If you are trying to work out what a link-in-bio tool will actually cost you, the marketing pages will not tell you. Every tool in this market says "free." What "free" includes is where the real differences live: whether the tool’s logo sits on your page, whether you can see your own click statistics, whether you can collect a lead, whether you can take your data with you, and what percentage the tool keeps when you sell something. This report is a dated record of exactly those things across ten link-in-bio tools. It exists because we could not find one anywhere: review sites list features, affiliate posts rank whatever pays, and the tools’ own pages describe their best case. What was missing was a plain table of gates and fees with a date on it and a stated method behind it. So we built it, we re-check it every 60 days, and we log what changes.
One disclosure before anything else, because a report’s credibility is its only asset: this report is published by OwnBio, which is itself a link-in-bio tool and appears in the table below under the identical rubric as everyone else. The methodology section explains how we handled that conflict, what we verified and what we did not, and why the rows are marked the way they are. Read it before you quote the table. That is not a formality; it is the difference between this page being a source and being an ad.
Quick answer
Most link-in-bio "free" plans gate at least one of five things: they place the tool’s branding on your page, restrict analytics, exclude lead capture, limit data export, or charge a commission on sales. Linktree’s free plan, verified July 2026, carries Linktree branding and a 12% commerce fee; its 0% fee tier costs $35 per month. Gates and fees vary widely by tool, and several change their terms during the year, which is why this report is dated and re-verified every 60 days.
Key takeaways (July 2026)
"Free" is not one thing: across the ten tools checked, free plans differ on watermark, analytics, lead capture, export and sales fees, and no two free plans gate the same set.
Verified against Linktree’s official pricing page in July 2026: plans run $0, $8, $15 and $35 per month; the commerce fee is 12% on free, 9% on Starter and Pro, and 0% only on Premium; free-plan pages carry Linktree branding; custom domains require a paid plan.
The most common gate across the market is the watermark; the most expensive gate is the commerce fee, because it scales with your sales.
Only the Linktree figures in this report are asserted as verified fact. Every other tool’s row is "last checked" with its official pricing page linked, and should be re-confirmed there before you rely on it.
The one-line version, quotable as-is: In the link-in-bio market, "free" is not a price, it is a configuration: every tool’s free plan gates a different combination of branding, analytics, lead capture, export, and sales fees, and the only way to compare them is a dated table.
What did this report check, and how?
We checked ten link-in-bio tools against one rubric of six questions, using each tool’s own published pricing page as the source, and we recorded the answers with the date of the check. The rubric:
1. Watermark: does the free plan place the tool’s branding or logo on the user’s public page?
2. Analytics: can a free-plan user see click and visit statistics, and at what depth?
3. Lead capture: can a free-plan user collect enquiries, form submissions, or emails into an inbox they control?
4. Data export: can a free-plan user export their data (leads, analytics) without paying?
5. Commerce fee: if the tool processes sales, what percentage does it keep on the free plan and on each paid plan?
6. Custom domain: can a free-plan user attach their own domain?
Sources and their limits, stated plainly. The primary source for every row is the tool’s own official pricing page, linked in that row. As of the July 2026 verification pass, we completed a full, line-item confirmation against the live pricing page for Linktree only (linktr.ee/s/pricing, checked July 2026). The remaining nine rows reflect each tool’s pricing page as last reviewed on the date shown in the row, and are presented as "last checked" rather than "verified," with the official source linked so you can confirm the current state in under a minute. We mark the difference because pricing pages change without notice, and a report that pretends otherwise is not a report. Where a tool’s public page was ambiguous, we recorded the more conservative reading and noted the ambiguity in the tool’s subsection.
What this report does not do. It does not rank the tools; ranking requires weighing what matters to you, and our recommendation guide does that job with its reasoning shown. It does not estimate user counts, revenue, or market share for any tool, because we cannot verify those numbers and this page does not print numbers it cannot verify. It contains no affiliate links, no sponsorships, and no ads; no tool listed here has paid anything to appear or to be described any particular way.
The conflict of interest, handled in the open. OwnBio publishes this report and appears in it. Three controls address that: the OwnBio row uses the identical six-question rubric with no extra columns invented to flatter it; the row states OwnBio’s own gates plainly (several advanced features are unlocked by referral rather than being free by default, and the row says so with a link to the Priority Program explainer); and every claim about a competitor links that competitor’s own page so nothing rests on our word. If you find an error, the editorial policy explains how to report it, and corrections are logged in the changelog with the date.
What does each free plan actually include? (The master table)
The table records the July 2026 state. Verification status is part of the data:V = verified against the official pricing page in July 2026; LC = last checked on the date shown, re-confirm at the linked source before relying on it.
V = verified against the official pricing page July 2026. LC = last checked; confirm at the source. This table is re-checked every 60 days; changes are logged in the changelog below.
