Overview

Campaign formats include raffles, photo contests, caption-to-win promotions and user-generated-content campaigns. Entry methods span email subscriptions, social follows and visits, comments, shares, hashtags, video actions, quizzes, file uploads, coupon codes, Discord entries and event actions. That range supports campaigns built around more than a single social follow, but the practical ceiling depends on each plan’s winner, prize and repeat-action limits.

Owners can select winners randomly, use a most-entries leaderboard or choose manually. Voting, moderation, analytics and reporting accompany fraud detection and smart CAPTCHA, giving campaign operators tools to manage participation rather than simply collect entries. Competitions can be embedded on websites, blogs, Shopify, Linktree, contest landing pages and overlays.

Key features

Gleam supports campaigns across a broad set of networks, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, Snapchat, Twitch, Telegram, Discord, SoundCloud, Spotify and Goodreads. Custom forms and first-party data collection make it useful for promotions that need to gather audience information alongside engagement. Custom CSS, 25+ languages and file uploads extend the campaign options, though access to some capabilities depends on the paid tier.

Integrations include ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Salesforce, Shopify and Zapier. Zapier requires Pro or above and currently requires a Subscribe to Newsletter action, so teams seeking broader no-code automation should check whether that action fits their workflow.

Gleam reports a SOC 2 Type II audit with no noted exceptions and a clean opinion. It says data at rest is protected with AES-256, data in transit with TLS 1.2, and passwords are hashed using BCrypt. Hosting runs on AWS with daily snapshots, multiple Oregon availability zones and disaster recovery systems in Ohio. These controls may matter to teams assessing campaign-data handling, but do not replace their own security review.

Pricing

Gleam uses a freemium model. The Free plan costs 0.00 USD per free and includes unlimited campaigns and entries, but caps campaigns at 10 winners and one repeat action, with one team member. It is a useful way to run simple promotions, but the winner and repeat-action caps narrow its fit for larger or more involved campaigns.

Hobby costs 10.00 USD per year, billed $ 10 /mo on yearly plan. It adds 25 winners, five prizes, a repeat-action limit of three and unlocked entry data. It suits small campaigns that need more room than Free, but does not include manual winner selection, which appears at Pro.

Pro costs 39.00 USD per year, billed $ 39 /mo on yearly plan. The tier raises the limits to 100 winners, 20 prizes and 10 repeat actions, and adds manual winners, location restrictions and 25+ languages. It is the relevant step for teams needing location controls or Zapier, though the integration’s Subscribe to Newsletter action requirement remains a constraint.

Business costs 119.00 USD per year, billed $ 119 /mo on yearly plan. It includes 500 winners, 50 prizes and six team members, plus custom CSS, custom fields, event mode, file uploads and SMS verification. This tier is better suited to campaigns with several collaborators or more elaborate data and event requirements than Pro can cover.

Premium costs 299.00 USD per year, billed $ 299 /mo on yearly plan. Its limits rise to 1,000 winners, 100 prizes and 10 team members; it adds webhooks, custom SMTP, an API beta and leaderboard embed. Teams that need those capabilities can justify the higher tier; smaller campaigns may not need its expanded capacity. All plans include 24/7 email support, while paying customers receive priority support.

Platforms

Gleam lists web and API platforms. Its competitions can be embedded across websites and several campaign destinations, including Shopify and Linktree, while API access is identified as beta on Premium.

Who it's for

Gleam suits bloggers, online stores, agencies, marketing managers and publishers who want to combine social engagement, lead collection and winner selection in one campaign workflow. It is less compelling for a small team whose promotion fits within a single repeat action and 10 winners but requires no broader integrations, or for teams that need Zapier actions beyond the supported newsletter subscription action.

Pros and cons

Pros: Multiple campaign formats, entry methods and winner-selection approaches support promotions with different participation goals.
Pros: Embedding options and a broad integration roster help campaigns connect with existing web and marketing setups.
Pros: Clear plan thresholds for winners, prizes and team members help buyers match capacity to campaign scale.
Cons: Free restricts campaigns to 10 winners and one repeat action, which can force an upgrade even when entry volume is unlimited.
Cons: Zapier is gated to Pro and above and requires a specific action, limiting its usefulness for workflows that depend on other triggers or actions.
Cons: The API is in beta and limited to Premium, making it a less straightforward choice for teams seeking API access at a lower tier.

Alternatives

For a different mix of contest and lead-generation tools, compare Social Media Contest Software and Lead Capture Software.

KickoffLabs is worth comparing if a mini-campaign with a monthly unique-visitor or lead quota better fits your needs. SweepWidget is an option if you need Android or iOS support, or its free hosted landing page and 10-entry allowance. Votigo suits buyers looking for paid self-service promotions starting at 29.00 USD per month. PromoSimple may suit a short, small promotion: its free plan allows 50 entrants for seven days, while Basic adds social entry options and extra data fields. Woobox offers a free plan with one live site, 100 submissions per month and one team seat, so it may fit a lower-volume web campaign. Contestit offers a free monthly giveaway with 500 participants and random winner selection, a more focused fit for that format. Socialman is another freemium alternative with Android and iOS support. Woorise may suit buyers who prefer euro pricing and a free monthly entry allowance.

Verdict

Choose Gleam Competitions when social campaigns need flexible entry mechanics, winner selection and embedding, with higher tiers available for team access and integrations. Its main advantage is the breadth of campaign mechanics; its main drawback is that meaningful scaling and Zapier use depend on paid tiers, and Zapier itself is limited to a specified action. For simple promotions, Free can be enough; for larger or more connected campaigns, weigh the plan caps against the tools already in your stack.

	Cognito Forms	Gleam Competitions
Free plan	No	Yes
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	—	$10/mo
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Web	api, Web
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Paid from	19 /mo	—

Cognito Forms vs Gleam Competitions

Cognito Forms

Gleam Competitions