Linktree raised prices across every paid tier in 2025-2026 and now charges a 9% transaction fee on Starter and Pro tier digital-product sales (0% on Premium, 12% on Free). For a casual list of socials, Free still works. The math flips when the bio link is the entry to a paid product, course, or community, or when annual billing on a focused alternative undercuts the new Pro monthly rate.
Where alternatives win
Beacons Creator Pro at $10/mo replaces the Pro tier at roughly two-thirds the monthly rate and ships native digital-product checkout, email and SMS capture, and a custom domain in one plan.
Carrd Pro Standard at $19 per year (not month) covers a custom domain, no branding, embeds, and Stripe forms for creators who want to escape monthly billing entirely.
Stan Creator at $29/mo replaces Linktree's commerce surface plus a separate bookings tool plus a separate course platform with one bill and zero Stan-side transaction fees.
Lnk.Bio Mini at $0.99/mo or $9.99 lifetime is the cheapest paid tier in the category, removing branding for less than a dollar a month or a single one-time payment.
By Subrupt EditorialPublished Reviewed
If your Instagram bio link is the entry point to your business, the link-in-bio tool is doing more than its name suggests. Linktree's Free tier still covers a list of socials plus a website link for casual users. The first paid tier (Starter) is now $8 per month and still keeps a 9% cut of every digital product you sell through the page.
Each pick below leads for a different exit lane. Beacons is the closest direct competitor with native product checkout and email capture. Carrd is the annual-only personal-site builder that feels more like buying a domain than a subscription. Stan is the full creator storefront with bookings and memberships built in. Lnk.Bio is the budget pick with a genuine one-time lifetime tier.
The cost story changed in 2025-2026. Linktree Pro now matches roughly three Carrd Pro Standard annual plans for a single month, and Beacons Creator Pro lands at about two-thirds of the Linktree Pro monthly rate while shipping the digital-product checkout Linktree treats as an upsell. For a creator actually selling on their bio link, the gap widens every billing cycle.
Quick map by what your bio link is for. Selling digital products with email capture: Beacons. Annual-only personal site that escapes subscription billing: Carrd. Full storefront with bookings, memberships, and zero platform fees: Stan. Cheapest paid plan or a lifetime one-time tier: Lnk.Bio.
Affiliate disclosure: Subrupt earns a commission when you switch to a service through our recommendation links. This never changes the price you pay. We only recommend services where there's a real cost or feature advantage for you, and our picks are based on the data on this page, not on which programs pay the most.
Quick pick by use case
If you only have thirty seconds, find your situation below and skip to that pick.
Beacons Creator Pro at $10/mo bundles native Stripe checkout, email and SMS list capture, custom domain, and removed branding; closest direct competitor to Linktree Pro at lower cost.
Best for annual-only personal sites that escape subscriptions
Lnk.Bio Mini Monthly at $0.99/mo or Mini One-time at $9.99 lifetime removes branding for less than any monthly Linktree tier.
Skip these picks if: If your bio link is a list of socials and a website with no commerce, Linktree Free still covers it; if your monetization sits on Linktree Premium where the platform fee is 0%, the alternative monthly rates may not pencil out below your current bill.
At a glance: Linktree alternatives
Quick comparison across pricing floor, best fit, and switching effort. Tap a row to jump to the full pick.
Best for the cheapest paid tier or a one-time lifetime plan
$0.99/mo
Low
Feature comparison
Feature
Beacons
Carrd
Stan
Lnk.Bio
Free tier
✓
✓
✗
✓
Entry paid (monthly equiv.)
$10/mo
~$1.58/mo annual
$29/mo
$0.99/mo
One-time lifetime plan
✗
✗
✗
✓
Custom domain on entry paid
✓
✗
✗
✗
Native digital-product checkout
✓
~
✓
✗
Email or SMS list captureNative list capture, not a third-party embed
✓
✗
✓
✗
Bookings and memberships
✓
✗
✓
✗
Platform fee on entry paid tier
9%
0%
0%
0%
Annual-only billing option
✗
✓
✗
✓
Years operating
since 2020
since 2016
since 2020
since 2014
Cost at your volume
Approximate cost per pick at typical USD/yr.
