How Does Linktree Make Money? The Business Model Explained (2026)

How does Linktree make money when the core product is free to use? Three ways, mainly: paid subscriptions, a percentage cut of the sales creators make through their pages, and brand-sponsored placements. It is a classic freemium model with a commerce layer bolted on. The free plan exists to pull in as many creators as possible, and Linktree earns from the slice who upgrade, the slice who sell, and increasingly from brands paying to reach creators' audiences. Understanding how Linktree makes money is genuinely useful if you use the platform, because its revenue model shapes which features are free, which cost money, and why a "free" page can still end up charging you. Here is the breakdown, as of July 2026.

1. Paid subscriptions

The biggest and most straightforward revenue stream is subscriptions. Linktree is free to start, but its most useful features sit behind paid tiers, and creators who want them pay monthly or annually. Above the free plan sit three paid tiers, in ascending price: Starter, Pro, and Premium.

Each tier unlocks more: richer customization, deeper analytics, a custom domain, audience-collection tools, branding removal, and more. The company prices these in local currency and adjusts them by region, so there is no single global figure, but the model is simple: give away a capable free version, then charge the creators who outgrow it. This is the bread-and-butter of most freemium software, and for Linktree it is the core of the business. We break down exactly what each tier adds in Linktree pricing explained.

2. A cut of your sales

The second stream is the one people notice only when it hits them: Linktree takes a percentage of the money creators make selling through their pages. If you sell a digital product, a course, or collect a tip directly on Linktree, the platform keeps a slice of that revenue, and the slice depends on your plan:

• Free plan: 12% of each sale.
• Starter and Pro: 9%.
• Premium: 0%.

That ladder comes from Linktree's own help center documentation on transaction and processing fees, current as of July 2026, and it sits on top of standard payment processing costs. It is a smart bit of business design. The fee gives creators a reason to upgrade (a higher tier lowers or removes the cut), so the commerce fee and the subscription business feed each other. A creator selling enough will often find that Premium's 0% fee saves more than the subscription costs, which is exactly the nudge up the ladder Linktree wants. For the full math on when an upgrade pays for itself, see the pricing breakdown.

3. Brand-sponsored links

The newer stream turns creators' audiences into inventory brands will pay for. Linktree has rolled out sponsored placements that let creators host brand offers directly on their pages and earn from them, with early brand partners reportedly including large names and payouts structured around actions like sign-ups or customer acquisitions. Linktree sits in the middle of these brand-to-creator deals and takes its share.

This is the classic marketplace move for a platform with a large creator base: once you have tens of millions of pages and the audiences behind them, you can connect brands to creators and monetize the introduction. It also diversifies Linktree beyond charging creators directly, which matters as the free-to-paid conversion rate on subscriptions can only stretch so far.

Why the free plan exists

If Linktree gives away a genuinely useful free product, why does that make business sense? Because the free plan is the top of the funnel. It gets the platform onto millions of pages, into millions of social media bios, and in front of the fans who tap those links. Every free page is a potential upgrade, a potential seller Linktree earns a fee from, and a potential slot for a sponsored placement. The free tier is not charity; it is customer acquisition. The "Powered by Linktree" badge on every free page even doubles as free advertising, sending new creators back to sign up.

That is also why the free plan is capped in the specific ways it is. The features held back (branding removal, deeper analytics, the lowest sales fee) are precisely the ones creators want most once they are serious, which is what turns a free user into a paying one.

What this means for you as a creator

Knowing how Linktree makes money helps you use it with your eyes open. Two practical takeaways:

• The sales fee is a real cost, not a footnote. If you sell through your page, factor the 12% or 9% cut into your pricing. At any meaningful sales volume, that fee can dwarf the monthly subscription, which flips the usual "free is cheapest" instinct on its head.
• Free features and paid features are drawn where they are on purpose. The line between them is a business decision about what makes you upgrade, not a technical limit. That is fine, but it means "free" and "enough" are not the same question. We cover that distinction in is Linktree free.

How ByteSize makes money differently

We build ByteSize, a link-in-bio platform, so treat this as the pitch it is, but a straight one. Our model is deliberately simpler, and the difference is worth naming.

ByteSize makes money one way: a single paid tier, Creator Pro at $9/month, on top of a free-forever Start plan. That is the whole model. There is no ladder of tiers to climb and, importantly, no cut of your sales. Because ByteSize links out to your store or merch rather than processing payments on the page, there is no commission on what you sell; the 9% or 12% question does not exist here. The trade is that we do not host checkout for you, we send fans to wherever you already sell.

That means our incentives are simpler too. We earn when the paid tier is worth $9 to you, not when you sell more or when a brand pays for a placement on your page. If a predictable, single-line cost appeals more than a subscription plus a variable cut of your revenue, that is the difference in a sentence. See the full comparison with Linktree, or browse Linktree alternatives and free Linktree alternatives if you are weighing options.

The bottom line

Linktree makes money through paid subscriptions, a percentage cut of creators' sales (12% on Free, 9% on Starter and Pro, 0% on Premium, as of July 2026), and brand-sponsored placements. The free plan is the funnel that feeds all three. None of this is shady; it is a well-built freemium commerce model. But it does mean the platform's incentives and your costs are tangled together, especially if you sell. If you would rather a tool with one flat price and no cut of your sales, claim a ByteSize handle and see how it looks with your content on it.

FAQ

Is Linktree free to use?

Yes, Linktree has a genuine free plan with no expiry that covers unlimited links, a public page, and basic analytics. The company earns from creators who upgrade to paid tiers, from a cut of sales made through pages, and from brand-sponsored placements, not from charging for the basic plan. For what the free tier includes and where it stops, see is Linktree free.

How much of my sales does Linktree take?

It depends on your plan. As of July 2026, Linktree takes 12% of each sale on the free plan, 9% on Starter and Pro, and 0% on Premium, per its own help center documentation. This is on top of standard payment processing fees. If you only link out to your own store rather than checking out on the Linktree page, the cut does not apply.

Does Linktree sell my data?

Like most hosted platforms, Linktree collects analytics on your page and its visitors and operates under its own privacy policy. Its disclosed business model centers on subscriptions, sales fees, and brand-sponsored placements rather than selling personal data. If data practices matter to you, read the platform's current privacy policy directly, and keep in mind your public page lives on its servers under its terms.

How much revenue does Linktree make?

Linktree is a private company, so it does not publish official figures, but third-party estimates have put its annual revenue in the tens of millions of dollars and growing, driven by its large creator base converting to paid plans and commerce. Treat any specific number as an outside estimate rather than a confirmed figure.

Why is Linktree free if it needs to make money?

The free plan is customer acquisition. It gets Linktree onto millions of pages and into millions of bios, and each free user is a potential upgrade, a potential seller it earns a fee from, or a slot for a sponsored placement. The "Powered by Linktree" badge on free pages also markets the product to new creators. Free is the top of the funnel, not a loss.

Does ByteSize take a cut of sales like Linktree?

No. ByteSize makes money from a single $9/month Creator Pro subscription on top of a free plan, and takes no commission on your sales, because it links out to your store rather than processing payments on the page. That is the main structural difference from Linktree's model, which combines subscriptions with a 9% to 12% cut of sales. See the comparison with Linktree for the side-by-side.