Comparison
Pinned vs Beacons: selling tools or streaming tools (2026)
Full disclosure: I'm the founder of Pinned, so take my view with that in mind. In this Pinned vs Beacons comparison I'll show you where Beacons is the stronger product, and in a few big ways it is.
The short answer: Beacons is a business toolkit for creators. It sells digital products, courses and memberships, sends email, builds a media kit and automates Instagram DMs, and much of that is on its free plan. Pinned sells nothing and sends no email, but it has what streamers miss on Beacons: a live badge, a stream schedule, events, and a social media scheduler that actually publishes your posts.
Pinned vs Beacons at a glance
| What matters | Pinned (mine) | Beacons |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Streamers and creators who post a lot | Creators who sell and pitch brands |
| Free plan | Page, live badge, every theme | Page, store, media kit, 50 emails a month |
| Paid plans | $39/month or $390/year | $10, $30 or $100/month month to month; yearly from $8.33/month |
| Remove branding | Creator, $39/month | Creator Plus, $25/month billed yearly |
| Seller fees | None, it sells nothing | 9%, then 0% from Creator Plus |
| Email marketing | Builder on Business, no sending | Built in, unlimited sends on Creator Plus |
| Media kit | Six templates, on Creator | Updates daily, on Free |
| Post scheduler | Yes, 15 accounts on Creator | No, link scheduling only |
| Live badge and stream schedule | Yes, on Free | Not in its feature table |
| AI | Business plan, your own AI key | Every plan, daily credits |
| Mobile app | Web app only | iOS and Android |
What Beacons is built for
Beacons describes itself as an AI-powered business platform for creators, and the feature list backs that up. Its store sells digital products, courses, memberships and appointments, with payouts to Stripe or PayPal. Its email tool grows a list from your link in bio and sends campaigns and automations. Its media kit pulls stats from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X and LinkedIn, with rate cards, invoices and a pricing calculator. Smart Reply DMs a link to anyone who comments a keyword on Instagram.
It also ships quickly. The Beacons changelog for August and September 2026 shows a countdown timer block, a Flodesk connection, a guided website builder, and media kit visitors flowing into your email audience.
The real difference
Beacons helps you earn from the people who already found you. Pinned helps you bring them back: it tells visitors when you're live, shows your schedule and events, and posts the announcements to X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, LinkedIn, Bluesky and Discord.
The gap shows up in the posting. Beacons has no post scheduler, so a Beacons creator still needs a second tool to publish. Pinned has no store or email sending, so a Pinned creator who sells needs a second tool for that.
1. Pinned
Mine- Best for
- streamers and gamers whose week is going live and posting about it
- Price
- Free plan; Creator $39/month or $390/year, 14-day free trial
- Schedules posts
- Yes: X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, LinkedIn, Bluesky, Discord
Pinned puts a link in bio page, a social media scheduler, analytics and a media kit builder in one web app. The page is gaming first. The live badge turns on by itself when you go live on Twitch or Kick, and you can add a weekly stream schedule, events with add-to-calendar buttons, clips, a Discord invite card, a contact form and follower stats that sync on their own.
On Creator, you compose a post once, tailor the caption for each platform and schedule it across up to 15 accounts. Create an event and Pinned schedules the reminder posts to your socials and Discord for you. TikTok, YouTube and Pinterest posting are coming soon.
The catch: no store, tips, payments or email signups on the page right now, and the AI features sit on the Business plan and run on your own AI key.
2. Beacons
- Best for
- creators who earn from their bio with products, email and brand deals
- Price
- Free plan; Creator $10/month or $100/year; Creator Plus $30/month or $300/year; Creator Max $100/month
- Schedules posts
- No, only link scheduling
The free plan is generous: a link in bio, unlimited digital products, affiliate links, a media kit, 50 email sends a month, Smart Reply and 30 daily AI credits. Creator, at $10/month or $100/year, adds a free custom domain and 500 email sends. Creator Plus, at $30/month or $300/year, is the big step: 0% seller fees, no Beacons branding, unlimited email sends and AI credits, memberships, and courses with video hosting.
The catch is the 9% fee on every sale until Creator Plus, and a lot of tools and credit limits to learn if you only want a page. On Free and Creator, Smart Reply adds a small "Sent with Beacons" line when opening DMs are switched on.
Where Beacons is better
- Selling. Digital products, courses, memberships, bookings and tips, with Buy Now Pay Later on Creator Plus. Pinned sells nothing.
