Beacons review: a free plan that takes 9% of sales
Beacons puts a link page, a storefront and creator admin behind one subscription, and what you pay depends on whether you sell. Our check of beacons.ai on 12 June 2026 recorded a free plan carrying a 9% transaction fee, Creator Pro at $10 a month, Store Pro at $30 and Business Pro at $90. Those figures are four months old.
The short answer
Buy Beacons Buy Beacons Store Pro if you sell digital products from your bio link and want the sales cut gone. Store Pro was $30 a month, or $25 a month billed annually, when we checked beacons.ai/i/pricing on 12 June 2026, and that check records Store Pro as the tier that takes the transaction fee to 0%.
Skip it if all you need is a tidy list of links. The 9% fee costs nothing to someone who sells nothing, but the rest of the dashboard is more tool than a link list requires, and Linktree's free tier, checked on 6 October 2026, does the simple version with less in the way.
Where Beacons fits
Beacons fits the creator who is already selling something and is tired of paying four vendors to do it. The link page is the front door, and behind it sit a store, email capture and a media kit for sponsorship pitches. That bundling is the whole argument for the price, and it only pays off if you use more than one part of it.
The free plan is the tier most people meet first, and it is not a teaser. Our 12 June 2026 check recorded a free-forever plan that covers link-in-bio basics, with a 9% transaction fee applied to sales. If you sell nothing, the fee is a line of text. If you sell, it is the main cost of the product.
Creator Pro was $10 a month on that check, or $8.33 a month billed annually. Our snapshot records the 9% fee against the free plan and records Store Pro as the tier that removes it. It does not record what Creator Pro does to the fee, so do not assume $10 a month buys a zero cut. Read that line on the current rate card before you choose between the two.
Store Pro was $30 a month, or $25 billed annually, and our snapshot names it as the tier that drops the transaction fee to 0%. Across a year the monthly rate is $360 and the annual rate is $300, so prepaying saved $60 on our check. Business Pro sat above it at $90 a month, or $75 billed annually, which is $1,080 or $900 across a year.
The fee maths decides the tier for anyone selling. Take a month where you sell $1,000 of digital products. A 9% cut on that is $90, which is three times Store Pro's $30 monthly rate, so on those numbers the paid tier is the cheaper way to sell. Run the same sum at your own sales figure, because below a few hundred dollars a month the free plan wins and above it Store Pro does.
Against the alternatives, Beacons is the bundle rather than the specialist. Linktree was $8 a month on Starter and $15 on Pro when that vendor was checked on 6 October 2026, and it is the cleaner choice for a page of links. Stan Store was $29 a month on Creator, verified 6 October 2026, and is built around selling rather than around links.
Beacons pricing on this page was last verified on 12 June 2026, which is four months old at the time of this review. Four months is long enough for a tier to be renamed, a fee percentage to move or an annual discount to change. Treat every figure here as dated evidence rather than today's price, and compare the rest of the field in the link-in-bio tools category.
Beacons pricing
Beacons charges a monthly subscription and, on the free tier, a percentage of what you sell. The figures below come from our check of beacons.ai/i/pricing on 12 June 2026 and have not been re-verified since, so confirm them before you buy anything.
| Plan | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | Link-in-bio basics, with a 9% transaction fee on sales |
| Creator Pro | $10/mo | $8.33/mo billed annually, about $100 a year. Our snapshot does not record the fee rate on this tier |
| Store Pro | $30/mo | $25/mo billed annually, $300 a year. Recorded as the tier that takes the sales fee to 0% |
| Business Pro | $90/mo | $75/mo billed annually, $900 a year. The top tier on our check |
Two meters run here, the subscription and the cut of sales. Four things set your cost:
- Whether you sell at all. The 9% fee recorded on the free plan is the entire cost of Beacons for a creator with no sales, and the largest cost for one with many.
- Which tier removes the fee. Our 12 June 2026 snapshot names Store Pro at $30 a month as the 0% tier and does not record the rate on Creator Pro at $10, which is the single thing to verify first.
- Billing period. Annual billing was recorded as saving about two months of subscription, roughly 17%, which is an approximate figure rather than an exact rate. On Store Pro that came to $25 a month against $30.
- How much of the bundle you use. Store, email, media kit and link page come together, so the subscription only beats a stack of single-purpose tools when you would otherwise be paying for several of them.
