Comparison

Gumroad vs Beacons

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Gumroad

Access and enjoy all your purchased digital products from creators directly on your iOS device. Stream videos, listen to music, or read books on the go. Creators can also monitor their sales data and performance.

Highlights
  • Access purchased digital products
  • Stream videos, music, and books
  • View sales data and charts
  • Automatic library syncing
  • AirPlay support
Features
Read full description

Create a product from your phone. See today’s sales. Watch, read, or listen to everything you’ve bought. Gumroad is the simplest way to sell digital products — courses, ebooks, podcasts, music, software, and more. The app is for both sides: makers who sell, and people who buy. For creators • Create a new product, set a price, and publish • Edit products you already sell • See sales, revenue, and views • Get a ping when someone buys For buyers • Your Gumroad library, on the phone • Watch videos, listen to audio, read ebooks • Pick up where you left off • Download files to keep Sign in with the same Gumroad account you use on the web. What you create on your phone shows up on your store. What you buy shows up in your library. 10% + 50¢ per sale. No monthly fee.

About

Beacons

Build a free, customizable link-in-bio website to connect fans to all your content. Monetize your creations by selling products, collecting tips, and promoting events. Analyze traffic insights to understand your audience and grow your creator business.

Highlights
  • Free link-in-bio website
  • Customizable templates and design
  • Monetize content (products, tips)
  • Add multiple pages and content types
  • Traffic insights and analytics
  • WYSIWYG editor
Features
Read full description

Create a free, beautiful, and highly customizable link in bio website with Beacons. Join over 2 million creators around the world and set up your easy-to-use link in bio site in minutes to build your brand, grow your audience, and monetize your content. Connect your fans to all of your content from all platforms in one free, personal link and grow your creator business. Engage your fans and make money right from your Beacons page: sell digital products and services, collect tips and donations, share your storefronts, promote events and shows, build your subscriber lists, and so much more. Here’s how it works: 1. Free setup: Set up your free link in bio site in minutes with your own URL (beacons.ai/yourname) 2. Easy to add and edit: Add your links and content including files, images, videos, playlists, music, storefronts, social media platforms, logos, or anything else you might want to add! Add multiple pages to organize your content however you want. Easy WYSIWYG editor allows you to tap, drag, and rearrange. 3. Customize it your way: Choose from one of our expertly-designed templates or create your own design. Your link in bio site can look as unique and branded as you want it to, with customizable colors, fonts, link styles, text, page formatting, and image or video backgrounds. 4. Share everywhere: Share your Beacons link in your Instagram, TikTok, and other social media profiles and anywhere you want to connect with fans! Never 5. Learn and grow: Analyze traffic insights with our detailed traffic breakdown to learn what content your audience likes most and prioritize your time and efforts. Beacons is for all creators to level up at any stage of your creator journey—including influencers, entrepreneurs, bloggers, artists, musicians, gamers, streamers, and more. Build your best creator business with Beacons. Download today and claim your slice of the internet.

Screenshots

Gumroad4 screens
Beacons4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Gumroad at 4.7 against Beacons's 3.2. Gumroad also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs monthly) and ratings volume (37K vs 98). Beacons's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 36) and review sentiment (37% vs 27%). On price, ads, monetization model and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Gumroad sells 31 one-off in-app purchases. Beacons asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Gumroad holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Gumroad has 37K ratings behind it against 98, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 27% of Gumroad's written reviews are positive against 37% of Beacons's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Gumroad ships an update every 2 days, Beacons monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Gumroad versus Beacons: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGumroadBeacons
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (37K ratings) — better3.2 (98 ratings)
Positive reviews27.0% of reviews37.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings37K — better98
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB40 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperGumroadBeacons AI

Customer experience

Gumroad

All ratings36,836 ratings
Positive92.1%
Neutral2.0%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews896 reviews
Positive27.0%
Neutral7.9%
Negative65.1%

Beacons

All ratings98 ratings
Positive49.0%
Neutral9.2%
Negative41.8%
Written reviews83 reviews
Positive37.3%
Neutral10.8%
Negative51.8%

User reviews

Gumroad

From 37K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Helpful for finding digital content
  • 🚀 Smooth video playback
  • 🚀 Convenient access to purchased content