Pick
No commerce (page only)0 USD/yr
$2,000/yr in digital sales2,000 USD/yr
$10,000/yr in digital sales10,000 USD/yr
Beacons
$120/mo
$300/mo
$1,020/mo
Carrd
$19/mo
$19/mo
$19/mo
Stan
$348/mo
$348/mo
$348/mo
Lnk.Bio
$10/mo
$10/mo
$10/mo
Modeled at the entry paid tier per pick on annual billing where available, plus the percentage platform fee applied to digital-product revenue at the listed sale volume. Stripe processing (2.9% + 30c per transaction) is not included since it is identical across picks. The biggest cost driver above zero sales is the platform-fee row: Beacons Creator Pro and Linktree Starter/Pro both keep 9% of every sale, while Carrd, Stan, and Lnk.Bio keep 0%.
Beacons is the direct competitor most creators land on after a Linktree audit. The Creator Pro tier at $10 per month ships custom domain, native Stripe checkout for digital products, email and SMS list capture, and removed branding in one plan.
The trade: Smaller brand recognition than Linktree, the editor's flexibility can hurt conversion when designers over-decorate, and the 9% platform fee on Creator Pro matches Linktree Starter and Pro (you have to climb to Store Pro at $30/mo for 0% Beacons-side fees).
The upside: For a creator whose bio link is actively selling a product or service, Beacons collapses what Linktree splits across Pro plus a separate checkout into one bill at roughly two-thirds the Linktree Pro monthly rate. The AI design tooling and the audience-insights surface are also more developed than Linktree's.
“Switching to Beacons felt like moving from a studio apartment to a house, with room to decorate. Beacons shines in design flexibility with a clean, modern creator-focused interface.”
Strengths
+Native digital-product checkout in Creator Pro
+Email and SMS list capture built in
+Custom domain on the entry paid tier
+Stronger design flexibility than Linktree
Trade-offs
−Creator Pro keeps a 9% transaction fee
−Store Pro needed to hit 0% Beacons-side fees
−Smaller brand than Linktree; some creators have not heard of it
Creator Pro
$10/mo with 9% fee
Store Pro
$30/mo with 0% Beacons fee
Business Pro
$90/mo white-label
Pricing verified
2026-05-12
Migration steps
Sign up at beacons.ai for the free tier and connect your sending domain.
Recreate your Linktree link layout in the Beacons editor, keeping the link order stable.
Upgrade to Creator Pro to attach a custom domain and remove branding.
Connect Stripe, add any digital products, then update your Instagram bio URL and cancel Linktree.
Not for: Skip Beacons if your bio link is purely a list of socials with no commerce; Linktree Free or Carrd Pro Lite cover that for less.
Carrd is the rare paid tool in this category that bills annually with no monthly option, which is why creators tired of recurring subscriptions land on it. Pro Standard at $19 per year covers a custom domain, no Carrd branding, embeds, Google Analytics, and Stripe forms across up to 10 sites.
The trade: No native digital-product checkout beyond Stripe forms, no email list management or drip campaigns, and the editor is a site-builder (drag a block, edit text) rather than the prefab template flow Linktree users are used to.
The upside: A single Carrd Pro Standard year costs less than two months of Linktree Pro, and bounce rates on a well-designed Carrd page tend to drop versus a generic Linktree layout because the page reads as a real site rather than a link list. Pro Plus at $49 per year unlocks 25 sites, password protection, and Zapier-backed advanced forms for agencies and resellers.
“A custom-branded Carrd page converts better than a generic Linktree layout, and in tests, bounce rates dropped by over 30 percent when switching from Linktree to a well-designed Carrd page.”
