Rafflecopter vs Gleam vs RafflePress: Which Is the Best Giveaway Tool?

A giveaway tool is software that helps you create, run, and track online contests. When I first started running giveaways, I tried Rafflecopter because everyone seemed to use it, then moved to Gleam for extra features, and finally settled on RafflePress.

The landscape has changed since then. Rafflecopter officially shut down on October 1, 2025, so it’s no longer a safe option for new contests. I’m keeping it in this comparison because many readers used it for years and want to know what to switch to.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through Rafflecopter vs Gleam vs RafflePress based on my own use of each tool. I’ll focus on ease of use, features, and real-world results so you can choose the right option for your next giveaway.

Rafflecopter vs Gleam vs RafflePress: The Winner

For most users, RafflePress is the best giveaway tool, especially for WordPress sites. It offers the best combination of ease of use, native integration, and overall value. Gleam is a powerful but more complex alternative for those needing a full marketing suite, while Rafflecopter is no longer an active tool.

Benefits of Using a Giveaway Tool

Using a dedicated giveaway tool automates contest management and provides specific benefits for growing your business. Here’s a closer look at the advantages:

• Centralized Entry Tracking – Instead of manually counting entries, a giveaway tool logs every action in one dashboard, making it easy to see campaign performance.
• Increased Website Traffic – Entry actions like ‘Visit a Page’ and ‘Refer-a-Friend’ encourage participants to visit and share your key pages, driving targeted traffic directly to your site.
• Grow Social Media Followers – You can require participants to follow your profiles on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, which directly increases your follower count.
• Faster Email List Growth – By making ‘Join an Email Newsletter’ a primary entry action, you can quickly add new subscribers to your email marketing list.
• Improve Lead Generation and Sales – The new leads and subscribers you gain can be nurtured into paying customers, directly helping to boost sales.

How I Tested Rafflecopter vs Gleam vs RafflePress

How I Tested Rafflecopter vs Gleam vs RafflePress

I’ve used all three tools over the years, so my comparison is based on real contests I’ve run for my own sites. Even though Rafflecopter has now shut down, I’m including my past experience with it because many readers want to know how it stacked up and what to switch to.

To keep the comparison fair, I used the same criteria for each tool. I checked how easy they were to learn, how simple it was to set up a prize, and how well each tool handled different entry actions.

I also looked at pricing, reporting, and how each platform handled picking winners. These are the things that matter when you’re trying to run a smooth giveaway without wasting time.

The goal was simple: see which tool gave me the easiest setup, the clearest results, and the best chance of growing my audience.

Features Comparison

The bottom line is that RafflePress and Gleam are the only active options now that Rafflecopter has shut down. RafflePress focuses on WordPress users who want a simple builder inside their own site, while Gleam offers a multi-app platform with more complexity.

This section shows you what each tool includes so you can compare them side by side.

RafflePress Features

RafflePress is the only giveaway tool built specifically for WordPress. I moved to it after trying Rafflecopter and Gleam because I wanted something easier to manage and fully integrated with my site.

It has a drag-and-drop builder, ready-made templates, and simple entry actions that help you grow your email list, social followers, and website traffic. I could set up my first giveaway in about 15 minutes, which is why I still use it now.

Key Features

• Drag-and-drop giveaway builder that’s easy for beginners
• 1-click entry and fraud protection to cut down on spam
• Viral giveaway templates for list building, traffic, and social growth
• Ready-made actions for Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and more
• Refer-a-friend options that help your giveaway spread
• Dedicated giveaway landing pages for distraction-free entries
• Built-in WordPress publishing with blocks, shortcodes, or a landing page
• Email marketing, automation, and retargeting integrations
• Random winner selection and clear entry reports

RafflePress keeps everything inside WordPress, which makes it feel simpler than the other tools. I found it much easier to manage once I switched over.

Rafflecopter Features

Rafflecopter was the first giveaway tool I ever used because it was simple and well-known. It ran entirely from its own website, so you could set up a contest without installing anything. That convenience helped a lot of beginners get started.

The platform officially shut down on October 1, 2025. The features below reflect what it offered before the shutdown, since many readers still want to understand how it worked and what they’re losing as they move away from it.

Key Features Before Shutdown

• Standard giveaway widget with basic entry actions
• Simple prize and entry setup on the Rafflecopter website
• Prize image gallery on paid plans
• Surveys and polls for gathering feedback (paid plans)
• Social entry actions limited to Facebook and Twitter on the free plan
• Email marketing integrations on paid plans

One thing that always slowed me down was the lack of a WordPress plugin. I had to copy and paste embed codes every time, which became frustrating once I started running more giveaways. That limitation was one of the reasons I eventually looked for other tools.

Gleam Features

Gleam is a full marketing platform with several apps bundled together, and that extra complexity shows when you first log in. It offers powerful features, but it often feels heavier than you need if your only goal is to run a giveaway.

When I tried Gleam, I was surprised by how many different tools were packed into one dashboard. There were four separate apps to understand before I could even start my contest, which made the learning curve steeper than I expected.

Key Features

• Four separate apps for competitions, email capture, social galleries, and coupons
• Unlimited entries on all plans
• Random winner selection tools
• Social, custom, and file upload entry actions (varies by plan)
• Access to giveaway data, limited on the free plan
• Email marketing integrations on paid plans

Gleam is powerful, but it’s also cluttered. Many options only unlock on higher plans, so I often found myself looking at settings I couldn’t use. It works well if you need a multi-tool platform, but it felt like too much for simple giveaways.

Ease of Use Comparison

The bottom line is that RafflePress is the easiest tool to use, especially if your site runs on WordPress. Gleam has more power but a steeper learning curve, and Rafflecopter is now a legacy tool.

