Every "best Linktree alternatives" post is written by a company that sells one. This one is too — we build octa.social — so read it with that in mind, and I will try to earn it by telling you when we are the wrong answer.
First: should you switch at all?
If you have one link and you want it to open a page with several links on it, Linktree's free plan does that well and costs nothing. Switching tools to save nothing is not a strategy. Stay.
Consider moving only if one of these is actually true for you:
- You are paying for it and the rand price keeps moving
- You sell through the page and the commission is real money
- Your page needs to prove something, not just list links
Where the alternatives differ
On price. Most competitors undercut Linktree's paid tiers. That matters more from South Africa than elsewhere, because Linktree bills in US dollars — so your cost moves with the rand, and most SA cards add an international transaction fee. We wrote up what Linktree actually costs in rand.
On selling. Linktree takes 12% on the free plan and 9% on Starter and Pro; only Premium at $35 is 0%. If you sell R10,000 a month through your page, that fee is worth more attention than the subscription.
On owning the traffic. Every visit to a link page on someone else's domain builds their domain, not yours. If you have your own website, sending social traffic through a third party is a real cost. If you do not have a website, this does not apply to you at all.
On what the page proves. Almost every tool in this category produces the same thing: a list of buttons where everything is typed in by the owner. Fine for a shop. Not enough if someone is deciding whether to pay you.
Where we fit, and where we do not
We only do athletes. The page carries a career record from official competition data, audience figures measured from accounts the athlete connects themselves, and a verified tick that means ownership was actually proved.
Do not use us if you are a restaurant, a shop, a musician, or anyone selling products through the page. We do not do commerce, we have fewer integrations, and Linktree is a more mature product on almost every axis except the one we care about.
Use us if you are an athlete and the point of the link is to make a brand comfortable enough to sponsor you.
The honest summary
Linktree is a good product with a pricing model that is awkward from South Africa and a page that cannot vouch for you. For most people that is a fine trade. For an athlete chasing sponsorship, the page that cannot vouch for you is the whole problem.
Pick the tool that matches what the link is supposed to achieve.