Looking for a Stan Store alternative? If you're here, you've probably outgrown the link-in-bio model and want something more—a real business infrastructure that grows with you. We built BTS because creators deserve to own what they build, not just rent shelf space on someone else's platform.
At BTS, we've spent the past two years working with over 1,600 creators who were looking for exactly what you're looking for: a way to turn content and community into a real business. Not another tool. Not another widget. Infrastructure.
Let us be upfront: we are the alternative we're recommending. This isn't a fake listicle pretending to be neutral. We built BTS specifically because platforms like Stan Store—while great at what they do—weren't solving the deeper problem creators face. The creator economy is fragmented, and most creator platforms optimise for transactions, not ownership.
Here's what we've learned, and why we think BTS might be what you're searching for.
Why Creators Leave Stan Store
Stan Store does what it does well. It's a solid link-in-bio tool that helps creators sell digital products, book calls, and capture emails. At $29/month for the Creator plan or $99/month for Creator Pro, it offers zero transaction fees and a simple setup that gets you selling fast.
So why do creators leave?
From our experience: "We've seen creators hit a ceiling with link-in-bio tools—they work perfectly until you want to build something bigger than a digital storefront."
The Depth Problem
The most common issue we hear is limited depth. Stan Store is designed to be a starting point, a gateway. It excels at capturing impulse purchases from social traffic. But when creators want to build something more substantial—a membership community, a structured curriculum, an ongoing relationship with their audience—they find themselves stitching together multiple tools.
Creators are forced to stitch together tools that never become a real business.
You end up with:
- Stan Store for your link-in-bio and basic products
- Skool or Circle for community
- Teachable or Kajabi for courses
- Patreon for memberships
- ConvertKit or Mailchimp for email
- Calendly for bookings
- Stripe manually configured across everything
That's six, seven, sometimes eight different platforms. Each with its own login, its own analytics, its own support team, its own monthly bill. Your audience data is scattered. Your brand experience is fragmented. And you—the creator—spend more time managing tools than creating content.
What we've learned: "The most successful creator businesses focus on consolidation and ownership, not collecting more software subscriptions."
The Ownership Question
Here's the deeper issue: when your business is spread across a dozen platforms, who really owns it?
Most creator platforms optimise for transactions, not ownership. They're designed to take a piece of your revenue or lock you into their ecosystem. Your audience lives on their servers. Your content lives in their formats. Your brand lives within their templates.
If a creator has an existing audience but no structure, they're vulnerable. Platform changes, policy updates, or outright shutdowns can devastate a business overnight. We've seen it happen.
What We Built Instead
When we started BTS, we asked a simple question: what would creator business infrastructure look like if we designed it from scratch?
BTS's take: "We're not building another feature. We're building the foundation creators can own and scale."
Our Philosophy: Creator Business Infrastructure
BTS is where creators turn content and community into real businesses. That's not marketing speak—it's the actual design principle behind every feature we've built.
We run the infrastructure Behind The Scenes, so creators can focus on creating, connecting, and growing something they own. Everything lives in one space, designed to scale with their audience.
How BTS Approaches Creator Business:
- Consolidation First — Your content, community, courses, memberships, and monetisation live in one place
- Ownership Always — Your audience data, your brand, your business
- Structure and Momentum — Opinionated defaults that help you build, not endless customisation that paralyses you
This methodology has helped our creators generate over $1.4 million in payouts since we launched.
How We're Fundamentally Different
BTS is not a social network or a marketplace. We don't have feeds to scroll or algorithms to game. We don't find customers for you—that's your job, and you're already good at it.
What we do is give you one place to build something you own.
Our data shows: "Creators who consolidate onto BTS spend 60% less time on platform management and more time creating content."
We focus on structure and momentum, not algorithms. When you sign up for BTS, you're not dropped into a blank canvas with infinite options. You get an opinionated foundation that guides you toward building something real.
The Tradeoffs We Consciously Made
We could have built a link-in-bio tool. It would have been easier and attracted more casual users. But we consciously chose to build something deeper.
Our recommendation: "Based on working with 1,600+ creators, we suggest starting with infrastructure that can scale, not tools you'll outgrow in six months."
That means BTS isn't for everyone. If you're just testing an idea or selling your first digital product, Stan Store might genuinely be the better choice. We're built for creators who are ready to build something real—education-focused creators with an existing audience, a clear value-niche, and a digital product offering.
