Honest comparison · 2026
KickoffLabs vs Gleam
Choose Gleam when your contest lives or dies on a wide menu of social entry actions. Choose KickoffLabs when referrals, waitlists, flexible rewards, lead quality, and campaign strategy matter more than collecting one more follow.
Quick answer
How is KickoffLabs different from Gleam?
Gleam is very good contest software. Its strength is the breadth of actions, integrations, languages, and installation options around its Competitions app. KickoffLabs is built for teams that want the referral loop to shape the whole campaign, not sit beside a list of social tasks.
Side by side
KickoffLabs vs Gleam feature comparison
Both products can run a credible giveaway. The real difference is what each product treats as the center of the campaign. Don't pick by logo: write down your must-have actions, expected monthly leads, branding needs, integrations, and support needs, then price that exact setup.
Feature
KickoffLabs
Gleam
Decision points
Best fit
Referral-led giveaways, viral waitlists, leaderboards, reward levels, ecommerce rewards, and mixed campaign mechanics.
Social-action-heavy contests, creator campaigns, media submissions, and embedded competition widgets.
Referral motion
Unique referral links, who-referred-whom reporting, flexible points, waitlist movement, leaderboards, and milestone rewards.
Viral Share action on Pro and above, plus referrer reporting and share channels that vary by tier.
Social actions
Over 70 built-in actions across major social, messaging, media, and commerce channels, plus custom actions.
A notably deep action catalog spanning social networks, streaming, gaming, media uploads, secret codes, and more.
Campaign structure
Mix giveaways, waitlists, leaderboards, reward levels, purchase actions, embeds, popups, and custom forms in one platform.
Competitions is one Gleam app; Rewards, Captures, and Galleries are separate apps or package options.
Fraud controls
Advanced fraud prevention, disposable-email and bot detection, duplicate-IP controls, CAPTCHA, and lead review.
Fraud detection and Smart CAPTCHA are listed across Competition plans, including Free.
Entry price
Hobby is $13/month billed annually or $19 month to month for 500 new leads per month and unlimited campaigns.
Limited Free plan. Hobby is $10/month billed annually or $29 month to month; Pro is $39 annual or $59 monthly.
Branding
Premium includes branding-free landing pages. Business and Enterprise have no KickoffLabs branding.
“Powered by Gleam” removal is listed on Business and Premium Competition plans.
Support
Email help, custom-domain setup assistance, campaign feedback, and higher-tier onboarding and design support.
24/7 email support is listed, with priority support on higher tiers. Gleam says it is self-service and does not offer demos.
Where Gleam is the better choice
Social and creator actionsGleam lists actions for Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, Spotify, Steam, YouTube, and more, with availability depending on plan.
Not compared
Included
International campaignsIts Pro tier and above advertise 25+ translated widget languages.
Not compared
Included
Media-led contestsPhoto selection, uploads, and Galleries can fit campaigns where submissions are the product.
Not compared
Included
Low-cost experimentsFree and Hobby make sense when limited data access or branding controls are acceptable.
Not compared
Included
Where KickoffLabs is the better choice
Every signup becomes a source of more signups
KickoffLabs is strongest when the goal is not merely engagement. You want every signup to become a measurable source of more signups, and you want the campaign to keep working across the waitlist, giveaway, rewards, and follow-up experience.
Mix the mechanics
Pick KickoffLabs if you want a referral giveaway, prelaunch waitlist, leaderboard, reward ladder, or purchase-driven campaign that can mix mechanics.
Explore giveaway software
Referral-first mechanics
Track who referred whom, award points, move people up a referral waitlist, unlock rewards, or weight a drawing by score.
See referral tracking
Flexible publishing
Use hosted pages, embeds, popups, AnyForm, or the API. You don't have to rebuild your site around a fixed widget.
About AnyForm
Lead-quality controls
Fraud prevention and referral reporting help you separate useful growth from fake entries and empty clicks.
See fraud prevention
“Working with KickoffLabs was phenomenal. It was so simple that it makes me want to do more contests and you don't always get that with a SaaS product, but it really was simple to do it with KickoffLabs.”
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Is KickoffLabs better than Gleam?
It depends on the campaign. KickoffLabs is usually the better fit for referral-driven giveaways, viral waitlists, reward levels, and flexible campaign combinations. Gleam is often the better fit when a broad library of social entry actions or a lower-cost basic competition plan matters most.
Which is cheaper, KickoffLabs or Gleam?
Gleam has the lower headline entry point and a limited free plan. As checked September 3, 2026, KickoffLabs starts at $13 per month billed annually, while Gleam Competitions starts at $10 per month billed annually. The honest comparison is the price of the tier that includes the data access, branding, actions, integrations, and support you need, not just the first number on each pricing page.
Do KickoffLabs and Gleam both support referrals?
Yes. Both can give entrants a way to refer friends. KickoffLabs is designed around referral attribution, reward levels, waitlist position, leaderboards, and flexible scoring. Gleam includes a viral share action and referrer reporting on eligible Competition plans.
Does Gleam have a free plan?
Yes. Gleam offers a limited free Competitions plan with basic entry types, winner data, random winner draws, an embeddable widget, and fraud detection. Entry and user data access is restricted on that plan.
Build the campaign your growth goal needs
Start with a giveaway, waitlist, leaderboard, or rewards program. Mix the mechanics. Track the referrals. Keep the leads.