Beacons alternatives: where to go and how to move without losing anything
Eight destinations, one per reason to leave, and an eight-step migration plan.
The short answer: Stan if you sell over $300 a month and would rather leave Beacons than move to Creator Plus, which is also 0% at the same yearly price, Komi if brand deals pay your bills, Systeme.io if you want funnels and email at 0% even on free, Kit if your newsletter is the real asset, Payhip if you sell abroad and want taxes handled, and Linktree, Campsite.bio or Carrd if Beacons was only ever a list of links. Check one thing before you pick: if you bought your domain through Beacons, Beacons owns it, and getting it back costs $70. We compared these eight destinations and checked their prices in 2026.
The ranking is editorial: a sponsored placement is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
Why creators end up leaving Beacons
Beacons has the most generous free plan in link-in-bio: a store, a media kit, email, Instagram auto-replies. Lots of creators start there, and it's a fine place to start. People leave later, when sales grow and the fine print turns into invoices. Six reasons, all checked in 2026.
9% of every sale, even at $10 a month
Free and the $10 Creator plan both take 9% of each sale, on top of Stripe (2.9% + $0.30) or PayPal fees. 0% starts at Creator Plus, $30 a month. At $500 in monthly sales, the 9% comes to $45: more than the plan that removes it.
A domain bought there stays theirs
A domain bought through Beacons remains "the property of Beacons AI Inc." You get no DNS access, no refund, and getting it out means a paid transfer service: $70, requested through support. Several user reviews complain the transfer is slow and pricey.
Support that's hard to reach
Beacons' public review score is low: 1.9 out of 5 across about forty reviews, roughly three quarters of them one star. The repeat complaint: no human to talk to when a payment or an account gets stuck. The same reviews still praise how easy it is to set up and the price.
Brand commissions that take their time
Brand affiliate commissions sit in pending for 30 to 90 days depending on the brand and pay out through PayPal only. Some creators report waiting far longer with no reply. If part of your income comes from there, that's a cash-flow risk.
Email sends on a drip
Free sends 50 emails a month, Creator 500. With an 800-person list, a single newsletter won't go out without Creator Plus. Some paying users also report still seeing Beacons branding on their page, even though removing it is part of Creator Plus.
A lot of tool for five links
Beacons does everything: store, media kit, invoices, email, AI. If you only use five links, you're clicking through a busy dashboard for nothing, and a simpler page will be faster to keep up to date.
You're leaving because… go to…
The right Beacons alternative depends on what's pushing you out. Usually one row fits. Each card jumps to the full write-up below.
0% from $29 a month, but Beacons Creator Plus is also 0% for $30.
Brand deals are your main incomeKomiBrand-deals area on free, Pro at $16 a month.
You want funnels and email with no sales cutSysteme.ioFree at 0%, 2,000 contacts and 3 funnels.
Your newsletter is the real assetKitFree up to 10,000 subscribers.
You sell abroad and want taxes handledPayhipEU and UK VAT remitted for you, 5% on free.
You only ever had linksLinktree, Campsite.bio or CarrdLinktree for simplicity, Campsite.bio or Carrd for your own domain.
Beacons alternatives, tool by tool
For each tool: why move there, who it's for, its catch, how to move from Beacons, and what it costs. Prices are the ones listed in 2026. Cards follow the reasons to leave, from the most common to the least.
Stan: once your sales pass $300 a month
Sell with no feeWhy switch to Stan. Stan does the same job as the Beacons store (a link-in-bio page that takes payments), but on a flat price with no platform fee from the first plan. The math is short: at 9%, Beacons takes $29 once you sell about $322 a month. Past that line, every sale costs you more on Beacons Free than on Stan Creator. But Beacons has a no-fee plan too: Creator Plus, $30 a month or $300 a year, the same yearly price as Stan Creator, with email included. So price alone isn't a reason to move: pick Stan if you prefer its store and AutoDM and don't send email from your page.
Who it's for. Creators who already sell: guides, templates, booked coaching calls, small courses. Every Stan plan also includes AutoDM, the automatic Instagram DM sent when someone comments a keyword.
Who it's not for. Anyone with zero sales so far. There's no free plan, only a 14-day trial, and then $29 a month whether you sell or not.
