Beacons is great if you want one AI-assisted dashboard that does a bit of everything: a link-in-bio page, a digital storefront, email marketing, a media kit for brand deals. It's less great when you need any one of those things to be excellent — and it has no answer at all for the creators whose most valuable product isn't a download or a newsletter, but a live conversation.
That's the honest frame for this list. Some readers want a better all-in-one (see Linktree, below). Some want a better store (Stan Store). And some have noticed the pattern in their DMs — people don't want another PDF, they want to talk to you — and need a tool that monetizes time. That's where we start.
How we ranked these
By what each tool monetizes, by published fees as of 2026 (all numbers below are published rates at the time of writing — verify before you commit), and by honesty about gaps. Ours first: Cheddify has no content hosting, no digital products, no email marketing, no media kit, no community features, and no discovery. It does one thing Beacons can't do at all.
1. Cheddify — best for selling live access from the same bio link
Cheddify is a link-in-bio tool in the literal sense — one link, one page — but the page sells live access to you instead of products: per-minute video and audio calls, booked-ahead sessions, and paid DMs. Buyers pay as guests in the browser with no account; you take calls on the iOS or Android app with a live billing meter; payouts run through Stripe.
Why it's first: it's the only entry here that owns the call itself — payment, video, metering, and payout in one system, not a checkout page handing off to Zoom. It's free to claim, so there's no monthly fee competing with a 9% cut for the worst of both worlds. Pricing is flat and published: 20% + $2 per paid call, with roughly 3% processing billed to the buyer on top — you keep 80% of the billed amount minus $2 per call. Paid DMs net you roughly 77% after the 20% and card fees.
Why it might not be for you: if your revenue is presets, ebooks, brand deals, and email flows, Cheddify does none of that. It monetizes attention, not assets. Start with how it works.
A worked example
You set a $3/minute rate and take a 20-minute call: $60 billed. The buyer pays about $61.80 (processing is added on their side). You keep 80% of $60 minus $2: $60 − $12 − $2 = $46, about 77% of the billed amount. Compare that with selling a $60 product on Beacons' Free plan, where the published 9% fee takes $5.40 plus processing — cheaper per sale, sure, but a product sale and a personal call are not the same product, and buyers price them differently.
2. Beacons — still the best if you want everything in one dashboard
The incumbent, fairly stated: Beacons is still the best choice if you genuinely use the bundle — link page, store, email list, media kit — and want them under one login at a low entry price. As of 2026, published plans are Free, $10/month (Creator Pro), $30/month (Store Pro), and $90/month (Business Pro), with a published 9% transaction fee on the Free and $10 tiers that drops to 0% at $30/month and up, plus standard Stripe processing on every sale. The trade-off is the classic bundle problem: each piece is a lighter version of a dedicated tool, and the 9% fee on lower tiers punishes exactly the creators the free plan attracts. Nothing in the bundle handles live calls.
3. Linktree — still the biggest name in link-in-bio
If what you mostly need is the link page itself, Linktree remains the default. As of 2026, published plans run Free, $8, $15, and $35 per month, with a commerce fee on sales that starts around 12% on Free, drops to 9% on mid tiers, and reaches 0% on the $35 Premium plan. It's polished and universal, but selling through it gets expensive below the top tier, and it monetizes clicks-to-products, not conversation. Full breakdown at Linktree alternatives for creators.
4. Stan Store — best dedicated storefront if you outgrow the bundle
Stan Store is what Beacons' store tab wants to be when it grows up: a focused link-in-bio storefront for digital products, coaching, and courses at a published $29/month (Creator) or $99/month (Creator Pro) with zero platform transaction fees — just Stripe processing. If you're selling real volume, flat beats percentage fast. It still doesn't own calls; booked sessions hand off to scheduling and meeting links. See Stan Store alternatives.
5. Ko-fi — best cheap-and-cheerful support page
Ko-fi's published rates as of 2026 — 0% platform fee on tips, 5% on shop, membership, and commission sales, with a $12/month Gold plan that removes platform fees — make it the lowest-cost way to accept support money and sell a few things. It's a support page, not a business hub: no email marketing, no media kit, nothing live. See Ko-fi alternatives.
6. Whop — best if your product line is communities or software
Whop is the heavyweight storefront: digital products, paid Discord and Telegram access, software licenses, with published pricing as of 2026 around a 3% platform fee plus ~2.7% + $0.30 processing (add-ons can stack toward 6–7% all-in). Overkill for a typical Beacons user, right-sized if your product is a community or a tool. See Whop alternatives.
Comparison table
| Platform | What it monetizes | Published fees (as of 2026) | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheddify | Live time: per-minute calls, sessions, paid DMs | 20% + $2 per paid call (buyer pays ~3% processing) | $0 |
| Beacons | Links, store, email, media kit | 9% on Free/$10 tiers; 0% at $30+, plus Stripe | $0–$90 |
| Linktree | Links, light commerce | ~12% Free / 9% mid tiers / 0% Premium | $0–$35 |
| Stan Store | Digital products, coaching | 0% platform + Stripe processing | $29–$99 |
| Ko-fi | Tips, shop, memberships, commissions | 0% tips / 5% sales; Gold removes fees | $0 or $12 |
| Whop | Products, communities, software | ~3% platform + processing | $0 |
Pair it, don't force it
Here's the part comparison pages usually skip: Cheddify doesn't replace Beacons for most creators. If Beacons runs your store and email, keep it — and put your Cheddify link alongside, for the slice of your audience that wants real access instead of another download. That slice is small, but it pays more per person than anything else on your page, and price filters your flooded inbox down to the people who are serious. If you're weighing which single link deserves the bio slot, read best link-in-bio for monetization; if paid DMs are the draw, start with how to get paid for DMs.
One practical note on the math of pairing: a bundle fee is a tax on everything you sell, while Cheddify's per-call fee only ever touches calls. Adding the link costs nothing monthly and cannibalizes nothing — the worst case is a button nobody taps, and the best case is a new top tier of revenue your store never had.
Bottom line
Choose Linktree for the cleanest link page, Stan Store for the strongest store, Ko-fi for the cheapest support jar, Whop for communities — and stay on Beacons if you truly use the whole bundle. Add Cheddify, free to claim, when your audience starts asking for the one thing no bundle sells: your time.