20 Best Online Giveaway Tools & Viral Social Media Contest Apps

This is a complete list of the best tools to run giveaways, contests, and sweepstakes that go viral in 2024.

If you asked me to list the top three ways to drive traffic, leads, and prospects to your business on scale, nothing beats word-of-mouth.

Big brands like PayPal, Google, Hotmail, DropBox, etc., have utilized word-of-mouth marketing strategies at one or several stages of their journies.

Some are referral programs, loyalty programs, contests (online and offline), sweepstakes, giveaways, and ambassador programs where participants will get prizes for referrals.

Online giveaways are one of the perfect word-of-mouth strategies that any business or marketer can use to generate free traffic and free leads quickly.

Why?

Because:

1. It’s not complicated – There are many established sweepstakes software with lots of templates for your exact objectives
2. Configuration is quite easy – No coding skills or specific marketing skills are required. Today’s technologies make it so much easier for a beginner with a small budget to start an online giveaway with little technical or marketing knowledge.
3. Less expensive – The giveaway offer could be coupon codes for highly-perceived items to access digital content (with high perceived value) or a physical product

Viral marketing gives a lot of benefits to holders and participants. But only if you use high-quality giveaway tools can you achieve it faster and more efficiently.

That is why in this ultimate list of best giveaway apps for contests, competitions, and referral programs, you will find key features, pros & cons, and verdicts so you can decide which contest tool to use.

Here are the top picks for the best giveaway tools in 2024.

You will find the 20 best online giveaway tools to hold viral contests and sweepstakes competitions on this page. If you use or know of any other contest app, please let us know in the comments.

Best Online Giveaway Tools for Viral Marketing

Here is the list of best giveaway software online, including key features, prices, and pros and cons.

UpViral – Best viral marketing software with unique features

UpViral is a giveaway platform with many features to help you outgrow your business with viral giveaways, rewards programs, and waiting lists. Learn more in this UpViral review.

Key Features

Unlimited giveaway campaigns and visitors and winners
Hold sweepstake (i.e., grand prize competition) and rewards program (i.e., referral program) at the same time
Drag-and-drop visual (WYSIWYG – What You See Is What You Get) landing page builder
A/B test lead page, share page, and email notification messages
Custom fields in giveaway sign-up forms
Custom domain for campaign pages and for referral tracking (includes free SSL certificate)
Location restricted campaigns
Fraud detection tools
Multiple email identities & use custom SMTP like PostMark, Sendgrid, and Amazon AWS.
Host giveaway campaigns on UpViral servers and your website with UpViral widgets at the same time
Custom actions builder
Advanced analytics
One-Click SignUp links
HTML form of giveaway to integrate the campaign with your existing tools like ClickFunnels, Elementor, ConvertBox, and Squarespace
Post giveaway actions (i.e., redirect post-giveaway traffic to the custom web address)

Pros

Not restricted by the number of campaigns or visitors
Facebook Opt-in
Split testing to optimize your giveaway funnel for maximizing results
Countdown timer to increase urgency
Insert custom JavaScript codes in both lead and share pages. Perfect for installing tracking pixels, Google Analytics codes, visit tracking widgets, and social proof gadgets.
Blacklist by IP, email, and domain, and whitelist features
Transfer lead details with custom fields and private referral links to your email autoresponder or CRM software instantly
Two winner selection methods: Most points and Random weighted draw (i.e., Hold most points and random winner giveaways)
Delegate different points for signups, referrals, and social shares via buttons
Custom actions
WebHooks notify your CRM whenever someone unlocks a reward and Rest API access to build your own dashboard and add new participants

Cons

UpViral uses a points entry system, not a referral entry system
Limited social media sharing button options
No conversion tracking features
No repeat actions system
No team members
Landing page personalization limits
Cannot import participants

Pricing

A free trial is available for all plans, and it is valid for two weeks. UpViral has three pricing plans:

1. Starter – $79/mo – 10K leads
2. Business – $119/mo – 25K leads, 3 Brand identities, Geo-location restriction, A/B split testing, API + Zapier
3. Premium – $299/mo – 100K leads, 10 Brand identities

Apart from these UpViral prices, you can avail of a discounted offer (UpViral Starter Yearly) for $350. Learn more.

