Gleam vs PromoSimple Comparison 2026
Gleam runs giveaway mechanics, verified entry actions, duplicate filtering and a documented draw, Competitions alone at $29 a month with a free basic account to start, but generates no official legal rules for the competition. PromoSimple builds the entry form and generates the official rules that go under it, from $14 a month billed annually, though the cheapest plan does not connect to an email tool at all. Gleam runs the draw honestly. PromoSimple covers the legal side most creator giveaways skip, which its own guidance calls a problem nobody notices until it is one.
Giveaways with the rules enforced and the draw run
Giveaways with the legal wording generated
At a glance
- PromoSimple starts cheaper, at $14.
- Only Gleam has a free tier.
Side by side
Gleam | PromoSimple | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $29 | From $14 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | Paid subscription |
| Free tier (they differ) | Yes | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Not stated |
| Free trial | None | Not stated |
| API |
Gleam
Giveaways with the rules enforced and the draw run
Gleam runs the mechanics of a giveaway: the entry actions, one entry per person, and a draw you can show your working on afterwards. Competitions is sold on its own, and the lead capture, rewards and gallery apps are each priced again. A free account runs a basic campaign, which is the cheap way to learn whether a giveaway brings you followers who stay.
Our note
Buy the month you need and cancel it. A giveaway brings followers who came for the prize, which makes it worth running only when the prize is something nobody outside your audience would want.
Only on this side
- Covers social media management
- Works with YouTube
- Works with TikTok
- Works with Twitch
- Works with Kick
- Works with Discord
PromoSimple
Giveaways with the legal wording generated
PromoSimple builds giveaway entry forms and generates the official rules to go under them, which is the part most creators running a competition either skip or copy from somewhere unwise. Entries can be earned through actions on the major social platforms. Age and location restrictions are set on the form rather than policed afterwards. The cheapest plan does not connect to an email tool, so anybody whose point is list building should start one tier up.
Why people weigh these two
- PromoSimple instead of Gleam
- PromoSimple starts cheaper at $14 a month and generates the legal wording a giveaway needs, no free tier though, the pick when official rules text is the part that is missing.
- Gleam instead of PromoSimple
- Gleam enforces the entry rules itself and runs the draw, rather than generating rules text for a creator to police by hand, and it keeps a free tier.
Which one should you pick
Pick Gleam for the mechanics of a giveaway itself: verified entry actions, one entry per person, and a draw with a record behind it. Competitions is $29 a month with no annual discount offered, and a free account is enough to learn whether a giveaway brings followers who stay. It does not generate official contest rules; that legal step is PromoSimple's job, not Gleam's.
Pick PromoSimple when the official rules under the giveaway need to be right, not borrowed from a competitor's page. Basic is $14 a month billed annually for entries across four platforms and generated rules, but list building needs Businesses at $29, since the cheapest plan does not connect to an email tool at all. Multi-platform entry actions suit an audience spread across several accounts.
Common questions
- Is PromoSimple cheaper than Gleam?
- At the entry tier, yes: PromoSimple Basic is $14 a month billed annually against Gleam Competitions at $29. Gleam does have a free account PromoSimple lacks entirely, though the free tier only runs basic Competitions features.
- Does Gleam generate official contest rules the way PromoSimple does?
- That specific legal-rules generation is not among Gleam's features; it verifies entry actions and runs the draw instead. PromoSimple's core pitch is generating the official rules a giveaway needs, which its own guidance says most creators skip or copy from somewhere unwise.
- Can I connect an email tool to grow a list on both platforms?
- On PromoSimple, only from the $29 Businesses tier up; the cheapest Basic plan does not connect to an email tool at all. Gleam's Competitions app runs the giveaway mechanics; email capture is a separate app, Captures, at $49 a month.
- Which platforms can earn an entry on each?
- PromoSimple covers Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and X. Gleam covers a wider list including Discord, TikTok, Twitch, Kick and YouTube alongside the major platforms, which matters for a creator spread across newer platforms specifically.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.