Sublead vs Beacon: an alternative for lead magnets published as web pages

Beacon (beacon.by) and Sublead both make lead magnets, and both can ask for an email before showing one. Beacon is a design tool: you start from a template and produce an ebook, a checklist or a worksheet as a PDF or a hosted Smart PDF. Sublead is a writing tool: you type a document, press Publish, and get a web page with its opt-in page. Beacon's free plan allows 1 lead magnet a month and 100 leads; Sublead's free plan has no limit on either.

Create a free accountFacts checked on November 13, 2026

Of all the tools we compare Sublead with, Beacon is the nearest. It was built for lead magnets and nothing else, it hosts them, and its Link Lock asks for an email before the reader gets in. On the surface the two do the same job.

They differ in what they think a lead magnet is. For Beacon it is a designed publication: pages, a cover, a layout chosen from a template library, and a PDF at the end if you want one. For Sublead it is a page of the web that you write the way you write notes, and the opt-in page is made from it without a design step.

Choose Sublead if

  • You publish often and do not want a monthly allowance of lead magnets.
  • Your free plan has to hold more than 100 contacts.
  • You would rather write than lay out: headings, text, images, a video, and it is done.
  • You send your contacts to Systeme.io or ClickFunnels, or want to create lead magnets from Claude or ChatGPT.

Choose Beacon if

  • You need a PDF file: to attach to an email, to print, or to host on your own site.
  • You want a designed ebook with a cover, and prefer starting from a professional template.
  • You have blog posts to turn into lead magnets, or want opt-in forms inside your articles.
  • You need double opt-in, a CSV export of your contacts, or a HubSpot or WordPress integration.

Sublead vs Beacon, point by point

Sublead
Beacon
Price
Free plan
Yes, no time limit
Yes, no time limit
First paid plan
$29/month (Pro, optional)
$19/month (Lite)
Lead magnets on the free plan
Unlimited
1 per month
Contacts on the free plan
Unlimited
100
Creating the lead magnet
How you build the lead magnet
A document editor, like a Notion page
A drag-and-drop design editor, with templates
Opt-in page made for you
Yes, from the document, on Publish
An email gate on the lead magnet (Link Lock)
Lead magnet hosted as a web page
Yes
Yes, as a Smart PDF; also a PDF to download
Delivered right after sign-up
Yes, on the page, no email needed
Yes, once the email is entered
Collecting contacts
Consent checkbox, with its date kept
Yes
Double opt-in on forms
Views, sign-ups and conversion rate
Yes
Smart PDF analytics
Going further
Sends contacts to your emailing tool
Systeme.io and ClickFunnels, with a tag
Integrations with email marketing platforms
Your own domain
Pro
From Lite ($19/month)
Without the tool's badge
Pro
Not on the free plan

Beacon's column comes from its own website, read on November 13, 2026. If something has changed since, write to info@sublead.io and we will correct it.

Sublead and Beacon: the prices

Sublead

  • Free · $0Unlimited lead magnets and contacts, opt-in pages, statistics, integrations. No card, no time limit.
  • Pro · $29/month, or $24/month billed yearlyOptional: your own domain, pages without the Sublead badge, email sequences.

Beacon

  • Free · $01 lead magnet per month, 100 leads, 1 user, no custom domain. The Beacon logo stays on.
  • Lite · $19/monthOr $190 a year. 3 lead magnets per month, 500 leads, 1 custom domain.
  • Professional · $49/monthUnlimited lead magnets, 5,000 leads, 1 custom domain.
  • Agency · $99/monthUnlimited lead magnets, 10,000 leads, 5 custom domains, 5 users.

Both have a free plan with no end date, but they are not the same size. Beacon's includes 1 lead magnet per month and 100 leads, with the Beacon logo on your work and no custom domain. Lite, at $19 a month or $190 a year, raises that to 3 lead magnets a month and 500 leads and adds a custom domain. Unlimited lead magnets start with Professional at $49 a month, with 5,000 leads.

Sublead counts neither lead magnets nor contacts on its free plan. Pro, at $29 a month or $24 a month billed yearly, is optional and adds a custom domain, pages without the Sublead badge and email sequences. A creator who gives away a resource every week and collects a few hundred emails pays nothing on Sublead, and would be on Beacon's Professional plan for the volume of lead magnets alone.