SweepWidget – Online sweepstakes platform with unlimited participants

SweepWidget is a viral giveaway app for content creators with many integrations with social media platforms and multi-language support. One of the key features is you can create unlimited giveaways, and there is no limit on the number of participants!

Key features

Unlimited giveaways and unlimited participants
Drag and drop builder
Create custom form fields
90+ ways for users to enter
Track and manage entries
Daily entries and mandatory actions
Age verification
Anti-cheating tools
Export entries to CSV
Upload entries into your contest w/ CSV
Restrict users by country
Real-time analytics
Giveaway booster emails and customization
Integrations with popular social media platforms, email marketing tools, Google Analytics, Twillo, and Zapier and provides API access

Pros

Run campaigns on free hosted landing pages or embed the SweepWidget giveaway widget on any site you’ve access to
WordPress plugin and Shopify app
Limit amount of friends users can refer
API Verified actions
Masked referral links
Rules generator
Require sequential entry method completion
Secret codes
Create polls/surveys and upload a file giveaways
NFT giveaways and Airdrop contests
Email verification code
Only allow certain emails to enter
Limit the number of attempts a user is allowed to do
Accept payments with Stripe or PayPal
Send transactional emails from your domain (i.e., custom SMTP)
Pre-populate login fields from users on your website

Cons

No post-giveaway actions
No WebHooks

Pricing

SweepWidget has a basic free plan with very limited features. Its paid plans start at $29/mo, and certain features and tools are available depending on the subscription plan.

• Free – $0/month – Unlimited contests, Unlimited entries, Pick winners manually or randomly, Social Login options, Moderate entries (disqualify and delete entries), Data management, Basic security features, Widget Installation, and more.
• Pro – $29/month – All Free features and 90+ entry methods, Email integrations, Google Analytics, Facebook Tracking Pixel, 1 Team member, Repeatable actions, SMS links, Timed actions, Styling Options, and more.
• Business – $59/month – All Pro features and more entry methods, Google Tag Manager & Zapier integration, Manage 2 brands (and two team members), 5,000 unique coupon codes per contest, more security features such as blocking people from entering with a VPN, Unlock more giveaway types (Rewards, Coupon, and Leaderboard), NFT, Airdrop and whitelist raffles, and more.
• Premium – $119/month – All Business features and No SweepWidget branding, Whitelabel, Telegram API authenticated entries with a custom bot, Manage 3 brands (and three team members), Upload entries into your contest with CSV, email verification, Advanced security features and more.
• Enterprise – $249/month – All Premium features and Phone Verification, Manage 5 brands (and five team members), Unlimited winners, SweepsWidget API, Prepopulate forms, custom HTML emails, Send transactional emails, Dedicated agent, and more.

GrowSurf – The perfect referral marketing software for tech companies

GrowSurf is a sophisticated referral software for B2B with tons of features. Its campaign builder lets you customize the contest’s core with tools.

Key features

Customize reward type(s) for campaigns – Single-sided, Double-sided, Milestone, and Leaderboard rewards
Set custom referral credit window
Advanced integrations with popular services and WebHooks, Rest API, and JavaScript API
Configure campaign emails
Automatic fraud prevention
Blacklist IPs, emails, and countries
Two performing action types to count as a referral: Sign up and Sign up + Qualifying action
Conversion tracking
Intercom style sitewide referral share floating widget

Pros

Branded URLs (i.e., yourwebsite.com?grf=hs75XhanT)
Fully white-labeled
Track participant activity
Embeddable elements
Manual/offline referral trigger
Import participants
Review and approve rewards

Cons

No custom actions functionalities
No entry code system (Copy and paste a unique code given by you and earn points)
No waitlist features
No invite codes

Pricing

GrowSurf’s pricing starts at $200/mo:

1. Startup – $450/mo
2. Business – $650/mo
3. Elite – $1,050/mo

Gleam – The best online contest app for content creators

Gleam is one of the best online contest tools not just because of its feature-richness but also the ease of use. Gleam is so built up than the rest that you can find Gleam templates for any use case. Be it increasing YouTube subscribers, Twitch viewers, or growing your email list.

