Adafruit PN532 NFC/RFID Controller Shield for Arduino + Extras uses the PN532 chip-set. This chipset is very powerful, and can pretty much do it all, such as read and write to tags and cards, communicate with phones and 'act' like a NFC tag. While the controller has many capabilities, the Arduino library currently only supports reading/writing tags, and does not support phone-to-shield communication, tag emulation (which requires an external 'secure element' only available from NXP) or other more advanced features at this time.
Because it can read and write tags, you can always just use this for RFID-tag projects. It can also work with any other NFC/RFID Type 1 thru 4 tag (and of course all the other NXP MiFare type tags).
Adafruit PN532 NFC/RFID Controller Shield for Arduino + Extras was designed by RF engineers using the best test equipment to create a layout and antenna with 10cm (4 inch) range, the maximum range possible using the 13.56MHz technology. You can easily attach the shield behind a plastic plate with standoffs and still read cards through a (non-metal) barrier.
Adafruit PN532 NFC/RFID Controller Shield for Arduino + Extras comes with: the Adafruit NFC/RFID PN532 shield including a tuned 13.56MHz stripline antenna, 36-pin 0.1" header for attaching the shield to an Arduino.
Adafruit Website: https://www.adafruit.com/products/789