Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover giveaways & referrals. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| GrowSurf | ShortStack | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $125 | From $24 |
| Pricing model | Free trial, then paid | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Billing | Not stated | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | 14 days | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web | Web |
| Covers | Giveaways & Referrals, Affiliate & Referral | Giveaways & Referrals, Landing Pages & Funnels |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
Referral programs priced by participant
GrowSurf runs a refer-a-friend program for a product rather than a one-off giveaway: every participant gets a link, the rewards fire automatically, and the tax paperwork on the payouts is handled. It bills on how many people are in the program rather than on how many you refer, which is unusual and worth understanding before you launch.
Our note
The pricing model is the thing to think hardest about: paying per participant is generous if your referrals convert and punishing if they do not. Run the trial with real traffic before committing to a year.
Only on this side
Contests and giveaways with entry rules
ShortStack builds the contest itself, not only the widget: a landing page, the entry form, the rules that decide what counts as an entry, and the random draw at the end. Emails to entrants go out from the same place. Pricing is by page views rather than by entries, and overage is charged per thousand once a campaign catches on.
Only on this side
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.