Key features

Unlimited active campaigns and unlimited visitors
Four apps: Competitions, Rewards, Social Galleries, and Email Capture
100+ actions
100+ integrations
Bit.ly short links for referral URLs
Embed Gleam widget on your website or host giveaways on a dedicated Gleam giveaway page
Restrict by location
Multiple winner drawing options: Random draw, manual draw, date range draw, and archive entries
Advanced customization and installation options
Analytics
Export leads
Team members
Multiple capture types: Bar, Coupon, Countdown, Embedded, Floating, Notification, Popup, Takeover, or custom

Pros

The user-friendly campaign building process
Auto-generated terms and conditions
500+ templates (see more in Gleam template library)
100+ action types
Multiple prize giveaways
Custom tracking API
Facebook tab and Shopify app
Landing page QR codes – Participate in sweepstakes or login after scanning QR codes.
Campaign rules
Redirect users to a specific page after they have completed all the actions
Pixel tracking
Multiple giveaway entry options such as Email Submit, Facebook, and Patreon logins.

Cons

No split testing features
No post-giveaway actions
Limited referral marketing features like double-sided rewards
Cannot customize the referral credit window
Cannot edit the points for referrals and opt-in page visits

Pricing

Gleam provides unique packages for all four packages.

1. Competitions – From $10/mo
2. Rewards – From $29/mo
3. Galleries – From $29/mo
4. Capture- From $29/mo

Also, you can get access to the full package plan. Yearly subscribers will get double limits.

• Pro – $97/mo
• Business – $397/mo
• Premium – $997/mo

Gleam is one of the best online giveaway tools with tons of features and integrations. They have generated over one billion leads for their customers and are consistently adding new features.

Vyper – Viral contest software for growth hackers

Vyper.ai is a contest software with giveaway and reward functionalities. Its beautiful landing page designs, transaction tracking, and settings make Vyper an excellent match for many eCom site owners and internet marketers.

Key features

Unlimited giveaway campaigns, page visitors, and custom actions
Run leaderboard and reward competitions in a single campaign
Four types of rewards: Point milestone, Redeem, Tier, Other
Revenue tracking
Use custom domain/subdomain
Email notifications
Pixel tracking and Google Analytics code integration
Fraud prevention settings
API

Pros

Track Shopify shop purchases and rewards based on dollar expenditures
Bonus actions builder
Contest widget (Intercom-style) to use on websites. Perfect for site-wide giveaways

Cons

No A/B testing features
Analytics are basic
No post-giveaway action settings

Pricing

Vyper only has two plans:

1. Enterprise – $149/mo – 15K leads (30K if used own SMTP), track up to $30K revenue
2. Agency – $299/mo – 60K leads (120K if used own SMTP), track up to $120K revenue

ViralSweep – An online giveaway platform for marketers

ViralSweep is a viral marketing platform that lets you grow your business via sweepstakes, contests, instant wins, waitlists, milestones, comments, hashtags, and social media gallery competitions.

Key features

Unlimited promotional campaigns and entries
100+ integrations with email autoresponders and services like Google Analytics, Bit.ly, Fomo, Facebook lead ads, Bazaarvoice, and Zapier
Sales tracking via Shopify app integration
Geo-targeting campaigns
Spam filter
Custom tracking links
Audience segmentation
Entry frequency
Embed the ViralSweep giveaway widget on a website, blog, or Facebook
Social actions
Analytics
Live Draw

Pros

Run different types of contests like Instant Win, Hashtag, and Comments
Sales tracking (earn money with rewards campaigns)
Video and photo uploads
Entry frequency (allows participants to complete the same task daily or weekly and receive entry points)
Voting competitions
Collect payments
Network with other brands to co-host your giveaway inside ViralSweep
Send entrants directly to a specific website after entering.
Entry codes (Gives people a chance to collect points by entering custom entry codes you provide. People can get those codes after completing tasks, for instance.)
Official rules generator

Cons

No drag-and-drop page builder
No two-sided rewards feature
Some integrations are not available based on the package you’ve subscribed to

Pricing

ViralSweep has four pricing tiers:

1. Starter – $49/mo. Unlimited Promotions & Entries. No team members
2. Business – $199/mo. Geo-targeting. Remove Viral Sweep branding. Team members. Host partner sweepstakes. Tracking links & tracking scripts, Custom actions, Leaderboards, and Sales tracking
3. Premium – $399/mo. Video uploads, Collect payments, A/B testing, ViralSweep API, Dedicated SendGrid account to send emails from your business email address
4. Elite – $999/mo. Unlimited orders on Purchase App, Manage up to 10 brands. Dedicated agent, 1 promotion built for you per month, strategic consulting

Viral Loops – Best contest marketing software for tech SaaS businesses

Viral Loops is another referral marketing software for Fintech, startups, eCommerce, and newsletter creators.