The catch. Email (broadcasts, flows, contact import) sits on Creator Pro at $99 a month. If you ran newsletters from Beacons, budget for that gap or keep a separate email tool.
How to move. Products don't import: you rebuild each one, files and sales pages included. Export your Beacons audience to CSV first, then load it into your email tool (or into Stan if you go Creator Pro). Turn off Beacons Smart Reply before you switch on AutoDM, or two tools will answer the same comment.
- Free plan
- no, 14-day trial
- Paid
- Creator $29/mo ($300/yr)
- Platform fee
- 0%, Stripe fees apply
- Catch
- email needs Creator Pro, $99
Komi: the page for creators who live on brand deals
For brand dealsWhy switch to Komi. If the media kit and brand inquiries kept you on Beacons, Komi is the closest landing spot. Its free plan gives you a mini-site, unlimited links and contacts, and access to brand deals. Pro costs $16 a month ($20 month to month, 20% off yearly) and takes 0% on digital products.
Who it's for. Video creators, musicians and influencers whose income comes mostly from brands, with a few products on the side.
Who it's not for. Anyone who runs a newsletter from their page: Komi's free plan sends no email at all.
The catch. Custom domains aren't self-serve. On Pro, you email support to set one up. The free plan's sales fee isn't shown on the pricing page.
How to move. Before you leave Beacons, screenshot your media kit (audience, engagement, past brands, rates), because it doesn't transfer. Rebuild your links in order of clicks, then send your brand contacts the new URL. Useful threshold: at 9%, Beacons Free costs more than Komi Pro ($16, billed yearly) once you sell about $178 a month, or $222 if you pay Komi monthly.
- Free plan
- yes, no email sends
- Paid
- Pro $16/mo
- Platform fee
- 0% on digital in Pro
- Catch
- domain via support
Systeme.io: funnels, email and courses with no sales cut
0% even on freeWhy switch to Systeme.io. Its free plan takes 0% of your sales and already includes 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, one course and unlimited email sends. Paid plans are $17, $47 and $97 a month, all at 0%. For a creator who outgrew a link page, that's a real sales site without a revenue share.
Who it's for. Creators selling a course, a program or services who want a proper sales page, an email list and a student area in one place.
Who it's not for. Anyone who wants a pretty link page in five minutes. Systeme.io builds page by page, like a small website, and takes an evening to learn.
The catch. Free caps you at one email campaign and one automation rule. Several sequences means Startup at $17 a month.
How to move. Import your Beacons CSV as contacts with an "ex-Beacons" tag. Rebuild your link-in-bio as a simple page inside a funnel and paste its URL into your bios. If you had paying members on Beacons, set up the new offer before you cancel their subscriptions.
- Free plan
- 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, 1 course
- Paid
- $17, $47, $97/mo
- Platform fee
- 0% on every plan
- Catch
- steeper learning curve
Kit: when your email list matters more than your page
For the newsletterWhy switch to Kit. Beacons Free sends 50 emails a month, and Creator tops out at 500. If your newsletter is the real asset, take it off your link page. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is free up to 10,000 subscribers and can sell digital products too, at 3.5% + $0.30 per sale on the free plan.
Who it's for. Creators whose income runs through the list: newsletters, launches, paid content. Our full Kit review rates it 4.2 out of 5.
Who it's not for. Anyone who wants automated sequences for free: the free plan has no automations.
The catch. Creator, the first paid plan, costs $390 a year for 1,000 subscribers, and the bill steps up with every tier.
How to move. Export your Beacons audience to CSV, import it into Kit with a "Beacons" tag, and only add people who agreed to get your emails. Keep a light link page (Linktree, Campsite.bio or Carrd) with a Kit form at the top.
- Free plan
- up to 10,000 subscribers
- Paid
- Creator $390/yr
- Labs score
- 4.2/5
- Catch
- no automations on free
Payhip: sell digital products without a monthly bill
Taxes handledWhy switch to Payhip. Payhip's free plan takes 5% per sale instead of Beacons' 9%: on $1,000 of sales, you keep $40 more. It also collects and remits EU and UK VAT on digital sales and handles US and Canadian sales tax, which matters the day a buyer from Berlin or Toronto shows up.
Who it's for. Creators selling ebooks, templates, presets or small courses to buyers in several countries.
Who it's not for. Anyone looking for a link-in-bio page: Payhip is a store. Keep a link page next to it that points there.