- Email. List building from your page and built-in sending, from 50 emails a month free to unlimited on Creator Plus. Pinned doesn't collect signups, and its email builder on Business doesn't send.
- A free media kit. It updates daily on every plan, with rate cards, invoices, a pricing calculator and a gate that captures brand emails. Pinned's media kit needs Creator.
- Cheaper route to no branding. Creator Plus is $25/month billed yearly. Pinned Creator is $39/month.
- AI included. Beam and the AI tools come with every plan. Pinned's AI is on Business, and your AI provider bills the model usage.
- Instagram DMs and apps. Comment-to-DM automation on every plan, plus iOS and Android apps. Pinned is a web app.
Where Pinned is better
- It publishes your posts. A content calendar, per-platform captions, first comments and drafts, posting to seven social platforms today. Beacons' pricing table lists link scheduling only.
- Going live. A free live badge that follows your Twitch or Kick status, plus a weekly stream schedule. On Beacons, Twitch shows up as a follower count block.
- Events and reminders. Events with add-to-calendar buttons on your page, and reminder posts scheduled for you.
- Discord. An invite card on the page, and posts to the server channels you pick, with no bot to install.
- One price for page, posting and media kit. Creator is $39/month for all three, with unlimited posts.
Pricing compared
A solo creator who sells: Beacons Creator Plus is $300/year, or $30 month to month, with 0% seller fees. On Pinned you'd need a separate store, so Beacons is the better deal here.
A streamer who wants a clean page, scheduling and a media kit: Pinned Creator is $390/year, or $39 month to month. Beacons Creator Plus covers the page and media kit for $300/year, but you'd still pay for a separate scheduler on top.
A team: Pinned Business is $100/month per brand, or $1,000/year, with up to 10 team members. Beacons Creator Max is $100/month and adds Google Workspace and faster support, and talent managers get a separate Beacons for Managers product. The Pinned pricing page has the full plan list.
My pick
Pick Beacons if your bio is a business: you sell digital products, courses or memberships, you want to email your fans, or you pitch brands often. Its free plan does more selling than Pinned's paid one, and Creator Plus is fairly priced for 0% fees.
Pick Pinned if you stream or game and your week is going live and posting about it. The live badge and stream schedule are free, and Creator adds the scheduler, events, media kit and analytics for $39/month.
If you do both, pick the tool for the job that takes most of your week, and link out for the other.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pinned a good Beacons alternative?
Only for some creators. Pinned is a good Beacons alternative if you stream or game and need a live badge, a stream schedule, events and a scheduler that posts to Discord, Bluesky and X. It's a poor swap if you sell from your bio or email your audience, because Pinned has no store, payments or email signups right now, and its email builder doesn't send.
Does Beacons take a cut of sales?
On the Free and Creator plans, Beacons charges a 9% commission on sales, according to its pricing page. On Creator Plus ($30/month, or $300/year) and Creator Max ($100/month), the seller fee drops to 0%. Creator Plus also adds memberships, unlimited email sends and Buy Now Pay Later through Klarna or Affirm.
Does Beacons have a social media scheduler?
Not for posts, as far as I can find. Beacons' pricing table lists scheduling for link updates, so links can appear or expire on your page at set times, but I didn't find a post scheduler in its help center or changelog. To publish posts on a schedule, you'd pair Beacons with a separate tool such as Pinned, Buffer or Later.
Can Pinned collect emails or sell products like Beacons?
No. Pinned's link in bio has no storefront, digital downloads, courses, tips or payments, and it doesn't collect email or SMS signups right now. The Business plan has an email campaign builder, but you send through your own Klaviyo account or paste the HTML into another email tool. If selling and email are your main jobs, Beacons is the better choice.
Is the Beacons free plan really free?
Yes. Beacons lists its free plan at $0/month forever, with a link in bio, unlimited digital products, a daily-updating media kit, 50 email sends a month and 30 daily AI credits. The trade-offs are a 9% fee on every sale and Beacons branding on your page. A custom domain starts on Creator, at $10/month or $100/year.
Try Pinned free
If going live is the center of your week, make a free pinned.gg page and turn on the live badge. When you want the scheduler, events and media kit, start the 14-day free trial of Creator and cancel any time in the trial at no cost. Start free or see the plans.
I checked prices and features for every product here on October 3, 2026. They change often, so double-check before you buy.