What creator platforms actually take from you
The number most comparison posts skip. Here's what Linktree, Beacons, Collabstr, and Cabana Studio really take from your earnings in 2026 - sourced, dated, and side by side.
| Platform | On the free plan | On paid plans | What that means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabana Studio | 10% flat, no card required | Flat 6% → 2% by plan (from $15/mo) | One flat % per brand deal. Nothing charged to the brand, and no cut of your affiliate income or storefront sales. |
| Linktree | 12% + Stripe processing on commerce | 9% on Starter/Pro; 0% only on Premium ($30–35/mo) | Commission on sales through Linktree Commerce. No custom domain on any plan. |
| Beacons | 9% commission | 5% on Creator Pro ($10/mo); 0% on Entrepreneur | Commission on sales made through your store. |
| Collabstr | — | 15%+ off the creator payout, plus a brand-side fee | Marketplace take rate applied to every booking made through the platform. |
| Komi | No published pricing | Undisclosed | Creator hub + a brand-deal marketplace where Komi contracts creators on behalf of brands. No public price, tier, or take rate we could verify as of July 2026 - check komi.io for current terms. |
Competitor figures per third-party comparisons dated May 2026; Cabana Studio figures from its live plan tiers. Updated July 2026. Pricing moves - check each platform’s own site for current rates.
The part most comparison posts skip
A link page being “free” and that link page being free to sell throughare two different things. Linktree’s page is free; Linktree’s commerce takes 12% on the free plan. Beacons is the same shape: 9% free, down to 0% only if you pay for the top tier.
Read the free-plan column again. On Linktree’s free plan, a $1,000 sale costs you $120 before Stripe takes its cut. The 0% tier exists - it’s $30–35/month, and it’s the only plan that stops taking a slice of what you make.
Marketplaces take the most
If you book brand deals through a marketplace like Collabstr, the platform takes 15%+ off your payout on every booking, plus a fee on the brand side. That’s the price of the marketplace finding the brand for you - but once you can bring your own inbound, you’re paying it for nothing.
And some platforms don’t publish a rate at all. Komi, for example, contracts creators on behalf of brands through its marketplace with no public pricing or take rate as of July 2026. A fee you can’t see is hard to compare - and still comes out of the deal.
Why a flat per-deal fee is different
Cabana Studio doesn’t take a commission on your storefront or a cut of your affiliate links. It charges one flat 2–6% per brand deal by plan (plus Stripe processing), and it charges the brand nothing. Your rate is the same on a $500 deal or a $5,000 one, and you always know it in advance.
Because the fee is per brand deal rather than a percentage of everything you sell, the models price very differently depending on where your income comes from. If you mostly sell your own digital products, a storefront tool’s commission may work out fine. If you mostly work with brands, a flat per-deal fee - with a deal CRM, invoicing, and a media kit behind it - is usually both cheaper and more predictable. See the full breakdown on the pricing page.
When a competitor is the better call
Honestly: if all you need is a list of links and you never sell anything, Linktree’s free plan is hard to beat. If your whole business is digital products, a storefront tool is built for that. Cabana is the right answer when the money is brand deals- and you’d rather pay a flat, low, predictable fee than a commission that’s highest exactly when you’re on the cheapest plan.
Compare head-to-head: vs Linktree, vs Beacons, vs Stan Store, vs Collabstr, vs Komi, vs Milkshake.
Creator platform fees - your questions
How much do creator platforms take from your earnings?+
It varies widely by model. Link-in-bio tools like Linktree and Beacons take a commission on what you sell through them - 9–12% on lower plans, dropping to 0% only on their most expensive tier. Marketplaces like Collabstr take 15%+ of the creator payout on each booking, plus a brand-side fee. Cabana Studio instead charges a flat 10% on the free plan or 2–6% per brand deal on paid plans, with nothing charged to the brand and no cut of affiliate or storefront income.
Which creator platform has the lowest fees?+
It depends what you're being charged for. Linktree and Beacons reach 0% commission, but only on their top tier ($30–35/mo and Entrepreneur respectively) - on cheaper plans they take 9–12%. Cabana Studio charges a flat 10% on its free plan, dropping to 2–6% on paid plans (from $15/mo) - no free-plan penalty, the fee just drops as you pay for more. If your income is brand deals rather than storefront sales, a flat per-deal fee is usually the cheaper and more predictable model.
Does Linktree really take 12%?+
On the free plan, selling through Linktree Commerce costs 12% per transaction plus Stripe processing. Starter and Pro plans charge 9%. Only Premium, at roughly $30–35/month, drops the commerce commission to 0%. Many creators don't realize the free plan carries the highest cut. (Figures per third-party comparisons, May 2026 - check linktr.ee/pricing for current rates.)
What does Komi take from creators?+
Nobody outside Komi knows - as of July 2026 it publishes no pricing, tiers, or marketplace take rate we could verify, and on its brand-deal marketplace Komi contracts creators on behalf of brands, so the economics sit inside the platform. That opacity is worth weighing: a fee you can't see is hard to compare and hard to negotiate around. Check komi.io for current terms; Cabana's flat per-deal fee is published on every plan card.
What does Cabana Studio charge?+
Free plan: 10% per brand deal, $0/mo, no card required. Paid plans start at $15/mo, with a flat 2–6% fee per brand deal by plan (plus Stripe processing) and nothing charged to the brand. No separate commerce commission - the per-deal fee is the whole model.
Keep more of every brand deal.
One flat 2–6% per deal, nothing charged to the brand, and a full deal CRM behind it.