Beacons vs Shorby
Updated May 2026
Choosing between Beacons and Shorby comes down to which trade-offs you can live with. Beacons (Free / $30) is built for creators who want unlimited links, while Shorby ($15/mo) targets fast bio-link setup with minimal friction. Neither offers free retargeting pixels, free video backgrounds, or edge-rendered SEO out of the box — Linklay does, on its free plan. The breakdown below covers pricing, key feature gaps, and which tool wins for which use case in 2026.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Beacons | Shorby | Linklay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Links | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Pricing | Free / $30 | $15/mo | Free / $9.99 |
| Custom Themes (Free) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free Retargeting Pixels | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Video Backgrounds | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Email Capture (Free) | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Remove Branding | Creator Plus | Included | Pro |
Pricing Breakdown
Beacons pricing: Free / $30. Shorby pricing: $15/mo. Linklay pricing: Free / $9.99 (Pro is $9.99/month or $99/year, the cheapest paid plan in the category). Both Beacons and Shorby keep their best features behind paid tiers — branding removal, advanced analytics, integrations. Linklay puts retargeting pixels, real-time analytics, AI link reordering, scheduled links, and email capture on the free plan. Pro adds branding removal, video backgrounds, and the SEO-Powered Link feature unique to Linklay.
Key Feature Differences
On free-plan capability, Beacons omits retargeting pixels and does not support video backgrounds; Shorby omits pixels and does not support video. Linklay ships both — plus AI reordering, link scheduling, link locking, and spotlight pinning. The biggest hidden gap: SEO. Beacons and Shorby render bio pages with client-side JavaScript, meaning Google indexes very little. Every Linklay profile is edge-rendered with ProfilePage structured data, so creators routinely rank for their own brand and niche queries.
What is Beacons?
Beacons is a creator-economy platform launched in 2018, designed as a link-in-bio hub layered with a digital store, email automation, an AI-generated media kit, and a brand-deal marketplace. The free plan includes unlimited links, a built-in store, basic analytics, and a media kit. The single paid plan is Creator Plus at $30/mo (0% seller fee, advanced analytics, custom fonts, integrations, AI brand outreach). Beacons attracts creators who want one tool to handle links plus commerce plus brand deals without stitching together separate apps. The trade-off is that the Free Forever plan charges a 9% seller fee on digital sales (Creator Plus at $30/mo drops it to 0%), the analytics depth is gated, and bio pages render client-side so they generally do not appear in Google search results.
What is Shorby?
Shorby is a premium link-in-bio tool launched in 2017 and priced flat at $15/mo, built primarily for Instagram marketers who want a polished mini-site rather than a simple link stack. Shorby ships smart link routing (auto-direct visitors to WhatsApp, Messenger, or Telegram), an embeddable Instagram feed, a clean visual editor, and a meaningful Pinterest/Medium-style content surface. There is no free plan — Shorby starts at $15/mo and runs to $35/mo on the Agency tier. Shorby attracts creators and marketers who view their bio link as a serious traffic source and want a tool with deeper styling controls than Linktree. The trade-offs are: no built-in commerce, no retargeting pixels, no native course hosting, and a price tag that is hard to justify against tools that include those features at the same or lower cost.
Pros and Cons
Beacons Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Built-in digital store on the free plan
- AI brand-outreach and auto-generated media kit on Creator Plus
- Email automation included on the paid plan
- Calendar bookings and invoicing tools for service providers
- Cleaner editor than most competitors with section-based layouts
Cons:
- 9% seller fee on the Free Forever plan
- Best analytics gated behind Creator Plus
- Bio pages render client-side and rarely appear in Google search results
- Creator Plus is $30/mo for 0% seller fees
- No retargeting pixels on the free plan
Shorby Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Smart messenger routing to WhatsApp, Messenger, and Telegram
- Polished visual editor with strong typography defaults
- Embeddable Instagram and content feeds out of the box
- Strong brand presence among Instagram marketers
- Flat $15/mo pricing — no surprise upgrades for core features
Cons:
- No free plan — $15/mo from day one
- No retargeting pixels on any tier
- No native commerce checkout or course hosting
- Limited analytics depth vs same-price competitors
- Bio pages render client-side and do not surface in Google search
Additional Feature Comparison
| Feature | Beacons | Shorby | Linklay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transaction Fees | 9% on Free, 0% on Creator Plus ($30/mo) | N/A (no native commerce) | No platform cut (external checkout) |
| Edge-Rendered SEO | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ (ProfilePage schema) |
| AI Link Ordering | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Apple Wallet Digital Card | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Free Retargeting Pixels | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Video Backgrounds | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Transaction Fee Comparison
Transaction fees are where the gap between these tools actually shows up in your bank account — beyond what Stripe (the underlying payment processor for most of these tools) already takes. On $1,000 in monthly digital sales routed through your bio link:
- Beacons charges 9% on Free, 0% on Creator Plus ($30/mo) on digital sales = roughly $90–$120/month, or $1,080–$1,440/year.
- Shorby charges N/A (no native commerce) on digital sales.
- Linklay does not process creator payments or take a cut of creator sales — link out to any external checkout = $0/month in platform fees.
