# Linklay vs Carrd

Choose Linklay if you want creator measurement out of the box — analytics and Meta, TikTok and Google pixels are documented on its free plan. Choose Carrd if you want a cheap, fully designed one-page site with real SEO controls and are willing to bring your own analytics: $9/year buys Pro Lite, though a custom domain and any tracking require Pro Standard at $19/year.

Facts verified: 2026-09-18
Canonical page: https://zentry.technology/vs/linklay-vs-carrd/
Methodology: https://zentry.technology/creator-tech/how-we-evaluate-link-in-bio-tools/

## Choose Linklay if

Choose Linklay when tracking should work on day one without a third-party account. Live analytics, three ad pixels, email capture, QR codes and scheduled links are documented at $0, where Carrd documents no analytics at all on its free plan.

## Choose Carrd if

Choose Carrd when you want design control and page ownership for almost nothing. Pro Standard at $19/year adds a custom domain, Site Analytics through Google Analytics, Plausible, Fathom, Matomo or PostHog, and Marketing Trackers for ad platforms. Carrd also documents meta tags, canonical URLs, sitemaps, password protection, UTM collection and up to 1,000 sites on higher tiers — controls no bio-page tool in this set matches.

## Field-by-field comparison

### Pricing and free tier

| Field | Linklay | Carrd |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free plan limits | Free plan documents unlimited links, live visitor analytics, Meta/TikTok/Google retargeting pixels, email capture, custom themes, QR codes, scheduled links, a Stripe tip jar and AI link ordering. Branding removal, verified badge, video backgrounds and custom domain are Pro-only. | Basic plan documents up to 3 sites with Carrd branding, and no custom domain, forms, widgets or analytics. |
| Monthly price | $9.99/month (Pro) | No monthly billing — Carrd bills annually |
| Annual price | $99/year (Pro) | $9/year (Pro Lite); $19/year (Pro Standard); $49/year (Pro Plus) |
| One-time / lifetime price | unverified | None offered |
| Platform fee on sales | 0% platform fee; Linklay states it does not process creator payments or take a cut of creator sales | No native checkout; payments run through embedded third parties, so no Carrd platform fee is documented |
| Profiles or sites included | unverified | 3 sites on Basic and Pro Lite, scaling to 1,000 sites on the highest tiers |

### Analytics and acquisition

| Field | Linklay | Carrd |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Analytics on the free tier | Included on the free plan | None on the free plan |
| Analytics on paid tiers | Included on all plans | Site Analytics via Google Analytics, Plausible, Fathom, Matomo, PostHog and others on Pro Standard or higher |
| Live / real-time analytics | Live analytics with device, geography and referrer breakdowns | unverified |
| Meta (Facebook) pixel | Included on the free plan | Pro Standard or higher, via Marketing Trackers — the documentation names Facebook as an example ad platform and lists pixel-type trackers |
| TikTok pixel | Included on the free plan | unverified |
| Google tag / Analytics | Included on the free plan | Pro Standard or higher, via Site Analytics |
| UTM parameter support | unverified | Yes — UTM parameter values can be collected and used |

### Branding and page control

| Field | Linklay | Carrd |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Custom domain | Pro plan only | Pro Standard or higher |
| Platform branding removal | Pro plan | Pro Lite and above |
| Unlimited links | Yes, on the free plan | Not applicable — Carrd builds pages, with no link-list limit documented |
| Custom CSS | unverified | Advanced settings allow custom styles on Pro tiers |
| Custom fonts | unverified | Local Fonts on Pro tiers |
| Video backgrounds | Pro plan | unverified |
| Link scheduling | Scheduled links on the free plan; advanced scheduling on Pro | unverified |
| Password protection | unverified | Yes — a site can be restricted with a password |

### Audience

| Field | Linklay | Carrd |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Email capture | Included on the free plan | Yes — forms with email service integrations on Pro |
| QR codes | Included on the free plan | Pro Lite or higher |
| Mobile app | Native iOS app published on the App Store | unverified |