Beacons pricing against the link-in-bio tools
Beacons sits in the middle of the category on subscription price and at the top on fees. Linktree was $8 a month on Starter, $15 on Pro and $35 on Premium when checked on 6 October 2026, with a free tier under them. Stan Store was $29 a month on Creator and $99 on Creator Pro, verified 6 October 2026, and has no free plan. Taplink was $3 a month on Pro when we checked it on 11 June 2026. Those vendor dates differ from Beacons', so the comparison is not strictly like for like.
Beacons billing terms worth knowing
The percentage, not the subscription, is the number that decides what Beacons costs an active seller.
- Free plan
- $0 a month with a 9% transaction fee on sales, as of 12 June 2026.
- Creator Pro
- $10 per month, or $8.33 billed annually. About $120 or about $100 across a year.
- Store Pro
- $30 per month, or $25 billed annually. $360 or $300 across a year.
- Business Pro
- $90 per month, or $75 billed annually. $1,080 or $900 across a year.
- Annual discount
- Recorded as about two months free, roughly 17%. An approximate figure, not an exact rate.
- Sales fee at 0%
- Recorded on Store Pro. The rate on Creator Pro is not in our snapshot.
- Check date
- 12 June 2026, not re-verified since, so confirm before buying.
If a Beacons charge is higher than the rates above, the first place to look is the sales fee rather than the plan, because a percentage moves with your revenue and a subscription does not. Our 12 June 2026 snapshot does not record per-tier feature caps, so this page states none rather than estimating them. Our creator tool cost calculators will total a year of subscription against a year of percentage fees once you put in your own sales.
What Beacons gives up
The 9% cut on the free plan is the thing that catches sellers. It is invisible while you are setting the page up and it is the largest line on your bill once products start moving, which is why the free tier is better read as a trial for sellers than as a permanent home.
Support has real gaps, by the account in our own notes, and an all-in-one platform is where that hurts most. When the store, the email list and the page are one vendor, a slow ticket queue blocks more of your business than it would with a single-purpose tool.
The bundle is wide rather than deep. A creator who needs serious product delivery will find Stan Store at $29 a month on Creator, verified 6 October 2026, built more tightly around selling, and a creator who wants a plain link page will find Linktree at $8 a month on Starter, checked 6 October 2026, simpler to live with.
Platform stability has been patchy enough to note, with occasional bugs reported across the dashboard. That is a tolerable cost for a free page and a harder one for a storefront taking payments, so test checkout with a real purchase before you point an audience at it.
Billing transparency has been a complaint, which matters more here than elsewhere because two charges are in play. A subscription and a percentage can both change, and only one of them shows up as a recurring line you recognise.
Our pricing evidence is from 12 June 2026 and that is the weakest part of this page. Four months is long enough for the fee percentage itself to move, and the fee is the number the whole purchase decision rests on, so treat it as the first thing to re-check.
Our snapshot records four plan names and their prices and nothing about per-tier limits. If a cap on products, emails or pages matters to you, that figure is not on this page because we did not record it, and we will not guess at it.
How Beacons compares
The three tools below are the ones weighed against Beacons, and the axis is how much platform you want behind the link. Prices are each vendor's published rates with the date we checked them, and those dates differ, so read them with that in mind. The wider field sits in the link-in-bio tools category.
| Tool | Best for | Price | Where it breaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beacons | Creators who want links, a store and a media kit in one place | Free with 9% fee, $30/mo Store Pro (June 2026) | The 9% cut on free, and support gaps on a platform that holds everything |
| Linktree | A clean page of links with nothing extra attached | Free, $8/mo Starter, $15/mo Pro (October 2026) | Light on selling tools compared with the creator platforms |
| Stan Store | Selling digital products as the main job of the page | $29/mo Creator, $99/mo Creator Pro (October 2026) | No free plan, so there is nothing to test on indefinitely |
| Milkshake | A distinctive card-style page built entirely on a phone | Free, $2.99/mo Lite, $6.99/mo Pro (October 2026) | Mobile-only editing and no selling features at all |
What to test on the Beacons free plan
The free plan carried a 9% transaction fee on our 12 June 2026 check. Confirm that percentage first, because it is four months old and it is the figure that decides which tier you end up on.
- Read the current fee percentage and tier prices on beacons.ai/i/pricing. Our numbers are from June 2026 and this is the one step you should not take on trust.
- Find out in writing whether Creator Pro at $10 a month carries the sales fee. Our snapshot records 0% on Store Pro at $30 and is silent on the tier below it.
- Build the page on the free plan and look at it on a phone, since that is where every visitor will meet it.
- Sell one real product to yourself and watch the full amount that lands in your account, so the fee shows up as money rather than as a percentage.