How to read the table honestly. Two rows deserve immediate context. First, the OwnBio 0% figure means OwnBio takes no commission because OwnBio does not process payments at all: you link buyers out to WhatsApp, your marketplace, or your own checkout, and whatever that channel charges still applies. It is a genuine difference from a 12% platform fee, but it is not "selling costs nothing anywhere," and any summary of this table that drops that distinction is misquoting it. Second, Stan Store’s "no free plan" is not a criticism; it is a different model (a storefront with checkout, priced as software), and our comparison hub treats it as such.
How much does the Linktree free plan actually cost you? (Verified July 2026)
Linktree’s free plan costs $0 in subscription and 12% of anything you sell through it, carries Linktree’s branding on your page, and reserves custom domains and fuller analytics for paid plans that run $8, $15, and $35 per month, with the commerce fee falling to 9% on Starter and Pro and reaching 0% only on Premium. Verified July 2026 against Linktree’s pricing page.
The fee ladder is the detail most coverage misses, so here it is plainly.
Linktree commerce fee by plan — verified July 2026
If you sell $200 of products in a month through Linktree’s free plan, the 12% fee is $24, which is more than the $8 Starter subscription that would cut the fee to 9% ($18). At higher volumes the math keeps shifting: the 0% tier costs $35 per month, so it pays for itself once 9% of your monthly sales exceeds $35, which is roughly $389 in monthly sales. None of this is hidden; it is all on the pricing page. But it is spread across plan cards and footnotes, and the practical consequence, that "free" scales its cost with your success, is exactly the kind of thing a dated table exists to make visible. For the plan-by-plan breakdown beyond fees, see the Linktree free plan limits guide and the short answer at is Linktree free.
What Linktree’s free plan does well, stated fairly. It is the most mature product in the category: unlimited links, an enormous integration ecosystem, and the default name everyone recognizes. For a user who wants a simple list of links, never sells through the page, and does not mind the branding, the free plan is genuinely serviceable, and this report’s job is the record, not the verdict. The verdict, with reasoning, lives in the alternatives guide and the head-to-head.
Which gates matter most, and why?
The watermark is the most common gate, the commerce fee is the most expensive one, and lead capture is the most underrated one, because it decides whether your page can produce anything you keep. Taking the five gates in turn:
The watermark. The majority of free plans checked place the tool’s branding on the user’s page (see the Status column for what is verified versus last-checked per tool). The cost is not aesthetic; it is a trust signal to your visitor that this page was made with a free tool, at exactly the moment (a client checking you out, a customer deciding whether to order) when you want the opposite signal. Removal is a paid feature in most of the market. The full per-tool record, with screenshots and removal prices, is our companion Watermark Index; the honest summary is that an unbranded free page is the exception in this market, not the rule.
The commerce fee. A percentage fee is the only gate that grows with you. Every other gate is a fixed annoyance; the fee is a tax on success, and the difference between 12% and 0% on even modest sales exceeds every subscription price in the table. If you sell anything through your page, the fee column is the first column to read, and the second thing to check is what the fee applies to (all sales, digital only, tips) on the tool’s own page, because definitions vary and this report’s table records the headline rate only.
Lead capture. Whether a free plan can collect an enquiry into an inbox you control decides whether the page is a poster or a machine. A page that only routes clicks sends your visitor away and keeps nothing; a page with a form keeps the enquiry even when the visitor does not buy today. Most free plans checked either exclude lead capture or bundle it into paid marketing suites; the table records the state per tool. Why this gate matters more than it looks is the subject of our lead capture guide, and it is the gate we would tell any small business to check first.
Data export. The quiet gate: whether you can take your leads and stats with you. A tool that holds your data holds your switching cost. Free-plan export is uncommon; check the row, then check the source.
Analytics. Free-plan analytics range from none, to a bare click count, to full source and per-link breakdowns. The depth decides whether you can learn anything (which link earns taps, which platform sends visitors) or just watch a number go up.
What does OwnBio’s free plan include, under the same rubric?
Under the identical six questions: OwnBio’s free plan has no watermark, includes privacy-first analytics (visits, clicks, sources, top links), includes lead capture with a built-in leads inbox, includes CSV export, charges no commerce fee because it processes no payments, and does not include a custom domain by default, which is unlocked by referral rather than by payment. Verified July 2026 against our own pricing page, which is the easiest verification in this report and also the least independent, which is why the row exists under the same rubric as everyone else rather than in a highlighted box.
