📡 vs. Beacons
Beacons alternative: an honest comparison
Beacons combines a link in bio, storefront, email, media kit, and AI. taap.at is not trying to clone that suite: it routes and measures traffic to WhatsApp, your store, or any other destination. This comparison helps you choose based on the job you need done.
6 min readUpdated
On this page
Quick answer
Choose Beacons if you need to sell digital products, send email, and manage brand opportunities within one platform. Consider taap.at if you already sell through WhatsApp, a store, or an external checkout and need to measure links, QR codes, and campaigns without moving your commerce stack.
How current is this information?
SaaS plans and features can change without notice. The date shown on each comparison tells you when it was last reviewed. Before making a decision, confirm the details on the product's official website. The most stable distinction is each product's overall approach, which is what we compare here.
Beacons Free vs. taap.at Free
Reviewed on September 2, 2026. Beacons publishes a free-forever plan with unlimited links and digital products, a media kit, real-time analytics, 50 email sends per month, and 30 daily AI credits. Sales processed through its store carry a 9% Beacons seller fee. taap.at Free solves a different problem: 1 project with links, QR codes, WhatsApp, and a bio page, up to 100 monthly clicks, and 7 days of analytics. An ad-supported page appears after the allowance; Free does not support destination editing or custom slugs and retains taap.at branding.
| Capability | Beacons Free | taap.at Free |
|---|---|---|
| Link in bio | Unlimited links and customization | Simple page within 1 project |
| Store and checkout | Digital products; 9% Beacons seller fee | No checkout and no seller fee |
| Email and media kit | 50 sends/month and a media kit | Not included |
| Analytics | Real-time analytics | 7 days and up to 100 clicks/month |
| Short links and QR | QR for sharing the page | Trackable links and QR within Free limits |
| Can link to any URL | Dedicated generator with a pre-filled message | |
| Editing after publishing | Depends on the feature and plan | Not on Free; available from Basic |
| AI | 30 daily credits | Not included |
Do not compare only the word “free.” Beacons includes more tools for building and selling inside its ecosystem; taap.at focuses its free plan on routing and measurement with explicit limits. If you expect campaign-scale traffic, review Basic or Premium before publishing the link.
Beacons pricing and seller fees
Beacons lists Creator at $10 per month or $100 per year, Creator Plus at $30 per month or $300 per year, and Creator Max at $90 per month or $900 per year. Free and Creator carry a 9% Beacons seller fee; Creator Plus and Creator Max reduce it to 0%. Stripe or PayPal processing fees apply separately, so 0% Beacons commission does not mean free payment processing.
| If your priority is… | Start with… | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Selling an ebook or course in-platform | Beacons | It includes a store; Plus adds hosted courses and memberships |
| Sharing performance with brands | Beacons | It includes an updating media kit |
| Sending newsletters from the same suite | Beacons | Email is included with plan-based limits |
| Closing orders on WhatsApp | taap.at | Build a message link and measure its opening |
| Sending people to Shopify, Gumroad, or your site | taap.at | Measure the visit without replacing checkout |
| Connecting print and digital campaigns | taap.at | Use short links and QR codes in one project |
| Testing two destinations | taap.at | Distribute openings through an A/B link |
The real difference: selling inside or measuring the path
Beacons can host a large part of a creator business: page, products, email, and media kit. taap.at acts as a routing layer. You can create a different link for your bio, Story, ad, or printed flyer and send each visit to the service you already use. A taap.at metric records an opening or redirect; by itself, it does not prove a conversation, lead, or sale.
- Stay with Beacons if its store, courses, email, or media kit are central to your workflow.
- Choose taap.at if the outcome happens elsewhere and you need to compare channels.
- Use both if Beacons remains your page or store but you want separate links for external campaigns.
- Do not expect analytics migration: preserve or export available metrics and set a new baseline.
Test a measurable link before switching
Create an anonymous link to test the flow. It lasts 30 days and records no analytics. To measure it, create a Free account and publish a link inside your project; the 100-click monthly allowance and 7-day analytics window then apply.
How to switch without losing traffic
- 1
Define what you are replacing
Decide whether you only need a new bio link or also need a store, email, and a media kit. taap.at does not replace those tools.
- 2
Save destinations and a baseline
Copy active URLs and record clicks, sales, and subscribers separately. Beacons analytics cannot be imported into taap.at.
- 3
Create one link per channel
Separate bio, Stories, ads, WhatsApp, and QR to compare openings without automatically attributing sales.
- 4
Test from an outside device
Check every destination, the WhatsApp message, and the QR code before replacing the public URL.
- 5
Keep the previous page during transition
Do not delete a URL that people may have saved. Change placements you control first.
The honest verdict
taap.at is not a full Beacons replacement. It is a focused alternative when you already have somewhere to sell and need to measure how people arrive from links, QR codes, or WhatsApp. For integrated commerce, email, and media kits, Beacons remains the more complete option.
Frequently asked questions
Is Beacons free?
Yes. Beacons lists a free-forever plan with unlimited links and digital products, 50 monthly email sends, 30 daily AI credits, real-time analytics, and a 9% Beacons seller fee.
Does taap.at charge a seller fee?
No, because it does not host a store or process payments. It routes people to WhatsApp, your store, or checkout. Fees from the external service you use still apply.
Can taap.at fully replace Beacons?
Only if you do not need an integrated store, courses, email marketing, media kit, or AI tools. taap.at focuses on links, QR codes, WhatsApp, bio pages, and opening analytics.
Does Beacons charge seller fees on paid plans?
Creator keeps the 9% fee. Creator Plus and Creator Max list a 0% Beacons fee, while Stripe or PayPal processing fees still apply.
Can I use a custom domain with Beacons?
Yes, starting with Creator. Beacons says the first year of a domain obtained through the platform is free, followed by renewal; you may also connect an existing domain.
Can I use Beacons and taap.at together?
Yes. Keep Beacons as your page or store and use a taap.at link per campaign to compare openings. Do not treat an opening as a sale.
Try it with your own links, free
The free plan is permanent, requires no card, and includes detailed click analytics.