5 Best Gleam Alternatives in 2026
Most people don’t leave Gleam because the product is bad. They leave when they find that removing “Powered by Gleam” takes the $179/mo Business plan, the leaderboard embed takes the $499/mo Premium plan, and Competitions is only one of four apps they’re asked to pay for.
The five best Gleam alternatives in 2026 are SweepWidget (the closest like-for-like swap, from $29/mo), Woorise (giveaways plus forms, quizzes and landing pages, from €20/mo), RafflePress (a WordPress plugin with one-time pricing from $299), ViralSweep (a legal team for high-value US prizes, from $49/mo) and Giveaway Ninja (purchase-based entries for Shopify, from $49/mo). For most teams leaving Gleam, SweepWidget is the best fit, because it covers the same contest types in one product, with leaderboards from $59/mo. SweepWidget’s homepage reports 50M+ leads created through its giveaways. To help you make the best choice, this guide shows which tool fits each kind of giveaway.
Best Gleam alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Best For | Starting Price | Key Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| SweepWidget | Teams that want Gleam’s contest features without the four-app split | Free plan; paid from $29/mo | 120+ entry methods across 30+ social platforms, 38 email integrations and leaderboards from $59/mo in one product |
| Woorise | Marketers who need giveaways plus forms, quizzes and landing pages | Free plan; paid from €20/mo | Giveaways, forms, quizzes, surveys and landing pages in one builder |
| RafflePress | WordPress site owners who want entrant data on their own server | $299 one-time (single site) | One-time payment with lifetime updates, and entries stored in your own WordPress database |
| ViralSweep | US brands whose prize value creates real legal exposure | $49/mo; 7-day trial | A legal team that handles official rules, state registration and bonding |
| Giveaway Ninja | Shopify stores that need the giveaway to drive orders, not follows | Free plan (50 entrants/mo); paid from $49/mo | Entries per dollar spent, with product targeting and refund-aware order tracking |
Prices verified on each vendor’s own pricing page or Shopify App Store listing, October 15, 2026. Monthly billing unless stated.
No credit card required.
Why do people switch away from Gleam?
Four reasons come up again and again, and they all come down to paying for more than the giveaway needs.
- The four-app structure. Gleam sells Competitions, Rewards, Captures and Galleries as separate products. The $29/mo Hobby price covers Competitions alone; Rewards, Captures and Galleries start at $49/mo each, and the Full Package bundle at $119/mo, per Gleam’s pricing page. SweepWidget runs giveaways, contests, referral rewards and instant coupons in one product.
- Removing the branding is expensive. On Gleam Competitions, “Powered by Gleam” only comes off on Business at $179/mo, according to Gleam’s Shopify App Store listing. SweepWidget removes its branding on Premium at $119/mo.
- Contest features sit high in the tiers. On Gleam, custom CSS starts on Business ($179/mo), and the leaderboard embed and Entry API sit on Premium ($499/mo). On SweepWidget, leaderboards come with Business at $59/mo and custom CSS with Premium at $119/mo.
- Yearly billing doesn’t close the gap. Gleam’s yearly plans on its Shopify listing save 34% to 40%, which brings Business to $1,428 a year. SweepWidget still costs less for the same features: branding removal is $1,190 a year on Premium, and leaderboards are $590 a year on Business, against $3,588 a year on Gleam Premium.
If any of these sound familiar, the five alternatives below show what each one costs for the features you actually use, or you can compare SweepWidget’s plans side by side.
What should you look for in a Gleam alternative?
- Which plan unlocks the feature you left Gleam for. Branding removal, leaderboards and custom CSS sit on very different tiers from tool to tool.
- One product or a suite. If you only run giveaways, a multi-app bundle is wasted budget; if you also run forms and quizzes, a suite can be cheaper.
- Platform fit. Hosted, WordPress-native or Shopify-native changes where entries are stored and how the giveaway is installed.
- The pricing meter. Flat fees with unlimited entries suit viral campaigns; entrant caps suit small, predictable ones.
- Fraud controls on the plan you’ll use. Gleam lists fraud detection on its free plan, so check what each alternative includes at your price point.
The 5 best Gleam alternatives
1. SweepWidget: the closest like-for-like swap
SweepWidget maps most directly onto what Gleam Competitions does, without the app split. You get 120+ entry methods across 30+ social platforms, 38 email integrations and 65+ API integrations in total, with unlimited entries on every paid plan, per SweepWidget’s pricing page. Leaderboards, referral and milestone rewards, instant coupons and an entry for every $1 spent on Shopify and WooCommerce are included on Business at $59/mo. It installs through a WordPress plugin, a Shopify app or an embed.
The honest gap is the free plan. Gleam lists Advanced Fraud Detection and Verified Action on its free Competitions plan, while SweepWidget’s free plan includes unlimited entries and campaigns but lets you view and download only 10 entrants’ emails. Its anti-cheating tools, VPN blocking and per-IP entry limits are included on Pro ($29/mo). SweepWidget also doesn’t sell standalone pop-ups, a rewards program outside contests or UGC galleries, which Gleam does.
