Stan Store vs Linktree: Which is a Better Link-in-Bio Tool?

If you’re a digital creator, online influencer, or simply someone serious about selling digital products using social media platforms, the question of Stan Store vs Linktree has likely crossed your mind before.

• While both Stan Store and Linktree have a strong reputation as the go-to link-in-bio tools, they have different qualities, making them great choices for different categories of creators.

• For example, Stan Store offers an all-in-one virtual storefront to sell courses, digital products, or consultations, while Linktree is a link-sharing platform helping creators manage and monitor multiple links.

So, which one is better? That’s precisely what I’m here to explain, step by step.

As someone with extensive experience in digital marketing, and having worked with both platforms closely, I’ll offer a first-row view of what these tools can do for you.

Let’s dive in.

Quick Verdict: Stan Store vs Linktree as Link-in-Bio Tools

Stan Store Overview

In their own words, Stan is “not just another link-in-bio” tool. Instead, Stan Store is a 360-degree digital storefront offering creators, influencers, and online entrepreneurs an intuitive platform to sell digital downloads (courses, ebooks, guides, templates, consultations, membership services, virtual sessions, and more).

Stan Store has both the functionalities of a link in bio tool and a basic eCommerce platform, allowing you to create a store using the drag-and-drop builder and implement monetization features.

Stan Store Key Features

Stan Store takes pride in its ‘no transaction fees’ policy and its ease of use. The company claims that it takes less than 30 minutes to set up your own store, although the average user takes only 10 minutes to finish the setup.

One of the major advantages of Stan Store is the level of complete branding customization available, allowing you to take the selling of digital products to a whole new level.

You can brand your store using your company guidelines, and change themes, fonts, styles, and colors to match your online brand.

Some of Stan Store’s key features include:

• It’s a one-stop shop for anyone interested in selling online courses, digital assets, 1:1 calls, and more, through their own creator store

• It allows you to collect data on your customers, such as emails and phone numbers, and use advanced analytics with their Pro plan to track your progress

• Stan Store is renowned for its zero transaction fees policy, working with Paypal and Stripe

• For those selling products, you can easily set up and organize your store. For coaching and consultations, your followers can manage calendar bookings directly through your store

• Stan allows you to host webinars on their platform

• The platform prioritizes the user experience, so setting up and managing your store with the drag&drop store builder is easy and intuitive. Plus, they offer an AI-powered personal assistant chatbot named Stanley to help you even more in your online monetization activities

Stan Store Key Considerations

• While Stan Store offers several features tailored for digital creators, it can be expensive for small creators.

• Stan Store is designed primarily for digital creators with entrepreneurial ambitions. If your primary focus is outside this scope, such as in physical product sales, blogging, or affiliate program marketing even, you might want to consider Stan Store alternatives.

• Stan Store is still not a full eCommerce platform, such as Shopify, but it’s more advanced than a simple link-in bio tool.

• They don’t recommend adding more than 4-5 products to your Stan Store.

Stan Store Pricing

So, how much does Stan Store cost? It has two straightforward pricing plans: Stan Store has a Creator plan, priced at $29/month, and a Creator Pro plan for $99/month.

Unfortunately, Stan Store doesn’t offer a free tier, but they do offer a 14-day free trial.

Stan Store Reviews

On TrustPilot, Stan Store seems to have a positive overall rating, with users praising its intuitive design and extensive customization options. However, there is some negative feedback about a lack of useful features such as:

• Allowing the writing from right to left for Arabic users

• Allowing users to comment under each creator video uploaded

Some users complained about poor customer support, but Stan seems to be addressing those issues individually and on time. Overall, 94% of users have rated Stan Store with 5 stars.

Linktree Overview

Linktree, founded in 2016 in Melbourne, Australia, emerged as a solution to simplify sharing external links within social media bios. The platform was co-founded by Alex Zaccaria, Anthony Zaccaria, and Nick Humphreys.

Linktree has become a popular tool for creators, businesses, and influencers looking to direct their audience to various online presences through a single link.

As of 2024, the app boasts over 50 million users who post millions of links each day, driving traffic to global websites and other social media platforms.

Nowadays, the Linktree logo is immediately associated with the go-to link-in-bio platform for millions of creators.

