Beacons vs Linktree: Fees, Free Plans, and Which One Creators Pick
Updated May 2026
Choosing between Linktree and Beacons comes down to which trade-offs you can live with. Linktree (Free / $8–$35) is built for creators who want unlimited links, while Beacons (Free / $30) targets creators who care about email capture and audience growth. Neither ships free retargeting pixels or edge-rendered SEO out of the box — Linklay includes retargeting pixels and edge-rendered SEO on the free plan, with video backgrounds and branding removal on Linklay Pro at $9.99/month. The breakdown below covers pricing, key feature gaps, and which tool wins for which use case in 2026.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Linktree | Beacons | Linklay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Links | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Pricing | Free / $8–$35 | Free / $30 | Free / $9.99 |
| Custom Themes (Free) | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free Retargeting Pixels | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Video Backgrounds | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Email Capture (Free) | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Remove Branding | Pro | Creator Plus | Pro |
Pricing Breakdown
Linktree pricing: Free / $8–$35. Beacons pricing: Free / $30. Linklay pricing: Free / $9.99 (Pro is $9.99/month or $99/year, the cheapest paid plan in the category). Both Linktree and Beacons 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, Linktree omits retargeting pixels and does not support video backgrounds; Beacons omits pixels and does not support video. Linklay includes retargeting pixels on the free plan; video backgrounds are a Linklay Pro feature ($9.99/mo or $99/yr). Linklay Free also ships AI reordering, link scheduling, link locking, video embeds, and spotlight pinning. Linklay serves crawler-visible profile information and structured metadata; indexing and ranking depend on the page, creator identity, search demand, competition, links, and search-engine processing, and are not guaranteed.
Neither Linktree nor Beacons offers retargeting pixels, video backgrounds, or email capture for free — Linklay does. If you compare Beacons vs Linktree honestly, both tools charge a transaction fee for commerce and lock features that Linklay includes at no cost, even on the free plan you'd use to share multiple links from your social media profiles.
When you compare Beacons vs Linktree side by side, the gaps become clear around customization options — both tools let you match your brand to a degree, but neither ships link in bio pages that rank in Google as a hosted landing page. Both platforms offer drag and drop link reordering on paid plans, and beacons offers a deeper storefront, but neither helps you reach social media audiences via search. Advanced features like monetization tools, affiliate links, custom domain support, and each tool's transaction fee structure vary significantly — Linktree's seller fee runs 9–12% on lower tiers (0% only on $35 Premium), Beacons charges 9% on the Free Forever plan (0% on Creator Plus at $30/mo), while Linklay doesn’t process payments on external links at all — link to any checkout. For small businesses weighing pro plan costs, the landing page performance of each tool matters as much as the feature list.
Both platforms offer a drag and drop editor and core social media link management, and both are essentially a page with multiple links you paste into your bio so visitors can share multiple links from one tap. A beacons page includes some monetization tools but restricts analytics unless you upgrade. Linklay includes retargeting pixels, detailed analytics, and email capture on the free plan — features neither Linktree nor Beacons offer without paying, and without any transaction fee on sales routed through your link in bio pages.
Related reading: Linktree vs Beacons vs Linklay 2026 — a deeper editorial walkthrough that breaks down each landing page experience and transaction fee model.
What is Linktree?
Linktree is the most recognized link-in-bio tool in the world, with over 50 million users since launching in 2016. The product is intentionally simple: a vertical stack of buttons hosted at a linktr.ee URL that you paste into your Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube bio. The free plan includes unlimited links, basic click analytics, and a small library of free themes. Paid plans run Starter at $8/mo, Pro at $15/mo, and Premium at $35/mo, unlocking custom themes, branding removal, deeper analytics, and integration scheduling. Linktree’s strengths are speed of setup, brand recognition, and one of the deepest integration libraries in the category — Mailchimp, Shopify, Zapier, Spotify, and dozens more. The trade-off is that core monetization features are gated: Linktree charges a 9–12% seller fee on digital products on every plan except the $35 Premium tier.
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.