• The Milestone Referral – Inspired by Harry’s milestone referral program, they built a list of 100K quality leads in a week. In this template (Prelaunch campaign), participants can unlock rewards when they reach a particular milestone.
• The Startup Prelaunch – Startup Prelaunch gives you all the features to build a waitlist where participants can improve their place by referring others.
• The Newsletter Referral – Increase your email subscribers with the help of loyal newsletter readers by integrating a “refer a friend” program.
• The Tempting Giveaway – The more friends they invite, the higher their chances of winning. Placing leaderboards and tempting to improve their positions make this template special.
• Viral Loops for Shopify – Boost sales on your Shopify store by offering coupon codes in Viral Loops referral programs
• Refer a Friend – Remember DropBox’s refer-a-friend program? Viral Loops gives you tools to build a friend invitation program similar to DropBox.
• Leaderboard giveaway
• The Milestone Referral for Messenger – Boost your Messenger subscribers
• The Altruistic Referral – Increase sales and purchases with double-sided rewards: one successful referral, two winners.

Key features

Campaign wizard – Fill out the simple form, and your referral program will be ready in minutes.
Templates for your need – Unlike other tools, Viral Loops templates are designed to match your object rather than the design or niche
Viral Loop pages – Host giveaways and referral campaigns on dedicated Viral Loops pages
Viral Loops widget – Embeddable widget lets you run giveaways on your website or app
Real-time dashboard – Get to know the number of participants, referrals, and shares in real time.
Reward Management System
Fraud detection
Integrations – Empower your campaigns by integrating Google Analytics, MixPanel, Facebook pixels, Slack, MailChimp, and Zapier.

Pros

Campaigns templates are designed based on objective
Referral & Ambassador campaign templates
Widget customization
Custom domain on Viral Loops Pages
Custom CSS
WebHook, Custom JS, and API
Booster emails and email customization
Import and export participants

Cons

No A/B testing features
Limited integration compared with other referral program creators
Little customization (i.e., no personalization capability)
No custom actions builder
Limited supported social buttons
Pricing is too expensive compared to referral tools like GrowSurf

Pricing

• Start-up – $49/mo – Up to 1,000 participants – Viral giveaways, Viral Loops pages
• Growing – $99/mo – Up to 3,000 participants – Referral & Ambassador Campaign Templates, API access
• Power- $299/mo – Up to 25,000 participants – Remove Viral Loops branding

Related: Viral Loops vs UpViral

RaffleCopter – Giveaway and sweepstakes promotion platform

RaffleCopter is a low-cost online raffle software with simple designs. The specialty of this tool is that no plans have a restriction on the number of giveaways or entries a giveaway can have. So, Rafflecopter is essentially an unlimited-entry giveaway tool.

Key features

Unlimited giveaways and entries
Facebook Flash app – run giveaways on your Facebook page timeline
Poll/survey entry option
Real-time analytics

Pros

Downloadable entry CSVs
Specify points for each action
1-Click Facebook page tab installation
Facebook login option

Cons

Viral refer-a-friend is not available in all plans. It’s available in the highest plan.
No A/B testing functionality
Limited editor options
Limited integrations
RaffleCopter dashboard and designs can be modern, and the editor could have more features to change themes to adapt to the websites’ branding

Pricing

RaffleCopter provides a free plan, but it is very limited. RaffleCopter’s free trial is valid for seven days or 50 entries – whichever comes first. Its premium plans start at $13/mo.

1. Basic – $13/mo
2. Grow – $43/mo
3. Premium – $84/mo

KingSumo – Viral giveaway software offered at a lifetime price

KingSumo was a WordPress giveaway plugin a few years ago. But, they launched their online version of KingSumo, and now it’s offered for a one-time fee on Appsumo.

