Gleam Competitions
gleam.io
What it is
Gleam Competitions is software for running online contests intended to encourage engagement and sales. Campaign formats include giveaways, sweepstakes, photo contests, raffles and user-generated-content campaigns. Organizers can award entries for actions such as email subscriptions, social follows, comments, shares, hashtags, quizzes, file uploads and coupon codes across networks including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, Spotify and Discord. Winners can be selected randomly, from an entries leaderboard or by hand. Campaigns can be embedded on websites, blogs, Shopify, Linktree, landing pages or overlays. Tools include fraud detection, smart CAPTCHA, custom forms, custom CSS, first-party data collection, voting, moderation and analytics. The service supports more than 25 languages and lists integrations such as ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Salesforce, Shopify and Zapier. The free plan allows unlimited campaigns and entries, with 10 winners per campaign, one repeat action and one team member. Paid plans are Free at free, Hobby at $29 a month, Pro at $59 a month, Business at $179 a month and Premium at $499 a month. Zapier requires Pro or above and currently requires a Subscribe to Newsletter action.
Spec sheet
- What it does
- Gleam Competitions is hosted software for running online contests, sweepstakes and giveaways to increase engagement, leads and sales.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Purpose
- Gleam Competitions runs online competitions that drive engagement and sales with competition management software.Read 30 Sep 2026 · gleam.io
- Audience
- Gleam describes Competitions as suitable for bloggers, online stores, agencies, marketing managers and publishers.Read 30 Sep 2026 · gleam.io
- Integrations
- Gleam lists more than 100 integrations, including Mailchimp, Klaviyo, HubSpot, Shopify, Zapier, Salesforce, Discord, TikTok and YouTube.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Support
- All plans include 24/7 email support, with priority support for paying customers.Read 30 Sep 2026 · gleam.io
- Company
- Gleam is an independent Australian SaaS company based in Melbourne with a fully remote team.Read 30 Sep 2026 · gleam.io
- Campaign customization
- Campaigns support custom colors, themes, images, elements, CSS and white-labeling depending on plan.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Custom actions
- Custom actions let administrators define entry tasks and verify them by confirmation, questions, regular expressions or tracking.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Deployment options
- Campaigns can be embedded on websites, blogs, Shopify, Linktree, landing pages and overlays, or hosted on a Gleam landing page.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Documentation coverage
- The help center includes setup, installation, reporting, post-campaign winner draws, quick draws, entries and integrations sections.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Email-list growth
- Entry forms can collect leads and synchronize them with an email list.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Encryption
- Gleam states that data at rest uses AES-256 encryption and data in transit uses TLS 1.2, with passwords hashed using BCrypt.Read 30 Sep 2026 · gleam.io
- Features
- The product includes fraud detection, smart CAPTCHA, first-party data collection, custom forms, custom CSS and 25+ languages.Read 30 Sep 2026 · gleam.io
- Fraud controls
- The product advertises automatic monitoring and detection of suspicious campaign activity.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Infrastructure
- The platform is hosted on Amazon Web Services with daily snapshots, multiple Oregon availability zones and disaster recovery systems in Ohio.Read 30 Sep 2026 · gleam.io
- Installation
- Competitions can be embedded on websites, contest landing pages, blogs, Shopify, Linktree or overlays.Read 30 Sep 2026 · gleam.io
- JavaScript tracking API
- Business plans can use a JavaScript tracking script to unlock custom actions after conversions on an external site.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Languages
- Gleam says competitions can be translated into more than 25 languages.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Limit: account and billing complaints
- Trustpilot reviews include complaints about unexpected account deletion and difficulty finding unsubscribe controls.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
- Limit: analytics
- A G2 reviewer said the basic giveaway metrics lacked deeper tracking and analytics.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
- Limit: contest abuse
- A G2 reviewer said users could manipulate entries without completing the required tasks.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
- Limit: customization
- Reviewers report that free or standard campaign forms and presentation designs have limited customization.Read 15 Oct 2026 · getapp.com
- Limit: integrations
- A G2 reviewer wanted more social-platform integrations, while a Capterra reviewer wanted SmartrMail integration.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
