# Beacons alternatives, compared on what they really cost > Beacons alternatives compared on what they cost you: transaction fees, monthly prices and free plans for Stan, Linktree, Gumroad, makerhandle and more. Beacons is a capable creator platform. The usual reason to look elsewhere is the fee on sales, or simply needing less. Here is the math and the options. ## Why people look past Beacons Beacons bundles a link in bio, a store, a media kit, email marketing and AI tools. That breadth is its strength. The two complaints that come up most are both about fit: - **The fee on sales.** [Beacons' help center](https://help.beacons.ai/en/articles/4699009) says digital product sales carry a **9% transaction fee** on the free plan and on Creator Pro ($10 a month). Creator Plus ($30 a month) and Creator Max ($90 a month) have no transaction fee. - **More than you need.** If you only want a page that shows your work, a creator suite is a lot to set up and maintain. Payment processing fees from Stripe or PayPal apply on top on every platform here, so leave them out when you compare. ## The fee math A percentage fee is cheap when you sell a little and expensive when you sell a lot. A flat monthly price is the reverse. The crossover is easy to work out: divide the monthly price by the fee. - Beacons free (9%) vs Beacons Creator Plus ($30 a month): the flat plan wins above about **$333 a month** in sales. - Beacons free (9%) vs Stan Creator ($29 a month): the flat plan wins above about **$322 a month**. - Gumroad (10% + $0.50 per sale) vs a $29 flat plan: the flat plan wins somewhere below **$290 a month**, depending on how many sales that is. Below those numbers, a free plan with a fee is the cheaper deal. Above them, it is not. If you do not sell from your page at all, none of this applies, and the cheapest option is a page without a store. ## The alternatives side by side | Tool | Built for | Free plan | Fee on sales | Paid from | Verified revenue | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Beacons | Creators who sell | Yes | 9% on free and Creator Pro | $10 a month | No | | Stan | Creators who sell courses and calls | No, 14-day trial | 0% | $29 a month | No | | Linktree | Links to content, some selling | Yes | Varies by plan | Varies by region | No | | Gumroad | Selling digital products | No monthly fee | 10% + $0.50 direct | Per sale only | No | | makerhandle | Showing products you build | Yes, 5 projects | None, no checkout | $20 a year | Yes | Checked October 2026 on each product's own pricing or help pages, listed under Sources. Plans change, so confirm before you switch. ## Stan, Linktree and Gumroad - **Stan** is the closest like-for-like swap: a storefront in your bio for courses, coaching calls and downloads. [Stan's pricing post](https://stan.store/blog/stan-store-pricing/) lists Creator at $29 a month or $300 a year and Creator Pro at $99 a month, with no Stan fee on sales and a 14-day trial instead of a free plan. See [Stan Store alternatives](https://makerhandle.com/compare/stan-store-alternatives) if you are weighing it. - **Linktree** is the default link in bio, with a free plan and selling features on paid tiers. See [Linktree alternatives](https://makerhandle.com/compare/linktree-alternatives). - **Gumroad** has no monthly fee and charges **10% + $0.50** per sale through your profile or direct links, and 30% on sales from its Discover marketplace, per [Gumroad's pricing](https://gumroad.com/pricing). It is a store, not a link in bio, so many people pair it with one. ## If you build products rather than sell to an audience Beacons is aimed at creators. If what you make is software, an app, a Shopify store or hardware, your checkout already lives in your product. What you need from a bio page is proof that the products are real. makerhandle shows every project with a status, a screenshot and a page of its own, and reads revenue from Stripe, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Gumroad, RevenueCat or Shopify with read-only access, shown with a check mark. It has [cookie-free analytics](https://makerhandle.com/features/analytics) and an [email subscribe box](https://makerhandle.com/features/email-subscribers), and no fee on anything, because it never touches a sale. Free for five projects; Pro is **$20 a year**. Moving over is one step: paste your Beacons address on the [import page](https://makerhandle.com/import). ## When Beacons is still the better choice Stay on Beacons if you use most of it: a store, a media kit for brand deals, email to fans and the AI helpers, in one login. Replacing that with several tools costs time, and the free plan is genuinely free until you sell. If your sales are high, compare its no-fee plans with Stan before leaving; for many creators that settles it. For the head-to-head with a maker page, see [makerhandle vs Beacons](https://makerhandle.com/compare/beacons). ## Sources - [Beacons help center: Store overview and fees by plan](https://help.beacons.ai/en/articles/4699009) - [Stan: Stan Store pricing (updated July 22, 2026)](https://stan.store/blog/stan-store-pricing/) - [Gumroad: pricing](https://gumroad.com/pricing) - [Linktree: pricing](https://linktr.ee/s/pricing) ## Questions ### Does Beacons take a cut of sales? On the free plan and Creator Pro, Beacons' help center lists a 9% transaction fee on digital product sales. Creator Plus at $30 a month and Creator Max at $90 a month have no transaction fee. Payment processing fees are separate. ### What is the best free Beacons alternative? For a link in bio without a store, Linktree, bio.link or Lnk.Bio. For makers who want to show products with verified revenue, makerhandle is free for five projects. For selling without a monthly fee, Gumroad charges per sale instead. ### Is Stan cheaper than Beacons? It depends on your sales. Stan Creator is $29 a month with no Stan fee. Beacons free takes 9%, so it is cheaper until you sell about $322 a month, then Stan is. ### Can I move my Beacons page to makerhandle? Yes. Paste your beacons.ai address on the import page; your links, bio and socials come over and you choose what to keep. makerhandle has no store, so keep selling where you sell and link to it. --- Source: https://makerhandle.com/compare/beacons-alternatives makerhandle: makerhandle is a link in bio for makers and founders: every project with its status and revenue verified from Stripe, Paddle and more.