Linktree charges $5–9/month to host what is, at heart, one small page — and stamps its own branding on the free tier. Linkleaf is that page on your own domain: 6 themes, drag-to-reorder blocks, link scheduling, email capture into your own database, and analytics nobody else can see or sell.
This is the full pricing breakdown: what Linktree actually costs over one, two and three years, what Linkleaf gives you for $19 paid once, and the honest cases where the subscription is still the right call.
What Linktree actually costs you
At $5–9/mo, one Linktree subscription adds up to $84 every year — $252 over a three-year window, for software you stop owning the day you cancel. Linkleaf is $19 the day you buy it, and the meter never runs again.
| Linkleaf | Linktree | |
|---|---|---|
| Sticker price | $19 once | $5–9/mo |
| Cost after 1 year | $19 | $84 |
| Cost after 2 years | $19 | $168 |
| Cost after 3 years | $19 | $252 |
Three years in, the gap is $233 — and every year after that adds another $84 to the subscription side of the ledger.
Linkleaf vs Linktree, feature by feature
Price is only half the story — here's how the two line up on the things that decide day-to-day use:
| Linkleaf | Linktree | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19 once | $5–9/mo, forever |
| Your own domain | Yes, natively | Paid plan only |
| Their branding on your page | None | On free plan |
| Email capture + CSV export | Built in | Paid plan |
| Link scheduling | Built in | Paid plan |
| Analytics | Yours, in your SQLite | Theirs, on their servers |
| Custom CSS | Yes | No |
| Cost over 3 years | $19 | $180–324 |
What you get for $19, once
Self-hosted link-in-bio with themes, link scheduling, email capture & analytics — no monthly fee. The highlights:
- 👤 Full profile — Avatar upload, display name, bio and a social icon row covering 12 networks.
- 🧱 Blocks — Links with optional thumbnails and hover animation, headers/dividers, embedded YouTube, and email-collect blocks.
- ✋ Drag to reorder — Grab the grip, drop, done — order saves automatically.
- ⏰ Link scheduling — Give any block a start/end date — launch-day links and limited drops handle themselves.
Three months of Linktree Pro costs more than Linkleaf does once — and you get your own domain from day one.
Switching is 3 steps
- Buy once on Whop. One-time $19 — one of the cheapest apps in the suite. Signed installer, 1-click setup, updates included.
- Point your domain. Deploy to a $5 VPS with the included Docker setup, put Caddy or free Cloudflare in front — yourname.com is your link-in-bio. Or start in desktop mode.
- Add blocks, share the link. Drag to reorder, schedule launch links, collect emails into your own database, and watch analytics you own.
When paying Linktree is still the right call
Being straight about it: the subscription earns its keep in three situations. If your team is large enough that Linktree's collaboration features, permissions and admin controls are genuinely load-bearing; if your workflow is built on its integrations and leaving means rebuilding that plumbing; or if you have enterprise requirements — SSO, audit logs, SLAs, a vendor to call — that a pay-once app doesn't come with. Everyone else is paying $5–9/mo for a job that runs fine on hardware they already own.
If that's you, Linkleaf is $19, once. For the deeper dive, read the Linkleaf vs Linktree head-to-head or the full Linktree comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes — MIT source at github.com/bensblueprints/Link-Leaf-mvp, always. $19 buys the packaged installer, 1-click setup and updates.
Do I need a server?
For a public page, yes — a $5 VPS with the included Docker setup. Even VPS + Linkleaf in year one costs about what Linktree charges, and after that the app itself is free forever. Desktop mode works for building and previewing your page.
Can I migrate from Linktree?
There's no automatic importer — honestly. You re-add your links in the admin panel; most pages take under ten minutes to rebuild, and then you never pay rent on them again.
Is the public page fast?
Yes — it's server-rendered plain HTML with self-hosted fonts and zero external requests. No framework payload, no Google Fonts ping, no trackers. It loads instantly on mobile.
What happens to my page if Linkleaf disappears?
Nothing — it's running on your server from MIT-licensed source, with your data in one SQLite file and an uploads folder. Back up = copy two things.
More on Linktree pricing
Linkleaf — product page, demo & full feature list · All OneTimeSuite pricing breakdowns
Try Linkleaf — $19, once
Self-hosted link-in-bio with themes, link scheduling, email capture & analytics — no monthly fee.