Beacons Pricing in 2026: Plans, Fees, and Better Alternatives

Beacons Pricing Breakdown

The Hidden Costs of Beacons

The sticker price is only part of the picture. Here are costs that are easy to overlook:

Payment Processor Fees

Beacons uses Stripe or PayPal for payment processing. These processors charge their own fees (typically 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) on top of any Beacons transaction fee. So on the free plan, you could pay up to 9% to Beacons plus 2.9% + $0.30 to Stripe, totaling nearly 12% on each sale.

Tools Beacons Does Not Replace

Beacons positions itself as an all-in-one platform, but many creators still need:

• Video conferencing ($0-20/month): Beacons has no built-in video. You need Zoom, Google Meet, or another tool for any live calls.
• Advanced scheduling ($0-16/month): Beacons' scheduling is basic. Most creators still use Calendly, Cal.com, or another scheduler.
• Workshop hosting ($0-100/month): No group session or webinar capability in Beacons.
• Recording and transcription ($0-30/month): No automatic session recording.

When you add these tools, the true cost of running your creator business through Beacons can exceed $80-100/month before you earn a single dollar.

The Break-Even Calculation

Creator Pro costs $30/month. On the free plan, you pay up to 9% in transaction fees to Beacons. Creator Pro reduces this to 0% on most sales.

The break-even point: if you sell more than roughly $333/month in digital products, Creator Pro saves you money on transaction fees alone ($333 x 9% = $30).

But this only applies to digital product sales. If your revenue comes from services (coaching, consulting, workshops), Beacons does not handle those transactions directly.

Beacons Pricing vs Alternatives

Here is how Beacons compares to other creator platforms on price:

Cost Comparison at Different Revenue Levels

Let's compare the actual cost of Beacons vs Talkspresso at different monthly revenue levels:

At first glance, Beacons Pro looks cheaper at higher revenue levels. But this comparison misses the tools you need to buy separately with Beacons. Once you add Zoom ($13-20/month), a better scheduler ($8-16/month), and a recording tool ($10-30/month), Beacons Pro's true cost is $60-100/month plus payment processor fees.

Talkspresso's 10% includes everything: HD video, scheduling, payments, automatic recording, and AI summaries. No additional tools needed.

When Beacons Is the Right Choice

Beacons makes sense for creators who:

• Primarily sell digital products (not live services)
• Want a link-in-bio page, storefront, and email marketing in one tool
• Need media kit features for brand deals
• Do not offer coaching, consulting, or live video sessions
• Already use and like separate tools for video and scheduling

If your revenue model is "sell digital products through a pretty storefront," Beacons does that well. The Creator Pro plan is reasonably priced for what it includes.

When Beacons Is Not Worth It

Beacons is the wrong choice if:

• You sell live video sessions (coaching, consulting, workshops)
• You need built-in scheduling with availability management
• You want automatic session recording and AI summaries
• You prefer to pay nothing until you earn something
• You need group session or workshop hosting

Beacons cannot run a live video call. It cannot host a workshop. It cannot record a session. For these use cases, you need a different platform entirely.

Talkspresso: The No-Monthly-Fee Alternative

If Beacons' pricing does not fit your business model, Talkspresso takes a fundamentally different approach.

How Talkspresso pricing works:

• $0/month. No subscription. No free vs paid tiers.
• 10% platform fee on paid transactions only
• If nobody books, you pay nothing
• Built-in HD video, scheduling, payments, and automatic recording included
• Digital product sales (PDFs, templates, recordings) included
• Client management with session history and intake forms included

The trade-off is straightforward. Beacons charges a fixed monthly fee and gives you lower transaction rates at high volume. Talkspresso charges nothing upfront and takes a percentage only when you earn.

For creators just starting out or those who earn inconsistently, Talkspresso's model eliminates the risk of paying $30/month with no revenue coming in.

For creators earning $5,000+ per month primarily through digital products, Beacons Pro's flat rate becomes more cost-effective on the product side. But if any significant portion of your revenue comes from live sessions, you still need additional tools on top of Beacons.

Total Cost of Ownership: A Real Example

Let's say you are a fitness creator earning $3,000/month from a mix of digital products and live coaching calls. Here is what each platform actually costs:

Beacons Pro Setup

• Beacons Pro: $30/month
• Zoom Pro (for video calls): $13/month
• Calendly (for scheduling): $8/month
• Riverside.fm (for recording): $15/month
• Payment processor fees: ~$87/month (2.9% on $3,000)
• Total: ~$153/month

Talkspresso Setup

• Talkspresso: $0/month
• Platform fee: $300/month (10% of $3,000)
• Payment processor fees: included in platform fee
• Total: $300/month

At $3,000/month revenue, Beacons is cheaper in total. But Talkspresso includes everything in one platform with zero setup complexity. No juggling four different subscriptions, logins, and integrations.

The calculus shifts when you consider:

• Time savings. One platform vs four means less admin work.
• Client experience. One link for booking, video, and payments vs sending clients to three different tools.
• Recordings and AI. Automatic with Talkspresso. Manual setup with Beacons + Zoom + a recording tool.

At $1,000/month revenue, the math clearly favors Talkspresso ($100 vs $153). At $5,000/month, Beacons Pro wins on raw cost ($153 vs $500), but you are still managing four tools.

How to Decide

Ask yourself two questions:

1. What do you sell?

• Mostly digital products (ebooks, templates, courses) and you do not do live sessions? Beacons works.
• Live video sessions, coaching, workshops? You need Talkspresso or a similar platform.
• A mix of both? Consider which is your primary revenue driver.

2. How much do you earn?

• Under $1,000/month? Talkspresso's no-monthly-fee model costs less.
• $1,000-3,000/month? Depends on your tool stack. Compare the full cost including video and scheduling tools.
• Over $5,000/month from digital products? Beacons Pro's flat rate is more economical for products. But add your video/scheduling tool costs.

If you need help pricing your sessions, check our guide on how to price your first online workshop or the psychology of pricing coaching sessions.

The Bottom Line

Beacons pricing is reasonable for what it offers: a link-in-bio page, digital storefront, and email marketing in one package. Creator Pro at $30/month is competitive with similar tools.

But Beacons is a link-and-product platform, not a session platform. If live video is part of your business, you will pay for Beacons plus Zoom plus a scheduler plus a recording tool. That adds up fast.

Talkspresso takes the opposite approach: everything is included, and you only pay when you earn. No monthly fee, no extra tools needed, no setup complexity.

For a broader look at alternatives, see our Beacons alternatives comparison.

For a full breakdown, see our 9 best platforms for paid video calls or read how creators sell paid video calls to their followers.

For a full breakdown, see our 9 best platforms for paid video calls or read how creators sell paid video calls to their followers.

Try Talkspresso free (no monthly fee, no credit card) →

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