Rafflecopter Shut Down: Should You Switch to RafflePress or Gleam?

If you used Rafflecopter for years, you already know: it’s gone. Rafflecopter officially shut down on October 1, 2025, and the data export window closed the day before. That leaves two real options for anyone looking for a rafflecopter replacement: RafflePress and Gleam.

I should be upfront: RafflePress is the product I work on. But I’ve run real campaigns with both tools, and I’m giving you the honest comparison of your two actual options.

In this comparison, I’ll walk you through how RafflePress and Gleam stack up on features, ease of use, pricing, and support, so you can pick the right tool and move on.

Rafflecopter vs RafflePress vs Gleam: The Winner

For most users, RafflePress is the best active giveaway tool, especially for WordPress sites. It offers the best combination of ease of use, native integration, and overall value. Gleam is a capable but more complex choice for those needing a full marketing suite.

How I Tested These Tools

I’ve used all three tools over the years, so my comparison comes from real contests I’ve run for my own sites. Even though Rafflecopter has shut down, I’m including my past experience with it because many readers want to know how it stacked up and what they’re losing as they move away from it.

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. When I first logged into Gleam to set up a competition, I spent a solid ten minutes just figuring out which of the four apps I actually needed — that experience stuck with me.

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

How Do RafflePress and Gleam Compare on Features?

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.

Here’s a quick side-by-side before we go deeper.

Feature	RafflePress	Gleam	Rafflecopter
Type	WordPress plugin	SaaS (4 apps)	Discontinued
Best For	WordPress site owners	Multi-channel brand campaigns	N/A
Entry Actions	30+	Varies by app and plan	Legacy only
Free Plan	Yes (Lite — basic widget only)	Yes (Competitions app — limited)	No
Pricing	$299 one-time (single site)	From $29/month per app	Discontinued
WordPress Plugin	Yes	No	No
Proven Results	WPForms +11k members, OptinMonster +3,500 users	N/A	N/A

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 giveaway 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.

RafflePress includes 30+ entry actions covering email subscriptions, social follows on Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, plus video views, referrals, polls, and custom actions. That’s a broader stack than most sweepstakes software at this price point.

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
• 30+ entry actions including Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn
• Refer-a-friend options that help your giveaway spread
• Dedicated giveaway landing pages for distraction-free entries
• Built-in WordPress plugin publishing with blocks, shortcodes, or a landing page
• Email marketing, automation, and retargeting integrations
• Random winner selection and clear entry reports

The free Lite version gives you the basic widget, but most entry actions and integrations require a paid plan. It’s a test-drive, not a production tool.

RafflePress keeps everything inside WordPress, which makes it feel simpler than the other tools. Campaigns using it have helped WPForms grow their Facebook Group by 11k members, Agile grow a client’s email list by 52%, and OptinMonster generate 3,500 new users.

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 moving away from.

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 four separate apps: Competitions (giveaways), Rewards, Capture (lead forms), and Galleries. That’s important to understand before you look at the pricing, because you’re not just paying for a giveaway tool; you’re paying for one app in a four-app suite.

When I tried Gleam, I was surprised by how many different tools were packed into one dashboard. I had to understand what each of the four apps did 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 rewards
• 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

The free Competitions tier lets you run basic giveaways, but most entry actions and post-entry options require a paid plan. Many settings only unlock on higher tiers, so you’ll often see options you can’t access.

Gleam is powerful, but it’s also cluttered. It works well if you need a multi-channel platform beyond giveaways, but it’s a lot to manage for simple contests.

Ease of Use Comparison

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.

RafflePress Ease of Use

RafflePress is the easiest tool to use, primarily because it’s a native WordPress plugin. 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.

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 competitions. Then 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 across four separate apps, it isn’t obvious where to start if you’re new.

Many options displayed in the Gleam dashboard are only accessible on paid plans. Filtering what you can and can’t use is a challenge throughout.

There are 4 ways to publish your Gleam giveaway online:

• Embed in a blog post or page
• A landing page hosted on Gleam
• Add a tab to your Facebook page
• Add a tab to your website (paid plan only)

There isn’t a WordPress plugin for Gleam, which means you’ll always be working across two platforms. If you’re a WordPress user looking for a gleam alternative that stays inside your dashboard, that gap matters.

Related: 10 Free Gleam Alternatives for WordPress Contests

Which Is Cheaper: RafflePress or Gleam?

RafflePress is now the most affordable active option. Gleam sits at the higher end with per-app pricing that adds up quickly. 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; from $29/month per app	Free Lite; $299 one-time; $349 one-time (unlimited)
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 at its lower price points. Gleam is powerful but more expensive, and if you want all four apps, the full package runs $119/month.