- Limit: price
- Capterra reviewers say paid plans can be expensive for nonprofits, small influencers or infrequent users.Read 15 Oct 2026 · capterra.com
- Limit: support experience
- One G2 reviewer complained that support was slow and redirected them to documentation without precise answers.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
- Notable news
- On September 30, 2026 Gleam announced an NPS Survey action that awards entries for 0–10 recommendation responses; it is available on Pro and higher plans.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Payment security
- Stripe processes card payments, Gleam says card details are not stored on its servers, and Stripe is PCI Service Provider Level 1 certified.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Performance tracking
- Reporting covers action breakdowns, referral sources, peak periods and entrant locations.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Photo contests
- Photo contests accept social or direct-upload submissions and can display them on a website.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Praise: ease of use
- Independent reviewers commonly describe the interface and campaign setup as easy or intuitive.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
- Praise: support
- G2, Capterra and Trustpilot reviewers repeatedly praise responsive, helpful customer support.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
- Public API
- A POST API can create Competition entries for users and is available on Premium plans.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Rating on Capterra
- 4.5 out of 5 from 20 reviewsRead 15 Oct 2026 · capterra.com
- Rating on G2
- 4.2 out of 5 from 27 reviewsRead 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
- Rating on Gartner Peer Insights
- No rating out of 5 from 0 reviews; the page says no reviews yetRead 15 Oct 2026 · gartner.com
- Rating on GetApp
- 4.6 out of 5 from 20 reviewsRead 15 Oct 2026 · getapp.com
- Rating on Shopify App Store
- 3.6 out of 5 from 31 reviewsRead 15 Oct 2026 · apps.shopify.com
- Rating on Trustpilot
- 4.5 out of 5 from 225 reviewsRead 15 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
- Rating on TrustRadius
- 8.4 out of 10 from 7 reviewsRead 15 Oct 2026 · trustradius.com
- Referral growth
- Referral actions award bonus entries when participants bring in friends.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Responsive widget
- The widget is designed for mobile, tablet and desktop displays.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Security architecture
- Gleam states that data at rest uses AES-256, data in transit uses TLS 1.2, passwords use BCrypt, hosting is on AWS and two-factor authentication is supported.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Security audit
- Gleam states that it completed a SOC 2 Type II audit with a clean opinion and no noted exceptions.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Security compliance
- Gleam says it completed a SOC 2 Type II audit with no noted exceptions and a clean opinion.Read 30 Sep 2026 · gleam.io
- Self-hosting meaning
- Gleam documentation uses “self hosted” to describe embedding campaigns on a customer-controlled website or blog, while the service itself remains hosted.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Social campaigns
- It supports competitions that incentivize actions on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, Spotify and other platforms.Read 30 Sep 2026 · gleam.io
- Social channels
- The product supports competition actions across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, Spotify and other social platforms.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Webhooks
- Premium plans can send JSON POST requests to customer endpoints after entries pass the fraud filter, usually within five to ten minutes.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Winner selection
- Winners can be selected randomly, by highest entry count or manually from submissions.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gleam.io
- Zapier limit
- Zapier integration is available on the Pro plan and above and currently requires a Subscribe to Newsletter action.Read 30 Sep 2026 · gleam.io
Plans and prices
Strong points and limits
Strong points
- Free plan includes unlimited campaigns and entries
- Winner selection can be random, leaderboard-based or manual
- Includes fraud detection and smart CAPTCHA
- All plans include 24/7 email support
Limits
- Free plan allows only 10 winners per campaign
- Free plan limits repeat actions to one
- Zapier requires Pro or above
- Paid plans start at $29 a month
Who it suits
Gleam Competitions may suit bloggers, online stores, agencies, marketing managers and publishers running promotions across social networks or embedded campaign pages.
Verdict
Gleam offers multiple campaign formats, entry methods and winner-selection options, with a free plan and tiered paid plans. Review the plan limits and Zapier requirement against the campaign you intend to run.
Where Specifiction places it
- Lead Capture Software#2 of 708.9
- Social Media Contest Software#2 of 289.0