BTS vs Stan Store: Honest Comparison
Let's put the cards on the table. Here's how we genuinely compare:
| Feature | Stan Store | BTS |
|---|---|---|
| **Best For** | Social-first impulse sales | Building a complete creator business |
| **Pricing** | $29-99/month, 0% transaction fees | Free Starter (10% fee), Pro $149/month (3.5% + 30¢) |
| **Community** | Not included | Built-in community infrastructure |
| **Courses** | Basic course builder | Full curriculum and content hosting |
| **Memberships** | Subscription products | Tiered membership architecture |
| **Customisation** | Limited storefront templates | Brand-forward, modern design |
| **Integrations** | Basic | Extensible app system |
| **Setup Time** | Minutes | Hours to a day |
| **Ideal Audience Size** | Any | 10,000+ followers |
Where Stan Store Wins
Credit where it's due:
- Speed to launch: Stan Store gets you selling in minutes
- Simplicity: Zero learning curve for basic products
- Zero transaction fees: Flat monthly pricing regardless of volume
- Social-first design: Optimised for TikTok and Instagram traffic
Where BTS Wins
- Depth: Full business infrastructure, not just a storefront
- Community: Native community features without adding another tool
- Design: Modern, brand-forward aesthetic—not a template that looks like everyone else's
- Consolidation: Everything in one place means one login, one dashboard, one support team
- Ownership: Your data, your audience, your business
From our experience: "We've seen creators who switch from Stan Store to BTS reduce their monthly software spend by 40% while improving their member experience."
Other Alternatives Worth Knowing
Since you're researching Stan Store alternatives, you've probably come across these platforms too. Here's our honest take:
Patreon
Patreon pioneered creator monetisation, and they deserve credit for that. But Patreon monetises content, while BTS helps creators build a real business. Patreon's 8-12% fees add up quickly, and the platform experience feels increasingly dated.
Our take: Great for hobby creators or those just testing paid content. Less ideal for building a sustainable business.
Gumroad
Gumroad is perfect for simple digital product sales with a pay-as-you-go model (10% per sale). No monthly fees means low risk. But like Stan Store, it's a tool, not infrastructure.
Our take: Use Gumroad if you're selling occasional downloads. Move to BTS when you want recurring revenue and community.
Skool
Skool ($99/month) combines community and courses with gamification. It's simple and effective. Unlike Skool's classroom-style interface, BTS is designed to look and feel like a modern brand, not an online course portal from the early 2000s.
Our take: Solid for course-focused communities. BTS offers more flexibility and better design.
Circle
Circle ($89-360/month) is powerful community software with deep features. But Circle feels like back-office software, where BTS feels like a modern, public-facing creator business.
Our take: Circle works if you need enterprise community features. BTS is better for creators who want simplicity without sacrificing capability.
Whop
Whop is free to start with a 3% commission on sales. It's powerful and feature-rich. But Whop is powerful and complex; BTS is designed for creators who want simplicity and momentum.
Our take: Whop works for digital product arbitrage and Discord-heavy communities. BTS is better for education-focused creators building lasting businesses.
Kajabi
Kajabi ($149-399/month) is the enterprise choice for serious course creators. But Kajabi is enterprise software for course creators; BTS is infrastructure for creator businesses. The learning curve alone can take weeks.
Our take: Kajabi makes sense for six-figure course businesses with teams. BTS is better for solo creators and small teams.
Is BTS Right for You?
BTS's take: "We'd rather you pick the right platform than pick us for the wrong reasons."
BTS Is Built For:
- Education-focused creators with a clear niche and existing audience (10,000+ followers)
- Creators with digital products to offer—courses, content, coaching, community
- Creators who want to own their business, not rent space on someone else's platform
- Creators ready to consolidate multiple tools into one infrastructure
If that sounds like you, BTS is the answer.
Stan Store Might Be Better If:
- You're just starting out and testing your first digital product
- You primarily sell impulse purchases from social traffic
- You want the absolute simplest setup with zero learning curve
- You're happy managing multiple tools and don't need community features
What we've learned: "The best platform is the one that matches where you are today and where you want to be tomorrow."
The Real Question
Ask yourself: do you want a tool, or do you want infrastructure?
If you want a quick way to sell a PDF from your Instagram bio, Stan Store is excellent. If you want to build something that grows with you—a real business with recurring revenue, engaged community, and complete ownership—that's what we built BTS for.
Making the Switch from Stan Store
Ready to make the move? Here's what the migration process looks like.
What Transfers Easily
- Digital products: Download your files and re-upload to BTS
- Customer emails: Export your email list and import it
- Course content: Your videos and materials move over directly
- Pricing structures: Recreate your tiers in our membership system
What You'll Need to Recreate
- Storefront design: Your BTS presence will look different (and better, we think)
- Checkout flows: You'll set up fresh payment integrations
- Automations: Any email sequences or workflows need rebuilding
Timeline Expectations
From our experience: "Most creators launching on BTS are up and running within a day. Full migration from another platform typically takes a weekend of focused work."
We've designed our onboarding to get you earning quickly, not buried in settings. That said, if you have an established business with complex offerings, plan for 3-5 days to properly migrate and test everything.
How We Help
We're not a set-it-and-forget-it platform. Our creator success team provides hands-on support—real humans who understand your business, not ticket systems.
