Beacons vs Stan Store
Updated May 2026
Choosing between Beacons and Stan Store comes down to which trade-offs you can live with. Beacons (Free / $30) is built for creators who want unlimited links, while Stan Store ($29–$99/mo) targets creators who care about email capture and audience growth. 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 | Stan Store | Linklay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Links | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Pricing | Free / $30 | $29–$99/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. Stan Store pricing: $29–$99/mo. Linklay pricing: Free / $9.99 (Pro is $9.99/month or $99/year, the cheapest paid plan in the category). Both Beacons and Stan Store 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; Stan Store 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 Stan Store 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.
As a link in bio platform, both platforms serve content creators differently. Beacons offers a broader suite while Stan store offers a focused creator commerce experience. Platforms offer varying levels of lead magnet support, digital products courses, and coaching features. For creators who want to start selling without committing to a high-cost plan, understanding what each link in bio page actually does for discoverability matters — choose stan store for courses, choose beacons for brand deals, or choose Linklay if your link in bio page ranking in Google is the priority.
For coaching courses and digital product creators specifically, the choice often comes down to audience size. Stan Store is purpose-built for selling but charges from day one — see our complete Stan Store pricing breakdown for every tier and transaction fee. Beacons gives more flexibility at lower volume. Neither offers the free retargeting pixels and SEO-powered links that Linklay includes at no cost.
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 Stan Store?
Stan Store is a mobile-first creator commerce platform launched in 2020, designed for creators selling digital products, courses, and coaching through Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Unlike most link-in-bio tools, Stan Store is not free — plans start at $29/mo (Creator) and run up to $99/mo (Creator Pro). In return, Stan Store includes a built-in storefront, multi-module course hosting with drip scheduling, calendar bookings for coaching, community hosting, AutoDM for Instagram, native email capture, and a custom domain on higher tiers. Stan Store has no free plan — the $29/mo Creator tier is the entry price (on top of standard Stripe processing). The platform is opinionated and conversion-tuned: every block is built to drive a sale.
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
Stan Store Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Built-in commerce, storefront, and checkout
- Native multi-module course hosting with drip scheduling
- Calendar bookings for coaching and consults
- Email capture and AutoDM included
- No Stan Store branding on creator pages
Cons:
- No free plan — $29/mo Creator is the entry price
- Creator Pro tier costs $99/mo — high for solo creators
- No free plan, only a 14-day trial
- Less customization than Linktree or Linklay
- No retargeting pixels on the Creator plan
Additional Feature Comparison
| Feature | Beacons | Stan Store | Linklay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transaction Fees | 9% on Free, 0% on Creator Plus ($30/mo) | no added platform fee on paid plans | 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.
- Stan Store charges no added platform fee on paid plans 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 Stan Store if email capture inside the bio link 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 Stan Store 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 Stan Store.
Which one should you actually pick?
Most 'Beacons vs Stan Store' content ends without telling you who actually wins. Here is the honest job-to-be-done call.
If your job is: I want to start selling digital products tomorrow with the lowest friction
Pick Stan Store ($29/mo). Opinionated, mobile-first checkout; no platform fee on top of Stripe; built-in course and booking flows.
If your job is: I want to test selling but don't want to commit $29/mo yet
Pick Beacons Free Forever. Launch a store at $0 and absorb the 9% seller fee until volume justifies Creator Plus ($30/mo).
If your job is: I run a content business with brand deals and need a media kit
Pick Beacons Creator Plus ($30/mo). AI brand outreach, auto-updating media kit, and email tools all bundle into one $30 plan.
If your job is: I do $5K+/mo in digital sales and want zero platform commission
Pick Stan Store Creator ($29/mo). You only pay Stripe processing (2.9% + $0.30) — no platform cut on each sale.
If your job is: I mostly need a link in bio and route sales to my existing checkout
Pick Linklay. Free with unlimited links with retargeting pixels, video backgrounds, and Google-indexed profiles. Linklay does not process creator payments or take a cut of creator sales.
Bottom line: Beacons wins on free-tier flexibility and bundled creator-business tools. Stan Store wins on conversion-tuned checkout and zero platform commission at any volume. If your job is "rank in Google and route bio traffic to a checkout I already have," Linklay is the third option both reviews tend to skip.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Stan Store better than Beacons?
Stan Store is built primarily for selling — courses, coaching, and digital products — and starts at $29/mo. Beacons offers a free tier and a broader bio-link feature set. For creators who mainly sell, Stan Store is more focused; for everyone else, Beacons (or Linklay’s free plan) is more flexible.
Which platform is better for selling digital products?
Stan Store is purpose-built for digital product sales with checkout, upsells, and email built in. Beacons supports a store too, but advanced commerce features sit behind paid tiers. 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.
Does Stan Store or Beacons charge transaction fees?
Stan Store does not add a platform transaction fee on its paid plans. Beacons Free Forever charges a 9% seller fee on digital sales; Creator Plus ($30/mo) removes it. Two tiers only (verified June 25, 2026). Linklay does not process creator payments or take a cut of creator sales — link to any external checkout.
Which platform is easier to use?
Beacons is closer to a traditional link-in-bio tool, so most creators get a working page in minutes. Stan Store has a steeper setup because it doubles as a storefront. Linklay aims for a Linktree-style setup time with the commerce flexibility you’d expect from Stan.
¿Cuál es más barato, Beacons o Stan Store?
Beacons tiene un plan gratis (con 9% de comisión por venta) y Creator Plus a $30/mes (0% de comisión). Stan Store no tiene plan gratis: Creator a $29/mes y Creator Pro a $99/mes, con 0% de comisión de plataforma. Linklay es gratis para siempre y no procesa pagos de creadores ni se queda con una comisión sobre las ventas — enlazas a tu propio checkout externo. Última verificación: 26 de junio de 2026.