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Login issues
  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 🐛 Inconsistent download and playback functionality
  • 🐛 Poor navigation and organization of content
  • 🐛 Lack of search and filtering options

Beacons

From 98 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use for creators
  • 💡 All-in-one platform
  • 🚀 Streamlined workflow
  • 👍 Good for beginners
  • 💡 More customization than LinkTree

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App is slow and laggy
  • 🐛 Frequent bugs and glitches
  • 🐛 Login issues and infinite loading
  • 🐛 Difficulty with payments and subscriptions
  • 🐛 Poor customer support

Bugs and requests

Gumroad

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inability to log in or create an account
  • Purchased content not showing up in the app library
  • Download and playback issues causing content to become inaccessible
  • Orientation lock not respected, causing layout issues

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to search and browse content within the app
  • Implement better organization and sorting of purchased items
  • Add option to save playback progress and resume from where you left off
  • Improve audio and video player controls and functionality
  • Introduce support for landscape mode and other device orientations

Beacons

Reported bugs

29 issues
  • Infinite loading on sign-in/account creation
  • No email reception for account verification
  • App/link unreliable
  • Increased reliance on AI makes app unusable
  • Cannot cancel subscription
Show 24 more
  • Payment page not loading
  • Lost Pro benefits after cancellation
  • Custom domain removed after Pro cancellation
  • App slow on mobile and iPad
  • Payment connection button not working
  • Digital product price/title removes itself
  • App won't go further than sign-in loading screen
  • Disconnects social media accounts
  • Cannot upload link in bio picture
  • Connection issues
  • Cannot see account due to bugs
  • Confusion on media uploading
  • Cannot upgrade to Pro on the app
  • Push notifications are iffy/not received
  • Appointments/bookings calendar not working
  • Checkout page issues
  • App continuously crashing
  • White screen after submitting info
  • Website down
  • Username unavailable for account creation
  • Server stopped/down
  • Login through Gmail not working initially
  • Media kit opens a blank page
  • Cannot log in with Google or other social networks on the app

Requested features

8 requests
  • Ability to change language
  • Dark mode option
  • More control over carousel columns
  • Ability to make multiple beacons link in bios on paid plans
  • Discount for link in bio pro plans
Show 3 more
  • Lower seller fees for memberships
  • Make Store Pro more affordable
  • Add Store Pro to be $24.99 a month

In-app purchases

31 purchases

Gumroad

One-time31
  • Gumroad Product2 variants$1.00
  • Gumroad Product$2.00
  • Gumroad Product2 variants$3.00
Show 28 more
  • Gumroad Product2 variants$4.00
  • Gumroad Product$5.00
  • Gumroad Product$6.00
  • Gumroad Product$7.00
  • Gumroad Product$8.00
  • Gumroad Product$10.00
  • Gumroad Product$12.00
  • Gumroad Product$13.00
  • Gumroad Product$14.00
  • Gumroad Product2 variants$15.00
  • Gumroad Product$16.00
  • Gumroad Product$20.00
  • Gumroad Product$25.00
  • Gumroad Product$26.00
  • Gumroad Product2 variants$30.00
  • Gumroad Product$35.00
  • Gumroad Product$40.00
  • Gumroad Product$50.00
  • Gumroad Product$90.00
  • Gumroad Product$91.00
  • Gumroad Product$92.00
  • Gumroad Product$93.00
  • Gumroad Product$94.00
  • Gumroad Product$95.00
  • Gumroad Product$96.00
  • Gumroad Product$97.00
  • Gumroad Product$98.00
  • Gumroad Product$99.00
None

Beacons

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Gumroad free?
Gumroad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Beacons free?
Beacons is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Gumroad or Beacons?
Gumroad is rated higher. Gumroad averages 4.7 out of 5 from 37K ratings, while Beacons averages 3.2 from 98 ratings.
Do Gumroad or Beacons have ads?
Neither Gumroad nor Beacons shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Gumroad or Beacons?
Gumroad ships an update every 2 days, and Beacons monthly. Most recently, Gumroad was updated on October 28, 2026 and Beacons on October 27, 2026.

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