The same lead magnet, made in each

With Sublead

  1. 1Write the lead magnet as a document, as one long page or as A4 pages.
  2. 2Press Publish. The opt-in page is built from the document: no template to pick.
  3. 3Share the link. Each sign-up reads the document on the page and is added to your contacts.

With Beacon

  1. 1Choose a format (ebook, checklist, worksheet, resource guide) and a template.
  2. 2Fill the template in the drag-and-drop editor, or import a blog post from its address and adjust the layout.
  3. 3Publish it as a Smart PDF and turn on Link Lock so readers enter an email first, or download the PDF to host yourself.
  4. 4Share the link, and connect your email platform if you want the leads sent there.

When to choose Beacon

Choose Beacon when the lead magnet has to exist as a file, or has to look designed. It exports a traditional PDF that you can attach, print or upload anywhere, and Sublead has no PDF download at all. It comes with dozens of templates, a builder to make your own, and brand styles that apply your colors and fonts.

It also does several things Sublead does not. Beacon can turn an existing blog post into a lead magnet from its URL, add opt-in forms inside individual posts (content upgrades), generate a table of contents and cover images, run double opt-in, and export your contacts as a CSV file. Its features page names integrations with WordPress and HubSpot among others, where Sublead connects to Systeme.io and ClickFunnels only.

BeaconSublead
What you makeA designed publicationA written web page
Starting pointA templateA blank document
OutputPDF file or hosted Smart PDFA web page, no PDF
Free plan1 lead magnet a month, 100 leadsUnlimited lead magnets and contacts
Unlimited lead magnetsFrom $49/monthFree

When to choose Sublead

Choose Sublead when you want the lead magnet out today and another one next week. There is no layout to settle: you write, add images, a banner, callouts, columns or a table, embed a video from YouTube, Vimeo or Loom, and publish. The opt-in page in front of it needs no work from you. The guide on how to create a lead magnet follows that path step by step.

The free plans differ too. One lead magnet a month and 100 leads are enough to try Beacon, less so to publish every week. Sublead meters neither, so a checklist for one video and a short guide for the next are both free. Each document also ends with a call-to-action button you set, and shows its views, sign-ups and conversion rate.

PDF or web page: which format suits your lead magnet

A PDF suits a lead magnet people keep, print or file: a worksheet to fill in by hand, a long ebook, a document passed around a company. A web page suits one that is read once, straight after a video: there is nothing to download, and an embedded video plays in the page. Beacon's Smart PDF sits between the two, a hosted and mobile-friendly version of the designed document.

If you are unsure which shape yours should take, the guide to an ebook lead magnet covers the long format, and the list of lead magnet ideas covers the short ones.

Questions and answers

Is Beacon free?
Beacon has a free plan with 1 lead magnet per month and 100 leads, as its pricing page stated on 13 November 2026. Paid plans start at $19 a month (Lite); unlimited lead magnets start at $49 a month (Professional).
Is Sublead a free alternative to Beacon?
If a web page is enough, yes. Sublead's free plan has no monthly allowance of lead magnets and no cap on contacts. It has no PDF export and no design templates, so it does not replace Beacon for those.
Can Sublead export a lead magnet as a PDF?
No. A Sublead lead magnet is a web page that the reader opens right after signing up. If you need a downloadable PDF, Beacon is the better fit.
What is the difference between a Beacon lead magnet and a Sublead lead magnet?
Beacon produces a designed document from a template, as a PDF or a hosted Smart PDF, with an optional email gate. Sublead produces a web page you write like a document, with its opt-in page created on Publish.
Does Sublead have lead magnet templates?
No. You start from a blank document and write. Beacon is the one with a template library and a template builder.
Is Beacon the same as Beacons.ai?
No. Beacon (beacon.by) is lead magnet software. Beacons (beacons.ai) is a link-in-bio tool.

Sources

What this page says about Beacon was read on its own website on November 13, 2026:

More comparisons

Create your lead magnet for free

Write it, publish it, share the link.
Unlimited lead magnets and contacts, free.

  • Unlimited lead magnets and contacts
  • A link to share, the second you publish
  • Video, images and audio in your pages
  • Your own call to action at the end
  • Sent to your emailing tool, tagged
  • Free, no card needed
Free plan$0/ monthEverything on this page, for good. No card, no trial.
Create a free account