We help creators migrate from platforms like Patreon, Teachable, Skool, and yes, Stan Store. Your members can transfer seamlessly with proper communication and redirect strategies.
Get Started Free
Here's the thing about risk: there isn't any.
BTS offers a free Starter plan that lets you launch and start earning immediately. You can build your entire creator business—community, content, courses, memberships—without paying a monthly fee.
What You Get on the Free Starter Plan
- Full access to BTS infrastructure
- Community features
- Content and course hosting
- Membership and subscription capabilities
- 10% platform fee on transactions
When to Upgrade
Our Pro plan ($149/month with 3.5% + 30¢ transaction fees) makes sense when:
- Your monthly revenue exceeds roughly $1,500 (the math favours Pro)
- You want a custom domain for full brand control
- You need advanced features and priority support
Our recommendation: "Start free. Prove the model works. Upgrade when the numbers make sense."
You bring your audience. We help you turn them into a real business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: How much does BTS cost?
BTS offers a free Starter plan with a 10% transaction fee—no monthly cost to get started. Our Pro plan is $149/month with a reduced 3.5% + 30¢ fee per transaction. For most creators, the free plan works until you're earning enough that Pro pays for itself.
Q2: Is BTS free to use?
Yes. Our free Starter plan lets you launch and start earning with no monthly fees. The 10% transaction fee means we only make money when you make money. Upgrade to Pro when your volume justifies it.
Q3: What makes BTS different from other creator platforms?
We focus on creator business infrastructure, not just monetisation. Everything runs behind the scenes in one place—community, content, courses, memberships—so you can focus on creating. Most platforms are tools; we're building foundations.
Q4: Can I migrate my existing members to BTS?
Absolutely. We help creators migrate from platforms like Patreon, Teachable, Skool, and Stan Store. Your members can transfer seamlessly with proper communication. Our creator success team walks you through the entire process.
Q5: How long does it take to set up BTS?
Most creators launch within a day. Our onboarding is designed to get you earning quickly, not buried in settings. If you're migrating from another platform, expect a weekend of focused work to fully transition.
Q6: Does BTS take a percentage of my earnings?
Yes, transparently. The free Starter plan takes 10%. The Pro plan takes 3.5% + 30¢ per transaction. Plus standard payment processor fees (Stripe). We believe in alignment—we grow when you grow.
Q7: What kind of support does BTS offer?
We provide hands-on creator success support. Real humans who understand your business, not just ticket systems. Pro members get priority support and dedicated assistance for complex issues.
Q8: Can I use my own domain with BTS?
Yes. Pro members can connect custom domains to create a fully branded experience. Your BTS business looks like YOUR business, not ours.
Q9: Is BTS better than Stan Store?
It depends on your needs. Stan Store is excellent for quick link-in-bio sales with zero transaction fees. We built BTS for creators who want to own their business infrastructure—community, courses, memberships, all in one place. Different tools for different stages.
Q10: Can I use both BTS and Stan Store?
Some creators do run multiple platforms during transition. But most find BTS handles everything they need in one place. The goal of consolidation is reducing complexity, not adding to it.
Q11: What payment methods does BTS support?
We support all major credit cards through Stripe, with payouts in 1-5 days globally (same-day in the US). We're available worldwide except Africa, Spain, Venezuela, North Korea, Iran, and Russia.
Q12: Do I need technical skills to use BTS?
No. BTS is designed for creators, not developers. If you can use social media, you can use BTS. We've intentionally built for simplicity without sacrificing power.
Q13: Can I sell courses on BTS?
Yes. BTS includes full course hosting with modules, lessons, and content delivery. Unlike bolted-on course features, our curriculum tools are native to the platform.
Q14: What about community features?
Community is core to BTS, not an add-on. You get spaces for discussions, member engagement tools, and the structure to build real relationships with your audience.
Q15: How does BTS handle subscriptions?
We support monthly and annual subscriptions, one-off payments, pay-per-view, free trials, tips, custom requests, and bundled offerings. Creator-controlled pricing across the board.
Key Takeaways
- Stan Store is a tool; BTS is infrastructure. Different solutions for different stages of your creator journey.
- The creator economy is fragmented. Most platforms force you to stitch together tools that never become a real business.
- BTS gives creators one place to build something they own. Community, content, courses, memberships—all under your brand.
- Start free, prove the model, scale when ready. No risk to try. Upgrade when the math makes sense.
- We're building for creators who want ownership. If that's you, we should talk.
About the Author
The BTS Team is the Product Team at BTS, the creator business infrastructure platform. We've worked with over 1,600 creators and processed more than $1.4 million in payouts since launching in 2024.
We built BTS because we believe creators deserve to own what they build—not rent space on platforms that optimise for their own growth at your expense. Everything we do is designed to help you turn content and community into a real business.
This article reflects BTS's methodology and experience as of January 2026.
Ready to build something you own? Start free with BTS and see why 1,600+ creators have made the switch.
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