Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover giveaways & referrals and affiliate & referral. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| GrowSurf | ViralSweep | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $125 | From $49 |
| Pricing model | Free trial, then paid | Free trial, then paid |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | Not stated | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | 14 days | 7 days |
| 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, Affiliate & Referral |
| 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 | 1 |
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.
Sweepstakes and contests that stay compliant
ViralSweep runs the giveaway and, more to the point, runs the legal side of it: official rules, entry records, winner selection and the bonding a US sweepstakes needs above a prize threshold. Gleam is cheaper and lighter. This is the one to use when the prize is big enough that getting it wrong matters.
Our note
Gleam does the mechanics for less. The reason to pay four times as much here is the rules, the records and the bonding, which only matter above a prize value most creators never reach.
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.