Stan Store vs Beacons: Features, Pricing & Which One Is Best for You

The main difference between Stan Store and Beacons.ai lies in their main purpose and features. As link in bio tools, Stan Store is focused on helping creators monetize through digital products, bookings, and email list growth, while Beacons.ai emphasizes customizable link-in-bio pages with tools for affiliate marketing and content monetization. 

Both of these all-in-one platforms offer helpful features for creators and businesses to build their brand, sell products, and leverage email marketing to connect to their audiences while unlocking new revenue streams. 

As an e-commerce marketplace for influencers, Stan Store works best for creating an intuitive and organized link-in-bio storefront to sell digital products. In contrast, Beacons works best as a feature packed, fully customizable creator hub equipped with AI-powered tools. So, which one should you choose?

In this article, we will explore the key differences between Stan Store and Beacons, comparing features, pricing, pros, cons, free tools, and more, to help you make an informed decision when choosing which platform aligns best with your goals.

‍

Core Attributes of Link-in-Bio Platforms: Key Comparison Factors

Link-in-bio tools share common features that make their platforms an intuitive and lucrative solution for their users. Their core attributes include:

• Link Management: As-link-in bio tools, link management often includes offering unlimited links, folder or category options for link organization, and scheduling and highlighting links.
• Customization: The ability to customize themes, colors, fonts, and backgrounds provides users a way to personalize their profile and give audiences a better understanding of who they are as a creator / brand. 
• User-friendliness & experience: User-friendly layouts have the power to improve user experience, engagement and lower bounce rates, when combined with mobile optimization.
• Monetization: By enabling multiple revenue streams like digital product or affiliate marketing sales, platforms like Stan Store and Beacons allow users to monetize their influence by providing their audiences a seamless shopping experience.
• Analytics: The understanding of your profile’s performance is key when setting objectives for your next campaign. Tools like Beacon.ai’s CRM allows managers to track creator account growth and identify top-performing content.‍
• Pricing: For just starting creators or small businesses, platforms can get pricey. A pricing comparison between plans and free tools is ideal to make informed decisions before making a purchase.

‍

Platform Comparison: Stan Store and Beacons

Common Features of Stan Store and Beacons

Ease of Use

Stan Store is known for its user-friendly interface, designed to help creators set up their store and start selling instantly without any difficulties. 

Beacons offers a similar experience than Stan Store but, providing a more feature-rich environment, its setup can take a little more time.

Customization

With Stan Store, users can personalize their storefronts with various templates, color schemes, and fonts. 

In contrast, Beacons offers more flexibility in customization, allowing users to personalize layouts from various design templates and integrate branding elements to better align their page.

Monetization

With both Stan Store and Linktree, users can make one-click purchases without leaving social media. Stan Store’s ease of use also allows creators to start selling without extensive technical knowledge, whereas Beacons offers monetization tools integrated into its link-in-bio platform.   

Email Marketing

Stan Stores’ Creator Pro plan offers an email marketing feature with unlimited contacts. 

Beacons’s free plan offers 50 email sends per month with 5 automated email sequences. Its Store Pro plan offers unlimited email sends with 20 automated email sequences. 

Integrations

Stan Store offers integrations with Mailchimp, Google Calendar, Zoom, Zapier, Flodesk, systeme.io, Kit, Drip Emails, AWeber, MailerLite, and Kajabi, as well as social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Beacons offers integrations with Google Workspace, Stripe, Microsoft Outlook, Calendly, and other apps through Zapier. 

Analytics & Reporting

Stan Store’s Creator plan offers store and product analytics including course progress analytics. Additionally its Creator Pro plan offers pixel tracking.

Beacons offers free analytics to track page visits, link clicks, audience engagement, post activity, new followers, and more.

Both Stan Store and Beacons offer a lucrative opportunity for creators ready to monetize their influence. The key is understanding which caters best to your needs. 

For a monetization-focused platform with an intuitive set up, no translation fees, and great customer support, Stan Store may be the way to go. In contrast, Beacons offers a more complex, feature-packed alternative for creators who want an all-in-one solution with enhanced marketing and engagement tools.

If you're curious how Beacons stacks up against other big players, check out our comparison of Linktree vs Beacons

‍

Key Feature Differences Between Stan Store and Beacons

Customization & Branding: Stan Store vs Beacons  

By allowing users to customize and personalize their own link page and store, Beacons enables users to showcase their brand identity seamlessly.

Stan Store focuses more on selling features, offering less customization options in design, font, and color changes.

Transaction Fees: Stan Store vs Beacons  

Stan Store does not charge transaction fees, creators get to keep 100% of every sale.

Beacons charges 9% on both free and Creator Pro plans. 

AI Integration: Stan Store vs Beacons  

With its AI integrated tools, Beacons enables users to pitch emails, invoices, product images, media kits and more. 

In contrast, Stan Store's AI capabilities are limited to offering content and topic suggestions through its chatbot, Stanley.

