Comparison

Stan Store vs Beacons: Which Creator Platform Is Right for You?

Leenkies Team7 min read

Stan Store and Beacons are the two tools creators reach for when they're ready to get serious about monetization. But they're built on opposite philosophies, and those differences matter a lot depending on where you are in your creator journey.

Stan Store costs $29/mo minimum and bets that you're already generating enough revenue to justify it. Beacons is free and bets that its 9% cut of your sales adds up to more than a subscription fee would.

Which bet works in your favour depends on your numbers.

TL;DR

Stan Store

Best forCourse creators, memberships
Starting price$29/mo
Platform fees0% all plans
Pages1 storefront
Built-in booking✓
Built-in CRM✗
Email marketing✓
Courses/membershipsYes (advanced)
Free trial14 days

Beacons

Best forFree all-in-one, aspiring sellers
Starting priceFree
Platform fees9% (Free/Creator), 0% ($30/mo)
Pages1 page
Built-in booking✗
Built-in CRM✗
Email marketing50/mo free
Courses/membershipsYes (Creator Plus $30/mo+)
Free trialFree forever plan

Leenkies

Best forServices, products, multi-page
Starting price$9.99/mo
Platform fees0%
Pages4 pages
Built-in booking✓
Built-in CRM✓
Email marketingVia integrations
Courses/membershipsNot a focus
Free trial14 days

Who Stan Store Is Built For

Stan Store was designed for the course creator economy. If your business model is selling online courses, membership programmes, or cohorts, and you're already generating serious revenue, Stan Store is a purpose-built tool for that model.

The interface is optimized around selling: one-click checkout, upsells, course hosting, and membership management. Stan Store's team produces a lot of case studies featuring creators doing six figures. It's aspirational marketing, but the product does back it up for that specific creator type.

What Stan Store does well:

  • Purpose-built for courses and memberships
  • 0% platform fees on all plans
  • Built-in email marketing
  • One-click checkout optimized for high conversion
  • Solid customer support reputation

Where Stan Store falls short:

  • Expensive. $29/mo is a significant commitment for early-stage creators
  • Every Stan Store looks similar. Design customization is minimal (no CSS access, locked layouts)
  • No custom domain support
  • No built-in CRM
  • Not designed for service providers (coaches, consultants) who primarily book sessions
  • No multi-page support. It's a single storefront, not a multi-page website

The pricing reality: At $29/mo, you need to be generating enough revenue for the platform to make sense. If you're selling a $99 course and making 1–2 sales a month, you're losing money to the subscription. Stan Store's economics work best when you're doing $1,000+/month in digital product sales.

Who Beacons Is Built For

Beacons' strategy is different: offer everything free and monetize through platform fees. The free plan includes 14 tools: link-in-bio, digital store, email marketing, AI content generation, invoicing, media kit, and more. For a creator experimenting with monetization who isn't ready to commit to a monthly fee, this is genuinely compelling.

What Beacons does well:

  • Free forever plan with a strong feature set
  • Built-in email marketing (50 emails/month free, unlimited paid)
  • AI content generation (30 free/day)
  • Invoicing and media kit tools
  • 14+ tools in one dashboard

Where Beacons falls short:

  • 9% platform fee on free and Creator ($10/mo) plans, which is significant at any real sales volume
  • You need Creator Plus ($30/mo) to eliminate fees
  • Single page only, no multi-page support
  • No built-in appointment booking (you link to Calendly or similar)
  • No built-in CRM
  • Interface can feel cluttered with so many tools

The Fee Comparison: Real Numbers

This is where the comparison gets interesting. Let's run through three different revenue scenarios:

Scenario 1: $500/month in sales
  • Stan Store Creator ($29/mo sub, 0% platform fees): ~$43.80 total
  • Beacons Free (9% fees on $500 = $45, no sub): ~$59.50 total
  • Beacons Creator ($10/mo sub, 9% fees = $45): ~$69.50 total
  • Leenkies ($9.99/mo sub, 0% platform fees): ~$24.49 total

At $500/month, Beacons' free plan already costs more than Stan Store in total fees. Stan Store is economically sensible at this revenue level.

