You sell digital products or coaching from your bio, and Stan Store bills you $29 a month whether that month brought in $40 or $4,000.

The best Stan Store alternatives either cost nothing until you make a sale or give you merch, email and coupons for the same money or less.

I ran every platform’s fees at $500, $2,000 and $5,000 a month in sales, so you can see which one is actually cheaper at your level.

Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Key Takeaways

• Fourthwall is the best overall Stan Store alternative. Digital downloads, paid memberships and print-on-demand merch sit in one shop you can open for $0 a month. Pro costs $15/month billed annually ($19 monthly), takes 0% on digital products, and Fourthwall collects and remits sales tax for you as the merchant of record. My Fourthwall review and pricing breakdown has the full numbers.
• Beacons is the closest like-for-like swap. The free plan already includes a link-in-bio page, a store, email and Instagram auto-DM (Smart Reply). Creator Plus at $25/month annual ($30 monthly) cuts the store fee to 0%, while Stan keeps email broadcasts behind its $99 plan. See Stan Store vs Beacons for the head-to-head.
• Payhip is the cheapest way to start selling digital products. Every feature, EU and UK VAT handling included, is on the free plan, which takes 5% per sale. The $29 Plus plan drops that to 2%, so you pay as sales grow instead of covering a fixed bill before your first order. More in my Payhip review.
• Shopify is the pick once physical products enter the plan. Shopify’s Basic plan costs $29/month billed annually ($39 monthly), the same sticker price as Stan Creator, and there is no transaction fee when you use Shopify Payments.
• The cheapest platform depends on what you sell each month. Payment processing of about 2.9% + $0.30 per US sale applies on top of almost every plan, so check the fee breakdowns at $500, $2,000 and $5,000 a month before you switch.

In this post I’ll cover:

• What Stan Store costs and what you get
• Why you might want to look elsewhere
• 10 alternatives with real pricing and fees
• What each one costs at $500, $2,000 and $5,000 a month in sales

What is Stan Store?

Stan Store is a link-in-bio storefront where creators sell digital products, courses, coaching calls and subscriptions straight from TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

There are two plans: Creator at $29/month or $300/year and Creator Pro at $99/month or $948/year. You get a 14-day free trial, but no permanent free plan.

Stan charges a 0% platform fee on both plans. Stripe or PayPal processing, about 2.9% + $0.30 per US sale, still comes out of every order.

The $29 Creator plan covers the storefront, a booking calendar, the course builder, recurring subscriptions, lead magnets, a community, AutoDM, analytics and unlimited products.

Email broadcasts and flows, discount codes, upsells and order bumps, affiliate management, Afterpay and Klarna payment plans, and pixel tracking are all locked behind the $99 plan.

Users rate Stan highly for how easy setup is, and that ease is the main thing you give up by leaving.

Why Look Elsewhere?

Here’s where Stan costs a bootstrapper money or flexibility:

• You pay before you sell: The $29 bill (or $300 a year) arrives even in a $0 month. Below roughly $500 a month in sales, a free plan with a 5% fee costs less, since 5% of $500 is $25.
• The growth tools cost $99: Email broadcasts, discount codes, upsells and affiliates all sit on Creator Pro. Running your first proper launch means paying $70 more a month.
• Your store looks like everyone else’s: Design control is basic, with no real website and limited branding. Users also complain about payout delays and slow replies when an issue is urgent.
• No merch or physical products: Stan covers digital products, bookings and courses only. If your audience wants a hoodie, you need a second platform (I cover that trade-off in Stan Store vs Shopify).

Stan Store Alternatives for Creators and Small Businesses

Here are the 10 platforms I’d consider, ranked by how much each one gives a small creator for the money.

Prices were checked in October 2026 and leave out card processing (about 2.9% + $0.30 per US sale) unless I say otherwise.

1. Fourthwall

What’s Good For

Fourthwall is my #1 because buyers land in a shop with your brand on it, with product pages and a cart, instead of a list of links. When I set up a store there, digital downloads, memberships and merch sat side by side in one shop, and the free plan was enough to get it live.