The catch. No advanced funnel and no media kit. Paid tiers are steep for a small seller: Plus at $29 a month (2%), Pro at $99 (0%).
How to move. Recreate each product with its file and price, connect Stripe or PayPal, and place a test order. Every feature is on every plan, so start free and move to Plus around $970 in monthly sales, where $29 plus 2% beats 5%.
- Free plan
- yes, 5% per sale
- Paid
- Plus $29 (2%), Pro $99 (0%)
- Taxes
- EU/UK VAT remitted
- Catch
- no link page
Linktree: if Beacons was only ever a list of links
Just linksWhy switch to Linktree. Plenty of Beacons pages never sold a thing: they show five links. For that, Linktree is simpler, more familiar to your followers, and its free plan gives you unlimited links. A Linktree page takes ten minutes to set up.
Who it's for. Anyone who wants a clean link page with no store, no media kit and no email.
Who it's not for. Anyone who wants their own domain: Linktree doesn't support custom domains. Paid plans only offer a redirect.
The catch. Paid plans (Starter, Pro, Premium) are billed monthly or yearly, with a yearly discount, and the price depends on your country: Linktree shows it in local currency. Removing the Linktree logo takes Premium. Its selling fees aren't spelled out on the pricing page, so check them in your account before you sell there.
How to move. Copy your links in order of their Beacons clicks and put the money link first. Our guide to switching from Linktree shows what leaving it will take one day; the cheapest insurance is a URL on a domain you own.
- Free plan
- unlimited links
- Paid
- monthly or yearly, price by country
- Custom domain
- not supported
- Catch
- not built to sell
Campsite.bio: a link page on your own domain for $7
Your domain, cheapWhy switch to Campsite.bio. The domain is Beacons' biggest trap: buy it there and it stays theirs. Campsite.bio connects a domain you own from its $7-a-month Pro plan. You buy the domain at a registrar, it's yours, and you can take it anywhere.
Who it's for. Anyone who wants a polished link page on their own URL without a full store.
Who it's not for. Heavy sellers: Campsite.bio handles tips and requests, not a product store.
The catch. Free keeps only 14 days of analytics. Pro keeps 60 days, Pro+ ($24 a month) keeps everything. Its selling fee shows 0% "for a limited time", so keep an eye on it.
How to move. Use the 10-day trial to build the page and connect the domain before you pay. Copy your links, add a signup form (Pro and up) to replace Beacons email capture, then update your bios.
- Free plan
- yes, 14 days of stats
- Paid
- Pro $7/mo
- Custom domain
- yours, from Pro
- Catch
- no real store
Carrd: a real one-page site for $19 a year
CheapestWhy switch to Carrd. Carrd builds fast one-column pages that look like a small website rather than a stack of buttons. With your own domain, it costs $19 a year (Pro Standard), under $2 a month.
Who it's for. Anyone who wants a page that looks like them, on their domain, for almost nothing, and doesn't mind building it block by block.
Who it's not for. Anyone who wants to sell without thinking: Carrd has no native store. Add a button to Stan, Payhip or Gumroad.
The catch. Layout takes longer than a link page. Pro Lite ($9 a year) removes Carrd branding but can't connect a domain: get Pro Standard for that.
How to move. The 7-day Pro trial needs no card. Build the page, connect your domain, add a form wired to your email tool, and link out to your store. A Carrd page can become the fixed URL in your bio: swap sales tools behind it later without touching a single bio.
- Free plan
- 3 sites, Carrd branding
- Paid
- Pro Standard $19/yr
- Custom domain
- from Pro Standard
- Catch
- no native selling
The 8 alternatives at a glance
Our default picks: Stan if you already sell, Campsite.bio or Carrd if your own domain is what you're after. For scale, take $500 a month in digital sales: Beacons Free takes $45, Payhip Free $25, Stan Creator a flat $29, Komi Pro a flat $16, Systeme.io Free nothing. Stripe or PayPal fees come on top everywhere. One row per tool: free plan on the left, first paid price and how to move on the right.
