10 Free Gleam Alternatives for WordPress Contests

Over the past few years, we’ve been exploring various giveaway and contest platforms, including Gleam.io and several alternatives, for different marketing campaigns. We’ve used these tools to quickly launch contests and even run complex, multi-tiered giveaways to grow our audience.

After much experimentation, the biggest lesson we’ve learned is that not every contest platform is created equal. In fact, choosing the right tool can be overwhelming, given the many options available in the market.

In this article, we’ll share everything we’ve discovered from testing the best Gleam alternatives. We’ll also narrow down the top free options so you can easily select the perfect platform for your contest needs.

Best Gleam.io Alternatives Compared

Here are our findings on the best free Gleam alternatives if you’re in a hurry. Click any links to learn more about each SaaS solution.

How We Review & Test

At RafflePress, our tool roundups are created by experienced professionals who have spent years using, testing, and evaluating software. Unlike other sites, we never accept payment to influence our recommendations. We invest dozens of hours into every roundup, thoroughly testing each product according to strict criteria. We use the products ourselves, just like you would, to ensure our reviews are comprehensive and reliable.

What Is Gleam.io?

Gleam.io is a marketing and sales platform that helps businesses run contests, giveaways, and sweepstakes to engage with their audience and increase their customer base. It’s also a paid service with different pricing plans depending on the features and services you need.

Gleam.io is a popular choice, but tools like RafflePress and ShortStack offer WordPress-specific integration, while platforms like Wishpond and AgoraPulse provide a broader suite of marketing features.

Best Gleam Free Alternatives for WordPress

If you’re looking for the top free Gleam alternatives for WordPress, you’re in the right place. The following solutions are all must-have giveaway tools with a free version or a free trial to give you a head start.

With that being said, take a look at these sites like Gleam.io to create a successful free online giveaway:

1. RafflePress

Best Gleam Alternative for WordPress

RafflePress is the best free WordPress giveaway plugin on the market. Built specifically for WordPress sites, it makes creating and managing any type of contest directly within your WordPress dashboard incredibly easy – all in just a few minutes.

It is an excellent free Gleam alternative that offers tons of features to drive your business growth without spending a dime.

Check out how SeedProd 3X their sales with viral RafflePress contests.

RafflePress Lite Features

• Easy drag-and-drop giveaway builder to create successful giveaways in minutes.
• Free giveaway template to get up and running quickly with custom designs.
• A user-friendly giveaway rules generator template helps create a simple set of rules.
• Fraud protection to prevent spam and fraudulent entries.
• Lightning-fast giveaway widgets help your site’s SEO and speed to improve conversion rates.
• Automatic contest start and end times.
• 100% mobile responsive to adapt to all screen sizes.
• The free WordPress plugin makes it easy to run contests directly in WordPress.

As you can see, RafflePress is just like Gleam, and without spending any money, RafflePress has everything you need to create and launch your giveaway in WordPress in no time at all.

However, when you upgrade to the pro version, you can take advantage of viral giveaway templates, giveaway landing pages, email marketing integration, viral refer-a-friend sharing, and much more.

With RafflePress, you can use your website visitors to refer more visitors, and they all get the chance to win something that benefits everyone.

Why not check out some RafflePress reviews yourself and see why this free online contest software is the top choice for smart business owners? Alternatively, check out our comparison of Rafflecopter vs. Gleam vs. RafflePress here.

RafflePress Pricing

RafflePress has a fully functional free version with everything you need to get started. Then, you can upgrade to the pro version, which starts at $39.50/year.

User Review

In a RafflePress review from WPBeginner, they detailed how they used the plugin to run their 14th birthday giveaway. The campaign resulted in tens of thousands of leads and over 20,000+ participants.

Why We Chose It
We love RafflePress because it makes running online contests and giveaways incredibly easy. The drag-and-drop builder and intuitive interface mean we can launch a successful campaign in minutes.

2. WPForms

Top Free Gleam Alternative for Giveaway Forms

If you’re looking for another alternative to Gleam.io, look at WPForms. WPForms is the best contact form plugin for WordPress and has endless lead-generation features.

WPForms excels as a viable Gleam competitor with the ready-made contest entry form template. This template helps you create a quick online contest in seconds.

WPForms Features

• Use the easy contest entry form to boost visitor engagement and brand awareness.
• Easily customize your contest entry form with the drag-and-drop form builder.
• The contest form template includes an entry rules section to keep your giveaway compliant.
• Collect entry data such as names, email addresses, and telephone numbers to add to your email marketing service, CRM, or WordPress database.

Check out our WPForms review for more in-depth details.

WPForms Pricing

WPForms has a free version you can use to get a feel for how things work. However, to take advantage of contest entry form templates, you’ll need to upgrade to pro, starting at $199.50/year.

User Review

Over G2, users have given WPForms 4.7 out of 5 stars. One business owner commented:

“It is flexible: I use it for contact forms, donation forms, grant application forms, events, and more.

Simple yet powerful interface for collecting payments.