Scenario 2: $2,000/month in sales
  • Stan Store Creator ($29/mo sub, 0% platform fees): ~$87 total
  • Beacons Free (9% fees on $2,000 = $180, no sub): ~$238 total
  • Beacons Creator Plus ($30/mo sub, 0% fees): ~$88 total
  • Leenkies ($9.99/mo sub, 0% platform fees): ~$68 total

At $2,000/month, Stan Store and Beacons Creator Plus cost roughly the same in total. Beacons' free plan is now costing $238/month, far more than a subscription would.

Scenario 3: $5,000/month in sales
  • Stan Store Creator ($29/mo sub, 0% platform fees): ~$174 total
  • Beacons Free (9% fees on $5,000 = $450, no sub): ~$595 total
  • Beacons Creator Plus ($30/mo sub, 0% fees): ~$175 total
  • Leenkies ($9.99/mo sub, 0% platform fees): ~$155 total

At $5,000/month, anyone still on Beacons free is paying $450/month in platform fees alone. Stan Store and Beacons Creator Plus cost nearly the same. Upgrading from Beacons free at this revenue level is a clear decision.

The takeaway: Beacons' free plan stops being "free" very quickly once you're actually selling. The crossover point where upgrading to Creator Plus ($30/mo) pays for itself is around $333/month in sales.

Where Both Fall Short

Both Stan Store and Beacons share the same architectural limitation: they're single-page tools.

Stan Store presents itself more like a storefront than a link list, but it's still one page. Visitors can't navigate to a separate portfolio, a dedicated about section, or a standalone booking page. Beacons is the same.

For creators who need to do more than sell (specifically, service providers who want to combine booking, portfolio display, lead capture, and product sales in a structured multi-page experience), neither tool is purpose-built for that.

Neither tool has a built-in CRM either. If building relationships with leads and following up with people who aren't ready to buy yet is part of your business, you'd need a separate tool for that regardless of which platform you choose.

Verdict by Creator Type

Choose Stan Store if:

  • You're a course creator or membership business
  • You're generating $1,000+/month and the $29/mo subscription makes sense
  • Courses, email marketing, and high-conversion checkout are your priorities
  • You're okay with every store looking similar

Choose Beacons if:

  • You're early-stage and want to experiment with monetization for free
  • You value email marketing and AI tools being built in
  • Your monthly sales are low enough that 9% fees don't sting yet, with a clear plan to upgrade
  • You want a free forever option even if it costs more at scale

Consider Leenkies if:

  • You're a service provider (coach, consultant, photographer) who needs booking + CRM + portfolio + products in one tool
  • You need 0% fees at a lower price point than Stan Store ($9.99/mo vs $29/mo)
  • You want multiple pages, not just a single storefront
  • Stan's course-focused template doesn't fit your business model

The right tool is the one that matches your actual business model, not the one with the most impressive marketing. Both Stan Store and Beacons are strong within their niches. The gap is for creators who fall outside those niches.

Compare all the options or try Leenkies free for 14 days to see if it fits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Stan Store worth the price?
Stan Store is worth the price if you're running a course or membership business and generating meaningful revenue. The 0% platform fees and built-in email marketing make the $29/mo Creator plan reasonable once your monthly sales exceed $500. Below that, you're paying $29/mo for a tool that's optimized for a business model you haven't built yet.
Does Stan Store charge transaction fees?
No. Stan Store charges 0% platform fees on all plans, including Creator ($29/mo) and Creator Pro ($99/mo). You pay Stripe or PayPal processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) but Stan takes no cut of your sales.
Is Beacons actually free?
Beacons has a free forever plan that genuinely includes most features. The catch is a 9% platform fee on all sales. If you're not selling anything, Beacons free is a solid deal. If you're selling $1,000/month in products, you're paying $90/month in fees, more than Stan Store's Creator plan.
Which platform is better for selling digital products?
It depends on what you sell. Stan Store is optimized for courses and memberships, and it's excellent if that's your model. Beacons supports digital products too but takes 9% unless you're on Creator Plus ($30/mo). For creators selling downloadable files (presets, templates, PDFs) who want 0% fees at a lower price point, Leenkies at $9.99/mo is worth comparing.
Can either platform replace a website?
Neither Stan Store nor Beacons offers multi-page support. Both are single-page tools. Stan Store looks more like a storefront than a link list, but it's still one page. If you need separate portfolio, about, services, and shop pages, you'd need a different approach.

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