Beacons vs Ko-fi (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Ko-fi grades higher than Beacons: 2.6 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Ko-fi grades higher on the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Beacons
Link in bio page with a store, email and media kit for creators
Which one is for you
Pick Beacons if
- Fits if you want a link-in-bio page, a media kit and a small shop in one place
- Works for a creator selling a few downloads
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you sell much, because the free plan takes 9% a sale and 0% needs $300 a year
- Skip it if you want courses or memberships on a cheaper plan, as they start at Creator Plus
- Tight if you email: 50 sends a month on Free and 500 on Creator
- Watch out: web only, as the pricing page lists no mobile apps
Pick Ko-fi if
- Fits if you're an artist or streamer who wants tips, members and a shop on one page
- Works for creators taking paid commissions who want requests and payment in one place
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want sales tax handled for you, since you're the merchant of record
- Too light for a proper store with email, discount codes and upsells
- Watch out: shop, membership and commission sales cost 5%, with PayPal or card fees on top
- Watch out: we couldn't confirm the price of the paid Gold plan on Ko-fi's own pages
- Not for you if you want a phone or desktop app, as only the web is listed
How we grade them
| 2.2GPABeaconsFair | 2.6GPAKo-fiGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CCreator is $100 a year ($10 monthly), but 0% seller fees and courses start at Creator Plus, $300 a year ($30 monthly), above the category's $22 middle. | CNo price for Ko-fi Gold is on record, so our rule for a missing price makes this a C. On the free page, 5% of $1,000 in shop, membership and commission sales is $50 a month, with card fees on top (not counted). That's Buy Me a Coffee's rate and half Patreon's 10%. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free plan with the link in bio, media kit, unlimited digital products at a 9% seller fee, 50 email sends a month and 30 daily AI credits. | AThe free page has tips, memberships, a shop and commissions with no monthly or listing fee, and no cap on record. You pay 5% when you sell, and the value grade counts that. |
| Features | CLink in bio, a store, email, a media kit and AI credits. The listing's gap: courses with video hosting and memberships are Creator Plus features. | CGraded against its own alternatives, fan-support pages. Tips, goals, member tiers with posts and Discord roles, a shop for files and physical items, commissions and stream alerts. It does that job fully, but it's a smaller kit: no email, discounts or tax handling in the listing. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and the page, store and email all need building. | CNo App Store rating on record. A page is quick to start, but you connect PayPal or a card account first, and member tiers and a shop take some setting up. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with no mobile apps or integrations listed. | BWeb, with PayPal, Discord, Twitch, YouTube and a WordPress plugin, plus stream overlays. No phone or desktop app is listed. |
| Best for | a link-in-bio page with a small shop | tips, memberships and commissions from fans |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Beacons and Ko-fi. How we grade
Where they differ
- Beacons also covers email campaigns and online courses.
At a glance
| Beacons | Ko-fi | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $100 per year (Creator), or $10 per month billed monthly | Not published |
| Free plan | Link in bio, media kit, unlimited digital products at a 9% seller fee, 50 email sends a month and 30 daily AI credits. | A free page with tips, memberships, a shop and commissions. Ko-fi's own pages state a 5% platform fee on shop, membership and commission sales, plus card processing fees. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Beacons | Ko-fi Labs |
| Price read from | beacons.ai | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Beacons
- The Free plan takes a 9% seller fee; 0% fees start at Creator Plus, $300 per year.
- Courses with video hosting and memberships are Creator Plus features, not Creator.
- Plan prices are shown per year; the monthly figures are $10, $30 and $100.
- The pricing page lists no mobile apps, so the platform is recorded as web only.
Ko-fi
- Ko-fi sells a paid Gold plan, but its price could not be confirmed on Ko-fi's own pages for this listing.
- Shop, membership and commission sales carry a 5% Ko-fi fee on the free page, and PayPal or card processing fees come on top.
- Creators are the merchant of record, so sales tax and VAT on their sales are their own responsibility.
Key features
Beacons
- Link in bio page
- A customizable page that collects your links in one place, with real-time analytics on every plan.
- Store for digital products
- Sells unlimited digital products on the Free plan at a 9% seller fee; courses with video hosting and memberships need Creator Plus.
- Email sends
- Sends email to subscribers, capped at 50 a month on Free and 500 on Creator, and unlimited on Creator Plus and above.
- Instagram auto replies
- A Smart Reply feature answers Instagram direct messages automatically; it is listed on the Free plan.
- AI tools on daily credits
- Text, image, page-design and chat features draw on a daily credit allowance of 30, 300 or unlimited depending on the plan.
- Media kit and affiliate links
- A media kit that updates daily and tools to create affiliate links; Creator Plus lets you keep 100% of affiliate link commissions.
Ko-fi
- Tips and goals
- One-off tips from supporters, plus funding goals that creators can set and show on their page or on a stream overlay.
- Memberships
- Membership tiers with member-only posts (text, audio, video and polls), member-only shop items and requests, and Discord roles for members.
- Ko-fi Shop
- Sell digital downloads and physical items from a link, with no listing or monthly fees; Ko-fi takes 5% when a sale is made.
- Commissions
- Take paid requests such as artwork, tutorials, feedback sessions or video messages, with a 5% platform fee on each sale.
- Stream alerts
- Connect Twitch or YouTube to show tips, subscriptions and goals as on-stream alerts and overlays.
- Direct payouts
- Supporters pay the creator directly through PayPal, Venmo, cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay or local methods, with no payout schedule to wait on.
Plans
Beacons
Free$0
Link in bio, daily-updating media kit, unlimited digital products at a 9% seller fee, 50 email sends a month, 30 daily AI credits.
Creator$100
per year ($10 per month billed monthly)
Adds a free custom domain, 500 email sends a month, 300 daily AI credits and advanced SEO and marketing features.
Creator Plus$300
per year ($30 per month billed monthly)
0% seller fees, unlimited courses and memberships, unlimited emails and AI credits, Buy Now Pay Later at checkout.
Creator Max$1,000
per year ($100 per month billed monthly)
Adds a Google Workspace account, white glove onboarding, prioritized support and a physical NFC card linked to your page.
Ko-fi
Pricing could not be confirmed. See ko-fi.com.
Ways to pay less
Beacons
- Annual discount
Two months free on annual billing
The pricing page labels the annual toggle as two months free; Creator is $100 a year against $10 a month, and the other paid plans follow the same pattern.
Ko-fi
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Beacons or Ko-fi?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Beacons starts at $100 per year (Creator), or $10 per month billed monthly, and Ko-fi has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Beacons or Ko-fi?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Beacons and Ko-fi have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.