Key features

Host giveaways on KingSumo dedicated pages or your own website
Export your giveaway entrants into a CSV
Bonus giveaway entries for taking specific actions
Integrations with SendFox, MailChimp, and Zapier
Create a newsletter referral program with SendFox
Built-in advanced spam and fraud prevention methods

Pro

Official rules generator
Lifetime price
Translation options
Automatic mid-giveaway and final 24-hour emails to your entrants

Cons

No custom fields
KingSumo branding on giveaway pages, widgets, and emails
Limited direct integrations
No A/B testing feature
No referral functionalities
No custom domains support
No daily entry actions
Limited post giveaway actions

Pricing

You can buy KingSumo Pro for $49 one-time cost in Appsumo.

Related: KingSumo vs UpViral

KickOffLabs – Viral giveaway platform for sweepstakes and product launches

KickOffLabs is a powerful online giveaway tool that has generated over 100 million leads for customers. KickOffLabs makes it super easier for anyone to make campaigns according to requirements, from different contest templates to contest running options.

Key features

Different contest templates: Reward level giveaway, Bonus entry sweepstakes, Shopify rewards, Leaderboard giveaways, Prelaunch waitlist, Email Opt-in bribe
Run campaigns from a Contest Box (on your site, on new landing pages (hosted on KickOffLabs)), or sites with embedded widgets
Email notifications
A/B testing
Personalized greetings on contests
Purchase & referral reward campaigns
ROI-Focused Analytics – Understand where leads come from and whether or not they are referring friends.
Advanced Fraud Protection
Lead notifications – Real-time, daily, or weekly email notifications about new leads being delivered to yourself or clients.
Advanced Fraud Prevention
Automatic Spam IP & Email Blocking
Custom CSS & HTML
Additional form actions – Collect more than the name and email field
Custom domains
Integrations with MailChimp, Klaviyo, Slack, Zapier, and WebHooks In/Out and API

Pros

Campaign templates and multiple ways to hold giveaways
Campaign booster emails
Send unique discount codes from your online store to new leads automatically when they reach certain contest point totals.
Customizable contest scoring and actions
One-click registration links
Import and export leads

Cons

No daily entry actions
Pricing plans are grouped based on monthly unique visitors
Cannot run a leaderboard competition and a referral campaign at the same time

Pricing

KickOffLabs has a free plan that lets you create mini giveaways with only 500 unique monthly visitors. The paid plans start at $29/mo.

1. Hobby – $19/mo
2. Premium – $69/mo
3. Business – $145/mo
4. Enterprise – $289/mo

WooBox – A social media contest app for marketers

WooBox is a contest software to boost engagement with social media contests, landing page giveaways, web page popup rewards, personality quizzes, and multi-round bracket contests.

Key features

Unlimited campaigns and unlimited opt-in page visitors
Templates
Campaign customizable options
WordPress plugin
Multiple giveaway entry methods
Multiple submission types – Form data, file uploads, photo uploads, Instagram videos & photos, Twitch videos, YouTube videos, Facebook submissions, and text/essay
Password-protected pages and widgets
Age gating
Submission Approval Dashboard
Exports
Integrations & Webhooks
Analytics

Pros

Customization options – Landing page visual builder to HTML & CSS customization
Run different campaign types – Instant win giveaways, Polls, Brackets, Coupons, Quizzes, Contests, etc.,

Cons

No A/B testing feature
No email notification messages
Cannot run leaderboard and referral contest at the same time

Pricing

WooBox has a free plan with many limitations. Its paid plans start at $37/mo.

• Basic – $37/mo
• Standard – $384/annual
• Advanced – $99/month
• Power – $249/month

RafflePress – Best WordPress giveaway plugin

RafflePress is one of the best WordPress giveaway and contest plugins with tons of features and customization options to increase social media engagements, increase co-citations (perfect for SEO), and generate leads quickly.

The team behind OptinMonster created RafflePress, so they know what they are doing. OptinMonster, an email list builder plugin for WP like ConvertBox, also offers various online giveaway tools, especially opt-in gamification forms.

