Beacons vs Stan Store (2026): Which Fits Creator-Sellers?
Marcel CruzBeacons vs Stan Store, direct answer: Beacons wins if you want a Linktree-shaped bio page with digital-product sales bolted on and a free tier to start from. Stan Store wins if you need a real storefront for courses, coaching, or a product line and can absorb $29 to $99 a month. The exact plan names, fees, and features are below, because most competing reviews still get them wrong.
Which is better, Beacons or Stan Store?
Depends on what you actually sell and how far you are from your first sale. Match yourself to a row:
| Persona | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Digital-product seller (courses, ebooks) at scale | Stan Store Creator Pro | 0% platform fee, native funnels, upsells, affiliates |
| Beginner selling one product | Beacons Free or Creator | Free tier exists; Stan has no free plan |
| Creator monetizing across many small products | Beacons | Free tier plus 9% seller fee vs Stan's $29/mo floor |
| Service or coaching seller | Stan Store Creator | Bookings, AutoDM, and lead capture built in |
| Creator who just wants a Linktree replacement | Neither, see the third-way section | Bio-link tools do this cheaper |
Both are commerce products with a bio-link surface bolted on. Neither is optimized for creators who just want a clean link page.
How much does each platform cost in 2026?
Live-verified plan tables. Old reviews still cite deprecated names for Beacons and mystery tiers for Stan; ignore anything that names "Creator Pro", "Store Pro", or "Business Pro" for Beacons, or "Basic" / "Premium" for Stan.
Stan Store, two plans:
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Key features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creator | $29 | $25/mo ($300/yr) | Storefront, digital products, courses, bookings, AutoDM, basic lead capture |
| Creator Pro | $99 | $79/mo ($948/yr) | Everything in Creator plus email marketing, funnels, upsells, affiliates, pixel tracking |
No free plan. 14-day free trial on both.
Beacons, four plans:
| Plan | Monthly | Transaction fee | Key features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 9% on sales | Store, media kit, invoicing, 250 email sends/mo |
| Creator | $10 (~$8.33 annual) | 9% on sales | Custom domain (1yr free), branding removal, AI tools, SEO, 500 email sends/mo |
| Creator Plus | $30 | 0% | Unlimited emails, segmentation, exclusive content and courses |
| Creator Max | $90 | 0% | Unlimited AI, Google Workspace, NFC card, white-glove support |
Two products, four price points on one side, two on the other. The apples-to-apples row is Stan Creator at $29/mo vs Beacons Creator Plus at $30/mo, because those are the tiers where both platforms drop the platform fee to zero.
What are the real transaction fees on each?
This is where most third-party roundups fumble the numbers.
Stan Store charges 0% platform fee on both plans. You pay Stripe or PayPal processing (roughly 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction) and nothing else to Stan. Any reviewer claiming Stan takes 5%, 8%, or 10% is running on outdated or invented information; the live plan pages confirm 0% on Creator and Creator Pro.
Beacons charges a 9% seller fee on Free and Creator. That's on top of Stripe processing. The 0% platform tier starts at Creator Plus ($30/mo). So on the entry paid tier ($10/mo), you still lose 9% of every sale to Beacons.
The tier-crossover math matters if you're weighing Beacons Creator vs Creator Plus:
- Under about $300 a month in sales, Creator ($10/mo + 9%) is cheaper than Creator Plus ($30/mo + 0%).
- Above $300 a month, Creator Plus wins on total take-home.
At Creator Plus ($30/mo, 0% fee) you're paying almost exactly what Stan Creator costs ($29/mo, 0% fee). The comparison stops being "which is cheaper" and starts being "which platform has the features you need at that price point".
Feature parity: what each does that the other doesn't
Same-tier comparison, using Beacons Creator Plus and Stan Creator (both roughly $30/mo, both 0% fee):
| Feature | Stan Store | Beacons |
|---|---|---|
| Native storefront | Yes | Yes |
| Course hosting | Yes (Creator+) | Yes (Creator Plus+) |
| Booking / calendar | Yes | Yes (Creator+) |
| Email marketing | Yes (Creator Pro) | Yes (Creator+) |
| Funnels and upsells | Yes (Creator Pro) | No |
| Affiliate program | Yes (Creator Pro) | No |
| Custom domain | No (help center article 151) | Yes (Creator+, 1yr free) |
| AI content tools | No | Yes (Creator+) |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Multi-client / agency mode | No | No |
The two consequential structural differences:
- Custom domain vs free plan swap. Beacons lets you start free and grow into a real domain at $10/mo. Stan gates you at $29/mo but never gives you a custom domain, on any plan. Every Stan visitor lands on
stan.store/yourname, forever. - Funnels vs bio-page depth. Stan Creator Pro ($99/mo) is the only tier on either platform with native funnels, upsells, and an affiliate program. Beacons has none of that at any price. If you need conversion mechanics beyond a single-page store, Beacons stops being a serious option once you outgrow the basics.