I install WPForms on every website I have – I know it will be used.”

Click here to get started with WPForms Pro.

Why We Chose It
WPForms streamlines our giveaway creation process with user-friendly forms and drag-and-drop functionality. It allows us to build beautiful and engaging giveaway entry forms in minutes, making it a perfect tool for capturing leads and boosting engagement.

3. Wishpond

Gleam Alternative with Free Trial

Wishpond isn’t just a popular giveaway platform for small businesses; it’s also a functional marketing platform that can handle various marketing campaign needs.

Wishpond might be too big for some businesses to use as a free Gleam alternative, but it’s still worth exploring if your company needs this type of advanced solution coupled with a wide range of marketing tools.

Wishpond Features

• Modern and straightforward interface for building giveaways and social media promotions.
• Integrates with over 300+ email marketing platforms, payment processors, CRMs, and more.
• Includes various social media competitions such as photo caption contests, Instagram hashtag contests, video contests, etc.

Wishpond Pricing

The pricing for Wishpond starts at $75 per month; however, you can create a free online giveaway during the 14-day free trial.

User Review

On TrustPilot, users gave Wishpond 4.1 out of 5 stars. They praised Wispond for its:

“Thoughtful, intelligent marketing team who tailored their work to my goals and didn’t just throw more of the same at my project.”

However, some users mentioned that there was still room for the company to improve.

Why We Chose It
Wishpond simplifies giveaways by offering a complete solution for building landing pages, collecting entries, and managing winners—all within one platform.

Related: Best Wishpond Competitors: My Honest Reviews

4. Woorise

Popular Free Gleam Alternative

Woorise is a popular online giveaway tool for creating free online contests. Its free plan includes several features, such as pre-made layouts, 1-click giveaway winner selection, CSV data export, fraud detection, and more.

You can only access the more advanced features by upgrading to one of the paid plans.

Woorise Features

• Responsive giveaway templates.
• Drag and drop contest builder is easy to use.
• Track your contest data with analytics reports.
• Create quizzes, polls, and surveys.
• Social sharing giveaway action buttons for Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and other social networks.
• Email marketing integration options.
• Priority email and chat support.

Woorise Pricing

As mentioned above, Woorise has a free plan. Yet, to access the best features, including integrations and email notifications, pricing starts at $39 per month per site for the Grow plan.

You may like our Woorise review for additional details.

User Review

On Capterra, customers gave Woorise a 4.7 out of 5-star rating. One user found it “easy once I learned my around” while expressing there was a learning curve and occasional glitches during setup.

Why We Chose It
Woorise allowed us to create giveaway landing pages, leverage social media for more engagement, and effortlessly pick winners – all in one convenient platform.

5. AgoraPulse

Gleam Alternative for Marketing

AgoraPulse is a social media management platform offering a complete CRM, Facebook apps, and an analytics suite. Its inclusion on this list is due to its free Facebook contest feature.

AgoraPulse calls this feature a Facebook Timeline Contest or Facebook Timeline App. With the app, you can access the following features.

AgoraPulse Facebook Contest Features

• Create several types of contests, including photo contests and quizzes.
• Filter your contest by likes, comments, or shares.
• Sweepstakes for users who like and/or comment on a post.
• Randomly choose a giveaway winner.

This giveaway tool is relatively limited; however, it could be helpful if you’re primarily running Facebook contests.

AgoraPulse Pricing

The AgoraPulse Facebook Timeline Contest app is free. Advanced pricing starts at $79 per month, billed annually.

User Review

Customers gave AgoraPulse 4.5 out of 5 stars. Most users comment on its social media management features. However, some users found the free version’s limitations to be a stumbling block.

Why We Chose It
While Agorapulse isn’t our primary tool for running giveaways, its social media management suite helps promote giveaways across different platforms for more reach and engagement.

6. Easypromos

Gleam Alternative for Social Media

Easypromos is a complete promotional platform that helps you manage digital and social promotions across various social media networks. It includes multiple online contest types, including direct giveaways, quizzes, games, coupons, etc.

Since it’s easy to use and offers various features, it’s a great alternative to Gleam.

Easypromos Features

• Exclusive giveaway contests for Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
• Allows the use of surveys and polls to create engaging giveaways.
• Mobile responsive widgets and design.
• Combine apps to create tailor-made campaigns.
• Mobile friendly and 100% responsive.

Easypromos Pricing

The pricing for Easypromos starts at $29/month (billed annually). You can create 1 free online giveaway.

For more details, please see our Easypromos review.

User Review

Easypromos gets 4.6 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot. Users typically comment on how easy it is to use:

“once I understood how to navigate around the easy promos platform, i found it to be easy and user-friendly.”

However, the high price is a sticking point.

Why We Chose It
Easypromos seamlessly integrates with various marketing platforms and automates many giveaway tasks, saving valuable time and effort. This allows us to focus on creating compelling campaigns and engaging with participants.

7. ShortStack

Free All-in-One Gleam Alternative

ShortStack is another popular Gleam alternative on this list. It’s an all-in-one contesting platform that makes creating an online giveaway easy in minutes.