Merch needs no inventory: the catalog has 200+ print-on-demand products with no upfront cost: Fourthwall deducts the base cost of each item, and the margin you set on top is yours. Products you ship yourself carry a 0% Fourthwall fee.

Fourthwall is also the merchant of record: it registers for, collects and remits sales tax and VAT, so your only tax job is reporting your payouts as income. For its print-on-demand products, it takes over customer support too.

The integrations match where creators already post: YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, Twitch and Discord. Memberships come with members-only video, a community space and a mobile app for your members.

Features

• Free plan: Up to 50 products, 2 team members and 5GB of digital storage.
• Digital products and memberships: Downloads, members-only video, community and a mobile app.
• Print-on-demand merch: 200+ products, no upfront cost, and you set the margin.
• Merchant of record: Fourthwall collects and remits sales tax and VAT.
• Creator integrations: YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, Twitch and Discord.
• Pro extras: Up to 500 products, unlimited team members, a free .store domain, 100GB of storage and a $120/year sample credit.
• AI assistant (Eli): New, and some users object that it comes switched on by default.

Pricing

• Free: $0/month. 5% fee on digital products and 5% on memberships.
• Pro: $19/month or $180/year (about $15/month). 0% on digital products, 5% on memberships.

Tips, donations and payouts carry no Fourthwall fee, and neither do products you ship yourself. On print-on-demand items, Fourthwall deducts the base cost and you keep the margin you set. US card processing is 2.9% + $0.30 on both plans.

Pro pays for itself at about $380/month in digital sales on monthly billing, or $300 on annual. At $2,000 a month in digital sales, Free costs you $100 in fees while Pro costs $15 to $19.

Why It’s Good

Fourthwall replaces Stan plus a separate merch tool for less than Stan Creator costs, and the free plan lets you validate a product before paying anything. If you have a YouTube or Twitch audience that buys merch, start here. My Fourthwall review covers every plan and fee in detail.

Drawback

Users complain about slow support, sometimes weeks for a reply, and occasional print errors such as off-center designs or wrong colors. Memberships keep a 5% fee even on Pro, and Fourthwall isn’t a course platform, so a coach with a big curriculum should look at Podia or Kajabi.

2. Beacons

What’s Good For

Beacons is the swap that felt most familiar after Stan: a link-in-bio page, store, email and Instagram auto-DM in one place, with a free plan to start on.

The free plan already includes unlimited digital products, Smart Reply (Instagram comment-to-DM delivery) and 50 email sends a month, so I could put a product up and test it without paying for a plan.

Creator Plus is the plan that matters for bootstrappers: a 0% store fee plus unlimited courses, memberships and emails, at $25 a month on annual billing.

Features

• Link-in-bio plus store: One page holds your links, products and bookings.
• Smart Reply auto-DM: Instagram comment-to-DM delivery, even on Free.
• Email marketing: 50 sends a month on Free, unlimited on Creator Plus.
• Courses and memberships: Unlimited on Creator Plus.
• AI tools: Included on the free plan.

Pricing

• Free: $0, with a 9% store fee.
• Creator: $10/month or $100/year, 9% fee.
• Creator Plus: $30/month or $300/year ($25/month), 0% fee.
• Creator Max: $100/month or $900/year, 0% fee.

Moving from Free to Creator Plus pays off at about $278/month in sales. At $2,000 a month, Free costs $180 in fees against $25 on Creator Plus, with card processing on top of both.

Why It’s Good

Beacons keeps Stan’s bio-page and auto-DM workflow, drops the floor to $0, and its Creator Plus plan matches Stan Creator’s $25 annual rate while adding the unlimited email Stan reserves for its $99 tier. I put the two side by side in Stan Store vs Beacons.

Drawback

The 9% fee on Free and Creator gets steep once orders come in, so the $10 Creator plan rarely makes sense; go straight to Creator Plus when sales start. Beacons also isn’t built for merch.