Pros and Cons
Linktree Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Established brand recognition — instantly trusted in social bios
- Fastest setup of any tool in the category
- Broadest library of third-party integrations
- Free plan available with unlimited links
- Mobile-optimized templates and reliable uptime
Cons:
- Limited analytics on the free plan
- No retargeting pixels on Free or Starter plans
- No video or animated backgrounds at any tier
- Pro tier ($15/mo) is expensive vs alternatives
- 9–12% seller fee on digital products outside the $35 Premium plan
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
Additional Feature Comparison
| Feature | Linktree | Beacons | Linklay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transaction Fees | 9–12% (removed on $35 Premium) | 9% on Free, 0% on Creator Plus ($30/mo) | No platform cut (external checkout) |
| Edge-Rendered SEO | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ (ProfilePage schema) |
| AI Link Ordering | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Apple Wallet Digital Card | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Free Retargeting Pixels | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Video Backgrounds | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ (Pro) |
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:
- Linktree charges 9–12% (removed on $35 Premium) on digital sales = roughly $90–$120/month, or $1,080–$1,440/year.
- Beacons charges 9% on Free, 0% on Creator Plus ($30/mo) on digital sales = roughly $90–$120/month, or $1,080–$1,440/year.
- 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 Linktree if you're already deep in its ecosystem and the migration cost outweighs the feature gap. Pick Beacons 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), and no platform cut on creator sales (Linklay does not process creator payments — link out to your own checkout). Creators comparing the platforms may value Linklay Free for retargeting pixels, analytics, email capture, video embeds, scheduling, and AI link reordering. Video backgrounds are available on Linklay Pro.
Try the Free Alternative
Linklay gives you more features for free than both Linktree and Beacons.
Which one should you actually pick?
Most 'Linktree vs Beacons' reviews list features without ranking them. Here are the five comparison criteria that actually decide the call, in order of how much they affect your monthly cost.
If your job is: Seller fee on digital products (the line that costs the most)
Pick Beacons Creator Plus or Linktree Premium. Beacons Creator Plus ($30/mo) and Linktree Premium ($35/mo) are the only plans that hit a 0% seller fee. Every cheaper Linktree tier still takes 9–12%.
If your job is: Free-plan generosity
Pick Linktree. Linktree Free is functional as a basic link page. Beacons Free Forever is functional but adds a 9% seller fee on every sale.
If your job is: Bundled creator-business tools (store, email, media kit, AI)
Pick Beacons. Beacons ships a digital store, email capture, media kit, AI outreach, and an invoice tool across its two tiers. Linktree keeps the bio page focused and bolts commerce on through integrations.
If your job is: Social-platform integrations and analytics depth
Pick Linktree. Linktree has the deeper Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, YouTube, Shopify, Mailchimp, and Zapier integration set and GA4 support on Pro.
If your job is: SEO discoverability of your bio page itself
Pick Neither — both client-render. Both tools render with client-side JavaScript, so Google sees a near-empty shell. If profile ranking matters, an edge-rendered bio link page is the only fix.
Bottom line: Pick Linktree if you want the most familiar bio page with the deepest integrations and the cheapest paid entry ($8/mo Starter). Pick Beacons if you want one tool that absorbs your store, email, and media kit at $30/mo. Pick Linklay if you want a free, Google-indexed bio link — Linklay does not process creator payments or take a cut of creator sales; you link out to your existing checkout.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Beacons better than Linktree?
It depends on your goals. Beacons leans more into creator commerce on its free tier (built-in store, email tools), while Linktree has broader integrations and a larger template library. Linktree does not include retargeting pixels on its free plan; Linklay includes retargeting pixels free. Video backgrounds are a Linklay Pro feature ($9.99/mo or $99/yr) that neither Linktree nor Beacons offer at any tier.
Which is better for selling products, Linktree or Beacons?
Beacons typically wins for selling digital products on the free plan because it includes a built-in store. Linktree only drops its 9–12% seller fee on its $35/mo Premium plan. Linklay does not process creator payments or take a cut of creator sales — link out to any external checkout.
Which tool has better analytics?
Both Linktree and Beacons gate their advanced analytics behind paid tiers — Linktree Pro at $15/mo, Beacons Creator Plus at $30/mo. Linklay includes real-time visitor analytics, device breakdowns, and geographic data on its free plan.
Which link in bio tool is best for SEO?
Both Linktree and Beacons render pages with client-side JavaScript, so search engines see very little. Linklay edge-renders every profile with structured data and ships an SEO-Powered Link feature that is dofollow to your main site.
¿Cuál es mejor, Linktree o Beacons en 2026?
Linktree tiene cuatro planes ($0 / $8 / $15 / $35 al mes) con una comisión del 9–12% en ventas digitales fuera del plan Premium. Beacons tiene solo dos planes — Free Forever (9% de comisión) y Creator Plus a $30/mes (0% de comisión). Linklay Pro es $9.99/mes y no procesa pagos de creadores ni se queda con una comisión sobre las ventas. Última verificación: 26 de junio de 2026.