Digital Product Creation: Stan Store vs Beacons  

Stan Store includes an online eCourse builder where users can develop and sell courses directly. 

Beacons does not offer a native digital product builder, focusing instead on the sale of existing products.

Email Marketing: Stan Store vs Beacons  

Beacons offers email marketing tools starting from its free plan, though unlimited email sends require an upgrade to the Creator Pro plan. 

In contrast, Stan Store provides email marketing features solely in its Creator Pro plan.

Pricing Structure: Stan Store vs Beacons  

Stan Store’s pricing starts at $29/ month with the Creator plan, and goes up to $99/month with the Creator Pro plan.

Beacons is free, and its paid plans start at $10/month with the Creator Pro plan, $30/month with the Store Pro plan, and $90/month with the Business Pro plan.

Customer Support: Stan Store vs Beacons  

Stan Store’s customer support reviews are often described as helpful, friendly, responsive and fast, due to their prompt response with step-by-step guides and loom explanation videos for a better understanding and overall positive customer experience.

Although it offers a FAQs section and helpful guide articles, Beacons’s customer support is currently being described on Tustpilot as disappointing and unhelpful. 

For creators considering multiple monetization platforms, our Linktree vs Taplink article explores another useful alternative.

‍

Platform Overviews

Stan Store Overview

Stan Store is a link-in-bio, e-commerce platform designed to help creators and businesses generate revenue by creating an intuitive storefront. With Stan Store, users can sell digital products, courses, and memberships, as well as offer appointment bookings and engage in affiliate marketing. 

The platform starts at $29 per month (or $300 annually) and provides a professional, all-in-one solution for monetization strategies.

Stan Store Customer Reviews

4.5/5.0 (Trustpilot) 

Pricing and Contract Length

Pricing starts at $29/month, with a monthly commitment.

Stan Store is Best For: Sell digital products through a comprehensive link-in-bio storefront with advanced analytics.

Stan Store Key Features Known For

• Storefront for Creators: Stan Store’s e-commerce nature enables users to sell various product types directly from a link in bio, eliminating the need for redirects or complicated shopping processes. 
• Customizable Themes: To maintain their branding, users can personalize their storefront with customizable design themes that reflect their unique style. 
• Calendar Booking Integrations: This built-in scheduling tool simplifies booking services like coaching or consulting, making appointment management effortless.
• Email Flows: Automated email sequences allow users to send audiences pre-scheduled emails based on actions like purchases, enhancing community engagement.
• Affiliate Marketing: Creators can monetize their audience by sharing affiliate links for products they know and love, or by generating affiliate links for their own digital products, with control over commission rates.
• Analytics Dashboard: The platform includes a comprehensive analytics dashboard to track sales, customer behavior, and—on the Creator Pro version—pixel tracking for deeper insights.

Beacons Overview

Beacons.ai is an all-in-one, link-in-bio creator platform that allows creators to create, customize, and manage their own page to monetize their influence, grow their audience, sell digital products, and more, through AI-driven tools starting with a free plan. Its feature-packed focus provides creators a cost effective alternative to start selling digital products and manage brand partnerships all from a single link. 

Beacons Customer Reviews

3.1/5.0 (Google Play) 

Pricing and Contract Length

Free plan available. Pricing starts at $8/month, with a monthly commitment. 

Beacons is Best For: Building a comprehensive creator hub with AI-powered tools.

Beacons Key Features Known For

• Email Marketing: With Beacons.ai, creators can create and send emails to their followers directly from the platform. This tool represents building a budget-friendly and comprehensive email strategy without prior experience.
• Online Store: The platform enables creators to set up an online store to sell digital products, courses, memberships, and appointments.
• Media Kit Builder: Beacons.ai offers an AI media kit creator feature, allowing creators to present their personal brand professionally to potential brand partners. 
• AI Brand Outreach: The platform provides AI-generated email templates to optimize the pitching process, helping creators connect with brands more effectively.
• Income Dashboard: Beacons.ai includes an income dashboard that tracks creator earnings.

‍

Why Creator Hero Stands Out as an Alternative

Creator Hero Overview

As an all-in-one influencer storefront platform, Creator Hero is ideal for creators who want to monetize their influence through customized storefronts and affiliate marketing. It allows creators and influencers an easy integration of their favorite products from 55K+ brands, access complex analytics, and manage affiliate links, all in one place. 

For brands, Creator Hero provides tools to find the right influencers to partner with, create drip campaigns, access an automated CRM, AI-powered influencer outreach, and so much more to maximize sales and increase ROI.

Creator Hero is Best For: Building a customizable creator storefront. 

Key Features Known For

• Customizable Creator Storefront: Creator Hero enables users to create a fully branded storefront, allowing them to showcase and sell their products seamlessly without the need for an external website.
• CRM for Influencer Management: Creator Hero offers an advanced, automated influencer management system designed to efficiently oversee influencer relationships at scale.
• UGC Content Library: With its automated post capture feature, brands can access and download all influencer-generated content from a centralized library, making it easier to leverage UGC for increased ROI.
• Analytics and Performance Tracking: The platform includes a built-in analytics dashboard that consolidates store performance data in one place, helping creators optimize their strategies for higher profitability.

