Beacons sells storefronts. LinkForge sells search visibility.

Beacons built a compelling creator commerce stack — digital products, email capture, media kits. For Instagram bio traffic, it works. For Google discovery, the architecture works against you: client-side rendering, no ProfilePage JSON-LD, no creator sitemap, and pricing that starts at $10/month before you unlock meaningful branding.

LinkForge treats SEO as infrastructure, not upsell. Every published bio page ships server-rendered HTML, Schema.org ProfilePage markup, automatic sitemap inclusion, and Open Graph previews — on Free. Pro at €7/month adds custom domains and full meta control.

If your goal is "[your name] links" on page one, the comparison is not close.

Head-to-head: LinkForge vs Beacons

Feature	LinkForge	Beacons
Server-rendered HTML	Yes (Next.js SSR)	No (client SPA)
ProfilePage JSON-LD	Yes, default	No
XML sitemap for creator pages	Automatic	No
Custom seo_title / description	Pro (defaults on Free)	Limited
Open Graph dynamic previews	Yes	Basic
EU hosting / GDPR-first	Yes	US-centric
Mobile Lighthouse 90+	Typical	Uncommon
Entry paid price	€7/month Pro	$10+/month
Storefront / digital sales	Links + CTAs	Full store
Indexable bio paragraph	Encouraged by design	Optional, CSR-loaded

Beacons wins on monetization widgets. LinkForge wins on every signal Google uses to rank a person.

Why Beacons pages struggle in Google

Client-side rendering delays indexation

Beacons serves a JavaScript shell. Bio text, link labels, and product blocks hydrate after load. Googlebot may crawl before content appears — or skip execution entirely on low-priority URLs.

LinkForge returns complete HTML on first request. Crawlers index bio copy, anchor text, and meta tags without executing JS.

No ProfilePage structured data

Google's Knowledge Graph connects entities through explicit schema. Beacons does not emit ProfilePage or Person JSON-LD on bio pages.

LinkForge injects ProfilePage schema linking your name, bio, avatar, and sameAs social URLs. That is a direct entity signal Linktree and Beacons omit.

Subdomain authority dilution

beacons.ai/yourname shares platform authority with every other creator on the subdomain. Your page competes internally and externally without a dedicated discovery path.

LinkForge publishes unique /u/slug URLs with sitemap inclusion and internal links from the marketing site — a crawl path Beacons does not provide.

Pricing reality: $10+ vs €7

Plan element	Beacons	LinkForge Pro
Monthly cost	$10–$50+	€7
Custom domain	Paid tier	Included
Remove platform branding	Higher tiers	Pro
SEO meta customization	Limited	Full panel
Analytics per link	Yes	Yes + SEO insights
SSR + schema + sitemap	No	Yes

Creators paying Beacons Creator Pro for commerce features still get zero architectural SEO. LinkForge Pro costs less and includes the full indexation stack.

When Beacons still makes sense

Choose Beacons if your primary revenue is in-platform digital product sales and Instagram/TikTok bio clicks are 95%+ of traffic. You are optimizing for checkout, not SERP.

Choose LinkForge if you want:

Branded Google results for your name
Journalists and brands finding your media kit via search
Podcast listeners discovering your links without opening Instagram
A link-in-bio hub that compounds authority on your domain

Many creators run Beacons for a store and LinkForge as their indexable canonical bio URL — then point the Instagram bio to LinkForge.

Migration: Beacons → LinkForge in 15 minutes

Export or copy your Beacons link list
Create your LinkForge page — paste links manually or import from a public URL
Write a 80–120 word bio paragraph (indexable text Beacons often lacks)
Set seo_title: [Name] | Links, Shop & Collabs
Publish — sitemap inclusion is automatic
Update Instagram, TikTok, YouTube bios to the new URL
Add the new URL to Google Search Console

Keep Beacons live for store checkout if needed; make LinkForge your public-facing bio link.

FAQ

Does Beacons have any SEO features?

Beacons offers basic meta fields on paid plans, but without SSR, ProfilePage schema, or sitemap inclusion, those fields rarely translate to rankings.

Is LinkForge worse for selling digital products?

LinkForge focuses on link hubs and CTAs to external checkout (Gumroad, Stripe, Shopify). If you need a native storefront, Beacons fits — but use LinkForge for discoverability.

Can I rank on Google with a Beacons custom domain?

Custom domain removes subdomain branding but not CSR limitations. You still lack ProfilePage schema and sitemap discovery.

How fast does LinkForge index compared to Beacons?

Creators typically see Search Console impressions within 2–4 weeks after publish and cross-linking. Beacons pages often never appear for branded queries.

Is €7/month worth it over Beacons free tier?

If search visibility matters to your brand, yes. LinkForge Free already beats Beacons on SSR and schema; Pro adds domain and meta control.

Beacons is a storefront. LinkForge is a search asset.

Start free → · LinkForge vs Linktree → · Linktree alternative hub →