3. Payhip

What’s Good For

Stan charges $99 a month before you can run coupons, email or affiliates. Payhip puts every feature on every plan, so affiliates, coupons, upsells, memberships and courses were all available when I opened a free account.

Its fees step down as you grow, from 5% to 2% to 0%, so there’s no fixed cost until a product proves itself. On a $500 month, the free plan’s 5% comes to $25, which is $74 less than Stan Pro for the same coupon, upsell and affiliate tools.

Payhip also collects and remits EU and UK VAT on digital sales, which takes the biggest headache out of selling to buyers abroad.

Features

• All features on all plans: Nothing is gated behind an upgrade.
• Unlimited products: Downloads, courses, memberships and coaching.
• Marketing built in: Affiliates, coupons, upsells and email.
• EU and UK VAT handled: Collected and remitted for you.
• Branded storefront: A proper store page, not just a checkout link.

Pricing

• Free Forever: $0, 5% transaction fee.
• Plus: $29/month, 2% fee.
• Pro: $99/month, 0% fee.

Card processing applies on top. Moving from Free to Plus pays off at about $967/month in sales, and Plus to Pro at about $3,500/month. At $2,000 a month, Free costs $100, Plus $69 and Pro $99.

Why It’s Good

Best for ebook, template and course sellers who want Stan Pro’s marketing tools without a $99 bill. Skip it if your sales depend on a bio page with bookings and auto-DM. My full Payhip review goes deeper.

Drawback

There’s no link-in-bio page, booking calendar or auto-DM, so Payhip replaces Stan’s store but not its bio-page workflow. It also has no print-on-demand merch.

4. Shopify

What’s Good For

What does $29 a month buy outside Stan? On Shopify, it buys a full ecommerce business with physical products, inventory, shipping and an app store, at the same annual-billing price as Stan Creator’s monthly rate.

When I set up a Basic store, I got my own domain, a theme and product pages with stock tracking, none of which Stan offers.

Features

• Full online store: Themes, your own domain and proper product pages.
• Physical and digital products: Inventory and shipping tools built in.
• App store: Add courses, memberships, email or print-on-demand through apps.
• Shopify Payments: No extra transaction fee.
• Starter plan: $5/month for selling through social and messaging links.

Pricing

• Starter: $5/month, for selling through social posts and links rather than a full online store.
• Basic: $29/month billed annually or $39 monthly.
• Grow: $79/month annual or $105 monthly.
• Advanced: $299/month annual or $399 monthly.

Shopify Payments card rates are 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic, 2.7% + $0.30 on Grow and 2.5% + $0.30 on Advanced. Using an outside payment gateway adds 2%, 1% or 0.6% depending on the plan. There’s a 3-day free trial, and annual subscribers can get their first three months for $1/month.

Why It’s Good

Shopify is the best growth path once merch or physical goods become the main business, since no other pick here handles inventory and shipping at scale. My Shopify review and Shopify pricing guide break down every plan, and Fourthwall vs Shopify helps if merch is the main product.

Drawback

Digital delivery, courses and coaching each need an app on Shopify, while Stan bundles them at $29, so your real bill climbs past the plan price. There’s also no free plan.

5. Podia

What’s Good For

Stan’s $29 plan includes a course builder, but a coach selling a full program with a community and email needs more. Podia puts courses, a community, downloads and email under one login.

It also handles sales tax in 230 countries, which matters as soon as your course sells outside your home market.

Features

• Courses and coaching: A structured course builder.
• Community: A members-only space.
• Email marketing: Built in.
• Affiliates and upsells: On Shaker and above.
• Sales tax handled: In 230 countries.

Pricing

These prices are billed annually:

• Mover: $42/month, 5% Podia fee, 100 email subscribers.
• Shaker: $84/month, 0% fee, plus affiliates, upsells and PayPal.
• Earthquaker: $150/month, 0% fee.

There’s a 14-day free trial and no free plan. At $2,000 a month in sales, Mover costs you $142 a month while Shaker stays at $84 at any volume.

Why It’s Good

If your course is the product, skip Mover and start on Shaker: the 0% fee and built-in affiliates beat paying 5% on every enrollment.