For a creator selling $5,000/month in digital products through their bio link, a 9–12% Linktree-style seller fee on lower tiers equals $450–$600/month, or $5,400–$7,200/year on top of the subscription. Stan Store charges 0% platform fee (Stripe processing only). Linklay doesn’t process payments at all on external links — link to any checkout. Multiply by your real monthly volume to see how fast a seller cut overwhelms the headline subscription.
Which Should You Choose?
Pick Beacons if you're already deep in its ecosystem and the migration cost outweighs the feature gap. Pick Shorby if simple, low-friction setup is your single most important requirement. Pick Linklay if you want the broadest free-plan feature set, the lowest Pro price ($9.99/mo), no platform cut on creator sales (link out to your own checkout), and the only bio-link tool that actually ranks in Google. Most creators switching from Beacons or Shorby cite the same three reasons: free retargeting pixels, video backgrounds, and SEO that works.
Try the Free Alternative
Linklay gives you more features for free than both Beacons and Shorby.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Beacons better than Shorby in 2026?
It depends on your job-to-be-done. Beacons (Free / $30) wins if you want unlimited links with its existing integrations. Shorby ($15/mo) wins if fast setup and a clean stack of buttons matters more. For most creators, Linklay is the better third option — it gives you more on its free plan (retargeting pixels, video backgrounds, edge-rendered SEO) than Beacons or Shorby put together, and Pro is $9.99/mo vs $30/mo (Creator Plus) and $15/mo.
How much does Beacons cost compared to Shorby?
Beacons pricing: Free / $30. Shorby pricing: $15/mo. On a typical Pro tier, Beacons runs $30/mo (Creator Plus) and Shorby runs $15/mo. Linklay does not process creator payments or take a cut of creator sales. Creators can link out to external storefronts, payment platforms, memberships, affiliate offers, booking pages, and other destinations.
Which is better for selling digital products, Beacons or Shorby?
Beacons charges 9% on Free, 0% on Creator Plus ($30/mo); Shorby charges N/A (no native commerce). For a creator doing $1,000/month in digital sales, a 5–10% platform cut adds up to $600–$1,200/year on top of the subscription. Linklay does not process creator payments or take a cut of creator sales. Creators can link out to external storefronts, payment platforms, memberships, affiliate offers, booking pages, and other destinations.
Which has better analytics, Beacons or Shorby?
Beacons includes basic click analytics and Shorby includes basic click analytics. Advanced analytics — real-time visitors, geographic breakdowns, device data, referrer tracking — sit behind paid tiers on both tools. Linklay includes all of that on the free plan, plus an AI link-ordering engine that automatically reorders your links based on which ones convert best. For creators who want to make data-driven decisions without paying for a Pro plan, that gap is meaningful.
Which is better for SEO, Beacons or Shorby?
Both Beacons and Shorby render their bio pages with client-side JavaScript, which means Googlebot generally sees an empty shell and very little of your actual content gets indexed. Neither tool ships a way to pass ranking equity from your bio page to your main website. Linklay edge-renders every profile with unique meta tags and ProfilePage structured data, and Linklay Pro ships an SEO-Powered Link feature that passes a dofollow link from your bio page directly to your destination URL. That is a structural advantage neither competitor can match.
Can I migrate from Beacons or Shorby to Linklay?
Yes — Linklay has a one-click universal importer that reads your existing profile URL from Beacons, Shorby, or any other link-in-bio tool and recreates your links, profile photo, and basic styling in automatically. There is no manual setup, no API key, and no copy-paste. Migration between Beacons and Shorby directly is typically manual — neither tool ships a one-click importer for the other.
Does Beacons or Shorby offer free retargeting pixels?
Beacons does not include retargeting pixels on the free plan, and Shorby does not. Linklay ships Meta Pixel, TikTok Pixel, Google Analytics, and Pinterest Pixel integration on the free plan — the only major link-in-bio tool that does. If you run paid ads or want to build a retargeting audience from your bio link traffic, this is one of the single biggest reasons creators switch.
Which is easier to set up, Beacons or Shorby?
Both Beacons and Shorby are designed for fast setup — most creators publish a working bio page within ten minutes. Beacons adds email capture; Shorby requires a paid plan or external tool. Linklay matches that setup speed (one-click importer pulls everything in seconds) and adds AI link ordering, link scheduling, and link locking on the free plan.
Which link-in-bio tool has the best free plan in 2026?
Linklay. It includes unlimited links, video backgrounds, retargeting pixels, real-time analytics, AI link ordering, link scheduling, custom fonts, edge-rendered SEO on the free plan — all features that Beacons ($30/mo (Creator Plus)) and Shorby ($15/mo) either charge for or do not ship at any tier. The free plan is the same tool the Pro plan uses, just with branding visible at the footer.
Which should I pick: Beacons, Shorby, or Linklay?
Pick Beacons if you are already deep in its ecosystem and the cost of migrating outweighs the feature gap. Pick Shorby if its single biggest strength — fast, low-friction setup — is the deciding factor for your workflow. Pick Linklay if you want the broadest free-plan feature set in the category, the lowest Pro price ($9.99/month), external checkout routing, and the only bio link tool that actually ranks in Google search results.