Beacons vs Linktree comes down to what the page is for. Pick Beacons if you are a creator who wants the bio link to double as a storefront, media kit and email list, with digital product sales on its free plan. Pick Linktree if you want a simple, widely used links page and only need extras such as scheduling, SEO controls or commerce later.
Both give you one shareable address for the single link slot on a social profile. Beacons and Linktree are hosted, closed-source products, so the real differences are in what each plan includes and how much of a business you want to run from the page. This comparison covers each, then lists other options, including Carrd and self-hosted tools.
| Tool | Type | Category | Self-host | Pricing | GitHub |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SaaS | Marketing & SEO | No | Free plan | Closed source | |
Linktree | SaaS | Marketing & SEO | No | See vendor site | Closed source |
Carrd | SaaS | CMS | No | Free plan | Closed source |
LinkStack | Open source | Social Media | Yes | Free (open source) | ★ 3.9k |
Stan | SaaS | E-commerce | No | Paid | Closed source |
Live data from Enlisted: GitHub stats sync daily; pricing comes from each vendor's pricing page. “Vendor edition” means closed source, with a version the vendor lets you run on your own servers.
What is Beacons best at?
Beacons is a link-in-bio page and storefront builder that collects links, products and audience tools on one page. Enlisted lists a page builder, a creator storefront for digital products, email subscriber collection, customizable design and analytics on page visits and clicks. It is aimed at influencers, small creators and online entrepreneurs who want to earn from an audience without building a full website.
The vendor's pricing page describes it as an AI-powered business platform for creators, with a media kit that updates itself, affiliate link creation, an Instagram auto-reply feature and a mobile app. Higher plans add courses, memberships, a custom domain and the removal of Beacons branding.
- Best for: creators who want to sell digital products, build an email list and share a media kit from one link, without paying to start.
- Watch out for: the free and lower plans carry seller fees on sales, and features such as a custom domain and branding removal sit behind paid tiers. Read the current pricing page before you build a store on it.
What is Linktree best at?
Linktree is a link-in-bio tool that groups many links behind one shareable address, most often used in a social media profile. Visitors can reach a website, store, video or other destination from a single page. The vendor describes its audience as creators, businesses and artists, and the page can hold links to stores, music and videos as well as plain websites.
Linktree's strength is that the core job is simple and familiar. The free tier covers unlimited links, core appearance options and basic analytics. Paid tiers add layers on top, so a page can stay minimal until you need more.
- Best for: people who want a quick, no-fuss links page now and can upgrade in steps.
- Watch out for: features that many creators expect, such as SEO controls, commerce and removing Linktree branding, are on paid tiers, and the product is less of a storefront than Beacons on its lower plans.
How do Beacons and Linktree pricing plans work?
Both use a free tier plus paid tiers, but the paid ladders are built differently. Linktree lists a free tier and three paid tiers: Starter, Pro and Premium. Beacons lists four tiers: Free, Creator, Creator Plus and Creator Max.
The features move at different points. On Linktree, link scheduling and expanded appearance controls start at Starter, advanced analytics, priority links, monetisation tools and SEO controls at Pro, and commerce, marketing integrations, priority support and removable Linktree branding at Premium. On Beacons, the Creator tier adds a custom domain, more AI credits, more email sends and advanced SEO features. Creator Plus is where courses, memberships, zero seller fees and removal of Beacons branding come in.
Prices on both change with billing period and region, so the live pricing section further down this page is the place to compare them. For official detail see the Linktree pricing page and the Beacons pricing page.
What do you get on each free plan?
Linktree's free tier is the narrower of the two. It gives you unlimited links, core appearance options and basic analytics, which is enough for a clean list of links. Scheduling, SEO controls, commerce and branding removal are all paid.
Beacons' free forever plan goes further into creator business tools. According to its pricing page, it includes a customizable link in bio, a media kit that updates daily, digital product sales, affiliate link creation, email collection with a monthly send allowance, real-time analytics, a daily allowance of AI credits and an Instagram auto-reply feature. If you want to test whether you would sell anything from your bio link, Beacons lets you try it without moving to a paid tier first, with seller fees as the trade-off on the free and Creator levels.
Which one is better for selling products?
Beacons is built around it, and Linktree treats it as a paid add-on. Enlisted lists a creator storefront for digital products as a core Beacons feature, and its pricing page shows product sales from the free plan, with courses and memberships on Creator Plus and above. Linktree's pricing page lists monetisation tools on Pro and commerce on Premium.
The detail to check on either is the fee on each sale. Beacons says seller fees apply on its free and Creator plans and drop away on higher tiers. Linktree's page does not state seller fees in the plan summary, so confirm the fee before you sell. If you are selling coaching, courses or bookings and not much else, a storefront-first tool such as Stan is worth a look, since it is built for selling digital products and bookings from a single link.
How do the analytics and design controls compare?
Both show you how visitors use the page. Beacons lists real-time analytics on its free plan and more detailed engagement analytics on Creator, while Linktree has basic analytics on its free tier, advanced analytics on Pro and full analytics on Premium.
On design, Linktree has core appearance options on the free tier and expanded controls from Starter. Beacons describes unlimited customization of fonts, colors, layouts and backgrounds, plus music embeds, QR codes and Apple Wallet cards.