Drawback

The cheapest plan already costs more than Stan Creator and still takes 5%, so Podia only pays off once course revenue is steady.

6. Gumroad

What’s Good For

Gumroad costs $0 a month, which makes it the fastest way to sell a first file without a recurring bill. Since January 1, 2025, it acts as merchant of record and handles sales tax worldwide.

When I created a product, I had a live checkout link as soon as the file finished uploading and I typed in a price.

Features

• No monthly fee: You pay only when you sell.
• Merchant of record: Worldwide sales tax handled since January 2025.
• Simple product pages: One file upload gives you a live product page.
• Discover marketplace: Optional discovery, at a higher fee.
• Digital and physical products: Both are supported.

Pricing

• $0/month.
• 10% + $0.50 per sale on profile and direct sales.
• 30% on sales that come through the Discover marketplace.

Card processing is extra, so budget for it separately. With a $25 average order, Gumroad’s cut is $60 at $500 a month, $240 at $2,000 and $600 at $5,000.

Why It’s Good

At $200 a month in $25 orders, Gumroad takes about $24, less than Stan’s $29. At $2,000 a month it takes $240, more than Stan Pro’s $99. See my Gumroad review and Gumroad vs Stan Store for the details.

Drawback

Once you sell regularly, it’s the most expensive fee here, and the storefront gives you almost no design control.

7. Sellfy

What’s Good For

Can a store with a 0% platform fee still cost more than you planned? Sellfy sells digital products, physical goods and print-on-demand merch with 0% Sellfy fee on every plan, but each plan has an annual sales cap.

Features

• 0% platform fee: On every plan.
• Digital, physical and print-on-demand: One storefront for all three.
• Subscriptions: Recurring products.
• Marketing tools: Email, discount codes and upsells.
• Free trial: 14 days.

Pricing

• Starter: $29/month or $22/month billed annually, with a $10,000 annual sales cap.
• Business: $79/month or $59/month annual, $50,000 cap.
• Premium: $159/month or $119/month annual, $200,000 cap.

A 2% overage fee may apply above the cap, and Stripe or PayPal processing runs about 2.9% + $0.30. Starter’s cap works out to about $833 a month, so a seller doing $2,000 a month needs Business at $59 on annual billing.

Why It’s Good

Best for creators who want downloads and print-on-demand merch in one store at a flat price. Skip it if your monthly sales swing past the cap, because Business costs $59 against Starter’s $22.

Drawback

The caps push you up a tier sooner than the sticker price suggests, and there’s no free plan.

8. Ko-fi

What’s Good For

If your audience already tips you, Ko-fi is the cheapest place on this list to add products. It started as a tip jar and now runs a shop, memberships and commissions from the same page.

Its Gold plan costs $12/month and removes the platform fee on everything, the lowest flat price here.

Features

• Tips: 0% platform fee on both plans.
• Shop: Digital and physical products.
• Memberships: Monthly supporter tiers.
• Commissions: Take custom work orders.
• Gold plan: Removes the platform fee on everything.

Pricing

• Free: $0, 0% on tips and 5% on shop, membership and commission sales.
• Gold: $12/month, 0% platform fee.

Gold breaks even at about $240/month in shop or membership sales. At $2,000 a month, Free costs $100 against $12 on Gold, with processing on top.

Why It’s Good

For a small creator selling a few items alongside tips, Gold at $12 costs less than half of Stan Creator with the same 0% platform fee.

Drawback

The storefront is basic and the page still reads like a tip jar, so a coach won’t get Stan’s polished bio store here. If Ko-fi feels too limited, my Ko-fi alternatives list has other options.

9. Linktree

[Screenshot needed: Linktree homepage]

What’s Good For

If your bio link already runs on Linktree, you can sell digital products from that same page. It’s a link hub first, though, and its 12% free-plan fee is the highest selling fee on this list.

The cheaper paid plans don’t fix much: Starter at $6 a month on annual billing only trims the fee to 9%, which still means $180 in fees on $2,000 of sales.

