TL;DR: They aren’t the same kind of tool. Linktree is a list of links you can set up in five minutes. Carrd is a one-page website builder that people also use as a link page. Carrd is far cheaper once you want the branding gone: $9 a year against Linktree’s $144. Linktree is easier, and its free plan collects emails and phone numbers. If you only need a link page with no one else’s branding on it, there’s a third option at the end.
By Denis Qyra, Marketer at Linkie · Last updated 19 October 2026
Where these numbers come from. Carrd’s prices and plan features were read off Carrd’s own Pro plans documentation on 19 October 2026. Linktree’s came off its pricing page the same day. Linkie’s came off our own plans page. Both companies change prices, so check the date above against today before you decide.
Carrd vs Linktree: the short answer
Pick Linktree if you want a link page live today and don’t want to design anything.
Pick Carrd if you’re comfortable arranging a page yourself and you want something closer to a small website: a landing page, a portfolio, a signup form.
That’s the whole decision for most people. The rest of this is about what each one costs once you stop being happy with the free plan, because that’s where they split hard.
What it costs to take the branding off
On Linktree, “Remove Linktree branding” sits on Pro. That’s $12 a month billed annually, so $144 a year, or $180 if you pay month to month. The $6 Starter plan doesn’t do it. You pay, and Linktree’s name is still at the bottom of your page.
On Carrd, every paid plan publishes without the “Made with Carrd” line in the footer. The cheapest is Pro Lite at $9 a year.
$144 against $9. Same job.
There’s a catch on the Carrd side, and it’s the kind you only see when you read the plan table instead of the headline. Pro Lite removes the branding and that’s close to all it does. You get an address ending in .crd.co and a QR code, but no custom domain, no forms and no analytics. Those start on Pro Standard at $19 a year, which Carrd’s documentation calls “by far the most popular Pro plan”.
So the honest comparison is $19 a year for a Carrd page on your own domain against $144 a year for a Linktree page without the branding. Carrd still wins on price by a wide margin.
Linktree vs Carrd pricing, side by side
Linktree | Carrd | Linkie | |
|---|---|---|---|
Free plan | $0 forever | $0 | $0 forever |
Cheapest paid plan | Starter, $72/yr | Pro Lite, $9/yr | Plus, $90/yr |
No provider branding on your page | Pro, $144/yr | Pro Lite, $9/yr | Free. There’s no branding on any plan |
Your own domain | See our Linktree custom domain post | Pro Standard, $19/yr | Plus, $90/yr |
Analytics | Basic analytics on Starter, $72/yr | Pro Standard, $19/yr | Plus only |
Email collection | On the free plan | Signup forms on Pro Standard, $19/yr | Plus only |
Pages or sites per account | Not compared here | 3 on Pro Lite, 10 on Pro Standard | Unlimited pages for free. Plus features are priced per page |
Linktree’s yearly figures assume annual billing. Month to month costs more: $96, $180 and $420 a year for Starter, Pro and Premium. What Linkie’s plans include is on the plans page.
What you’re actually building
This matters more than the price, and it’s where people pick wrong.
A Linktree is a column of buttons. You add a link, it becomes a button, you drag it up or down. There’s very little to decide, which is the point. You can’t really make a bad one.
A Carrd is a blank one-page site. You get sections, text, images, buttons and columns, and you arrange them. That freedom is why Carrd pages can look like nothing else, and it’s also why some of them look unfinished. If you’ve never laid out a page before, expect to spend an evening on it, not five minutes.
Carrd has no opinion about what your page is for. Linktree does: it’s a link in bio, and everything in the product assumes that. Link apps for music and video, a QR code, scheduling, an Instagram grid. On Carrd you’d build or embed those yourself.
One thing I couldn’t pin down. Carrd’s paid plans advertise “No Element Limit”, which means the free plan has one. Carrd’s plan pages don’t say what it is. Third-party reviews put it at 50, but I couldn’t confirm that from Carrd, so check it in the builder before you plan a long page on the free plan.
Where Linktree is better
Speed. Nothing gets a working link page live faster.
The free plan. Email and phone sign-ups are on Linktree Free. On Carrd, signup forms need Pro Standard.
Selling. Linktree lets you sell from the page, and Pro lists 0% fees. Carrd can embed Stripe, PayPal and Gumroad widgets from Pro Standard, and Pro Plus at $49 a year adds forms that take payment through Stripe Checkout. It works, but you’re assembling a checkout, not switching one on.
Where Carrd is better
Price, at every step. See above.
Layout. If you want a headline, a paragraph about you, three images in a row and then your links, Carrd will do it and Linktree won’t.
More than one site. Pro Lite covers three sites for $9 a year, and Pro Standard covers ten for $19 a year. If you run a few projects, that’s hard to beat.
Where both leave a gap
I work at Linkie, so read this part knowing that.
Neither tool keeps your page current for you. A Linktree is as fresh as the last time you edited it. A Carrd is a static page. If you post every day, your link in bio falls behind by tomorrow, and nobody updates it until something breaks.
Linkie is built around that problem. Your latest posts can appear on your page as you publish them, through the Publer scheduler or an API, and each post can carry its own destination link. There’s no Linkie branding on any plan, including the free one. Your own domain, email collection, analytics and smart links are on Plus at $90 a year per page.
Where we lose: Linkie’s free plan has no email collection, and Linktree’s does. It has no analytics either. Carrd is much cheaper than Plus and far more flexible on layout. And if you don’t use Publer or have a developer for the API, the posts won’t add themselves.
If you’re moving off Linktree either way, our guide to what Linktree’s free plan includes has the full plan table, and the link in bio pricing guide covers the rest of the category.
FAQ
Linktree or Carrd: which is better?
For price and layout control, Carrd. For setup speed and a free plan that collects emails, Linktree. Carrd is a page builder. Linktree is a link list.
Is Carrd free?
Yes, Carrd has a free plan. Removing the “Made with Carrd” footer needs a paid plan, which starts at $9 a year, and the free plan has an element limit that Carrd doesn’t publish. Custom domains, forms and analytics start at $19 a year.
How much does Linktree cost per month?
Free is $0. Starter is $6, Pro is $12 and Premium is $30 a month when billed annually, or $8, $15 and $35 month to month. Removing Linktree branding starts on Pro.
Why do people leave Linktree?
Two things in this comparison explain most of it: price and layout. Taking Linktree’s branding off starts on Pro at $144 a year billed annually, and the $6 Starter plan doesn’t do it. And Linktree gives you a column of buttons, not a page you can arrange, which is the gap Carrd fills. The free plan is still good, so plenty of people stay on it.
Is Linktree outdated?
No. It’s still the quickest way to get a link page live, and its free plan collects emails and phone numbers. What it isn’t is flexible. If you want to arrange the page yourself, Carrd does that for much less. If you want a link page without anyone else’s branding on it, see the end of this post.
Can I use Carrd as a link in bio?
Yes, and a lot of people do. You build a one-page site with buttons and put its address in your profile. Analytics start on Pro Standard at $19 a year.
What do people use instead of Carrd or Linktree?
Beacons if the page has to sell, a custom-built page if you have a developer, or a tool like Linkie if you want a link page with no provider branding that updates with your posts. We compared the first two in Beacons vs Linktree, and the wider field is in our best Linktree alternatives roundup.
