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BeaconsvsShopify

Beacons is a creator toolkit: link in bio, store, email marketing, and invoicing in one. Shopify is the commerce platform: storefront, checkout, inventory, POS, email, and inbox.

How Beacons and Shopify compare

Beacons is more than a link page. A link-in-bio, digital product store, email marketing, media kit, brand-deal invoicing, and AI tools give a creator a mini back office without leaving the app. For someone monetizing social attention with sponsors and downloads, it is a clever, generous bundle.

Shopify is what you use when the store is the business. World-class checkout, inventory and shipping, taxes, POS, thousands of apps, Shopify Email, Shopify Inbox, and a theme store make it the standard for merchants of every size. It scales from one product to a warehouse without changing platforms.

Where they are different

Beacons

  • Beacons is a profile with tools.
  • Beacons emails from its platform.
  • Beacons sells downloads and links.

Shopify

  • Shopify's blog and pages serve the store.
  • Shopify Inbox handles chat.
  • Shopify doesn't manage scheduling natively.

Choose Beacons when you are monetizing a social audience with sponsors, downloads, and a bio link.

Choose Shopify when you sell products at volume and need inventory, shipping, tax, and apps.

Compare features

What's on Beacons and Shopify

A check means that capability is available. Beacons and Shopify are marked only when the offer is comparable, not the same product.

Site and brand

  • Workspace site
    Beacons: Included
    Shopify: Included
  • Custom domain
    Beacons: Included
    Shopify: Included
  • Editor Mode
    Beacons: Included
    Shopify: Included
  • Theme and fonts
    Beacons: Included
    Shopify: Included
  • Brand kit
    Beacons: Included
    Shopify: Not included

Public content

  • Blog
    Beacons: Not included
    Shopify: Included
  • Reader engagement
    Beacons: Not included
    Shopify: Included
  • Shop pages
    Beacons: Included
    Shopify: Included

Audience and email

  • Audience
    Beacons: Included
    Shopify: Included
  • Marketing emails
    Beacons: Included
    Shopify: Included
  • Campaign workflows
    Beacons: Included
    Shopify: Included

Messaging

  • Messaging Center
    Beacons: Not included
    Shopify: Included
  • AI Suggest
    Beacons: Not included
    Shopify: Included

Commerce

  • Shop payments
    Beacons: Included
    Shopify: Included
  • Orders and fulfillment
    Beacons: Included
    Shopify: Included
  • Scheduling and bookingsLink to external scheduling available on Starter.
    Beacons: Included
    Shopify: Not included

Team

  • Admin users
    Beacons: Included
    Shopify: Included
  • Per-admin permissions
    Beacons: Not included
    Shopify: Included
  • AI Assistant
    Beacons: Included
    Shopify: Included

* Note: This table does not capture every feature of Beacons or Shopify, and is not intended as a comprehensive list. We keep this page current, but Beacons or Shopify may add or remove features that are not shown here.

Beacons vs Shopify pricing

Compare plans, prices, and what it costs to get started.

  • Beacons

    Current plans and prices

    See what Beacons charges on their pricing page.

  • Shopify

    Current plans and prices

    See what Shopify charges on their pricing page.

Cardel: An alternative to
Beacons and Shopify

You don't pay until you publish.

Cardel provides a home for your craft. Share and sell your work, grow your audience, and bring your community together on a site of your own.

Common questions

  • Is Cardel an alternative to Beacons or Shopify?

    Cardel is a home for your craft: a site of your own with a blog, newsletter, shop, community, and one inbox. It can replace Beacons or Shopify when you want your work, audience, and sales in one place. The feature list on this page shows where Beacons and Shopify are marked.

  • Can I use Cardel with Beacons or Shopify?

    Yes. Cardel pages can link out to other products, so you can keep Beacons or Shopify for what it does best and bring the rest of your work to Cardel.

  • How much does Cardel cost compared with Beacons and Shopify?

    You don't pay for Cardel until you publish. Choose Starter, Pro, or Studio when your site goes live. Beacons and Shopify set their own prices, so check their pricing pages on this page for current plans.

  • How do I switch from Beacons or Shopify to Cardel?

    Start with Build Your Site, set up your home, and bring your work over at your own pace. You do not have to move everything on day one.