Features

• Link-in-bio hub: The most familiar bio page around.
• Digital product selling: Sell straight from the page.
• Analytics: Clicks and traffic.
• Free plan: Available.

Pricing

• Free: $0, 12% seller fee.
• Starter: $8/month or $6/month annual, 9%.
• Pro: $15/month or $12/month annual, 9%.
• Premium: $35/month or $30/month annual, 0%.

At $2,000 a month in sales, the free plan costs $240 in fees, while Premium costs $30.

Why It’s Good

Against Beacons, Linktree loses on price: Beacons reaches 0% for $25 a month on annual billing and adds auto-DM and courses, while Linktree needs its $30 Premium plan for the same 0%. If you already pay $12 for Pro, Premium becomes the cheaper plan once you pass about $200 a month in sales.

Drawback

Thin checkout, no course hosting and a 12% free fee: I’d keep Linktree as the bio link and point it at Fourthwall or Payhip for the actual selling.

10. Kajabi

What’s Good For

Where do course creators go after Stan’s builder? Kajabi is the all-in-one for a serious course business, with courses, email, funnels and community in one account.

Features

• Courses and coaching: A full course platform.
• Email and funnels: Built in.
• Community: A members area.
• No Kajabi transaction fee: 0% on every plan.

Pricing

• Basic: $179/month or $143/month annual, with 5 products and 2,500 contacts.
• Growth: $249/month or $199/month annual.
• Pro: $499/month or $399/month annual.

Kajabi Payments charges 2.9% + $0.30 (2.8% on Growth, 2.7% on Pro), and other gateways add 2%, 1% or 0.5%. There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee and no free plan.

Why It’s Good

If you’re past $5,000 a month in course sales, Kajabi’s email, funnels and community replace three or four separate tools. With a 0% transaction fee, a $5,000 month costs $143 on Basic annual, against $250 in fees alone on a 5% free plan.

Drawback

At $143 to $179 a month it costs five to six times Stan Creator, and Basic caps you at 5 products.

How to Choose a Stan Store Alternative

Match the platform to what you sell and how much you sell each month:

• You sell merch and digital products to a YouTube, Twitch or TikTok audience: Fourthwall. Pro takes 0% on digital products for $15 a month on annual billing.
• You want Stan’s bio-page and auto-DM workflow for less: Beacons Creator Plus, at $25 a month annual with a 0% fee.
• You sell ebooks, templates or courses and want every tool from day one: Payhip, where even the free plan includes affiliates and coupons.
• Physical products are the plan: Shopify, from $29 a month on annual billing.
• Your course is the business: Podia Shaker at $84, then Kajabi once you pass $5,000 a month.
• You’re testing your first product: Gumroad or any free plan, since you pay $0 until it sells.
• You want digital plus print-on-demand at a flat fee: Sellfy, keeping an eye on the $10,000 annual cap on Starter.
• Your audience already tips you: Ko-fi, with 0% on tips and a $12 Gold plan.

Quick rule of thumb: under about $500 a month in sales, a free plan with a 5% fee costs less than Stan’s $29 (5% of $500 is $25). Above that, a flat plan with a 0% fee wins, Fourthwall Pro ($15 to $19) costs less than Stan Creator at any volume, and Beacons Creator Plus ($25 annual, $30 monthly) costs about the same.

Stan Store Alternatives Compared

Platform	Starting price	Transaction fee	Best for
Stan Store (reference)	$29/month ($25 annual)	0%	Bio-link storefront
Fourthwall	Free (Pro $19/month, $15 annual)	5% digital on Free, 0% on Pro; 5% memberships	Merch, digital and memberships
Beacons	Free (Creator Plus $30/month, $25 annual)	9% on Free and Creator, 0% on Creator Plus	Link-in-bio swap
Payhip	Free	5% Free, 2% Plus, 0% Pro	Digital products
Shopify	$29/month annual ($39 monthly)	0% with Shopify Payments	Scaling to physical products
Podia	$42/month (annual)	5% Mover, 0% Shaker and up	Courses and community
Gumroad	Free	10% + $0.50 (30% on Discover)	First digital product
Sellfy	$22/month (annual)	0% (annual sales caps)	Digital plus print-on-demand
Ko-fi	Free (Gold $12/month)	5% shop on Free, 0% Gold, 0% tips	Tips and small shops
Linktree	Free (Premium $35/month, $30 annual)	12% Free, 9% Starter/Pro, 0% Premium	Link hub
Kajabi	$143/month annual ($179 monthly)	0%	Large course businesses