Key features

Run unlimited giveaways on WordPress with your branding
Drag & Drop giveaway builder
Viral giveaway templates
Responsive mobile-friendly designs
Multiple prizes
Time control
1-Click entry + Fraud protection
Social media integrations
Marketing & CRM integrations
Tracking and retargeting
Zapier and WebHooks

Pros

Run giveaways on dedicated landing pages or a widget embedded on posts/pages of your WordPress site
Verified bonus actions
Mandatory actions
Complete entries redirect
Social logins
Repeat actions
One-time fee. RafflePress is on lifetime pricing, so that you can buy it for a one-off payment.

Cons

No post-giveaway actions
Limited integrations
No custom actions builder
No transaction tracking

Pricing

RafflePress is a WordPress sweepstakes software with lifetime pricing.

GiveLab – A free giveaway creator with unlimited campaigns and participants

GiveLab is a free giveaway and contest platform for content creators. Its free plan allows unlimited campaigns and entry participants. The support for cryptocurrency makes it one of the best online giveaway tools for crypto giveaways. So, if you are looking for software to run a cryptocurrency giveaway, GiveLab could be a great candidate.

Key features

Unlimited giveaways and participants
Restrict entries by location
Customize the giveaway campaign with drag-and-drop steps
Integrations with major social networks like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Twitch, Pinterest, and email marketing platforms
Install giveaway through website widget, WordPress Embed, Facebook tab, or run giveaway on a unique dedicated page
GiveLab Messenger to communicate with a winner
Advanced Analytics

Pros

Showcase winners on the post-giveaway page
Cryptocurrency support
Daily bonus entries
Completion bonus (points offered after completing all actions)
Allow users to earn credits through unique secret codes you set

Cons

No A/B testing
Lack of integrations
Limited templates
Widgets can be modernized
No custom domain for tracking and giveaway pages
Cannot insert custom JavaScript and CSS code

Pricing

GiveLab is a low-cost giveaway software. It has a free plan with limited features. Their paid plans are not expensive either compared with others.

ShortStack – online contests tool with advanced features

ShortStack is an all-in-one platform for creating giveaways, contests, social media competitions, forms, landing pages, and mini web pages.

Key features

Unlimited giveaway campaigns and unlimited emails
Online contests, giveaways, sweepstakes and social media hashtag contests (Twitter, Instagram), photo & video voting contests, and essay contests
Social media voting contests (accept Instagram, Tiktok)
Landing pages
Drag and drop builder with live preview
Customizable templates
Mini websites
Calendar giveaways
Personality and knowledge quizzes
Analytics for pages and emails
Send drip campaigns
Export entries
Autoresponder integrations & WebHooks

Pros

Embed inline or show a popup on your site
Private, invite-only pages (Run secret giveaways)
Import Existing Lists
Rights management
Use your domains
Multiple-round vote contests
Scratch off, puzzle, spin the reels
Customize team member permissions
Issue coupon codes
Country-based visibility settings
TikTok contests

Cons

Pageviews are a factor in pricing plans
No custom actions feature
No A/B split testing feature
Lack of post-giveaway actions

Pricing

ShortStack provides four plans, and its pricing starts from $99/mo (10,000 entries storage limit).

SociaMonials – Run social media promotions, sweepstakes, and user-generated content contests

SociaMonials is an advanced social media marketing platform with contest features. Its unique features, like video testimonials, weekly giveaways (fresh giveaways to hook your visitors to share regularly), product reviews, and user-generated content (UGC) contests, will make a big difference in your business.

Key features

Unlimited landing pages
Unlimited popups & sticky-tab widgets
Custom website tracking
Email autoresponders
Sweepstakes templates
Leaderboard and multi-prize competitions
Photo contests
Video contests
Essay contests
Refer-a-friend program
User-generated content approval workflow
Auto-syndicate user-generated content to social networks
Custom giveaway campaign domains (Cname)
White Label campaign emails (SMTP)
Analytics
Cap maximum allowed entries
Automated fraud prevention
Integrations with popular email marketing services, WebHooks and Pabbly Connect & Zapier support, and HTML form integration

