Linktree is the default answer to "where do I put my link in bio" — and for a musician it is the right answer for exactly one of the jobs a link does. This page is about the jobs it cannot do: pre-saves, release analytics, deep links that land inside the streaming apps, and a fan list you actually own. For each one, the honest alternative — including, where it is true, "Linktree is still fine, keep it".
First: what Linktree is genuinely good at
Credit where it is due. Linktree invented the category it dominates: its own site claims 70M+ users and it markets itself specifically at "musicians, bands, DJs, indie artists and producers". The free plan gives you unlimited basic links — no link cap, ever — and the setup takes minutes. If a visitor is browsing you ("who is this artist, what else have they got?"), a Linktree is a perfectly good front door, and the paid tiers add themes, analytics and integrations.
That browsing job is real. What to put on an artist landing page covers what it needs to contain; Linktree is one honest way to serve it. The problem starts when the same menu gets used for the other job — pointing someone at one specific release — because that job has different requirements, and Linktree does not meet any of them.
The short version
| Job | What Linktree does | What to use instead |
|---|---|---|
| Bio page that never changes | Excellent — free, unlimited links | Keep Linktree, or a Playloudr front page if you want it inside your campaigns |
| One-tap link to a new release | A menu — visitor picks a service, extra taps, no app routing | A smart link (Playloudr, Feature.fm, PUSH.fm, Odesli) |
| Pre-saves before release day | Not offered | Pre-save campaign — free on Playloudr and PUSH.fm |
| Knowing what happened after the click | Analytics only from the paid Starter plan (£3.50/mo billed annually) | Smart-link analytics; Playloudr analytics are free and never time-capped |
| Building a fan list you own | Email integrations on Pro; a flat list, no fan records | Promo gates that trade a download for a verified email |
Linktree prices as advertised on linktr.ee, last checked August 2026 (UK site): Free £0; Starter £3.50/mo billed annually (£4.50 monthly); Pro £6.50/mo (£8); Premium £16/mo (£18.50); Agency/Enterprise custom. Other tools' prices as advertised on their own sites, August 2026, in the currency they advertise.
The four things Linktree misses for a release
1. Analytics are paid. On the free plan you get no click data at all — "basic analytics" arrive at Starter (£3.50/mo billed annually) and "advanced analytics" at Pro. For a release, knowing which post sent people, which service they chose and which country they are in is not a nice-to-have; it is how you decide what to do next week. Free, un-metered analytics is the norm among music tools — it should be the baseline, not a paid tier.
2. No pre-saves. Nothing on Linktree, at any tier, runs a pre-save campaign. The weeks before release day are when the streaming platforms do their algorithmic sorting — a pre-save converts that window into library adds that fire on release day. A bio link is silent for the whole of that period. How to build a pre-save campaign explains the mechanics.
3. A menu, not a routing page. A smart link detects what the visitor can actually use — especially inside Instagram and TikTok's built-in browsers, which strand plain links on a logged-out web player — and lands them in the Spotify app itself. Linktree sends everyone to the same page of options regardless of device or platform, which means two or more taps to reach the music, and often a login wall on the way. Why Spotify links open in a browser shows what goes wrong.
4. A list, not a fanbase. Linktree can collect emails (integrations from Pro up), but that is a flat list. There is no gate that trades a download or exclusive for an address, no consent-aware capture, no record of who each fan is and what they have engaged with. How to collect fan emails makes the case for capture done properly — the difference between a rented audience and one you own.
What to use instead, by job
If the job is "here is everything about me": honestly, keep Linktree — or move to a Playloudr front page (playloudr.com/yourname) so the bio link, releases and campaigns all live in one place you control. Both are fine; this is not the job we are trying to win.
If the job is "listen to this song": use a smart link, not the bio link. The release post, the story, the ad, the DM to a blog — anywhere the person has already decided, one tap should land them in their streaming app. Our comparison of the best smart link tools for musicians covers Playloudr, Feature.fm, PUSH.fm and Odesli; the full case for separating the two jobs is in smart links vs link in bio.
If the job is "save my release before it lands": a pre-save campaign. Free on Playloudr's plan and on PUSH.fm; Feature.fm covers it too, with the trade-offs in our head-to-head.
If the job is "turn listeners into a list I own": a promo gate — a bonus track, stems or a ZIP in exchange for a verified email, with consent recorded and every signup landing on a per-fan record. What to gate has the ideas.
If the job is all of the above for one release: that is a release campaign, and it is what Playloudr is shaped for — smart link, pre-save, gate, front page and fan records connected on one campaign calendar, free for one artist and five active campaigns.
The honest matrix
Stay on Linktree if your releases are occasional, your goal is a tidy page in the bio, and you do not need to know what happened after the click. Run both — Linktree in the bio, a smart link per release — if you want the browsing front door and the release conversion. Switch the release side to Playloudr if you want pre-saves, gates and un-metered analytics in the same campaign as the link, at £0 to start. And whichever you choose: put the bio link and the release link on different jobs, because one menu cannot do both — the two jobs explained.