Linktree vs Beacons vs Stan Store: Which Fits You?

These three come up together because they solve overlapping problems in different ways. Linktree is a link list that added selling. Beacons is a link page with a store and media kit, free to start. Stan Store is a storefront that happens to live in your bio. The right one depends on whether you sell, how much, and what you sell.

We make makerhandle, which is a fourth kind of thing (a page for makers to show what they build), so we are not a direct competitor to the selling parts of these tools. Facts below are from each company's own pages, checked in October 2026.

The short version

Linktree

The default for a reason: quick to set up, recognised by everyone, and the free plan is enough for a simple list. Its paid tiers add appearance options, scheduling, deeper analytics and commerce features; Linktree shows prices in local currency, so check yours on its pricing page.

The limit makers run into most: Linktree does not support custom domains on any plan. More on that in can you use a custom domain with Linktree.

Beacons

Beacons puts a lot into its free plan, including a store for digital products; check its pricing page for what each plan includes. The catch is the fee: Beacons' help center lists a 9% transaction fee on digital product sales on the free plan and Creator Pro, and none on Creator Plus or Creator Max. If you sell a little, the fee is cheaper than a subscription. If you sell a lot, it is not.

Stan Store

Stan is built to sell: digital products, courses, coaching calls and memberships, with checkout in your bio. Stan takes no fee on sales, but there is no free plan: Creator is $29 a month or $300 a year after a 14-day trial, and Creator Pro is $99 a month.

When a flat fee beats a percentage

Our own arithmetic: a 9% fee costs the same as $29 a month once you sell about $322 a month of digital products ($29 / 0.09). Below that, Beacons' free plan with its fee is cheaper than Stan's Creator plan; above it, the flat fee wins. Payment processing fees apply on top in both cases, so compare those too.

Which to pick

• You mostly send people to content (posts, videos, episodes): Linktree's free plan, or any Linktree alternative.
• You sell a little and want it free to start: Beacons, and revisit when sales grow. See Beacons alternatives.
• Selling is the business: Stan, if $29 a month is easy to cover. See Stan Store alternatives for cheaper ways to sell.
• You make products (apps, SaaS, games, a Shopify store) and want to show them: none of the three is built for that. A maker page like makerhandle shows each product with its status and, if you want, revenue verified from Stripe, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Gumroad, RevenueCat or Shopify. Free for 5 projects, $20 a year for Pro.

Already on one of them? Linktree, Beacons and Stan pages can be imported into makerhandle in one step, and the original stays as it is.