Beacons vs Linktree for email and audience tools
Beacons is the one that puts email in the foreground. Its listing includes email subscriber collection, and its pricing page lists email sends each month, automations and an audience manager, with allowances that rise by plan. Linktree's pricing page shows marketing integrations on Premium and does not list email collection among its plan features. If you want to build a mailing list from your bio link, confirm on Linktree's current pages how it handles that, or connect the page to an email tool you already use.
Can you self-host Beacons or Linktree?
No. Both are hosted, closed-source services with no self-hosted edition, so the page and its data live with the vendor. If you want to host the page yourself, LinkStack is an open-source, AGPL-3.0 Linktree alternative built on PHP and Laravel, with open registration for multiple user pages, an admin panel and a Docker version. LittleLink is a lightweight MIT-licensed static page of link buttons that you host on any static web host. Both give you control and privacy, but you give up the built-in store, email and analytics tools.
How do Carrd and other options compare with Linktree?
Carrd is the most common comparison, so it is worth a short answer. Carrd builds simple one-page sites from templates, free for a few sites per account, with a Pro tier that adds a custom domain, forms for contact, signups and payments, widget embeds and analytics integrations. It makes a page that looks like your own site, and it is a site builder first, where Linktree and Beacons are purpose-built link hubs.
Pick Carrd when you want one page on your own domain with forms, and pick Linktree or Beacons when the page is mostly a hub of links to other places. The all Carrd alternatives page lists more one-page builders.
Who should pick Beacons, and who should pick Linktree?
Pick Beacons when:
- you want to sell digital products, courses or memberships from the bio link
- an email list, media kit and affiliate links matter as much as the links
- you are happy to start on a free plan and upgrade as sales grow
Pick Linktree when:
- you want a links page that works in minutes and stays simple
- link scheduling, SEO controls or full analytics matter and you will pay for the tier that includes them
- you would rather add commerce later, or keep selling on a separate store
Beacons vs Linktree: which should you choose?
| If you need | Pick |
|---|---|
| A free plan that includes product sales | Beacons |
| A media kit that updates itself | Beacons |
| Email collection and automations from the bio link | Beacons |
| A simple, familiar links page | Linktree |
| Link scheduling on a paid plan | Linktree |
| A page on your own domain with forms | Carrd |
| Self-hosting and full control | LinkStack or LittleLink |
| A scheduler and a bio page in one account | Buffer's Start Page |
If your goal is a clean list of links, either works and the free tiers are enough to decide. If your goal is to earn from an audience, compare the fee and the tier that unlocks each feature you need before you commit. See how Enlisted ranks tools for how the catalogue data on this page is gathered.
Are there other options besides Beacons and Linktree?
Yes. Carrd builds one-page sites for profiles and landing pages. LinkStack is the open-source choice if you want to host your own link page. Stan suits creators and coaches who sell courses and bookings from a single link. Social schedulers sometimes include a bio page too: Buffer has a Start Page, and Later began as a visual scheduler with a link-in-bio tool. For the full lists, see Linktree alternatives and Beacons alternatives, and the social media category. If you are also comparing schedulers, read Buffer vs Hootsuite.
Pricing compared
Plans and list prices from each vendor's pricing page. Prices change, so confirm the current price on the vendor's page before you buy.
| Tool | Free option | Paid plans | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | See the vendor's pricing page | Pricing page | |
Linktree | Not listed | See the vendor's pricing page | Pricing page |
Carrd | Free plan | See the vendor's pricing page | Pricing page |
LinkStack | Free (open source)Self-hostable |
| Pricing pageChecked 2 Oct 2026 |
Stan | No free plan | See the vendor's pricing page | Pricing page |
List prices from each vendor's public pricing page on the date shown. Annual billing is often cheaper, and taxes, usage and transaction fees aren't included. Open-source tools cost nothing to self-host beyond your own server.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Beacons better than Linktree?
- It depends on what you want the page to do. Beacons is built around a creator storefront, with digital product sales, a media kit, email tools and AI features even on its free plan. Linktree is the simpler, better-known link page, with a free plan for unlimited links and paid tiers that add scheduling, SEO controls and commerce.
- Do Beacons and Linktree both have free plans?
- Yes. Linktree has a free tier with unlimited links, core appearance options and basic analytics. Beacons has a free forever plan that includes a customizable link in bio, a media kit, digital product sales, affiliate links, email collection and analytics, with higher plans adding a custom domain and lower or no seller fees.
- Can you sell products on Beacons and Linktree?
- Yes, on both, but they treat it differently. Beacons lists digital product sales on its free plan, with courses and memberships on higher plans. Linktree lists monetisation tools on its Pro tier and commerce on its Premium tier. Check each pricing page for seller fees before you build a store on either.
- Is Carrd a better choice than Linktree?
- Carrd suits people who want a small one-page site they control, such as a profile with a custom domain, forms and payment embeds. Linktree is a dedicated link-in-bio page with built-in link analytics and scheduling on paid tiers. Pick Carrd if you want a page that looks like your own site, and Linktree if you want a quick links page.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Linktree?
- Yes. LinkStack is a self-hosted, open-source Linktree alternative under the AGPL-3.0 licence that supports multiple user pages and an admin panel, and LittleLink is a lightweight MIT-licensed static page of link buttons you host yourself. Both need your own hosting, and neither has Beacons-style store or email tools.