This section shows how each one feels to set up and use in real-world giveaways.

RafflePress Ease of Use

RafflePress is the easiest tool to use, primarily because it’s a native WordPress plugin. This means you can build, manage, and publish your giveaways directly inside your WordPress dashboard without needing to copy and paste embed codes from an external website.

The whole process is handled by a clean, drag-and-drop builder that makes setting up prizes and entry actions feel intuitive.

The setup is also fast thanks to pre-built templates designed for specific goals like growing your email list or social media following.

When you’re ready to publish, you can add the giveaway to any post or page using a dedicated WordPress block, a shortcode, or launch it on a distraction-free landing page.

This tight integration with WordPress removes the technical hurdles found in other platforms.

Rafflecopter Ease of Use (Legacy Tool)

Rafflecopter used to be one of the easiest tools for beginners because everything lived on their website. You created your actions, added a prize, and embedded the widget wherever you needed it.

The downside was the embed code. Without a WordPress plugin, you had to copy and paste it into your site each time. That felt fine when I was new, but it became limiting once I wanted more control or flexibility.

Because the platform shut down on October 1, 2025, it’s no longer a viable option for new giveaways.

Gleam Ease of Use

You can sign up for a free account to start running Gleam app giveaways. Then, you can visit the Gleam dashboard to start creating your contest.

The admin area is pretty cluttered, making finding the settings you need tricky. With so many different features displayed, it isn’t obvious if you’re new to using the app.

Typically, you can only access many options displayed in the Gleam giveaway dashboard by upgrading to one of their paid plans. So filtering what you can and can’t use is a challenge.

There are 4 ways to publish your Gleam giveaway online. This includes the following options:

1. Embed in a blog post or page
2. A landing page hosted on Gleam
3. Add a tab to your Facebook page
4. Add a tab to your website (paid plan only)

And again, there isn’t a WordPress plugin to make connecting to your site easier.

Related: 10 Free Gleam Alternatives for WordPress Contests

Support Comparison

Good support matters when you’re running a giveaway, especially if something breaks mid-campaign. RafflePress offers the fastest and most direct help, Gleam provides email and chat options on paid plans, and Rafflecopter now has only limited legacy support.

RafflePress Support

When using RafflePress, you can contact the support team via their online contact form, where you get to speak to a human being. They aim to get back to you within 24 hours, and they’re always happy to help, no matter how simple your question is.

RafflePress also has detailed documentation for all available features. And to go with it, their blog is dedicated to providing the most up-to-date information about running contests. Plus, there are a ton of tutorials for growing your business on WordPress, too.

RafflePress offers users a 100% money-back guarantee, so you can use the plugin with zero risks to yourself.

Rafflecopter Support (Legacy Tool)

Before the shutdown, Rafflecopter offered a knowledge base and ticket support. Now that the platform closed on October 1, 2025, the only remaining option is a single email address for past paying customers who need to export old data.

There are no updates, fixes, or new resources. It’s strictly a legacy tool at this point.

Gleam Support

On the other hand, Gleam offers email support to all customers on any plan, and users of their paid versions can also use chat support.

There’s also a Slack group for anyone on their pro plan or higher. Priority support is reserved for Business and Premium plan users.

Gleam has a range of resources for users to learn in their own time to go with their direct support.

Pricing Comparison

The bottom line is that RafflePress is now the most affordable active option, and Gleam sits at the higher end with more advanced plans. Rafflecopter no longer offers pricing because the platform shut down on October 1, 2025.

Feature	Rafflecopter (Legacy)	Gleam	RafflePress
Status	Discontinued (Oct 1, 2025)	Active	Active
Pricing	N/A	Free, $120/year, $240/year, $540/year	Free, $39.50/year, $79.50/year, $199.50/year
Number of giveaways	Legacy only	Unlimited	Unlimited
Number of entries per giveaway	Legacy only	Unlimited	Unlimited
Social media giveaway	Legacy only	Yes	Yes
Email verification	Legacy only	Yes	Yes
Custom branding	Legacy only	Yes	Yes
Advanced analytics	Legacy only	Yes	Yes
WordPress plugin	No	No	Yes
Overall value	N/A	Good	Excellent

RafflePress offers the lowest entry point for active giveaway tools and includes more features on its lower plans. Gleam is powerful but more expensive, and its best features sit behind higher tiers.

Rafflecopter no longer has active pricing, so if you used it before, you’ll need to move to RafflePress or Gleam for future contests.

The bottom line is that RafflePress is the best active giveaway tool, especially if you run a WordPress site. It’s simple, fast to learn, and focused entirely on running contests without the extra complexity you see in Gleam.

Rafflecopter is no longer an option since the platform shut down on October 1, 2025. If you used it before, RafflePress is the easiest switch because you get a clean builder, clear reporting, and a native WordPress plugin that handles everything on your site.

Gleam is still a solid tool if you want a full marketing platform with multiple apps, but it’s more expensive and takes longer to learn. Most small business owners and bloggers don’t need that extra overhead.

For most readers, RafflePress gives you the smoothest setup, the most useful features, and the best long-term value.

If you’re not convinced, here’s how RafflePress helped:

• WPForms grow their Facebook Group members by 11k
• Agile grow their client’s email list by 52%
• OptinMonster generate 3,500 new users

And once you’ve set up your first giveaway, check out these super-effective contest promotion ideas. Or you can see our comparisons of RafflePress vs KingSumo.

Frequently Asked Questions

What alternatives to Rafflecopter are there?

Besides the tools mentioned in this post, you can also try ViralSweep, Woorise, Woobox, Vyper, ShortStack, Easypromos, Wishpond, KingSumo, and Sweep Widget.

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