Pricing and Contract Length

Pricing starts at $19/month, with a monthly commitment.

Stan Store vs Beacons vs Creator Hero

Stan Store, Beacons, and Creator Hero are three popular platforms designed to help creators and businesses monetize their content and grow their influence.

While Stan Store’s features evolve around its streamlined e-commerce storefront focus, Beacons offers a cost effective, feature-rich link-in-bio platform with various customization options, and Creator Hero provides a comprehensive solution for influencer management and brand collaborations. Each platform caters to different creator/brand needs, making it essential to choose the one that best aligns with your monetization goals.

‍

Pros and Cons of Creator Hero Stan Store and Beacons

Pros

Cons

Creator Hero vs Stan Store vs Beacons: Pros and Cons

All three platforms offer powerful alternatives for creators and brands ready to monetize their influence. 

With its user-friendly interface and e-commerce features, Stan Store excels in providing users a comprehensive link-in-bio storefront platform, with advanced analytics, to sell digital products online. In contrast, Beacons enables extensive customization and AI-driven features to assist creators when connecting to their audience and selling as well.

Compared to Beacons, Stan Store does not charge any transaction fees, although its limited customization settings can be a disadvantage for users with a strong focus on aesthetics and branding.

Compared to Stan Store, Beacons does offer a free plan for everyone to experience the platform and its features, although its 9% transaction fees on the free and Creator Pro plan can impact a creator or brand’s income.

Compared to both, Creator Hero offers affiliate marketing opportunities, fosters influencer partnerships with 55K brands, provides automated CRM and campaign tools. However newer users may experience a slight learning curve due to its wide feature set.

‍

Free Plan Comparison: Stan Store vs Beacons vs Creator Hero

Stan Store’s pricing structure includes a Creator plan starting $29/month, and a Creator Pro plan starting $99/month. Although it does not offer a free plan like Beacons or Creator Hero, it does offer two 14-day free trials for all users wanting to test its features. 

Let’s take a look at what features the Stan Store 14-day free trials include, in comparison to those available in the Beacons and Creator Hero free plans.

The Stan Store Creator 14-day Free Trial Includes:

• Mobile Optimized
• Coaching Calls
• Course Builder
• Audience Analytics
• Instagram AutoDMs
• Webinars & Digital Products
• 1-Tap Checkout
• Lead Magnets & Email Lists
• Custom Mobile App
• 24/7 Creator Support
• Subscriptions & Memberships

The Stan Store Creator Pro 14-day Free Trial Includes:

• Everything in Creator plus:
• Email Marketing Flows
• Discount Codes & Upsell Offers
• Affiliate Links
• Pixel Tracking

The Beacons Free Plan Includes:

• Customizable Media Kit
• 9% Seller Fees on all sales
• 1 Course Sale
• Smart Reply Auto-DMs
• 50 Email Sends per month
• 5 Email Automated Sequences
• 10 AI Image and Text Generations
• Send Invoices
• Real-time Analytics and Tracking

Creator Hero Free Plan Includes:

• Store Builder
• Analytics
• Brand Directory
• Unlimited Site Licenses
• Affiliate Marketing
• AI-Powered Tools

Stan Store offers a robust 14-day free trial for each of its plans. The Creator plan free trial includes essential features like audience analytics, mobile optimization, 1-tap checkouts, and 24/7 creator support, making it ideal for businesses or creators ready to grow and monetize fast. 

The Creator Pro plan free trial offers all features included in the Creator plan plus advanced email marketing features, upsell offers, affiliate links, and pixel tracking.

In contrast, the Beacons free plan stands out with its customizable media kit, email automated sequences, auto-DMs, and 10 AI image and text generator. 

Although it does charge 9% transaction fees on all sales, its free plan provides a great starting point for creators or brands looking for a free and functional starting platform that does not need an upgrade after 14 days.

Lastly, the Creator Hero Free plan provides all the essential tools for creators and influencers to start monetizing their online presence by building customizable storefronts and engaging in affiliate marketing with no upfront costs.

Pro and Premium plans are also available for further customization upgrades, enhanced insights and priority access to brand partnerships.

‍

Final Thoughts on Stan Store vs Beacons

Both Stan Store and Beacons represent useful and complete link-in-bio platforms that allow brands and creators to customize their page, create a digital storefront, track their earnings, and more. 

For an easy-to-use yet complete in analytics and e-commerce features, Stan Store proves to be a great alternative. A quick 14-day trial may be useful to get comfortable with each feature and test the platform. On the other hand, Beacons offers a beginner-friendly alternative, along with its three Creator, Store, and Business plans, for creators or business owners who are looking to test a platform's functionality without an upfront investment. 

Additionally, Creator Hero combines e-commerce and link-in-bio features with a sleek design and affiliate marketing tools making it another solid choice for creators focused on selling digital products and growing their audience in a streamlined way.