This Beacons AI store review is based on Beacons' published plans and help pages, not hands-on sales data. The free plan lets you sell digital products with a 9% transaction fee, which costs less than Stan Store's $29 Creator plan until you sell roughly $322 a month. Above that, Creator Plus at $30 with 0% fees and Stan at $29 cost about the same, and features decide.
Our Beacons AI store review verdict: Beacons is the cheapest way to start selling digital products from a link in bio, because its free plan includes the store with a 9% transaction fee and no monthly charge. Once you sell more than about $322 a month, that 9% costs more than a flat plan, and Creator Plus ($30 a month, 0% fee) or Stan Store ($29 a month, 0% fee) becomes the better deal.
How this review was made: it is based on Beacons' published plans and help pages and on Stan Store's official pricing pages, checked October 2026. It is not based on hands-on sales data, conversion rates or a paid test store. Sources: Beacons pricing page, Pricing Plans, Transaction Fees and Store Overview; Stan Creator vs Creator Pro and transaction fees.
Beacons sells itself as an AI-powered creator platform: link in bio, store, email marketing, media kit and an AI assistant in one account. This review looks only at the store side, through one question: what does the free tier actually let you do, and at what point does paying for a plan, or moving to Stan, cost less? If you are still comparing every type of platform, from marketplaces to your own site, our guide to where to sell digital products in 2026 is the wider map.
Is Beacons free?
Yes. Beacons' pricing page lists a plan at $0 a month described as "free forever", and the help center's Pricing Plans article lists what it includes (checked October 2026):
- Selling products: the store app, with a 9% transaction fee.
- Link in bio: unlimited links and up to 5 Link in Bio pages, with custom colours, fonts and images.
- Media kit: a customisable media kit for brand deals.
- Email marketing: 50 email sends a month.
So "free" is accurate for the subscription, not for the sale. Beacons takes its share per order instead of per month. For a creator testing a first product, that is the right trade: you pay nothing until something sells.
- A store block on your link in bio page
- Paid and $0 digital products
- Direct product links you can share anywhere
- Checkout through your own Stripe or PayPal account
- 50 email sends a month to people who sign up
- A 9% Beacons fee on each sale, plus processing
Beacons store fees by plan
The fee depends only on your plan. Beacons' Transaction Fees article splits it in two: 9% on the Free and Creator plans, 0% on Creator Plus and Creator Max (checked October 2026).
| Plan | Price | Beacons fee | Email sends | Store-relevant extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 9% | 50 sends a month | Store app, unlimited links, media kit, 5 Link in Bio pages |
| Creator | $10 a month or $100 a year | 9% (invoices 0%) | 500 sends a month | Custom domain, email automations, AI brand outreach |
| Creator Plus | $30 a month or $300 a year | 0% | Unlimited | Memberships and courses, order bumps, buy now pay later, logo removal |
| Creator Max | $90 a month or $900 a year | 0% | Unlimited | Google Workspace, NFC card, white glove support |
Source: Beacons Pricing Plans and Transaction Fees help articles and pricing page, checked October 2026. The pricing page shows Creator Max at $75 a month when billed $900 a year. Beacons' help pages call the $10 plan both "Creator" and "Creator Pro"; the price and fee are the same.
Processing is separate. The same article quotes Stripe at 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction and PayPal at 3.49% plus a fixed fee that depends on currency. Those are the processors' rates, not Beacons', and they apply on every plan. Beacons' store fees article shows where to see both lines on each order: Sales, then View, then the Payment tab.
Beacons digital products: what you can sell
Beacons' Store Overview lists ebooks, PDFs, videos, online courses, music and audio, digital prints, images and .zip files. You can also list $0 items, which work as lead magnets: a free checklist that collects an email and leads to a paid product. Each product gets a direct link, so you can send buyers to the product from a post or DM instead of the whole page.
Two store features sit behind Creator Plus, according to the Pricing Plans article: memberships and multi-module courses, and order bumps with custom product URLs. If your plan is a course or a recurring membership, the free plan is a trial run rather than a home. For the product itself, our guide to lead magnet ideas covers $0 products that lead somewhere.
How you get paid
Beacons does not hold your sales money. Its payments setup article has you connect Stripe (cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay) and PayPal, and its payout article says funds from direct sales go to your connected Stripe or PayPal account when the sale happens (checked October 2026). Your bank payout schedule is whatever Stripe or PayPal is set to. That also means Beacons is not acting as a merchant of record, so sales tax and VAT on digital products stay your responsibility. Our Gumroad vs Lemon Squeezy comparison explains the merchant-of-record alternative.
Beacons vs Stan Store: when Beacons wins
Stan Store has no free store. Its Creator vs Creator Pro article lists two plans: Creator at $29 a month or $300 a year, and Creator Pro at $99 a month or $948 a year. Its fees article says Stan takes a 0% transaction fee on both, with Stripe and PayPal processing on top (checked October 2026). Stan's help center also mentions a 14-day free trial on either plan.
That makes the comparison simple arithmetic. Beacons Free costs 9% of sales; Stan Creator costs $29 flat. The two meet where 9% of monthly sales equals $29, which is about $322 a month.
| Monthly sales | Beacons Free (9%) | Beacons Creator Plus | Stan Creator |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100 | $9 | $30 | $29 |
| $300 | $27 | $30 | $29 |
| $500 | $45 | $30 | $29 |
| $1,000 | $90 | $30 | $29 |
Approximate platform cost per month in USD at monthly billing. Annual billing lowers the flat plans: Beacons Creator Plus $300 a year, Stan Creator $300 a year.