| Free plan | First paid plan and migration | |
|---|---|---|
| BeaconsWhere you start | Free at 9% per sale, 50 emails/mo | Creator $10 (9%), Creator Plus $30 (0%) |
| StanTo sell | No free plan, 14-day trial | Creator $29/mo, 0%; rebuild products |
| KomiBrand deals | Free, no email sends | Pro $16/mo, 0% on digital |
| Systeme.io0% everywhere | 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, 0% | Startup $17/mo; CSV contact import |
| KitNewsletter | Up to 10,000 subscribers | Creator $390/yr; CSV import with tag |
| PayhipTaxes handled | Free at 5% per sale | Plus $29 (2%), Pro $99 (0%) |
| LinktreeJust links | Unlimited links | Free; paid monthly or yearly, price by country; no domain |
| Campsite.bioYour domain | Free, 14 days of stats | Pro $7/mo with your domain |
| CarrdCheapest | 3 sites, Carrd branding | Pro Standard $19/yr with domain |
Entry prices before tax, subject to change. Always run the numbers on your real sales volume.
Leave Beacons in eight steps
Order matters. Each step protects something: your contacts, your sales, your URL, your pending commissions. Plan three days of small work sessions, then a month of watching before you cancel.
Inventory your Beacons page
Day 1Write down everything on your page: each link and its click count, each product with its file and price, your forms, your media kit, your Smart Reply keywords and replies, and your paying members. One screenshot per block is enough.
Then list every place your beacons.ai URL lives: Instagram, TikTok and YouTube bios, your email signature, printed QR codes. That's your checklist for switch day.
- Time
- about an hour
- Risk if rushed
- a link pointing to a dead page
Export your audience to CSV
Day 1In Beacons, open Audience and click the grey download icon under the blue "Import Audience Members" button. You get a CSV file. Automatic exports to Mailchimp or Zapier are paid features, so use them now if you still pay.
Store the file outside Beacons. It's the only part of your page you can carry over as is.
- Format
- CSV
- Where
- Audience, download icon
Back up your products and history
Day 1Products don't export between tools. Download every file you sell and copy every sales page and price. The good news: on Beacons, sales money lands in your own Stripe or PayPal account in real time, so there's no store balance to withdraw, and your payment history stays in Stripe or PayPal.
Brand affiliate commissions are different. They sit in pending for 30 to 90 days depending on the brand and pay out through PayPal only. Wait for them to clear before you delete anything.
- Sales
- already in your Stripe or PayPal
- Affiliate
- 30 to 90 days pending
Sort out the domain
Day 2Two cases. If your domain came from a registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, Cloudflare…), it's yours: you'll only change its DNS on switch day. If you bought it through Beacons, it stays the property of Beacons AI Inc., with no DNS access. Getting it back means asking support for the transfer service, a one-time $70 fee.
If that domain isn't widely known yet, a fresh one at a registrar ($10 to $15 a year depending on the extension) is often cheaper than the transfer. Register it in your own name.
- Beacons transfer
- $70, via support
- New domain
- $10 to $15 a year
Rebuild the page and run a test purchase
Days 2 to 3Build the new page with your links ordered by clicks. Recreate each product, connect payments, then buy your cheapest product yourself, end to end: payment, confirmation email, download.
Then open the page inside the Instagram and TikTok apps on a phone. That's where your followers will see it, not on your laptop.
- Check
- one full purchase
- Beacons
- still live at this point
Turn off Smart Reply, then connect the new auto-DM
Day 3If two auto-reply tools listen to the same Instagram account, followers get two DMs or replies that contradict each other. Disable Smart Reply on Beacons, then enable your destination's version (AutoDM on Stan, or a dedicated tool like ManyChat) with the same keywords.
Test it from a second account: comment the keyword under your latest post and check that the DM arrives with the right link.
- Rule
- one auto-DM live at a time
- Test
- a comment from another account
Update bios and QR codes, then tell your list
Day 3Change every bio within the same hour, working from your inventory. Leave the Beacons page live with a single link at the top to your new URL, so old QR codes and links in past posts keep working.
Email your audience about the new page. If you had paying members on Beacons, invite them to the new offer before you cancel them: Beacons cancels memberships one order at a time from the sales page.
- Time
- 30 minutes
- Old page
- one link to the new one
Cancel, wait, then delete
After 30 daysAfter a month, compare clicks on the new page with the old one. Then cancel: Settings, Account Settings, Billing, "Manage", then "Cancel". Your account drops back to Free.
