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Fanvault vs Beacons.
A link-in-bio page with a store, a media kit and email tools stacked on it.
Rates verified 2026-08-15
The short answer
Beacons and Fanvault both let you start free and only pay when you sell, which makes them the closest match in this category. The difference is the rate and the range: Beacons takes 9% on Free and on the $10 Creator plan, and only drops to 0% at $30 a month, while Fanvault takes a flat 8% with no plan to climb. Beacons is the better pick if you want a media kit and brand-deal tooling; Fanvault is the better pick if you sell physical items or run auctions, neither of which Beacons does.
At a glance
| Feature | Fanvault | Beacons |
|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | 8% flat | 9% on Creator |
| Monthly cost | None | $10 on Creator |
| Listing fee | None | None |
| Payouts | Stripe Connect, on settlement | Through Stripe or PayPal, whose processing fees apply on top. |
| Physical fulfillment | Prepaid labels and tracking | Not included |
| Auctions | Proxy bidding, anti-snipe | No |
| What they sell | Digital, physical, auctions, subscriptions, tips, wishlist | Digital products, Courses, Memberships, Invoices, Tips |
What you keep
The same sale, run through both platforms. Fanvault's column is computed from the live platform rate, and Beacons's from their published Creator rate. Their $10 monthly subscription is not included in these rows, because it does not scale with a single sale. Add it to their side when you compare a month.
| Feature | Fanvault | Beacons |
|---|---|---|
| $25 sale | $23 | $22.75 |
| $100 sale | $92 | $91 |
| $500 sale | $460 | $455 |
| $2,500 sale | $2,300 | $2,275 |
Beacons pricing tiers
| Feature | Monthly | Annual | Seller fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Same | 9% |
| Creator | $10 | $8.33/mo | 9% |
| Creator Plus | $30 | $25/mo | 0% |
| Creator Max | $90 | $75/mo | 0% |
- Free: Store, media kit, invoicing.
- Creator: $100 a year. Custom domain, branding removal.
- Creator Plus: $300 a year. First tier with no seller fee.
- Creator Max: $900 a year. Agencies and larger brands.
Where Beacons wins
- The media kit. Beacons generates a genuinely good one from your social stats, and for a creator whose income is brand deals rather than direct sales that single feature can outweigh everything else here.
- Email marketing is native and generous, with unlimited sends on Creator Plus. Fanvault has nothing comparable.
- Invoicing for brand work, at 0% even on the free plan.
- Template range. Over a hundred page templates against our handful.
How to pick
Choose Beacons if
- Brand deals are your income and you want a media kit and invoicing in the same tool
- You want native email marketing rather than a separate provider
- You sell purely digital products above roughly $375 a month, where Creator Plus at 0% beats a percentage
Choose Fanvault if
- You want one flat rate with no tier to climb to escape the seller fee
- You sell physical items, signed goods or memorabilia
- You want to run auctions
- You want to be discoverable inside a marketplace, not only at the end of your own link
Switching
Both are free to start, so run them side by side. Rebuild the storefront in Fanvault by describing it to the AI, keep the Beacons page for the media kit if brand deals matter to you, and compare take-home after a month.
Fanvault vs Beacons: common questions
- Is Fanvault cheaper than Beacons?
- On the free and $10 Creator tiers, yes: they take 9% and we take 8%, and we have no subscription. Beacons Creator Plus drops the seller fee to 0% but costs $30 a month, which overtakes our 8% above roughly $375 a month in sales. Below that, Fanvault is the cheaper way to sell.
- Does Beacons take a cut of sales?
- 9% on the Free and Creator plans, 0% on Creator Plus and Creator Max, with Stripe or PayPal processing on top in every case. Their help centre documents the split by plan.
- Can Beacons sell physical products?
- It can take the payment, but there is no fulfillment layer: no prepaid shipping labels, no tracking, no ship-from address. Fanvault generates the label and tracks the order through to delivery.
- Which is better for brand deals?
- Beacons, clearly. The media kit and the invoicing tools are built for exactly that, and Fanvault has no equivalent. If brand deals are most of your income, Beacons is the better home and Fanvault is the place you point people to buy things.
Sources
Beacons rates below were read from their own published pages on 2026-08-15. Prices change, so check theirs before deciding.
Other comparisons in this category
Free to start. Keep 92% of every sale.