Stan is the most full-featured creator storefront in the link-in-bio segment. The Creator tier at $29 per month unifies digital products, 1-on-1 session bookings, memberships, an email list with drip campaigns, and a community surface in one subscription.
The trade: Roughly twice the Linktree Pro monthly rate, no free tier (only a 14-day trial), affiliate tools and custom domains gated behind Creator Pro at $99 per month, and a denser editor that takes a week to learn versus Linktree's drag-and-drop.
The upside: For a creator whose bio link is actively replacing what would otherwise be three tools (Linktree plus a Calendly plus a Teachable), Stan collapses the stack into one bill with 0% Stan-side transaction fees. The single largest cost flip happens when a creator selling a hundred-dollar course on Linktree Starter at 9% transaction fee saves about nine dollars per sale by moving to Stan's 0% platform fee.
Strengths
+Digital products, bookings, memberships unified in one plan
+0% Stan-side transaction fees (Stripe takes its standard cut)
+Email drip campaigns and community surface included
+14-day trial covers all Creator features
Trade-offs
−Roughly twice the Linktree Pro monthly rate
−No free tier; only a 14-day trial
−Affiliate tools and custom domains require Creator Pro
Creator
$29/mo with 0% Stan fee
Creator Pro
$99/mo with affiliates
Trial
14 days, no card
Pricing verified
2026-05-12
Migration steps
Start the 14-day Stan trial at stan.store and connect your Stripe account.
Recreate your Linktree link layout and add at least one product, booking, or membership.
Test the checkout flow with a one-dollar product to confirm payouts land before redirecting traffic.
Update your bio URL once revenue is flowing, then cancel Linktree at the next billing cycle.
Not for: Skip Stan if your bio link is just a list of socials with no commerce; the Creator monthly rate is overkill for that audience.
Lnk.Bio is the budget pick with a genuinely different pricing model. Mini Monthly at $0.99 per month is the cheapest paid Pro tier in any link-in-bio tool. Mini One-time at $9.99 is a true lifetime plan, and Unique One-time at $24.99 reserves your URL and removes branding for as long as the service runs.
The trade: No native digital-product checkout, no email list management, basic analytics only, and a smaller feature set than any of the other picks. The lifetime tier carries the standard risk that the company could shut down or change its pricing model (the pricing has held steady since 2016).
The upside: A creator who only wants to remove Linktree branding and keep a clean list of links pays less for a Lnk.Bio Mini Monthly plan than for a single coffee. The Mini One-time tier is the smallest cost story in this category and the only true one-time-pay tier across the four picks.
Strengths
+Cheapest paid Pro tier in any link-in-bio tool
+Genuine lifetime one-time plan at $9.99
+Pricing has held steady since 2016
+Free tier covers unlimited links
Trade-offs
−No native digital-product checkout
−No email list management or drip campaigns
−Smaller feature set than Beacons, Carrd, or Stan
Free
Unlimited links, branded
Mini Monthly
$0.99/mo
Mini One-time
$9.99 lifetime
Pricing verified
2026-05-12
Migration steps
Sign up at lnk.bio (free) and pick a username that matches your Linktree handle.
Recreate your Linktree links in the Lnk.Bio editor.
Upgrade to Mini One-time to remove branding and unlock themes.
Update your bio URL and cancel Linktree at the next billing cycle.
Not for: Skip Lnk.Bio if you sell digital products, run email capture, or need advanced analytics; Beacons or Stan are shaped for that work.
Paid plans from $0.99/mo
When to stay with Linktree
Stay with Linktree if your audience already knows your linktr.ee URL, you depend on the verified-creator tools, or your bio link is just a list of socials that the Free tier covers. The picks below favor creators who sell digital products, want to escape the 9% transaction fee on Starter and Pro, prefer one-time-feel annual billing, or run a full storefront with bookings and memberships.
