Linkfolio Alternatives: These 2 Site Builders Are Better

If you were with Linkfolio, you just experienced one of the primary reasons not to trust a ‘link in bio’ tool. But let me list down all of them, starting with…

1. The ‘link in bio’ service can shut down

Like Linkfolio, other bio link tools can shut down entirely.

The ‘link in bio’ tool business race just started about half a decade ago, and only a few will be there until the end.

There are already some clear favorites. For instance, Linktree is miles ahead of the competition: It has the most users. Plus, the company has money to drive competitors out of business — Linktree recently raised capital at a $1.3 billion valuation (whether it’s overvalued is another question).

2. Page customization is limited

All ‘link in bio’ landing pages look alike. It’s not particularly bad (they get the job done, after all), but if you want to make a perfect on-brand ‘link in bio’ website, you probably can’t with your typical bio link tool.

Most ‘link in bio’ tools only let you change colors and fonts. Plus, their templates all look similar — just a bunch of links stacked one-below-another.

Bio Sites has the most beautiful templates of any ‘link in bio’ tool, in my opinion. And they don’t even come close to looking as good as what’s achievable with the alternative (i.e., website builders).

3. Your bio link page won’t be on your domain

Many ‘link in bio’ tools, including the most popular ones (such as Linktree), don’t allow you to use a custom domain name (ex: yourdomain.com/links). You have to stick with their domain (ex: linktr.ee/username).

On the other hand, most of those that do allow a custom domain require you to buy an expensive plan for it.

Not having a domain/own website in your bio means:

Lost awareness & branding opportunities

Depending on who you are and how you’ve built your social media audience, it’s likely that a large portion of them don’t know about your website.

And one (major) way they come across your website is through the link in your bio (as it’s the only place where platforms like Instagram and TikTok allow an actual, permanent link). And if you use an URL of Linktree or Linkfolio or some other bio link platform, they won’t know about your website. In other words, it’s a lost awareness and branding opportunity. Not only that, but it’s also a lost sales opportunity if you think a step further.

Let’s understand it with an example: Selena Gomez has her own website but uses a Linktree URL in her bio.

This means:

1. Her profile visitors’ brains won’t register ‘selenagomez.com’ because it’s not there.
2. If they are there to click the link (because, say, Selena asked them to check something out), they will click the Linktree URL and directly open the link to that thing (for example, it could be streaming her album on Spotify). Imagine if it were a link to her own website (ex: selenagomez.com/links). People would discover other things besides her embedded Spotify profile: They might sign up for her newsletter, buy her merch, check out other pages that ad pixels can track to retarget, etc.

Lost SEO opportunities

SEO (short for Search Engine Optimization) is the process of attracting relevant traffic from search engines like Google.

Many factors are part of the SEO process.

• Traffic is one, as per many experts. This means the traffic that goes to the bio link platform could actually help with your website SEO if it were coming to your website directly.
• Backlinks are a major one. People will naturally link to your website if you use your website URL everywhere. Moreover, internet writers like me tend to link to the broadest page possible (i.e., a page with everything) when mentioning a company or an individual (so readers can know anything they want to about them). And many a time, it’s the bio link page. See this, for example:

Selena Gomez’s Linktree page has over 3000 backlinks. If she had used her website domain for her bio link page, those links would be to that page, and it would’ve helped website SEO efforts positively and significantly.

4. You don’t control it

Like Famepick shut down Linkfolio, Linkfolio (read “a link-in-bio tool company”) can shut down any profile. Similarly, a social media platform can also disallow particular link-in-bio URLs.

It has happened:

• Linktree has de-platformed/blocked many users.
• Also, Linktree was blocked by Instagram temporarily.

For more examples, just see these tweets.

5. Some alternatives are more affordable (even FREE!)

Most ‘link in bio’ tools offer basic features for free…but you’d have to pay between $5/month to $20/month to remove the company branding and feature restrictions.

On the contrary, the alternative I am suggesting can be totally free if you already have a website. And even if you don’t, one of the two alternatives is cheaper (and better!) than most “link in bio tools”.