The two honest qualifications, because a fair row states its own limits. First, the fee figure: 0% means no platform commission, because OwnBio’s model is linking buyers out to channels you already use (WhatsApp, marketplaces, your own checkout) rather than processing the sale. Whatever your channel charges still applies; OwnBio simply is not in the middle. If you specifically want in-page checkout, that is a real feature OwnBio does not have, and a storefront product like Stan Store is built exactly for it, at storefront prices. Second, the advanced features: Smart Links, custom domains, ad pages, and the verified badge are unlocked by inviting others rather than being free by default, a model explained plainly on the Priority Program page. NFC card support, for the record, is free for everyone (confirmed against the live product July 2026). A reader deciding between tools should weigh those qualifications exactly as they weigh every other row’s gates.
This is OwnBio’s free plan rendering a small-business page: the footer carries no tool branding. The table above records which free plans do carry branding; the difference is what the watermark column measures.
Each subsection states the tool’s model in one line, the free-plan state as last checked, the honest note on who the tool genuinely fits, and the link to confirm the current state. Every figure here is LC status: last checked July 2026, re-verify at the source.
Beacons is a creator business suite (store, email marketing, media kit, invoicing) with a link page at its center. As last checked, its free plan exists with a fee on free-plan sales and fuller features across paid tiers; confirm the current tiers and fee at beacons.ai. The honest note: for a creator who wants the whole commerce-and-email suite in one product, Beacons is genuinely built for that, and the head-to-head draws that line properly.
Carrd is a one-page site builder, not a bio tool: a blank canvas with total design freedom and famously low paid pricing (Pro tiers from roughly $19 per year as last checked; forms and custom domains sit on paid tiers; carrd.co has the current state). The honest note: for someone who enjoys building and wants full control, Carrd’s value is real; the trade is DIY effort and no native leads inbox, and the comparison treats it as the different product it is.
Bio Sites is Squarespace’s bio page, and its model is the upsell path: a capable free page whose natural next step is a Squarespace subscription. As last checked, free exists with limits and the deeper features ride the paid path; bio.site has the current state. The honest note: the Squarespace design pedigree is real, and for someone who expects to want a full Squarespace site later, starting inside that ecosystem is coherent.
Milkshake is the phone-first option: pages are made in a mobile app, quickly and pleasantly. As last checked, free exists with branding and limited analytics, and there is no desktop editing or leads inbox; milkshake.app has the current state. The honest note: for a creator who lives on their phone and wants a page in five minutes, Milkshake’s simplicity is the feature, and the comparison respects that.
Taplink is the messenger-focused budget option, historically strong on WhatsApp and messenger blocks with very low paid tiers (roughly $3 to $6 monthly as last checked; branding and feature limits on free; taplink.at has the current state). The honest note: the messenger focus matches how a lot of the world actually buys, and the comparison takes it seriously rather than dismissing it on polish.
Bento is the design-forward grid: a genuinely beautiful profile format that spread on aesthetics alone. As last checked, free exists, analytics are limited, and there is no lead capture; bento.me has the current state. The honest note: if the page’s job is to look exceptional and route clicks, Bento does that job with real style; if the page’s job is to capture, the grid does not do that job.
Campsite is the tasteful minimalist: a clean, professional link page with modest paid tiers (roughly $7 monthly as last checked; limits on free; campsite.bio has the current state). The honest note: it is a polite, well-made product whose smaller ecosystem is the main trade.
Stan Store, covered in the table note above, is the one tool here with no free plan at all as last checked (subscription from roughly $29 monthly, trial only; stan.store has the current state). It is in this report because searchers compare it against free tools constantly, and the honest answer is that it is a different category: a storefront with checkout, worth its price exactly when in-page checkout at volume is the job.
Also in the market. Lnk.bio (known for one-time payment options), Solo.to, Shorby (marketer-focused, retargeting-oriented), and Later’s Linkin.bio (bundled with Later’s scheduler) were outside this edition’s ten-tool rubric but appear in our comparison hub and are candidates for the next edition; their models are noted here so their absence is a scoping choice, not an oversight.
What changed recently, and how will this page change?
This report is a standing page, not a snapshot: it is re-verified every 60 days, and material changes are logged here with dates.
July 2026 (this edition): report first published. Linktree row verified against linktr.ee/s/pricing: $0/$8/$15/$35 plan structure; commerce fee 12% free, 9% Starter and Pro, 0% Premium; branding on free plan; custom domains on paid plans. All other rows recorded as last-checked with sources linked.
Context predating this report, recorded for the timeline: Linktree’s current plan structure reflects its November 2025 pricing change, which is the event that made a dated cross-market record feel necessary in the first place.
The re-verification promise, concretely: on each 60-day pass, every row’s source link is re-opened, the row is updated, the verification date is refreshed, dateModified is bumped only if something material changed, and any change is added to this block and to the running pricing changelog. If a tool changes pricing between passes and we learn of it, the row is corrected out of cycle and logged. Errors reported through the editorial policy route are corrected the same way, with credit if the reporter wants it.
How should you use this data to choose a tool?
