Below: checked Beacons prices, fee math and a way to switch without losing anything.
The short answer: which Beacons alternative fits you
Link pages and stores are easy to swap, but brand deals are a different problem, because the hard part is replying, negotiating and getting paid.
Be fair to Beacons before you leave it. It bundles a link page, a store, email, rate cards, a media kit that updates from your linked accounts, past projects, invoices and AI-written outreach emails in one place12.
Beacons charges 9% on sales on the Free and Creator plans, but its help center says invoices are charged 0%. The 9% covers all sales except invoices, and Beacons also applies a 9% fee to affiliate-link commissions on Free and Creator21. A creator who earns mostly through invoices pays little of it, but one who earns through affiliate links does not.
What Beacons costs now (checked November 2026)
Beacons sells four plans. Free is $0 and includes unlimited links, a media kit, 50 email sends and a 9% transaction fee on sales through its store app. Creator is $10 a month or $100 a year2.
Creator Plus is $30 a month or $300 a year and removes seller fees on sales. The top plan, Creator Max, costs $100 a month or $1,000 a year2. Annual billing is advertised as two months free1.
On fees, the 9% applies to all sales on Free and Creator, except invoices at 0%2.
Do the break-even math before upgrading. Creator Plus pays for itself once store sales pass about $333 a month ($30 ÷ 0.09). On annual billing, Creator Plus works out to $25 a month1, so the break-even drops to about $278 in monthly store sales, and paying annually instead of monthly saves $60 a year.
Mind the name. A ranking page calls the $30 plan "Creator Pro", but Beacons' own help center names it Creator Plus32. Use Creator Plus when you search, or you'll get confused results. For the full line-by-line breakdown, see Beacons pricing 2026: plans, the 9% fee and what you keep.
Beacons alternatives by job: link page, store, brand deals
Each tool below is good at one job. Prices marked as reported come from blogs and ranking pages, not the tool's own site, so treat them as a starting point. Check before you pay.
What each plan costs in fees and subscription on $500 of monthly sales, based on Beacons and Payhip plan pricing. Sources: 2, 4.
| Job | Tool | What it does well | Price as reported (source, date) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Link page | Linktree | Well-known, simple link hub | Sources disagree: Payhip's blog says Pro is $15/month with a 9% fee and Premium is $35/month with no seller fee4; Talkspresso's blog lists Pro $5, Premium $9 and Teams $243. Check Linktree's own pricing page. |
| Link page | Carrd | One-page site builder with full design control | A ranking page reports pro plans at about $19/year with custom domains5 (not checked on Carrd's site) |
| Store | Stan Store | Selling digital products through social traffic | One ranking page reports a $29/month Creator plan and no free plan4; another describes a flat subscription with no revenue share5 |
| Store | Payhip | Digital product sales with a free entry point | Payhip's own blog: 5% fee on free, 2% on $29/month Plus, 0% on $99/month Pro46 |
| Brand deals | Beacons vs an AI manager | Media kit and invoices vs replying and negotiating | Covered in the next section |
This is what $500 of digital product sales in a month costs on each option:
| Option | Monthly cost on $500 of sales |
|---|---|
| Beacons Free | $45 (9% fee) |
| Beacons Creator | $55 ($10 plan + $45 fee) |
| Beacons Creator Plus | $30 (plan only, no seller fee) |
| Payhip free plan | $25 (5% fee) |
| Payhip Plus | $39 ($29 plan + 2% fee, $10) |
Payment processor fees are left out of every line. At this sales level, Payhip's free plan is the cheapest. Beacons Creator is the most expensive. The picture flips as sales grow, because flat plans beat percentage fees at higher volume.
If brand deals are your main income, the 9% fee isn't the real question
On the Free and Creator plans, brand payments sent through Beacons invoices carry a 0% Beacons fee2. Moving away won't cut your brand-deal fees. There are none to cut. What Beacons gives you for deals is tooling. You get a media kit and invoice tracking, and AI drafts pitch emails for you12. You still write the replies, negotiate and chase payment yourself.
One small inconsistency: Beacons' pricing page shows unlimited AI outreach generations on every plan1, while its help center lists AI Brand Outreach under the Creator plan2. Check in the app before you count on it.
Rateful is the option for the replying and negotiating work. Each creator gets their own deals address, handle@rateful.ai, and when brands email it, Sam, the AI manager, answers. Sam negotiates to the rate card you set and never goes below your minimum. Accepting a deal always needs your OK.