What are the disadvantages of Beacons?
- 9% seller fee on Free and Creator adds up fast on volume. A $2,000/mo digital-product creator on Creator loses $180/mo to the platform fee alone, on top of the $10 subscription.
- Trust-crisis history. Creators have been asking whether the platform is legit since March 2026, driven by pricing changes and support issues (background in the Beacons trust piece).
- AI upsells feel heavy. Some creators report the in-product AI prompts push toward Creator Max more than they'd like.
- No native funnels, upsells, or affiliates at any tier. This is the biggest gap vs Stan Creator Pro.
What are the disadvantages of Stan Store?
- $29/mo minimum floor. No free plan, only a 14-day trial. Beginners with no sales yet feel the burn.
- No custom domain on any plan (Stan help center article 151). URL forwarding is the workaround, but visitors still see
stan.store/yournamein the address bar after the redirect. - Feature depth means a learning curve. Creators who "just want a bio page" find Stan overkill and quit setup halfway.
- Creator Pro at $99/mo is a significant jump. Most single-product creators don't need affiliates, funnels, and advanced email; they end up paying for shelf space.
When is neither Beacons nor Stan Store the right answer?
Two triggers say "look at a lighter tool" instead:
- You mostly want a link-in-bio page, and commerce is a nice-to-have. Stan and Beacons are both commerce-first products with a bio-link surface bolted on. If you sell one thing a month, a bio-link tool plus a Stripe payment link inside a link block does the same job with far less overhead.
- You want a custom domain from day one at a low price point. Stan doesn't offer custom domains at all. Beacons Creator ($10/mo) does, but if you're layering a bio page plus commerce plus email plus affiliate, tool consolidation is probably a bigger conversation than picking between these two.
Where Linkero fits: Linkero is a bio-link tool with Stripe and booking-link block support, not a full storefront. 0% platform fees on all plans, custom domain on Pro, no AI training on user content, EU-operated. Pricing is on /pricing. For the direct Stan-vs-Linkero angle, see Stan Store vs Linkero. For the pure Beacons-vs-Linktree comparison (relevant if the reason you're shopping is the July 5, 2026 Linktree rollout), see Beacons vs Linktree. Context on why so many creators are shopping right now is in the Linktree Privacy Notice explainer.
Is Beacons good for selling digital products?
Yes, with two caveats: the 9% seller fee on Free and Creator makes it painful above ~$300/mo in sales unless you move to Creator Plus ($30/mo, 0% fee), and there's no native funnel, upsell, or affiliate layer. For a first product on a small audience, Beacons is fine. For a real course business at scale, Stan Creator Pro's mechanics start pulling ahead despite the higher subscription.
Bottom line
For a first-time creator not sure how much they'll sell yet, Beacons Free graduating to Creator ($10/mo) is the ramp with the lowest floor. For a creator already selling courses, coaching, or a real product line, Stan Store Creator ($29/mo) or Creator Pro ($99/mo) earns its price in features and 0% fees. And if commerce is really a nice-to-have and you mostly want a professional bio page, neither one is the answer; a lighter bio-link tool is.
FAQ
Does Beacons or Stan Store have a free plan?
Beacons has a Free plan ($0/mo, 9% seller fee on any sales). Stan Store does not; it offers a 14-day free trial on both Creator ($29/mo) and Creator Pro ($99/mo), then bills you.
Which is cheaper for beginners, Beacons or Stan Store?
Beacons. You can start on Free ($0) and only pay the 9% fee when you actually make a sale. Stan Store's cheapest plan is $29/mo (or $25/mo billed annually) before you sell anything.
Can you use a custom domain with Beacons or Stan Store?
Beacons yes (Creator plan and up, 1 year free included). Stan Store no, on any plan; per Stan's help center, only URL forwarding is supported, and the visible URL remains stan.store/yourname.
Is Stan Store worth $29 a month?
If you're actively selling digital products, courses, or coaching services, yes. Stan's 0% platform fee pays the subscription back for anyone doing roughly $300 a month in sales or more (vs Beacons Creator's 9% fee), and the storefront, bookings, and AutoDM are built in. If you're not selling yet or you sell one product a month, Beacons Free or a lighter bio-link tool is the more honest fit.
Does Beacons or Stan Store rank the highest for creator earnings?
Neither publishes official average-creator-earnings data. On feature depth for high-volume digital-product businesses (funnels, upsells, affiliates, email), Stan Store Creator Pro is the more capable tool. On low-floor pricing and multi-tool bundling for early creators, Beacons has the lower entry barrier.