On support: RafflePress offers 24-hour response via contact form with full documentation and a money-back guarantee. Gleam adds live chat support on paid plans, with priority support reserved for higher tiers.

What Should Former Rafflecopter Users Do?

If you used Rafflecopter, the data export window has already closed. Your old campaigns aren’t recoverable. What you need now is a replacement that gets you running again without a steep learning curve.

The switching workflow for RafflePress is straightforward. You install the plugin from your WordPress dashboard, choose a template that matches your goal (email list growth, social follows, traffic), and you’re building your first contest in minutes. There’s no embed code to manage, no separate login.

A few things to do before you launch:

• Check the giveaway rules for your jurisdiction (these apply regardless of which tool you use)
• Connect your email marketing provider during setup so new subscribers flow in automatically
• Use contest promotion ideas to get entries coming in from day one
• Set up your landing page URL in advance if you plan to run the giveaway on Facebook as well

The transition is simpler than it sounds. Rafflecopter’s embed-code workflow was actually more manual than what RafflePress asks of you. Once you’re inside WordPress, the whole thing is in one place.

Which Tool Should You Choose?

The answer comes down to where you run your website and how you plan to use the tool.

Choose RafflePress if: you run a WordPress site, you want everything managed inside your dashboard, and you’d rather pay once than deal with a monthly subscription. The one-time pricing also makes it the clearer long-term value for anyone running seasonal or recurring giveaways.

Choose Gleam if: you’re running multi-channel brand campaigns that go beyond your website, you need the Rewards or Galleries apps alongside competitions, and your budget can absorb a monthly subscription. Gleam is a capable platform, but you’ll spend more time managing four separate apps and paying a monthly fee long after the campaign ends.

That overhead is real. If you’re a WordPress site owner running occasional giveaways, you don’t need a four-app marketing suite. You need a builder that works inside the dashboard you already use.

Should You Switch to RafflePress or Gleam After Rafflecopter?

RafflePress is the better switch for most former Rafflecopter users. If you ran giveaways on a WordPress site before, RafflePress gives you everything Rafflecopter had — plus a WordPress plugin, 30+ entry actions, and built-in landing pages, for a one-time payment.

Gleam is a solid tool if you want a full marketing platform with multiple apps. But it’s more expensive and takes longer to learn. For small business owners and bloggers who used Rafflecopter as a simple sweepstakes software, that extra complexity isn’t worth the cost.

If you need proof the mechanics work, here’s how RafflePress performed for real campaigns:

• WPForms grew their Facebook Group by 11k members
• Agile grew a client’s email list by 52%
• OptinMonster generated 3,500 new users from one giveaway

Get Started with RafflePress

Once you’ve set up your first giveaway, check out these super-effective contest promotion ideas. Or see our full comparison of RafflePress vs KingSumo.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened to Rafflecopter and what should I use instead?

Rafflecopter officially shut down on October 1, 2025, after 15 years. The data export window closed on September 30, 2025. If you were a Rafflecopter user, your two main options now are RafflePress and Gleam.

For WordPress sites, RafflePress is the closest direct replacement: it has a built-in WordPress plugin, a drag-and-drop builder, and a similar entry-action setup, without the embed-code workflow Rafflecopter required.

Is RafflePress cheaper than Gleam?

Yes. RafflePress uses a one-time payment model: $299 for a single site or $349 for unlimited sites. Gleam charges a monthly subscription starting at $29/month for the Competitions app alone. If you run giveaways for more than a year, RafflePress costs less in total.

Gleam’s full bundle (all four apps) runs $119/month, which adds up to over $1,400 per year compared to RafflePress’s one-time fee.

Does Gleam work with WordPress?

Gleam doesn’t have a dedicated WordPress plugin. You can embed a Gleam widget into a WordPress page using their embed code, or link to a landing page hosted on Gleam. But there’s no native integration the way RafflePress offers.

If you want to manage everything from inside WordPress without copying and pasting embed codes, RafflePress is the better fit.

Can I use RafflePress for free?

Yes. RafflePress Lite is available as a free plugin on WordPress.org. It gives you a basic giveaway widget to test the setup. However, most entry actions (social follows, email integrations, referrals), viral templates, and the landing page builder are only available on paid plans.

The free tier is best treated as a test drive, not a production giveaway tool.

Which giveaway tool is better for growing an email list?

RafflePress is the stronger pick for email list growth. It integrates directly with major email providers (Mailchimp, ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, and others), so new subscribers flow into your list automatically when they enter.

The refer-a-friend mechanic also helps: entrants earn extra entries for referring others, which means your list can compound during a single campaign. That’s how Agile grew a client’s email list by 52% using RafflePress.

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