Linktree vs Beacons (2026): Which One, and When Neither

Beacons is the better pick if you sell; Linktree is the better pick for a page of links. By reader:

• If you sell, pick Beacons: its 0% plan is $30 a month, Linktree's is $35.
• If your page is mostly links, pick Linktree: its free plan covers it.
• If you run Instagram keyword DMs or pitch brands, pick Beacons: both tools are on its free plan.
• If you take paid calls, either works, but only Beacons publishes its cut: 9%, or 0% from Creator Plus.

If neither fits, skip to "If you want neither" further down.

Checked October 2026: every price, fee and plan feature below was read from Linktree's and Beacons' own pricing pages and help centers on 2 October 2026. Linktree shows prices in the visitor's local currency, so its US dollar figures come from Linkhiver's write-up (17 August 2026), not from a Linktree page. Prices move, so confirm before you pay.

Linktree vs Beacons, line by line

The rows are the things that decide it: price, the cut on each sale, what's free, and which tools each one has.

Is Linktree Pro 0% now? Its own page disagrees

On 2 October 2026, Linktree's pricing page says two things about Pro. The Pro plan card lists "Sell and earn with 0% fees". The fee table lower on the same page lists digital products and courses at 9% on Pro, 9% on Starter, 12% on Free and 0% only on Premium. We saw the same pair in US dollars and in another region's currency. Linktree's fee help article no longer prints percentages; it links to that table.

Until the two match, budget for 9% on Pro. If you're on Pro already, ask Linktree support to confirm your rate in writing, or read the fee line on your first payout. If 0% on Pro is the true figure, Pro at $15 becomes the cheapest 0% plan of the two.

Is Beacons better than Linktree? For selling, yes

Beacons takes less on its free plan and charges less for 0%. For a page of links with nothing to sell, Linktree is the simpler choice.

Pick Linktree if…

• Your page is mostly links. The free plan has unlimited links and email sign-ups, and exports those sign-ups as a CSV on every plan. Linktree says over 70 million people use it, so the link rarely looks unfamiliar.
• You already send email from Mailchimp, Kit, Klaviyo or Beehiiv. Pro syncs new sign-ups straight in, and you keep the tool you know.
• You want calls booked on a free plan. Free or paid bookings come with every plan, with Google Calendar conflict checks and discount codes. Ask Linktree its cut before you price a paid session.
• You want Kajabi's course builder without a Kajabi bill. Linktree's courses run on it, at the plan's usual fee.

Pick Beacons if…

• You sell, at any volume. 9% on Free is less than Linktree's 12%. The 0% plan costs $30 against $35, or $300 a year against $360 on Linktree's yearly billing.
• You need to send email, not just collect it. The free allowance covers a monthly note to a small list; Creator Plus removes the cap.
• You sell a course with video, or a membership. Creator Plus hosts unlimited courses with video and unlimited memberships.
• You use Instagram keyword DMs. "Comment LINK and I'll DM it" runs on the free plan. The advanced version, which opens a chat and follows up, carries Beacons branding until Creator Plus. Linktree's free auto-reply stops at 1,000 sends a month, and keyword triggers need Premium.
• You do brand deals. The media kit refreshes daily from your linked accounts, and rate cards and invoices sit alongside it.
• You want your own domain. It's included from Creator at $10. Linktree's help center says it doesn't offer custom domains.

Past about $335 a month in sales, the 0% plans are cheapest

What you pay is the plan plus the cut. This assumes a $25 product (20 sales, then 80) and monthly billing:

Card processing comes on top on every plan. Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢ applies on both, about $20.50 at $500 and $82 at $2,000; PayPal, an option on Beacons, charges 3.49% plus a fixed fee. There's also a $0.25 fee per payout on Linktree.

Three things follow:

• Above about $335 a month, pay for a 0% plan. That's where a 9% cut passes $30. Billed yearly, the line drops to about $280.
• Below that, Beacons Free is the cheapest way to sell on either. 9% with no subscription beats every Linktree plan.
• Linktree's Starter and Pro never come out cheapest for selling, unless Pro's 0% card is the true one.

Switching without losing contacts or double-booking

1. Export your contacts first. On Linktree it's Audience, then Integrations, then Export CSV, on every plan. Beacons imports subscribers from other platforms and exports its own.
2. Rebuild products and booking types at the same prices, with the same session lengths.
3. Connect the same Google Calendar to the new page. Both check it for conflicts. A call already booked on the old page then blocks that slot on the new one.
4. Rebuild any course and give students access before you announce the move. Tell them the date.
5. Swap the link everywhere in one sitting: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, your email signature.
6. Leaving Linktree? Point the old page at the new one. There's no domain forwarding, but a Redirect link (Starter and up) sends every visitor of your linktr.ee page to one address.
7. Leaving Beacons with your own domain? Repoint the domain to the new page.
8. Cancel the old plan last, once past buyers have their files and the new page has taken a sale or a booking.

If you want neither

InBio gives you a page in a minute, free with no card, and turns it into a store when you're ready. On Business, $29 a month, it sells downloads and paid one-to-one calls at 0% through your own Stripe, and calls book against live availability so a slot can't be sold twice. It doesn't host courses, send email or use your own domain; for those, Beacons Creator Plus is the better match.

Who should pick what

• Mostly links, no selling: Linktree Free.
• Selling less than about $335 a month: Beacons Free.
• Selling more, or a course with video, or email: Beacons Creator Plus.
• Keyword DMs or brand deals: Beacons.

Pick for what you sell this month; both let you move up a plan later.

For the wider field, see our Linktree alternatives and Beacons alternatives comparisons and the best link in bio tools roundup. This post is part of our link in bio basics series.

We make InBio. All three tools, InBio included, were checked the same way: on each company's own pricing page and help center, October 2026.