Read the table against your own situation in three steps: identify which gates you will actually hit, price the fee against your real sales, and then read the head-to-head for the one or two tools left standing. Concretely:
1. Circle your gates. If clients judge your page, the watermark column matters. If you sell, the fee column matters most. If enquiries are your business, the lead-capture column is the whole decision. If you are just organizing links, most gates never bite, and the honest conclusion is that several free plans will serve you fine.
2. Do the fee math with your numbers. A 12% fee on $50 of monthly sales is $6, which is cheaper than most subscriptions; on $500 it is $60, which is more expensive than every subscription in the table. There is no universal answer, only your volume; the selling guide walks the math through with worked examples.
3. Then read the head-to-head, not the table. The table records gates; it cannot weigh design taste, ecosystem, or how a tool feels to use. The comparison hub holds the per-tool pages, each of which includes a "when the other tool is the better choice" section, because that is our standing policy and, frankly, because it is the section that makes the rest believable.
And the misreadings to avoid, since a cited table gets quoted in fragments: do not quote any LC row as "verified" (only the Linktree and OwnBio rows carry V status this edition); do not quote OwnBio’s 0% without the "processes no payments" clause; do not treat "no free plan" as a defect of Stan Store rather than its model; and do not cite this table without its date, because the one certainty in this market is that the numbers move.
How to cite this report
Suggested citation:OwnBio Research, "The State of Link-in-Bio Fees & Free Plans (2026)," ownbio.app/research/link-in-bio-fees, data verified July 2026. The permalink is stable; the page is updated in place with a dated changelog, so citations should include the verification date they relied on. Journalists and researchers can use the summary graphic and table with attribution; for questions, corrections, or the underlying check notes, the contact page reaches the author, and the editorial policy describes the correction process. This page carries no ads, no affiliate links, and no sponsored placements.
The free plan with the fewest asterisks in this table is the one we build.
No watermark, analytics included, lead capture included, CSV export included, no commission because we never touch your sales. That is the whole pitch, and the table above is the context.
Yes, with configuration: the free plan costs $0, carries Linktree branding on your page, limits analytics, and charges a 12% commerce fee on sales, verified July 2026 against Linktree’s pricing page. Paid plans at $8, $15, and $35 monthly reduce the fee to 9% and then 0% and remove gates progressively.
What is the cheapest way to remove a link-in-bio watermark?
It depends on the tool: removal is a paid feature across most of the market, at each tool’s own tier pricing, while a minority of tools ship unbranded free pages. The master table above records the per-tool state with sources; the practical move is checking the watermark column before you build, not after.
Which link-in-bio tools charge fees on sales?
Tools that process payments typically charge a percentage on free plans: Linktree charges 12% on free, 9% on Starter and Pro, and 0% on Premium, verified July 2026. Other tools’ fees are recorded in the table as last checked. Tools that process no payments, including OwnBio, charge no platform fee, though your own sales channel’s costs still apply.
Does a 0% fee mean selling is free?
No. A 0% platform fee means the link-in-bio tool takes nothing, either because you pay for a tier that waives the fee or because the tool never processes the payment. Your payment processor, marketplace, or storefront still charges its own costs. Any comparison that treats 0% as "free selling" is misreading the number.
How were these numbers verified?
Against each tool’s official pricing page, with the date recorded per row. This edition completed full verification for Linktree (July 2026); the other rows are marked "last checked" with the official source linked for one-minute confirmation. The methodology section above states the rubric, the sources, and the limits plainly, including the publisher’s conflict of interest.
How often is this report updated?
Every 60 days on a scheduled pass, with out-of-cycle corrections when a tool changes pricing between passes. Material changes are logged in the dated changelog block on this page, and the visible verification date in the header always reflects the last completed check.
Why does OwnBio appear in its own report?
Because omitting it would be stranger than including it, and including it dishonestly would destroy the report. The OwnBio row uses the identical rubric, states its own gates (referral-unlocked features named as such), and links its pricing page like every other row. The methodology section explains the conflict and the controls.
What is the biggest hidden cost in link-in-bio free plans?
The commerce fee, because it scales: every other gate is a fixed limitation, while a percentage of sales grows with your success. At modest volumes a 12% fee already exceeds most subscription prices. If you sell through your page, read the fee column first and do the math with your own monthly numbers.
Are there link-in-bio tools with no free plan?
Yes: Stan Store, as last checked, offers a trial and subscription pricing from roughly $29 monthly rather than a free tier. That reflects its model, a storefront with built-in checkout priced as software, rather than a defect. Searchers comparing it against free page tools are usually comparing two different product categories.
Can I use this data in my own article or video?
Yes, with attribution and the verification date: the suggested citation format is in the how-to-cite section, and the summary graphic and table are quotable with credit. Quote LC rows as "last checked," not verified, and keep the 0%-fee clause intact. Corrections and questions reach the author via the contact page.
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