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KingSumo vs Gleam (2026): price, features and who should pick which
Pick KingSumo if you run a giveaway every month or two to grow an email list. Referral entries and every entrant's email are free, and Pro is $49 once. Pick Gleam if giveaways are a weekly channel for your brand and you need TikTok or Twitch actions, SMS verification or instant rewards. Its Competitions Pro plan is $39 a month billed yearly.
I make KingSumo, so I'm biased. I've tried to be fair about where the other tool wins. Gleam is the more powerful product. The question is whether you need that power, or a page that turns a prize into email subscribers.
A real example: a coffee roaster's quarterly giveaway
Say you roast coffee and give away a year of beans four times a year to grow your list. You want referral entries, an Instagram follow and a YouTube video. On Gleam, the viral share action needs Pro. Turn it on for just the four giveaway months at $59 a month and you pay $236 a year. Keep it on yearly billing and it is $468. Your page still says "Powered by Gleam" unless you move to Business.
On KingSumo that same giveaway is free. Referral entries, follows, the video, a daily entry and reminder emails to every entrant are on the free plan. If you want your logo on the page and entrants sent straight into Mailchimp, Kit or Klaviyo, Pro is $49 once, and you pay it once, not every quarter.
Where Gleam is better
- Breadth. Gleam has far more entry actions, including TikTok and Twitch, plus an Instagram comment picker on Pro and up. KingSumo has 16 bonus entry types.
- Trust in the entries. Gleam offers SMS verification on Business. KingSumo credits a follow when the fan clicks through and doesn't check it happened.
- More than giveaways. The Rewards app unlocks coupons and downloads instantly, and Captures does popups. Each is a separate subscription, listed from $49.
- Teams. Business includes 3 seats on monthly billing and 6 on yearly. KingSumo is one login per account.
Where KingSumo is better
- Price. $0 for unlimited giveaways with referral entries, or $49 once for Pro. No renewal.
- Your list on day one. The free plan shows every entrant's name, email, entries and referrals, and exports them to CSV. On Gleam, full entry data starts on Hobby, $10 a month billed yearly.
- Emails that bring people back. Every entrant gets a confirmation, a halfway reminder and a last-day reminder that list the bonus entries they haven't done yet. That is a second and third push you never have to write.
- The API on the cheap plan. KingSumo's API is on Pro ($49 once). Gleam's API and webhooks are on Premium, $299 a month billed yearly.
Feature by feature
| Feature |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Unlimited giveaways and entrants | None listed. Hobby is $10/mo, yearly only |
| Referral (viral share) entries | Free plan | Pro, $39/mo yearly |
| Full entrant list | Free plan, with CSV export | Hobby and up, from $10/mo yearly |
| Bonus entry types | 16: referral, 6 share buttons, Facebook, Instagram and X follows, YouTube, podcast, link, daily, phone number (Pro) | Many more, including TikTok and Twitch |
| TikTok and Twitch actions | No | Yes |
| Instagram comment picker | No | Pro and up |
| Reminder emails to entrants | Yes, every plan | Not listed on the pricing page |
| Email integrations | Zapier and SendFox on Free. Mailchimp, Kit and Klaviyo on Pro | Pro, with more on Business and Premium |
| Your branding | Pro ($49 once), small "Powered by" line stays | Business, $119/mo yearly |
| Meta Pixel and conversion tracking | Pro | Custom Tracking API on Business |
| Winners per giveaway | Up to 100 | Hobby 25, Pro 50 (100 yearly), Business 250 (500 yearly) |
| API | Pro | Premium |
| Giveaway languages | 24, on the free plan | Not compared |
What you pay over 3 years
| What you want | KingSumo | Gleam |
|---|---|---|
| Referral entries | $0 (Free) | $1,404 (Pro, yearly) or $2,124 (Pro, monthly) |
| Referral entries and your own branding | $49 (Pro, once) | $4,284 (Business, yearly) |
| A basic giveaway, no referrals | $0 | $360 (Hobby, yearly) |
Gleam Competitions list prices from gleam.io/pricing, checked November 3, 2026. KingSumo Pro is the one-time Pro License on AppSumo.
Good and not so good, on both sides
01
Best value
Best for: growing an email list with one-off giveaways on a small budget
- Price
- Free plan with unlimited giveaways, Zapier and SendFox. Pro is $49 once (list $228) for your own logo, Mailchimp, Kit (ConvertKit) and Klaviyo, and the API.