Card processing, about 2.9% + $0.30 per US sale, applies on every platform on top of these fees.

What you’d actually pay each month: the figures below add the platform fee to the subscription on annual billing, leave card processing out, and assume a $25 average order for Gumroad. Payhip Plus is shown at its monthly price.

Plan	$500/month in sales	$2,000/month	$5,000/month
Stan Creator	$25	$25	$25
Stan Creator Pro	$79	$79	$79
Fourthwall Free	$25	$100	$250
Fourthwall Pro	$15	$15	$15
Beacons Free	$45	$180	$450
Beacons Creator Plus	$25	$25	$25
Payhip Free	$25	$100	$250
Payhip Plus	$39	$69	$129
Shopify Basic	$29	$29	$29
Gumroad	$60	$240	$600

Free plans match or beat Stan up to about $500 a month, and Fourthwall Pro is the cheapest plan in this table at every volume, although memberships there still carry 5%. Only Ko-fi Gold, at $12, undercuts it, with a much plainer store.

Final Thoughts

Stan is easy to launch, but you pay $29 before your first sale, and the tools that grow a business (email, coupons, upsells, affiliates) cost $99.

Fourthwall is my top pick. Fourthwall is free to start, takes 0% on digital products for $15 to $19 a month, sells merch and memberships from the same store, and handles sales tax. Pick Beacons if you want Stan’s bio-page workflow for less, Payhip if you sell digital products and want every tool on a free plan, and Shopify if physical products are next.

Start on a free plan, check your monthly sales against the fee table above, and move to a flat plan once the math says so.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Stan Store have a free plan?

No. After the 14-day trial, you pay $29/month for Creator ($300/year) or $99/month for Creator Pro ($948/year) to keep your store live. If you want to sell without a subscription, Fourthwall, Payhip, Beacons, Gumroad and Ko-fi all have free plans that charge only when you make a sale.

Does Stan Store take a cut of my sales?

No. Stan charges no platform fee on either plan, so your only per-sale cost is Stripe or PayPal processing, about 2.9% + $0.30 per US sale. Most free alternatives work the other way around: no monthly bill, but a platform fee of 5% to 12% on each order on top of processing.

What is the cheapest Stan Store alternative?

It depends on your monthly revenue. Under about $500 a month, a free plan from Fourthwall, Payhip or Ko-fi at 5% costs less than Stan’s $29. Above that, Ko-fi Gold ($12), Fourthwall Pro ($15 on annual billing) and Beacons Creator Plus ($25 on annual billing) are the cheapest flat options with a 0% fee.

Is Stan Store worth $29 a month?

Yes, if you sell steadily from social media and use the booking calendar, course builder and AutoDM that come bundled at $29. Users rate it highly for ease of use, and their complaints center on payout delays, basic design and the $99 Pro paywall. If you sell under $500 a month, a free plan costs you less.

Which Stan Store alternative is best for selling merch?

Fourthwall. It offers 200+ print-on-demand products with no upfront cost, collects and remits sales tax as merchant of record, and sells your digital products from the same store. Sellfy also does print-on-demand with a 0% platform fee, though its plans carry annual sales caps. For physical inventory at scale, Shopify is the stronger choice.

Can I move my customers and subscribers off Stan Store?

You can export your customer list, but recurring subscriptions and payment plans don’t transfer automatically, so members have to re-subscribe on the new platform. Rebuild your store and test a purchase first, update every bio link at once, and tell past buyers where their purchases now live. Cancel Stan only after a full billing cycle on the new setup.