Best for: Teams switching off Gleam who want the same contest types without buying four products.
Pricing: Free; Pro $29/mo; Business $59/mo; Premium $119/mo; Enterprise $249/mo. Annual billing saves 17%. (Verified on SweepWidget’s pricing page, October 15, 2026.)
Free trial: A permanent free plan with unlimited entries; you can view and download up to 10 entrants’ emails.
Bottom line: Removing branding costs $119/mo here versus $179/mo on Gleam’s monthly billing, and leaderboards cost $59/mo rather than $499/mo. For the full breakdown, see SweepWidget vs Gleam.
2. Woorise: if the giveaway is one campaign type among several
Woorise is a campaign builder where giveaways, forms, quizzes, surveys and landing pages live in one dashboard. If you were eyeing Gleam’s Captures app on top of Competitions, Woorise gives you lead-capture forms and giveaways in one subscription. Fraud detection and Captcha are included on every plan, including free, with AI spam protection added on Business.
The catch is the pricing meter. Woorise charges by entries per month: 200 on Free, 2,000 on Starter, 4,000 on Pro, and flexible tiers from 10,000 on Business, per Woorise’s pricing page. Removing Woorise branding requires Pro; a custom domain, file uploads and photo contests with voting all sit on Business. Woorise prices in euros on its own site and in US dollars on its Shopify listing. See SweepWidget vs Woorise.
Best for: Small marketing teams who run giveaways occasionally and lead-gen forms constantly.
Pricing: Free (200 entries/mo); Starter €20/mo; Pro €34/mo; Business €69/mo; Enterprise quoted. On its Shopify listing: $29, $49 and $99 a month. Annual billing saves 20%.
Free trial: 14-day free trial, plus a permanent free plan.
Bottom line: The best fit if you’d otherwise pay for two Gleam apps. Model your monthly entry volume first, because the caps are the real constraint.
3. RafflePress: if you want the giveaway on your own WordPress site
RafflePress is a WordPress plugin, not a hosted platform, so the giveaway runs on your domain and entries land in your own WordPress database rather than a vendor’s. Gleam and SweepWidget both have WordPress plugins too, but they embed a hosted campaign; RafflePress keeps the data on your server. It has 30+ entry actions, a drag-and-drop builder and 15+ email and CRM integrations.
RafflePress sells one-time licenses with lifetime updates: $299 for one site, $349 for unlimited sites, per RafflePress’s pricing page. Against a $29/mo hosted plan, it costs less after about 11 months. A free RafflePress Lite plugin is on WordPress.org, without the landing pages and full integrations. Two limits: it only works on self-hosted WordPress, so it’s off the table for Shopify, Squarespace or Webflow, and its 30+ actions are fewer than SweepWidget’s 120+. See SweepWidget vs RafflePress.
Best for: Bloggers, publishers and agencies running giveaways on self-hosted WordPress.
Pricing: $299 one-time for 1 site; $349 one-time for unlimited sites. Both include lifetime updates and 1 year of priority support.
Free trial: No time-limited trial; a 14-day money-back guarantee, plus the free Lite plugin.
Bottom line: Over two years or more, the cheapest paid option on this page, if you’re on WordPress. Not an option if you aren’t.
4. ViralSweep: if the prize is big enough to need a lawyer
ViralSweep treats a prize promotion as a legal event rather than a marketing widget. Its legal team prepares official rules, works out which states need registration and bonding for your prize value, and files the paperwork and bond for you; ViralSweep doesn’t publish a price for that service. It also supports partner sweepstakes, where two brands co-promote one promotion, sales tracking, and a Purchases app for Shopify, BigCommerce and WooCommerce.
It’s priced for that buyer. Starter at $49/mo covers one brand with no additional users. White-label branding, custom CSS, sales tracking and partner sweepstakes sit on Business at $199/mo, and geo-targeting is included on Premium at $399/mo, per ViralSweep’s pricing page. There’s no free plan, only a 7-day trial. If $179/mo on Gleam felt steep, ViralSweep is a sideways move on price, not a saving. See SweepWidget vs ViralSweep.
Best for: US ecommerce brands and agencies running high-value prize promotions with compliance obligations.
Pricing: Starter $49/mo; Business $199/mo; Premium $399/mo; Elite $999/mo; Enterprise quoted. Annual billing brings these to $41, $166, $333 and $833 per month.
Free trial: 7-day risk-free trial; no free plan.
Bottom line: Choose it for the legal help, not the widget. If compliance isn’t a live concern, you’re paying for capability you won’t use.
5. Giveaway Ninja: if the giveaway needs to move product
Giveaway Ninja is Shopify-native and built around one mechanic Gleam’s Shopify listing doesn’t show: entries per dollar spent. Entries can be targeted to products or collections, multiplied around a product drop, and tracked at order level with refund awareness. The AOV Booster, on Premium and above, multiplies an order’s entries when a low-cost booster product is in the cart. It’s rated 5.0 out of 5 across 87 reviews on its Shopify App Store listing, against 3.6 from 32 for Gleam Competitions.
