# A link page with no subscription: why $9 a year

A link page is a small thing. It holds your name, a few links, maybe a video. Yet several link-in-bio tools in this note offer monthly plans, and a monthly price can rise. This note shows what hosting a page actually costs inkoji, what inkoji charges, and which other tools also let you pay without a subscription. Competitor prices are as of 17 September 2026 and link to the vendor's page.

## What a page costs to run

Here are inkoji's real numbers, without rounding them up to sound bigger.

| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Hosting a full page for a year (storage and compute on Cloudflare) | about one US cent |
| Payment provider's fee on each $9 | roughly 51 to 90 cents |
| Ads on your page | none |
| Your data sold | never |
| Analytics script, ad pixel or third-party font on any page | none |

The biggest cost in a $9 payment is the payment itself, not the page. Charging once a year also means one payment fee a year, not twelve.

## What inkoji charges

- **Free, including publishing.** Links, notes, YouTube, embeds, 1 image, 50 tiles. You can put the page live and leave it there.
- **$9 a year.** One payment, not a subscription. It adds 50 images, 50 MB of video, audio and PDFs, and 500 tiles.

Nothing renews by itself. One mail comes two weeks before the year ends, once. If you do not renew, your page stays up exactly as it is. You can still change words and move tiles. Only new uploads wait until you pay again.

Payment is taken by Dodo Payments, the merchant of record. They handle the card and any tax, and inkoji never sees the card. The full terms are on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## Why a page with no ads needs a price at all

A free tool still has costs, and someone pays them. Often the answer is ads, selling data, or pushing people toward a monthly plan. inkoji takes the plain route: a small yearly payment covers the payment fee and the hosting, and the page carries no tracking. The free tier stays free because hosting a page costs so little.

## Other ways to pay without a monthly plan

You have real choices here. Each of these is good at something.

| Tool | No-subscription option | Good at | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carrd | Pro Lite $9 a year for 3 sites | Simple one-page sites you design freely | [carrd.com/pro](https://carrd.com/pro) |
| Indie Page | 1-Year Pass $25 one-time, Lifetime Deal $45 one-time | Showing a founder's startups on one page | [indiepa.ge](https://indiepa.ge/) |
| Lnk.bio | Could not read the vendor's page; third-party sources report one-time plans | Link lists | [lnk.bio](https://lnk.bio/all-features) |

Carrd's Pro Lite is the same headline number as inkoji: $9 a year. If you want to build a free-form landing page and control every block, Carrd is a strong pick. inkoji is a different shape: a grid of typed tiles for the things you make, where the page itself is the editor.

Indie Page also sells a one-time pass. It is built around startups, and it is the closest rival if apps are all you show. For a page that mixes apps with films and songs, see [one page for all your apps](/notes/one-page-for-all-your-apps).

## Why people ask "why is Linktree so expensive"

Linktree is the best-known link-in-bio tool, and its free plan is real. A third-party price tracker, [pricetimeline.com](https://pricetimeline.com/news/181), reported that Linktree's monthly USD prices rose on 13 November 2025: Starter from $5 to $8, Pro from $9 to $15, Premium from $24 to $35. That report is not from Linktree.

When we opened [Linktree's pricing page](https://linktr.ee/s/pricing) on 17 September 2026 from India, it showed prices in rupees, not dollars, and said prices vary by region. It listed Starter at ₹220 a month billed annually or ₹360 monthly, Pro at ₹440 or ₹650, and Premium at ₹1,250 or ₹1,450. If you are elsewhere, check the page yourself.

Linktree includes selling features on its plans. inkoji has none: it is not a store. If you sell products from your bio, a tool built for that may suit you better. A full side-by-side table is in [link-in-bio tools compared](/notes/link-in-bio-tools-compared-2026).

## See what the page gives you

A maker's page at [inkoji.com/cyberyogi](https://inkoji.com/cyberyogi) shows what a page with uploads looks like: an HDR reel, apps, a matte painting and open-source work on one grid. The page data is public, so you can check what is on it:

```
curl https://inkoji.com/cyberyogi.json
```

## What to do next

1. Write down what you pay your current link tool each year, including any rise.
2. Decide what you need: a list, a designed site, a store, or a grid of your work.
3. If a grid fits, build your inkoji page free and publish it. Pay the $9 only when you need video, audio, PDFs or more images.
4. If you leave later, export first. A published page's data is also its own JSON, at `inkoji.com/<handle>.json`, and [when your link-in-bio service shuts down](/notes/when-your-link-in-bio-shuts-down) lists what to save.