- Multiply your expected monthly sales by the current fee rate and set it against $30 a month for Store Pro. At $1,000 of monthly sales a 9% cut is $90, which made the paid tier the cheaper option on our check.
- Test the parts of the bundle you would stop paying for elsewhere, in particular email capture and the media kit, because those are what justify the subscription.
- If you only want a link page, price Linktree at $8 a month on Starter instead, checked 6 October 2026, and if you mainly want to sell, price Stan Store at $29 a month, verified the same day.
Beacons questions buyers ask
How much does Beacons cost per month?
Beacons offers four plans: Free ($0/month with 9% transaction fees), Creator Pro ($10/month), Store Pro ($30/month with 0% transaction fees), and Business Pro ($90/month). Annual billing saves about two months, bringing Creator Pro to $8.33/month and Store Pro to $25/month. Most creators who sell digital products end up on Store Pro to avoid the 9% fee.
Is Beacons really free?
Yes, but with a catch. The free plan includes a link-in-bio page, digital product store, email marketing (50 sends/month), media kit, and analytics, all genuinely usable. However, Beacons takes 9% of every sale you make through the platform. If you're only using the link page and not selling, it's truly free. If you're selling products, the 9% fee is the real cost.
Who is Beacons best for?
Beacons is ideal for creators with 1,000-50,000 followers who are starting to monetize and want one platform for links, a store, email marketing, and brand deals. It's especially useful if you're pitching brands for sponsorships: the auto-updating media kit is a standout feature. It's less ideal for high-volume sellers (Stan Store is better) or creators who just need a simple link page (Linktree is cleaner).
Beacons vs Linktree: which is better?
Linktree is better if you want a simple, polished link-in-bio page and already use separate tools for email and selling. Beacons is better if you want everything bundled into one platform. Linktree Pro is $15 a month, verified against Linktree's own pricing page on 6 October 2026, with no store or email features built in. Our Beacons figures were checked on 12 June 2026, so the two dates sit nearly four months apart. Beacons Free includes a store, email and media kit but charges 9% on sales. For pure link management, Linktree wins. For all-in-one creator tools, Beacons wins.
What integrations does Beacons support?
Beacons integrates with Zapier (connecting to thousands of apps), Mailchimp, and Zoom natively. It can also import products from Shopify, Etsy, Gumroad, and Stan Store. For social media, it connects directly with Instagram and TikTok to pull real-time stats for your media kit. The Zapier integration is the most flexible: you can use it to connect Beacons with your CRM, Google Sheets, or other marketing tools.
Can I sell digital products on Beacons?
Yes, and it's one of Beacons' core features. You can sell digital downloads, courses, subscriptions, and appointments directly from your link-in-bio page. The free plan supports unlimited products but takes a 9% fee on sales. Store Pro ($30/month) drops that fee to 0% and adds features like branded product URLs, full course hosting, and custom form requests. Payouts happen within one business day.
What are Beacons' email marketing limits?
The free plan includes 50 email sends per month and 5 automated email sequences. Creator Pro ($10/month) adds geo-targeted campaigns and unlimited AI-generated content but keeps the 50-send limit. Store Pro ($30/month) unlocks unlimited email sends and 20 automated sequences. If email is a major part of your strategy, you'll likely need Store Pro or a dedicated email tool like Kit (ConvertKit).
How does the Beacons media kit work?
Beacons generates a live media kit that automatically pulls your current follower counts, engagement rates, and audience demographics from your connected social accounts. You share it as a link (not a static PDF), so brands always see your latest stats. You can customize what data appears, add your rates, and include past collaborations. It's one of Beacons' strongest features and a real advantage over manually updating PDF media kits.
Is Beacons worth it compared to Stan Store?
It depends on your priority. Stan Store is $29 a month on Creator, verified 6 October 2026, and takes no platform cut of sales beyond standard Stripe or PayPal processing, so it is the better choice for creators focused on selling digital products: the checkout is smoother and the course tools are more reliable. Beacons is better if you want free link-in-bio tools, built-in email marketing and a media kit for brand deals alongside occasional sales. Our Beacons pricing was checked on 12 June 2026, so weigh the two dates. If selling is your main income, Stan Store. If you need the full toolkit, Beacons.
Can I cancel Beacons anytime?
Yes, you can cancel your paid plan at any time and revert to the free tier. Your link-in-bio page stays live on the free plan. However, you'll lose access to paid features like 0% transaction fees, custom domains, and removed branding. If you're on an annual plan, check the refund policy: annual payments typically aren't prorated. Some users have reported difficulty downgrading, so verify your plan change takes effect by checking your next billing statement.