KingSumo does one job: a giveaway page where every entry is an email address and every entrant gets a referral link worth 3 more entries per friend by default. Referrals, social shares, follows, daily entries, reminder emails and 24 page languages are all on the free plan, with no cap on giveaways or entrants. Pick it if you run a giveaway a quarter to grow a list and don't want a monthly bill for it.
- Referral entries, shares and every entrant's data on the free plan
- Pro is $49 once, not a subscription
- Built-in reminder emails to entrants halfway through and with a day left
- 16 bonus entry types. No TikTok, Twitch or comment picking
- Follows are credited when the fan clicks through. We don't verify the follow happened
- Free giveaways carry our branding and one sponsored bonus entry. Pro shrinks that to a small "Powered by KingSumo" line, with no full white label
02
Best for: brands that want the longest list of entry actions, SMS verification and a rewards app
- Price
- Competitions Pro $39/mo billed yearly ($59 monthly). Hobby is $10/mo, yearly only. No free plan listed on the pricing page.
Gleam is the most complete giveaway tool on this list. Entry actions for TikTok, Instagram, Twitch and YouTube, an Instagram comment picker from Pro, and separate apps for rewards and popups. It's also priced like a toolkit: the viral share action needs Pro at $39 a month billed yearly, and removing "Powered by Gleam" needs Business at $119. Pick it if giveaways are a weekly channel for a brand with a budget.
- Far more entry actions than anyone else here, including TikTok and Twitch
- Rewards app for instant coupon and download unlocks
- Instagram comment picker on Pro and up
- Full entry data starts on Hobby ($10/mo, yearly only)
- Viral share action needs Pro ($39/mo yearly)
- Removing Gleam branding needs Business ($119/mo yearly)
How we checked
Every competitor price comes from that company's own pricing page, read on November 3, 2026, at the billing period shown next to it. Where a vendor shows monthly and yearly prices, we say which one we used. Anything we couldn't confirm on the vendor's site carries no number. The comparison is for a small business or creator choosing between KingSumo and Gleam for list-building giveaways. Nobody paid to be on this page. KingSumo's prices are the ones we sell: the Free plan, and Pro at $49 once on AppSumo. KingSumo features are checked against the product itself, not our marketing.
Switching from Gleam
Let your running Gleam campaign finish first, so nobody loses the entries they earned. Then create the next giveaway in KingSumo: prize, dates, number of winners and bonus entries. It takes about ten minutes. Connect your email tool, swap the link in your bio and newsletter, and you're live.
Questions people ask
Is KingSumo cheaper than Gleam?
Yes. KingSumo's free plan includes referral entries, and Pro is $49 once. Gleam's viral share action needs Competitions Pro at $39 a month billed yearly ($468 a year) or $59 month to month.
Does Gleam have a free plan?
Gleam's pricing page has a "Get Started Free" button but lists no free plan, so we can't say what a free account includes. The cheapest listed plan is Hobby at $10 a month, billed yearly, and it is the first one that lists full entry data. KingSumo's free plan shows every entrant and lets you export them.
What does Gleam do that KingSumo does not?
Gleam has many more entry actions, including TikTok and Twitch, an Instagram comment picker from Pro, SMS verification on Business, team seats, and separate Rewards and Captures apps. KingSumo has none of those.
Can I remove the branding?
On Gleam, removing "Powered by Gleam" needs Business at $119 a month billed yearly. KingSumo Pro ($49 once) replaces our badge and banner with your logo, but keeps one small "Powered by KingSumo" line.
Which is better for a small business?
For a giveaway every month or two to grow an email list, KingSumo: it costs $0 or $49 once. If giveaways are a weekly channel and you need TikTok actions or SMS verification, Gleam is worth its price.
Looking at more options? See the 5 best Gleam alternatives or Gleam pricing, explained.
Run your next giveaway on KingSumo
Unlimited giveaways, referral entries and every entrant's email on the free plan. Pro is $49 once if you want your branding, Mailchimp, Kit or Klaviyo.
Start a free giveawayGleam, SweepWidget, ShortStack, RafflePress, ViralSweep and Woobox are trademarks of their owners. Logos are shown to identify each product and do not imply endorsement. KingSumo is not affiliated with any of them.