### Commerce

| Field | Linklay | Carrd |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Native storefront | No native storefront | No native storefront |
| Native checkout | No — Linklay states it does not process creator payments | No — payment-enabled forms and third-party embeds only |
| Digital products | unverified | No native delivery; third-party embeds only |
| Courses | Not offered | Not offered |
| Bookings and appointments | Not offered | No native booking; embeds only |
| Tips and donations | Tip jar routed through the creator's own Stripe account | No native tipping; payment-enabled forms on Pro |
| Payment processors | Stripe, connected by the creator | Third-party only — Stripe and PayPal via forms and embeds |

### Technical and integrations

| Field | Linklay | Carrd |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Server-rendered profile HTML | Yes — a raw request for a public profile returns profile-specific HTML, including the display name, bio text, link labels, page title, OpenGraph tags and two JSON-LD blocks | unverified |
| SEO / meta controls | Structured data and OpenGraph metadata generated per profile | Meta tags, canonical URL, sitemaps and share images |
| Integrations | unverified | Analytics platforms, form/email services and third-party embeds |

## Limitations

Carrd has no native checkout, storefront, bookings or tipping; payments run through embeds. It does not name TikTok among its Marketing Trackers, and it documents no mobile app. Linklay has no storefront and publishes no UTM handling or analytics export.

## FAQ

**Is Carrd cheaper than Linklay?**

Yes in absolute terms. Carrd Pro Lite is $9/year against Linklay Pro at $99/year, but Carrd's custom domain and analytics both require Pro Standard at $19/year, and Linklay includes analytics and pixels free.

**Does Carrd include analytics?**

Not on the free plan. Site Analytics through third-party tools requires Pro Standard or higher, and Carrd stores no analytics itself.

**Which is better for SEO, Linklay or Carrd?**

Carrd documents the deeper controls — meta tags, canonical URL, sitemaps and share images. Linklay serves profile-specific HTML with OpenGraph tags and structured data to crawlers but exposes fewer manual controls.

## First-party sources
- Linklay pricing: https://linklay.io/pricing
- Linklay analytics: https://linklay.io/data
- About Linklay: https://linklay.io/about
- Linklay on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/linklay/id6759730719
- Observed HTTP response for a public Linklay profile (linklay.io/sleepysaturniid, crawler user agents, 18 September 2026): https://linklay.io/sleepysaturniid
- Carrd Pro plans: https://carrd.co/docs/pro/plans
- Pro features: https://carrd.co/docs/pro/features
- Setting up site analytics: https://carrd.co/docs/sites/setting-up-site-analytics
- Setting up marketing trackers: https://carrd.co/docs/sites/setting-up-marketing-trackers
- Using a custom domain: https://carrd.co/docs/sites/using-a-custom-domain
- Generating a QR code: https://carrd.co/docs/sites/generating-a-qr-code
- Setting up a custom form: https://carrd.co/docs/forms/setting-up-a-custom-form
- Adding password protection: https://carrd.co/docs/sites/adding-password-protection
- Adding meta tags: https://carrd.co/docs/sites/adding-meta-tags
- Using UTM parameters: https://carrd.co/docs/sites/using-utm-parameters

## Related research
- Linklay platform record: https://zentry.technology/creator-tech/link-in-bio-tools/linklay/
- Carrd platform record: https://zentry.technology/creator-tech/link-in-bio-tools/carrd/
- Buyer guide: https://zentry.technology/creator-tech/best-link-in-bio-tools/
- Platform directory: https://zentry.technology/creator-tech/link-in-bio-tools/
- Comparison index: https://zentry.technology/creator-tech/link-in-bio-tools/comparisons/
- Linklay vs Campsite: https://zentry.technology/vs/linklay-vs-campsite/
- Linktree vs Carrd: https://zentry.technology/vs/linktree-vs-carrd/
- Linklay vs Lnk.Bio: https://zentry.technology/vs/linklay-vs-lnk-bio/
- Dataset: https://zentry.technology/data/link-in-bio-tools.json