Linktree Key Features

• Linktree offers extensive customization options, allowing you to tailor the profile to match your brand’s aesthetics. This includes:

  • Changing font and font color

  • Profile title and bio description

  • Social icons and profile image

  • Profile theme and background image

• You can add your Calendly link to better manage appointments

• Collect contact information directly through your Linktree with SMS signups and contact form links

• Add links for platforms like Spotify, Reddit, GoFundMe, Community, Documents, OpenSea, Amazon Handmade, Pinterest, and more. You can also integrate with Zapier to automate workflows

• Enable direct communication with your audience via email or phone

• Linktree is the most straightforward, intuitive platform when it comes to link management. Plus, even with their free plan, you can add and manage unlimited links and restrict access to certain links based on subscriptions

Linktree Key Considerations

• Linktree offers a basic free plan with essential features, but more advanced functionalities are locked behind premium tiers (plus, you have to keep the Linktree logo with the free plan).

• Linktree is here to help you skip the process of building your own website or landing page, but that comes with some major cons. For starters, all your traffic is going to Linktree, not your website. This means you can’t build your SEO, monitor more advanced analytics with tags, or grow your business into an eCommerce.

• Simply put, Linktree is an easy option to set up a landing page, or link to multiple links––especially important if you’re part of an affiliate program, or you’re an artist looking to grow awareness around your art on different platforms, but other than that, it might not be a good fit for a solopreneur.

Linktree Pricing

You can start with Linktree with a Free Plan, no monthly fee. This is ideal for personal use, as free users can benefit from some customization, unlimited links, and basic analytics.

The Starter Plan is available for growing influencers at $5 per month, billed monthly. The Pro Plan is priced at $9 monthly, with the first 30 days free. This plan offers advanced customization options, conversion tracking, and upgraded customer support.

The Premium Plan is $24 per month, billed monthly. This includes lifetime analytics, premium customer support, personalized onboarding, and data export capabilities.

Linktree Reviews

Linktree has earned a TrustScore of 4.2 out of 5 from 6,855 reviews, reflecting generally positive feedback. Users praise it for being simple and easy to use, helping them promote their business or personal projects.

Plus, both free and paid plans offer lots of useful features. Many appreciate the ability to personalize their landing pages.

On the flip side, many have faced challenges with account management and support responsiveness. Issues such as handling account hacks and billing concerns also received some negative spotlight.

Monetization and Earning Potential

At the end of the day, you need to know which platform has the potential to earn you more revenue and better fit your business goals. So, let’s dive into the monetization features of both Stan Store and Linktree below.

Stan Store’s Monetization Features

Stan Store is designed to help you sell digital products and provide you with multiple revenue streams.

• With Stan Store, you can easily sell e-books, templates, art, and other digital products or services online directly to your audience.

• Creators can establish membership programs, offering exclusive content, discount codes, and benefits to subscribers.

• The built-in email marketing tools help you engage with your audience through newsletters, promotional campaigns, and updates, and sell even more.

• Plus, creators can earn commissions by promoting products from other creators or companies through Stan Store’s affiliate marketing integration, or become a Stan affiliate themselves.

Linktree’s Monetization Options

Linktree provides more basic monetization options, focusing on simplicity and a user-friendly interface:

• Users can add a tip jar or donation button to their Linktree, allowing followers to financially support their work. So, if you’re a creator who may not have specific products to sell, but still want to monetize your audience, this feature is quite useful.

• Unlike Stan Store, Linktree does not offer built-in e-commerce features. You cannot directly sell products or host courses on the platform. Instead, Linktree serves as a centralized hub to share links and direct traffic to other sites where transactions take place.

Stan Store vs Linktree: Is Sharing Multiple Links Enough, or Do You Need eCommerce Functionalities?

In my experience, Stan Store excels when you need comprehensive tools for monetizing digital content, while Linktree is a good choice for simplicity and quick setup, ideal for directing traffic from social media to various content or donation pages.

Each platform has its strengths, which means the choice depends on your specific business needs and goals:

• If you’re a creator focused on selling digital products and needing advanced monetization tools, Stan Store is my recommendation. Its features (from email marketing to course hosting and detailed analytics) support more complex revenue and scaling strategies.

• If you’re seeking a simple platform to aggregate multiple content links with basic monetization, Linktree is better. Its minimal setup and ease of use make it a go-to for anyone looking to increase their online visibility without extensive e-commerce functionalities.

So, the choice is yours. Both platforms offer features to engage and monetize audiences, but the level of complexity and potential revenue sources vary.

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