Gleam
Gleam is a growth marketing platform that helps you run engaging competitions, rewards, and email captures to grow your audience and increase user interaction across your digital channels.
ShortStack
ShortStack is a comprehensive marketing platform that helps you build interactive contests, landing pages, and automated email campaigns to generate leads and increase social media engagement.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Gleam | ShortStack |
|---|---|---|
| Website | gleam.io | shortstack.com |
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Subscription |
| Starting Price | Free | $99/month |
| FREE Trial | ✘ No free trial | ✓ 0 days free trial |
| Free Plan | ✓ Has free plan | ✘ No free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 2013 | 2010 |
| Headquarters | Melbourne, Australia | Reno, USA |
Overview
Gleam
Gleam is a versatile growth marketing platform designed to help you build an engaged audience through interactive campaigns. Instead of static lead forms, you can create dynamic competitions, instant-win rewards, and social media galleries that encourage specific user actions like following your brand or sharing content.
You can manage four distinct apps—Competitions, Rewards, Galleries, and Captures—all from a single dashboard to drive traffic and sales. The platform works for businesses of all sizes, from solo creators to global brands, by providing verified social actions and seamless integrations with major platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Shopify.
ShortStack
ShortStack is an interactive marketing platform designed to help you capture leads and engage your audience through contests, giveaways, and landing pages. You can build everything from simple sweepstakes to complex photo contests and personality quizzes using a drag-and-drop builder that requires no coding skills. It centralizes your lead collection, allowing you to manage entries, pick winners, and send automated follow-up emails all from one dashboard.
The platform is built for brands and agencies of all sizes who need to boost their digital presence across social media and the web. You can embed your campaigns directly on your website or publish them as standalone landing pages. With built-in analytics and fraud detection, you can track your campaign performance in real-time while ensuring your contests remain fair and secure for all participants.
Overview
Gleam Features
- Verified Social Actions Ensure your growth is real by automatically verifying that users have actually followed, liked, or subscribed to your channels.
- Viral Share Loops Give your campaigns a boost by rewarding users with extra entries when they refer their friends to your competition.
- Smart Email Captures Display targeted popups and opt-in forms based on user behavior to grow your mailing list without being intrusive.
- Instant Rewards Drive immediate sales by giving users coupons, downloads, or access codes in exchange for completing specific marketing tasks.
- Responsive Widgets Embed beautiful, mobile-friendly campaign widgets directly on your website or host them on dedicated landing pages.
- Fraud Protection Keep your contests fair with built-in security features that detect and block suspicious activity or duplicate entries.
ShortStack Features
- Drag-and-Drop Builder. Create custom landing pages and contest forms visually by moving elements exactly where you want them without writing code.
- Contest Management. Run sweepstakes, photo contests, and video competitions with automated winner selection and entry management tools.
- Email Automation. Send instant autoresponders to participants and schedule follow-up drip campaigns to nurture your newly acquired leads.
- Gamification Tools. Engage your visitors with interactive features like scratch-and-win games, personality quizzes, and digital spin-to-win wheels.
- Social Media Integration. Collect entries directly from Instagram and X comments or run hashtag contests to boost your social reach.
- Coupon Code Generator. Distribute unique or generic discount codes to your fans to drive sales and reward campaign participation.
Pricing Comparison
Gleam Pricing
- Unlimited total entries
- Basic entry methods
- Random winner selection
- Mobile responsive widgets
- Standard reporting
- Everything in Free, plus:
- Additional entry types
- Up to 500 monthly captures
- Basic email integrations
- Remove Gleam branding on Captures
ShortStack Pricing
- Up to 10,000 entries
- Unlimited campaigns
- Social media comment imports
- Random winner selection
- Email marketing tools
- Fraud protection
- Everything in Business, plus:
- Up to 50,000 entries
- Video upload contests
- Coupon code distribution
- White-label campaigns
- Priority support
Pros & Cons
Gleam
Pros
- Extremely easy to set up and launch campaigns
- Wide variety of social media entry methods
- Verified actions prevent fake contest entries
- Reliable free version for basic giveaways
Cons
- Full suite pricing is relatively expensive
- Interface feels slightly dated to some users
- Steep learning curve for complex logic
ShortStack
Pros
- Highly flexible design customization for branded campaigns
- Excellent customer support team with fast response times
- Robust fraud detection prevents duplicate contest entries
- Easy integration with major email marketing platforms
Cons
- Steeper learning curve for advanced CSS styling
- Entry limits can feel restrictive on lower tiers
- Pricing is higher than basic form builders