Sam sends the brand a written agreement and the brand pays through Rateful. Your deposit is released before you film, and Rateful holds only the rest until the posts are live. Every plan, Free included, includes a scam check on brand emails.
| Beacons | Rateful | |
|---|---|---|
| Who replies to brand emails | You | Sam replies |
| Negotiation | You | Sam negotiates to your rate card, above your minimum |
| Payment timing | Invoices tracked in one place1 | Deposit released before filming; the rest held until posts are live |
| Fee on the deal | 0% on invoices2 | Rateful takes 0%; brands pay about 5% booking protection on top |
| Cost | Plans from $02 | Nothing until the first deal closes, then Free at $0, or a paid plan: Pro $49/month, Scale $149/month |
| Pitching | AI drafts outreach emails you send1 | Sam pitches for you: 10 free pitches, unlimited on Scale |
Run a $1,000 brand deal both ways. Sent as a Beacons invoice, Beacons' fee is 0%, so Beacons takes $0 (payment processor fees aren't covered here)2. Through Rateful, the fee is 0% of the $1,000, and the brand pays booking protection of about 5% on top, about $50, for about $1,050 total, shown before it pays. The plan cost starts only after the first closed deal: $0 on Free, then $49 a month on Pro or $149 a month on Scale.
You can use both together. Keep Beacons as your link page and store, and point brand contacts at your Rateful deal inbox. Rateful never posts or messages on TikTok for anyone, so nothing changes on your account. For more detail, read how an AI manager handles your brand emails and the full Rateful vs Beacons for brand deals comparison.
The deal flow looks like this:
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | A brand emails your handle@rateful.ai address |
| 2 | Sam answers and negotiates to your rate card |
| 3 | You approve or decline the deal |
| 4 | Sam sends the agreement; the brand pays through Rateful |
| 5 | Your deposit is released before filming; you film and post, and the rest is released once posts are live |
How to choose, and how to switch without losing anything
Work through this checklist before you move anything.
- List which Beacons features you actually used in the last 90 days.
- Add up last month's store sales and compare with the break-even: about $333 a month on monthly billing, about $278 on annual. Those figures only compare Beacons Free with Beacons Creator Plus: below them, Beacons Free's percentage fee costs less, and above them, Creator Plus wins.
- If invoices are most of your income, remember they're already 0% on Beacons' Free and Creator plans2. Switching won't save you money there.
- Check annual commitments. Beacons sells annual plans2, so check the terms before you commit.
Switching takes a few steps. Export or re-create your products on the new store, update your bio link, move your media kit numbers and past brand work to the new tool, and tell repeat brand contacts your new contact or booking link. Rateful gives each creator a public booking page at rateful.ai/@handle with their packages, plus recent videos and numbers, which works as the link you send brands.
Two eligibility notes: creators must be 18 or older, and payouts go to the creator's Stripe account in the United States for now. Signing up takes about 60 seconds with a TikTok handle and an email.
Still torn between the two link-page options or the two store options? The head-to-head pages do the math: Linktree vs Beacons: 2026 prices, fees, tools and Beacons vs Stan Store: fees, plans and who fits.
Questions people ask
What is the best free alternative to Beacons
For a link page, Linktree has free tiers, though sources disagree on its paid prices43. Carrd has a free plan, and reported pro plans run about $19 a year5. For a store, Payhip's free plan charges a 5% transaction fee with no monthly cost4. Brand deals are where Rateful fits: every creator pays nothing until Rateful closes their first deal, and after that the Free plan stays $0, with each reply waiting for the creator's approval.
Does Beacons take a cut of brand deal invoices
Beacons' help center says invoices are charged 0%, even on the Free and Creator plans where store sales carry a 9% fee2. So a brand paying your invoice costs you nothing in Beacons fees. Payment processor fees are separate and weren't checked for this page.
Is Beacons Creator Plus worth $30 a month
Creator Plus removes seller fees for $30 a month2, so compare that cost with what the fee on your store sales adds up to. On annual billing it works out to $25 a month, dropping the break-even to about $278. Below those numbers, the Free plan's 9% fee costs less than the subscription.
Beacons vs Linktree which is better for TikTok
For links alone, either works. Beacons adds a media kit and invoices on top, plus AI outreach12; for the full breakdown, see the Beacons and Linktree comparison.
Can I use Beacons and another tool at the same time
Yes. One split is Beacons as the link page and store, with Sam handling the brand-deal inbox at your handle@rateful.ai address. Your bio link stays the same; only where brand emails go changes.
What app replaces Beacons for brand deals
Rateful covers the parts Beacons leaves to you: replying to brand emails and negotiating to your rate card. It also releases your deposit before you film and holds the rest until the posts are live. It takes 0% of the deal, and brands pay about 5% booking protection on top. Beacons invoices are already 0% on the Free and Creator plans2.