…And Why Are They Website Builders?

General-purpose website builders solve most of the issues associated with a “link in bio website maker”.

• Most well-established website builders likely won’t go out of business. They already host millions of websites and have been in business for a long time, so your bio page is safe with them. For comparison, Linkfolio hosts only 1000-something bio-link pages.
• They have a lot more sophisticated customization features (and more features in general).
• ‘Link in bio’ pages built with a website builder are typically on your domain. This means you’ll get the awareness, branding, and SEO benefits that come with using your website URL in the bio.
• If you’re already using a website builder, you can add a new page and build your bio-link lander. In other words, it’d be totally free.
• You have more overall control over your website.

Also, millions of people are using this method.

The only time a “link in bio tool” makes more sense is when ease of use is your highest priority. Otherwise, website builders (some of which are beginner-friendly) do a better job.

Here are two website builders we recommend in general but would especially recommend for this use case:

Squarespace-made 'link in bio' page

Squarespace has its own (one of the top) ‘link in bio’ tool, Bio Sites. Yet, I’d recommend Squarespace, the website builder, over it to most people, especially if they already have a Squarespace website.

To make a bio-link page with Squarespace, you just have to add a page and give it a relevant slug (like ‘yourwebsite.com/links’ or ‘yourwebsite.com/learn-more’).

Things I like about Squarespace:

• Templates: Most Squarespace websites look fantastic, thanks to their beautiful templates. You can adapt one of the templates for your bio site.
• Blocks: You can add different blocks to a Squarespace website. For example, headlines, lists, galleries, images, quotes, videos, products, newsletter forms, calendars, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, RSS, etc.
• For Squarespace website owners, it’s free: You just have to make a new page.

Things I don’t like:

• Overkill: Squarespace is overkill and not worth the money IF you just need a bio link landing page. However, it’s absolutely worth it if you don’t have a website and want one. [Side Note: Pretty much everyone needs a website. Examples: photographers, copywriters, podcasters, artists, etc.]

Pricing:

Squarespace’s annual plans cost:

• Personal: $16/month
• Business: $23/month
• Basic Commerce: $27/month
• Advanced Commerce: $49/month

Note: If you want to remove the header and footer of your Squarespace website and create a distraction-free landing page, you need to be on the Business plan or above.

Try Squarespace →

Carrd-made 'link in bio' page

Carrd is the perfect combination of a ‘link in bio’ website marker and a general-purpose website builder.

On the one hand, it has the ease-of-use and affordability factors of a ‘link in bio’ tool. And on the other, it has more features and customization options like a website builder.

Things I like:

• Affordability: Carrd is more affordable than most “link in bio tools.” Its Pro plan costs a mere $19/year. And if you don’t mind using a .carrd.co subdomain, you can use most of the Carrd features for free!
• Blocks: You can add text, list, image, buttons, video, links, audio, gallery, icons, table, timer, form, slideshow, and custom embeds.
• Templates: Carrd has awesome templates for most one-page websites, including for profile and landing pages:

Carrd profile templates

Things I don’t like:

• One page only: Like most ‘link in bio’ website makers, you can only make a one-page website with Carrd.
• Learning curve: There’s an initial learning curve with Carrd. However, you can create a Carrd website effortlessly if you start with a template.

Pricing

For annual plans:

• Pro Lite: $9/year
• Pro Standard: $19/year
• Pro Plus: $49/year

Try Carrd →

Squarespace and Carrd are the website builders we recommend if you are yet to build your ‘link in bio’ website. However, if you already have a website and can add a page to it, you can make your bio link page with it.

For example, this Links Collections page by Ali Abdaal is built on Ghost CMS:

If you want a direct Linkfolio alternative, check out our best ‘link in bio’ tools listicle. To quickly summarize it, these are the top-5 ‘link in bio’ tools:

1. Feedlink
2. Bio Sites
3. Linkpop
4. Linktree
5. Shorby