records the resulting distribution of diffusely transmitted light. The comparison involved measuring the contrast produced by absorbing rods (simulated blood vessels) in a cylindrical phantom with tissue-like optical properties, and the contrast of superficial blood vessels in the arms of healthy volunteers. The locations and sizes of the blood vessels were independently verified using a clinical ultrasound imaging system. The phantom measurements suggested that the AV300 displays the most superficial vessels with greater contrast, but the IV-eye is able to detect vessels when they are at a depth up to 2 mm greater than the limit observed for the AV300. The results for thirty healthy volunteers also indicated that the AV300 typically displays vessels with higher overall contrast, but the effectiveness of the IV-eye at visualizing deeper vessels was even more pronounced, with a maximum depth several millimeters greater than that achieved by the AV300, and more than ten times as many vessels observed at depths below 4 mm.