This digital marketing platform is great for engaging your audience, lead generation, and marketing automation without worrying about coding.

ShortStack Features

• Create unlimited giveaway campaigns and emails.
• Run photo contests, sweepstakes, essay contests, and more.
• Automatically select a giveaway winner.
• Create giveaway landing pages.
• Choose from a variety of pre-built giveaway themes.
• Contest design customization options.
• Repeat entry and fraud protection.

ShortStack Pricing

You can try ShortStack for as long as you like for free, limited to 20 entries and 100 views per 30 Days.

However, to access advanced features and more entries, the pricing starts at $99 per month.

For more information, check out our ShortStack review.

User Review

Users enjoyed ShortStack’s customization options. One customer used it to “collect entries for large annual contests that submit photos, videos, or essays”. However, the same user found the interface “clunky” and difficult for beginners.

Why We Chose It
Shortstack is a great platform for running giveaways. It offers advanced features and a user-friendly interface. However, it is more expensive than other options.

8. KingSumo

Simple Free Gleam Alternative

KingSumo is a free Gleam alternative for WordPress website owners. Created by the team behind AppSumo, this giveaway site, like Gleam, was initially developed for internal use. However, after seeing success with the app, they released it for everyone.

If you like, you can check out our comparison of RafflePress vs. KingSumo here.

KingSumo Features

• Create unlimited giveaways in minutes
• Email and social media integrations
• Facebook pixel tracking
• Custom giveaway branding
• Customer support

KingSumo Pricing

The pricing for the KingSumo web app is free. To unlock Facebook pixel tracking and custom branding costs a one-time charge of $49.

For direct integration with WordPress, KingSumo offers a WordPress plugin license that costs $198.

User Review

We couldn’t find many user testimonials for KingSumo. However, the general consensus seems to be that while it has an easy interface, “there are many limitations.”

Why We Chose It
We chose Kingsumo because it provides a simple platform for creating basic giveaways. However, it might lack the advanced features and customization options found in other giveaway tools.

Related: KingSumo vs. UpViral vs. RafflePress and KingSumo Alternatives.

9. Woobox

WordPress Gleam Substitute

Woobox is a 100% free WordPress contest plugin that makes for an excellent Gleam alternative. It’s a great tool for running giveaways on social media networks like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. And with the drag-and-drop contest builder, you can get set up in minutes.

Woobox Features

• Integrate with over 500 tools such as MailChimp, etc.
• Collect likes, comments, hashtags, and more on social media.
• Add your contest anywhere in WordPress with embed codes.
• Choose from several customizable giveaway templates.
• Drive more traffic and entries with dedicated landing pages.
• Easily choose winners with the winner picker tool.

Woobox Pricing

Woobox is a free WordPress plugin for up to 100 participants per month. For advanced features, the pricing starts at $37 per month.

You can check out our Woobox review here.

User Review

The most recent customer reviews we could find for Woobox were several years old, praising its social media giveaway options. However, we recommend trying it for yourself to review any new features.

Why We Chose It
Woobox offers a great balance of functionality and affordability, making it a smart choice for businesses seeking a cost-effective giveaway solution.

10. Rafflecopter

Minimal Free Gleam Alternative

Rafflecopter is a simple giveaway web app that makes running online contests on any website easy. It comes with basic free options, including Facebook, Twitter, form entry options, and a flash giveaway Facebook app, making it a helpful Gleam competitor.

Many of the advanced features required to run a successful contest are only available in the paid version; however, this is a good choice if you need a simple online contest solution.

Rafflecopter Features

• Unlimited giveaways and entries
• Instant random winner selection
• Various social media entry options
• Email marketing integrations (paid plan)
• Viral referral options (paid plan)
• Terms and conditions template

Rafflecopter Pricing

Rafflecopter is a free gleam alternative. For viral refer-a-friend entries, email integrations, and more, the paid plans start at $43 per month for the Grow plan.

User Review

When looking at Rafflecopter user reviews, we found that customers liked its simple interface and free versions. While the free version is useful for simple giveaways, users often find the premium plans expensive for the features offered.

Check out this Rafflecopter review for a more comprehensive overview.

Why We Chose It
Rafflecopter’s simplicity is ideal for running no-frills giveaways quickly. However, if you need more advanced features, it may be best to choose another tool on this list.

Price Comparison

After finding your Gleam.io alternative, you may find these giveaway guides useful:

• How to Do a Review Giveaway in WordPress
• How to Run a Free NFT Giveaway on WordPress Start to Finish
• 11 Restaurant Contest Ideas to Delight Your Customers
• How to Collect User Submitted Photos in WordPress
• How to Make a WooCommerce Contest for More Customers

If you found this article helpful, join us on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook for more giveaway guides and tutorials.

Stacey Corrin Writer

Stacey has been writing about WordPress and digital marketing for over 10 years and on other topics for much longer. Alongside this, she's fascinated with web design, user experience, and SEO.

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