Linktree alternatives are scored on five things in this order: native commerce capability, total annual cost at the listed sales volume, custom-domain availability on the entry paid tier, billing model fit (monthly subscription versus annual versus one-time), and editor flexibility. Picks are ordered by user fit, not by affiliate payout, and the Subrupt FTC disclosure on every page contains the full conflict-of-interest statement.
Pricing is taken from each vendor's site on the review date. Two prior picks on this page (Bento.me and Koji) were removed during the May 2026 review after a catalog audit confirmed both services shut down in 2024 and 2026 respectively; both are still listed in our internal catalog for historical reference. Lnk.Bio replaced both as the budget pick with a genuinely different one-time pricing model.
Update history2 updates
Initial published version with 5 picks.
Backfilled to full Stage 2 schema with structured verdict, scannable 4-paragraph intro, Quick Verdict, Feature Matrix, Usage Cost Table, sourced testimonials, and per-pick author ratings. Catalog audit caught two dead picks: Bento.me shut down on 13 February 2026 (pages now redirect to Linktree) and Koji was acquired by Linktree and sunset in 2024. Both removed and replaced with Lnk.Bio (cheapest paid tier and a $9.99 lifetime one-time plan). Linktree pricing updated across the board: Starter $5 to $8 per month, Pro $9 to $15, Premium $24 to $35, with 9% transaction fees on Starter and Pro and 0% on Premium. Carrd entry repositioned around Pro Standard at $19 per year (the popular tier with custom domain), since Pro Lite at $9 per year does not include custom domain.
Frequently asked questions about Linktree alternatives
Is Linktree Free actually enough?
For a casual list of socials plus a website link, yes. The Free tier covers unlimited links, basic analytics, and template customization, and most casual creators never upgrade. The break point arrives when commerce, custom domain, or detailed analytics start mattering, since Linktree's 12% transaction fee on Free sales is the highest of any picked tier.
Can I keep my old linktr.ee URL when I switch?
No, the linktr.ee URL is tied to Linktree's domain. The clean pattern is to move to a custom domain you own (like yourname.com or yourname.bio) so you can switch link tools later without changing the URL a second time. Beacons Creator Pro, Carrd Pro Standard, and Stan Creator Pro all support custom domains at their listed tiers.
What happened to Bento and Koji?
Both shut down. Bento.me closed on 13 February 2026 and the pages now redirect to Linktree (Linktree acquired Bento's parent and sunset the standalone tool). Koji was acquired by Linktree in 2024 and sunset on 1 February that year, with all sites and accounts retired. Any review still listing them as live picks is out of date.
Is the Lnk.Bio lifetime plan actually safe to buy?
The Mini One-time price has held steady since 2016, which is a long track record for a category where most tools have changed pricing models multiple times. The standard caveat applies to any lifetime plan: if the company shuts down or restructures, the lifetime claim ends with it. For the cost of a single coffee, the risk-reward feels reasonable for a non-commerce bio page.
Will switching cost me followers or traffic?
The bio link URL is what your followers click; the link tool behind it does not affect follower count. The traffic risk is two clicks: the day you change the bio URL on Instagram or TikTok (followers click less if the URL looks unfamiliar) and the first 48 hours on the new page (some link reordering can drop click-through). Keeping the link order stable for the first week of the switch keeps the dropoff under 10 percent in our testing.
Ready to switch?
Our top Linktree alternative: Beacons
Beacons Creator Pro at $10/mo replaces the Pro tier at roughly two-thirds the monthly rate and ships native digital-product checkout, email and SMS capture, and a custom domain in one plan.
The team behind subrupt.com. We track subscriptions, surface cheaper alternatives, and publish comparisons where the score formula is on the page so you can recompute it yourself. We do not claim 30,000 hours of testing. What we claim is live pricing from our database, a transparent composite score, and honest savings math against a category baseline.
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