Below roughly $322 a month in sales, Beacons Free is cheaper than Stan, and for sellers under $100 a month it is cheaper by a wide margin. Above that line, the money is a wash between Beacons Creator Plus and Stan Creator, and you should choose on features: Stan bundles a calendar and booking, a course builder and AutoDM on its $29 plan, while Beacons Creator Plus bundles unlimited email sends, order bumps and buy now pay later. Stan lists discount codes, Afterpay and Klarna on Creator Pro.
- You are selling under about $322 a month
- You want to test a product with no subscription
- You want email sends and a media kit in the same tool
- You plan to give away $0 lead magnets first
- You already sell over about $322 a month
- You want booking and a course builder on the base plan
- You want Instagram AutoDM in the same subscription
- You are fine paying from day one after the trial
Strengths and limits from the published terms
Reading only the plans and help pages, the strengths are clear. The free store has no monthly cost, products can be $0, payouts go straight to your own Stripe or PayPal, and one account covers link in bio, email and a media kit. For a creator who mostly does brand deals and wants to add a product, that bundle is the appeal.
The limits are just as clear. The 9% fee is high next to flat-fee storefronts once sales grow. The $10 plan does not lower it. Courses and memberships need Creator Plus. Fifty email sends a month on the free plan is enough to test a welcome email, not to run a newsletter. And because you are the seller, tax handling is on you. For flat-fee and percentage platforms beyond the link-in-bio tools, see our Sellfy vs Gumroad comparison, and if you want a Shopify store instead, our guide to the Shopify digital downloads app options covers delivery costs.
- 01Start on Free
List one product and a $0 lead magnet; pay 9% only when you sell.
- 02Track monthly sales
Check the Beacons fee line on each order in Sales.
- 03Pass about $322 a month
The 9% fee now costs more than a $29 to $30 flat plan.
- 04Move to a 0% plan
Beacons Creator Plus or Stan Creator; choose on features.
Whatever the storefront, the product decides the outcome more than the fee does. Our Digital Products program covers choosing, building, pricing and launching a product, which is the part no link-in-bio tool does for you.
Who the Beacons store suits, and who it does not
From running creator accounts at agency scale, the pattern with link-in-bio stores is consistent: the tool rarely limits a first product, the audience and the offer do. That makes the cheapest credible starting point the right one, and on published prices that is the Beacons free plan for most first-time sellers.
- Good fit: creators with a following who want to test one ebook, template or preset pack without a subscription, and who already use Beacons for links or a media kit.
- Good fit: creators who mostly earn from brand deals and want a small product shelf beside the media kit.
- Weaker fit: sellers who already make steady sales every month, where a 0% plan costs less than 9%.
- Weaker fit: course and membership sellers on the free plan, since those features sit on Creator Plus.
- Weaker fit: sellers who want the platform to handle sales tax for them; Beacons pays out through your own Stripe or PayPal.
Before you commit, write down three numbers: what you expect to sell in an average month, which features you need on day one, and whether you will run email from the same tool. Those three answers pick the plan more reliably than any feature list. If the expected monthly sales figure is a guess, start free and let the fee line on your real orders tell you when to move.
Other options worth a look
If neither link-in-bio store fits, the main alternatives are marketplaces and standalone storefronts. Marketplaces bring search traffic in exchange for listing and transaction fees; our Payhip vs Etsy comparison lays out that trade. Standalone storefronts like Gumroad, Payhip or Sellfy work with any link-in-bio page, including a free Beacons page used only for links.
Beacons store: FAQ
Is Beacons free to sell digital products?
Yes. Beacons' pricing page lists a Free plan at $0 a month, and its help center says the free plan can use the store app to sell products with a 9% transaction fee on sales. Stripe or PayPal processing fees apply on top. The free plan also includes unlimited links, a media kit and 50 email sends a month. Checked October 2026.
What are Beacons store fees?
Beacons' help center lists a 9% transaction fee on the Free and $10 a month Creator plans, and 0% on Creator Plus ($30 a month) and Creator Max ($90 a month). Payment processors charge separately: the help center quotes Stripe at 2.9% plus 30 cents and PayPal at 3.49% plus a fixed fee by currency. Rates can differ by country. Checked October 2026.
Is Beacons cheaper than Stan Store?
On published prices, Beacons Free is cheaper than Stan Store's $29 Creator plan until the 9% fee passes $29 a month, which happens at roughly $322 in monthly sales. Above that, Beacons Creator Plus at $30 a month and Stan Creator at $29 a month both charge 0% platform fees, so the gap is about a dollar a month before features. Checked October 2026.
What digital products can you sell on Beacons?
Beacons' Store Overview help page lists ebooks, PDFs, videos, online courses, music and audio, digital prints, images and .zip files, and says you can add $0 items to give away. Memberships and multi-module courses are listed as Creator Plus features. Physical products are possible with extra checkout settings to collect the buyer's address. Checked October 2026.
Is the Beacons Creator plan worth it for selling?
For store sales alone, the $10 Creator plan keeps the same 9% transaction fee as the free plan, according to Beacons' help center. You pay for a custom domain, email automations and 500 email sends instead. If selling is your main goal, compare the free plan with Creator Plus, which drops the fee to 0% at $30 a month. Checked October 2026.
How do Beacons payouts work?
Beacons' help center says store payments are processed by Stripe or PayPal, which you connect in your account settings, and that funds from direct sales go to your connected Stripe or PayPal account at the time of the sale. From there, the payout schedule to your bank is set by Stripe or PayPal. Affiliate commissions are paid through PayPal. Checked October 2026.
The store is the easy part. Build the product that sells.
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