You can only delete the account from Free, at the bottom of Account Settings. Delete once affiliate commissions have paid, the domain has moved and your files are backed up.
- Where
- Account Settings, Billing
- Delete
- only from Free
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
What makes a Beacons exit go wrong
The same mistakes come up creator after creator. None of them is technical. They're oversights, and each one costs more than the ten minutes it would have taken to avoid.
Deleting the account too soon
Deleting wipes the page, the files and access to pending commissions. Cancel first, keep the free account for at least a month, then delete.
Forgetting the domain isn't yours
If your domain came from Beacons, your new page can't use it without the $70 transfer. Decide before you touch your bios: transfer it, or register a new one in your name.
Letting two auto-DM tools fight
Smart Reply still on and a new tool connected at the same time: followers get two DMs, or none. Turn one off before you turn the other on.
Importing everyone as subscribers
The CSV can mix buyers and signups. Only add people who agreed to your newsletter, and keep the rest as customers.
Cancelling members before inviting them
On Beacons, each member subscription is cancelled by hand. Cancel too early and some will never resubscribe. Open the new offer, tell them, then cancel.
Switching bios with no bridge
Old posts, videos and QR codes keep the old URL. Leave the Beacons page live with one link to the new page, at least until its clicks drop to almost nothing.
- Inventory of links, products, forms, Smart Reply and members
- Audience exported to CSV and stored outside Beacons
- Every product file and sales page backed up
- Domain decision made: $70 transfer or a new domain in your name
- New page checked on a phone, with a full purchase
- Smart Reply off before the new auto-DM goes on
- Bios and QR codes updated in the same hour
- Members invited to the new offer before cancellation
- Affiliate commissions paid out before deleting the account
Beacons alternatives: common questions
What's the best free Beacons alternative?
It depends on what you used Beacons for. To sell with no subscription, Payhip Free takes 5% per sale instead of 9%. For links only, Linktree and Campsite.bio are free. For an email list, Kit is free up to 10,000 subscribers. For funnels and courses at 0%, Systeme.io Free keeps 2,000 contacts. Weighing Gumroad too? Read our guide to switching from Gumroad. Weighing Gumroad too? Read our guide to switching from Gumroad. Our link-in-bio ranking compares them all.
Does Beacons really take 9% of every sale?
Yes, on Free and Creator. Creator at $10 a month keeps the 9% (except on invoices, at 0%). You need Creator Plus at $30 a month to get 0%. Payment fees apply on every plan: 2.9% + $0.30 on Stripe, 3.49% plus a fixed fee on PayPal.
Beacons or Linktree: which should I pick?
Linktree if you only want links, simply, with no selling. Beacons if you want a store, a media kit and some email on a free plan. The tiebreaker people miss: neither lets you leave easily with your URL. Linktree doesn't support custom domains, and a domain bought through Beacons belongs to Beacons.
Is Stan Store better than Beacons for selling?
Below roughly $322 in monthly sales, Beacons Free costs less than Stan, since 9% of your sales stays under Stan Creator's $29. Above it, compare Stan with Beacons Creator Plus: $300 a year each, 0% each, but email is included on Beacons and only on Creator Pro ($99 a month) at Stan. Stan's own trade-offs, and how to leave it later, are in our guide to switching from Stan Store.
How do I get my domain back from Beacons?
Email Beacons support and ask for the domain transfer service, a one-time $70 fee. Until the transfer is done, the domain belongs to Beacons AI Inc. and you have no DNS access. Domains bought through Beacons aren't refundable.
Do I still need a media kit after leaving Beacons?
If brands pay you, yes, and it won't transfer. Screenshot each section (audience, stats, past brands, rates) before you go. Komi has a brand-deals area on its free plan; otherwise a page on your new tool or a one-page PDF works, as long as you refresh the numbers every quarter.
Can I move my Beacons page to another tool automatically?
No. Beacons' help center only documents one export: your audience, as a CSV. Everything else (links, products, sales pages, Smart Reply keywords) gets rebuilt by hand. For a page with ten links and three products, plan on an afternoon.
Will I lose money if I delete my Beacons account?
Not your sales: those already sit in your Stripe or PayPal. The risk is brand affiliate commissions, which stay pending for 30 to 90 days depending on the brand. Wait for them to pay, transfer your domain if you want it, then delete from the Free plan.
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