Stan Store vs Beacons (2026): Flat Fee or Percentage Cut?

Stan Store is cheaper than Beacons once you sell more than about $320 a month, because it charges a flat $29 and takes 0% of sales, while Beacons Free and Creator take 9%. Below that, Beacons Free costs less and Stan has no free plan. Elev8or Bio is free to start.

Not sure which? Try Elev8or Bio free and see what your own sales would cost before you commit to a subscription.

Pricing checked November 2026 on Stan's pricing post, Beacons' pricing page and Elev8or Bio pricing. US dollars.

Selling digital products or coaching? Try Elev8or Bio free, then upgrade only when the percentage fee costs more than the plan.

Flat fee vs percentage cut: the math

The whole decision comes down to one comparison. Stan charges $29 and nothing per sale. Beacons Free charges $0 and 9% per sale. Divide $29 by 9% and you get $322: below that monthly volume the percentage is cheaper, above it the flat fee is. Beacons has a flat option too, Creator Plus at $30, which breaks even with its own free plan at $333 a month ($30 divided by 9%).

Platform fee plus monthly subscription only, monthly billing, November 2026. Payment processing is not included here.

Read the $300 row first. Almost every option lands between $24 and $30, so at that volume the fee structure barely matters and features should decide. The gap opens at $1,000: staying on a 9% plan costs $90 where a flat plan costs $25 to $30. At $3,000, the 9% plans take $270 a month. That is $2,880 a year more than Stan, Beacons Creator Plus or Elev8or Elite.

Annual billing trims the flat plans: Stan Creator is $25 a month at $300 a year, Beacons Creator Plus is $25 a month at $300 a year, and Elev8or Elite is about $20.83 a month at $250 a year.

The payment processing catch

Seller fees are not the full bill. Stan says you pay only the standard Stripe or PayPal processing fee on top of its 0%. Stripe's usual US rate is 2.9% plus $0.30 per sale, though rates vary by country and method. Beacons' pricing page does not state a processing rate, so check it in your account before you price a product.

Elev8or Bio charges a flat 5% processing fee on every sale on every plan, which is higher than Stripe's typical rate on a normal order. Assume $35 average orders and Stripe at 2.9% + $0.30. At $1,000 a month that is roughly $38 of processing, so Stan costs about $67 all in against $75 for Elev8or Elite ($25 plus $50). At $3,000 it is about $142 for Stan against $175 for Elite. At $300 they tie near $40.

So for a creator already doing $3,000 a month, Stan is the cheaper of the two flat options once processing is counted. Elev8or's case is the low end: a free plan, no card, and a $9 Pro tier at 5% for the stretch before volume justifies $25 or $29.

What you get on each plan

Stan Creator ($29) includes the storefront, calendar and booking tools, an unlimited course builder, recurring subscriptions, lead magnets and email collection, community features, analytics and Stan AutoDM for Instagram. Creator Pro ($99) adds discount codes, limited-quantity offers, upsells and order bumps, Afterpay and Klarna, affiliate management, email broadcasts and flows, and ad pixel tracking for Meta, Google, Pinterest and TikTok. Pro adds features, not a lower fee, because Creator is already at 0%.

Beacons Free includes a customizable link in bio, a media kit that updates daily, unlimited digital products, affiliate links, 30 daily AI credits and 50 email sends a month. Creator ($10) adds a free custom domain, 300 daily AI credits and 500 email sends. Creator Plus ($30) drops the seller fee to 0% and adds unlimited AI credits, unlimited email sends, unlimited courses with video hosting, unlimited memberships, Buy Now Pay Later options and 100% of affiliate commissions. Creator Max ($100) adds Google Workspace, white-glove onboarding, priority support and a physical NFC card.

Elev8or Bio Free includes unlimited links, subscribe and forms, basic analytics and up to 3 products. Pro ($9) removes Elev8or branding, adds advanced customization and store tools, and raises the cap to 25 products. Elite ($25) has unlimited products, paid groups and unlimited contacts. Details are on the Bio pricing page.

Where each one wins

• Stan wins on selling depth. Order bumps, upsells, discount codes, booking and email flows are all built for conversion, and the 0% fee starts at the cheapest plan.
• Beacons wins on risk. It is the only one of the two with a real free plan, and it bundles a daily-updating media kit and AI credits that Stan does not list.
• Beacons Creator Plus wins when you need unlimited memberships and video-hosted courses at $30 and want the AI tools in the same subscription.
• Stan loses when you are not sure anyone will buy. You pay from day 15 whether or not a sale lands. Beacons loses past about $333 a month if you stay on a 9% plan.
• Elev8or Bio wins on the zero-cost start and loses on checkout depth. Its pricing page does not list order bumps, upsells or discount codes, so Stan is stronger there.

Who should pick which

• Pick Stan Store if you sell courses or coaching, already make over $400 a month and want upsells, bumps and booking in one checkout. See our Stan Store review.
• Pick Beacons if you are starting out, want a free page with a media kit and AI help, and plan to upgrade to Creator Plus when sales pass about $333 a month. See our Beacons AI review.
• Pick Elev8or Bio if you want to test whether your audience buys with no monthly cost, or if you also want paid brand campaigns from the same account. Move to Elite when volume justifies it.
• Skip all three if your bio link only routes traffic and you sell nothing. A free link in bio does the same job.

For the longer version of the flat-versus-percentage argument across more tools, read link in bio vs creator storefront.

How to decide in two minutes

1. Write down last month's product sales, not revenue from brand deals.
2. Multiply by 9%. If that is under $29, a free or percentage plan is cheaper.
3. If it is over $29, price the flat plans, then add processing: about 2.9% + $0.30 per sale on Stripe, 5% flat on Elev8or.
4. Check the features you actually use (upsells, memberships, booking, media kit) against the plan that gets you to 0%.

Want to see the numbers on your own store? Try Elev8or Bio free. Brands looking to work with creators can start at Elev8or for brands.