Software: Gleam

Category: Contest, Giveaway & Marketing Campaign Platform

Primary Use: Running sweepstakes, competitions, and referral campaigns

Developer: Crowd9 Pty Ltd (Gleam.io)

Starting Price: Free plan available; paid plans from approximately $10/month (pricing varies by app and features)

Free Trial/Plan: Free plan available (limited features)

Platform: Web-based (cloud)

Official Website: gleam.io

Gleam is a cloud-based marketing platform designed to help businesses run online competitions, giveaways, rewards programs, and referral campaigns. The software enables users to create interactive promotions that encourage social engagement, email signups, and audience growth.

What Is Gleam?

Gleam is a SaaS platform launched in 2013 that focuses on contest-based marketing and audience engagement. The system allows businesses to create promotional campaigns where users can enter giveaways, earn bonus entries through social actions, and refer friends.

Gleam is structured around modular apps that handle different campaign types, including competitions, rewards, galleries, and email capture. Businesses can embed campaigns on their websites or host them on Gleam’s infrastructure.

The platform is widely used for list building, product launches, and brand engagement initiatives.

Who Uses Gleam?

Common User Groups

Gleam is used by:

  • Ecommerce brands
  • Bloggers and content creators
  • SaaS companies
  • Marketing agencies
  • Influencers
  • Small businesses

The platform supports both small-scale campaigns and larger promotional initiatives.

Typical Use Cases

Online giveaways

Brands run sweepstakes to increase visibility and subscriber counts.

Social media engagement

Users encourage actions such as following, sharing, or liking content.

Referral campaigns

Participants earn bonus entries by inviting others.

Product launch promotions

Businesses generate awareness for new releases.

Lead capture campaigns

Companies collect email addresses in exchange for entries.

Core Features

Competitions App

What it does:

The Competitions app enables users to run giveaways and sweepstakes.

How users typically use it:

Users configure entry methods and define the prize structure.

Key capabilities:

  • Hosted competition pages
  • Embeddable widgets
  • Entry action configuration
  • Referral entry bonuses
  • Fraud detection tools

The Competitions app is Gleam’s primary feature set.

Rewards App

What it does:

The Rewards app allows businesses to offer incentives for completing actions.

How users typically use it:

Users create campaigns where participants unlock rewards after completing tasks.

Key capabilities:

  • Action-based rewards
  • Unlockable coupon codes
  • Social engagement tracking
  • Email capture integration
  • Reward milestone configuration

Rewards campaigns are structured differently from sweepstakes.

Referral Tracking

What it does:

Gleam assigns unique referral links to participants.

How users typically use it:

Participants share referral links to earn additional entries.

Key capabilities:

  • Unique referral link generation
  • Referral entry bonuses
  • Automated referral tracking
  • Leaderboard options
  • Referral analytics

Referral tracking supports viral campaign growth.

Entry Actions & Social Integrations

What it does:

Gleam supports multiple action types for contest entry.

How users typically use it:

Users require participants to perform actions such as following social accounts.

Key capabilities:

  • Email signup entry
  • Instagram follow entry
  • Twitter follow entry
  • YouTube subscription entry
  • Website visit tracking

These entry options help drive engagement across channels.

Analytics & Reporting

What it does:

The platform provides performance dashboards.

How users typically use it:

Marketers track total entries, conversions, and referral performance.

Key capabilities:

  • Entry tracking
  • Referral analytics
  • Conversion reporting
  • Participant export tools
  • Campaign performance metrics

Analytics support campaign evaluation.

Email & CRM Integrations

What it does:

Gleam integrates with email marketing and CRM platforms.

How users typically use it:

Captured leads are synced automatically for follow-up campaigns.

Key capabilities:

  • Mailchimp integration
  • ActiveCampaign integration
  • ConvertKit integration
  • HubSpot integration
  • Zapier connectivity

Integration availability depends on subscription tier.

Integrations and Compatibility

Social Media Integrations

Gleam supports:

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter (X)
  • YouTube
  • Twitch

These integrations enable action-based entries.

Email & CRM Integrations

The platform connects with:

  • Mailchimp
  • AWeber
  • ActiveCampaign
  • HubSpot
  • GetResponse
  • Zapier

Platform Availability

  • Web-based SaaS platform
  • Embeddable widgets
  • Hosted campaign pages
  • No desktop installation required

Pricing Structure

(Pricing may change — verify on the official site.)

Gleam uses modular pricing based on selected apps.

Free Plan — $0

Includes:

  • Basic competition functionality
  • Limited entry actions
  • Gleam branding
  • Basic analytics

Competitions Plan — from approximately $10/month

Includes:

  • Unlimited competitions
  • Expanded entry options
  • Email integrations
  • Referral tracking
  • Branding removal

Rewards Plan — from approximately $29/month

Includes:

  • Action-based reward campaigns
  • Unlockable incentives
  • Expanded integrations
  • Advanced tracking

Business Plan — from approximately $59/month

Includes:

  • Access to all apps
  • Advanced integrations
  • Priority support
  • Enhanced customization

Billing Options

  • Monthly subscriptions
  • Annual billing discounts available
  • Pricing varies by selected modules

Advantages and Limitations

Notable Advantages

  • Modular pricing structure
  • Wide range of entry actions
  • Social media integrations
  • Referral-based growth tools
  • Free plan available

Potential Limitations

  • Advanced integrations require paid plans
  • Custom design flexibility may be limited
  • Complex campaigns may require configuration time
  • Traffic or entry limits may apply depending on plan

Alternatives to Gleam

Several platforms provide similar contest and referral marketing functionality.

KingSumo

Focused on giveaway campaigns.

UpViral

Designed for viral referral growth.

KickoffLabs

Supports pre-launch referral campaigns.

Rafflecopter

Provides basic giveaway management tools.

These platforms support similar contest-driven audience growth strategies.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Gleam do?

Gleam is a marketing platform used to run online competitions, giveaways, and referral campaigns.

Is Gleam cloud-based?

Yes. Gleam operates as a web-based SaaS platform.

Does Gleam offer a free plan?

Yes. A limited free plan is available.

Can Gleam integrate with email marketing tools?

Yes. It integrates with platforms such as Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign.

Who typically uses Gleam?

Ecommerce brands, bloggers, marketers, and agencies commonly use the platform.

Key Takeaways

Gleam is a cloud-based contest and marketing campaign platform that enables businesses to run sweepstakes, reward programs, and referral campaigns. The software offers modular pricing, social entry actions, referral tracking, and email integrations. A free plan is available, with paid plans expanding campaign functionality and customization options.