Beacons vs Uscreen

Beacons is an all-in-one creator platform from a US startup that began as a link-in-bio tool and grew into a small business suite for social media creators. A single Beacons page sits behind the bio link on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube and can host a storefront for digital products, an email signup form, a media kit for brands and links to everything else a creator does.

Beyond the link page, Beacons includes a store for selling digital downloads, courses and coaching, an email marketing tool for building and messaging a list, a media kit that pulls in audience statistics, invoicing for brand deals and a set of AI tools for captions, pitches and product descriptions. The free plan lets creators start without paying but takes a fee on sales; Creator Pro adds tools but keeps the same fee, and Store Pro removes it while unlocking more customisation.

Beacons fits creators who want monetisation, email and brand partnership admin in one place without stitching together several apps. It is less suited to businesses that need a full website, detailed analytics or precise design control, and the number of features can feel sprawling for someone who only needs a link page. Linktree is the simpler and better-known link page, Stan Store focuses on selling products and courses from the bio link, and Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is stronger when email is the main channel.

Uscreen is a video membership and OTT platform founded in 2014 in Washington, DC and now run as a remote-first company. It lets fitness instructors, educators, faith communities and media brands sell video subscriptions, courses and live streams under their own brand instead of relying on YouTube or Patreon. After about ten years bootstrapped, it took a $150M growth investment from PSG in 2025.

Creators get a branded storefront and video catalogue, native live streaming with chat, community channels, subscriptions, free trials and one-off purchases, marketing automations and analytics. Higher tiers add branded iOS and Android apps, and Custom plans add TV apps. Pricing combines a monthly platform fee with a per-subscriber fee on Growth ($1.99) and App Essentials ($0.99); Starter has no subscriber fee but is capped at 100 subscribers.

Uscreen fits creators whose business is video-first and who want members watching in their own apps. Kajabi is stronger for courses, funnels and email marketing, Patreon is cheaper to start but takes a revenue cut and keeps the audience on its platform, and Teachable focuses on courses rather than streaming libraries.

Uscreen says creators have earned over $1B on the platform. Model the subscriber fee carefully: at around 300 paying members, Growth and App Essentials cost about the same, and above that App Essentials becomes cheaper while also including apps.