Two limits. It’s Shopify-first. And it meters entrants per month: leads above your cap stay in the giveaway, but their contact details are hidden and they’re excluded from draws and exports until you upgrade, per Giveaway Ninja’s pricing page. See SweepWidget vs Giveaway Ninja.
Best for: Shopify stores where the giveaway’s job is revenue, not reach.
Pricing: Free (50 entrants/mo); Starter $49/mo (500); Pro $99/mo (2,000); Premium $199/mo (5,000); Ultimate $499/mo (unlimited); Enterprise from $999/mo. Annual billing saves 20%.
Free trial: 7 days on paid plans, plus a permanent free plan.
Bottom line: The strongest purchase-based model here, but check your expected entrant volume against the cap before choosing a tier.
When should you stay on Gleam?
- Your free plan needs fraud detection. Gleam lists Advanced Fraud Detection and Verified Action on its free Competitions plan.
- You already use two or more Gleam apps. If Competitions, Rewards and Captures are all load-bearing, the Full Package is doing real work and unpicking it may cost more than it saves.
Which Gleam alternative is right for you?
- You want the same contests, cheaper, in one product: SweepWidget.
- You’re on self-hosted WordPress and want the data on your server: RafflePress, the cheapest paid option here over two years or more.
- Your store is on Shopify and the giveaway should drive orders: SweepWidget.
- You run giveaways plus quizzes, forms and landing pages: Woorise.
- Your prize is valuable enough to need bonding and registration: ViralSweep.
- You want to pay less for branding removal and leaderboards: SweepWidget, which costs less than Gleam even on yearly billing.
How we evaluated these tools
We compared the five alternatives on four criteria:
- What it replaces. Gleam Competitions alone, or the multi-app footprint too.
- Cost of the features that force upgrades. Removing branding, accessing full entrant data, and connecting an email platform.
- Fraud and data controls, and which plan they sit on.
- Platform fit. Hosted, WordPress-native or Shopify-native.
Prices were read off each vendor’s own pricing page or Shopify App Store listing on October 15, 2026; strengths and gaps come from public reviews on Capterra, G2, WordPress.org and the Shopify App Store, plus each vendor’s published feature lists.
What’s the best Gleam alternative overall?
For most people leaving Gleam, SweepWidget is the swap: the same contest types in one product, leaderboards at $59/mo instead of $499/mo, and branding removal at $119/mo instead of $179/mo. Choose RafflePress if you’re on WordPress and would rather pay once, Giveaway Ninja if the giveaway sits inside a Shopify checkout, Woorise if giveaways are one campaign type among many, and ViralSweep if the prize needs a legal team.
Ready to run your first giveaway?
Rebuild your Gleam giveaway on SweepWidget’s free plan, and upgrade when you want unlimited entries or leaderboards. Or compare SweepWidget’s plans and features first.
No credit card required.
Still weighing your options?
See more comparison information here:
SweepWidget head-to-head comparisons
See how SweepWidget compares with each tool in detail:
More giveaway guides
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest Gleam alternative?
SweepWidget at $29/month is the cheapest hosted alternative with unlimited entries and every entrant’s email. For WordPress sites, RafflePress is cheaper over time because it charges $299 once rather than monthly. Woorise starts at €20/month but caps entries at 2,000 a month on that plan.
Why is Gleam expensive?
Gleam sells four separate apps: Competitions, Rewards, Captures and Galleries. The $29/month Hobby price covers Competitions only. Removing the “Powered by Gleam” branding requires the Business plan at $179/month, and the leaderboard embed requires Premium at $499/month. Even with Gleam’s yearly discount, SweepWidget costs less: branding removal is $1,190 a year on Premium and leaderboards are $590 a year on Business, against $1,428 and $3,588 a year on Gleam.
Is there a Gleam alternative for WordPress?
Yes. RafflePress is a WordPress plugin that stores entries in your own WordPress database, for $299 one-time for a single site or $349 for unlimited sites. Gleam and SweepWidget also have WordPress plugins, but both embed a campaign hosted on their own servers.
Which Gleam alternative has the best free plan?
Gleam’s own free plan is still strong, because it lists Advanced Fraud Detection and Verified Action. Among alternatives, SweepWidget is the only platform that allows unlimited entries and campaigns, Woorise’s free plan allows 200 entries a month, and Giveaway Ninja’s allows 50 entrants a month
Can I award giveaway entries based on purchases instead of social follows?
Yes. Giveaway Ninja is built for this on Shopify, with product targeting, multipliers and refund-aware order tracking. SweepWidget’s Business plan ($59/month) awards an entry for every $1 spent on Shopify and WooCommerce, and ViralSweep’s Purchases app works with Shopify, BigCommerce and WooCommerce, with order limits that vary by plan.
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