Beacons vs Stan Store
Choosing between Beacons and Stan Store comes down to which trade-offs you can live with. Beacons (Free / $10-$30) is built for creators who want unlimited links, while Stan Store ($29/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 / $10-$30 | $29/mo | Free / $9.99 |
| Custom Themes (Free) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free Retargeting Pixels | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Video Backgrounds | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Email Capture (Free) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Remove Branding | Pro | Included | Pro |
Pricing Breakdown
Beacons pricing: Free / $10-$30. Stan Store pricing: $29/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, spotlight pinning, and a free Tip Jar (0% platform fee on Pro, 10% on Free). 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.
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), 0% commerce fees on every tier, 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.
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 charges 0% on every plan if you want to sell without a per-sale cut.
Does Stan Store or Beacons charge transaction fees?
Stan Store charges 0% transaction fees on its paid plans. Beacons free and Creator plans charge a transaction fee on digital sales (up to 9%); Business Pro removes it. Linklay charges 0% commerce fees on every plan, including free.
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.