Pros

Social CRM
Form editor
Get customer testimonials and stories via sweepstakes.
Funnel series
Issue coupons
Delegate points for entering and referrals
Viral Group giveaways (e.g.: once the participants hit a milestone such as 1,000 total entrants, everyone gets a gift such as a discount code)
ECommerce tracking
Share a deal, get a deal giveaways
WYSIWYG sweepstakes page editor
Custom bonus challenges (i.e., custom actions)
Bonus entry code
Countdown timer
Seamless UGC approval workflow

Cons

Cannot embed giveaways on your site
No landing page A/B testing feature
No one-click signup link
Cannot import list to a giveaway

Pricing

SociaMonials has four main subscription packages. However, features relevant to giveaways, contests, and sweepstakes are offered from the second tier plan: Social and Campaigns ($49/mo – up to 1,000 entries per month).

EasyPromos – Online engagement platform that uses giveaways, contests, and game applications

EasyPromos is one of the best online giveaway tools, and it is better equipped with gaming tools to grow your business in a different way.

Key features

Create an unlimited number of sweepstakes and contests
Create Instagram giveaways, Facebook giveaways, and Twitter giveaways with exclusive features
Multi-network giveaways
Multiple contest tools: Photofun tool, Scenes, Mention + Hashtag, Instant win, Pick your favorite, and Refer a friend.
Game applications: Puzzle, Timezed Quiz, Memory, Match It, Word Search, Slide & Match, Hidden Objects, Minesweeper, Spin the Wheel.
Quizzes: Knowledge Quiz, Product Recommender, Personality Quiz, Survey, Predictions
Coupons & Codes: Distribute coupon codes, Redeem codes, Validate Receipts
Multi-stage apps: Multi-game, Tournament Bracket, Multimedia contest, Multi-round predictions, Prize Calendar
Customizable templates
Email Platform to send personalized booster emails
Participant management
Advanced stats and reports
Google Analytics integration to track conversions and view session data
Native integrations, Zapier, WebHooks, and API

Pros

Use your own domain for promotions
Remove EasyPromosApp branding from game apps, landing pages, widgets, and emails.
Facebook TAB install
Coupons and codes system
Customizable entry form
Role management, add agents, and get access to Audit logs

Cons

No A/B testing functionality
No custom actions builder
Online contest tools and gaming apps are offered upward the Premium plan, which costs $199/mo.

Pricing

EasyPromos is an advanced online engagement platform with numerous features that are not limited to online giveaways and contests. They have two pricing structures for giveaways only and for all apps.

Here is the pricing and feature availability of each plan in EasyPromos.

Woorise – Lead generation and marketing platform

Woorise is an all-in-one marketing suite with features like landing pages, forms, quizzes, contests, giveaways, and sweepstakes.

Key features

Create unlimited giveaway campaigns
Templates to get started
Drag & Drop Interface
Reward users for taking actions
Instant redeem rewards
1-Click pick winners
Validate promotional codes (i.e: secret entry codes)
Geo-targeting
Fraud detection
Integrations with popular email marketing services and Zapier and WebHooks

Pros

Use Conditional Logic to show/hide form fields conditionally, social actions, confirmation messages, or conditionally send email notifications.
Email Notifications
Analytics
Collect online payments
Privacy & GDPR
Workspaces for client management
Bitly, PayPal, and Google Analytics integration

Cons

No A/B testing feature
Lack of post-giveaway actions
Cannot use custom branded links
Cannot hold a rewards and leaderboard competition at the same time

Pricing

Woorise has a free plan with limited functionalities. Its paid plans start at $29/mo (1,000 entries/mo – no integrations), and based on the subscription package, features and limits would vary.

Prefinery – Pre-launch waiting list & referral program software

Prefinery is an advanced referral marketing software with hyper customization capabilities. You can create four types of referral programs with Prefinery.

1. Pre-launch Waiting Lists
2. Refer-a-Friend Campaigns
3. Closed Beta Programs
4. Video Game Alpha/Beta Releases

Key features

Unlimited number of campaigns
Unlimited number of signup form impressions & submissions
Advanced visual signup form builder (add own custom fields, custom HTML and CSS code insertion, etc.)
Social sharing buttons with referral links
Branded viral referral links (i.e., use your own domain name for referral links)
Vanity referral codes (Use the person’s name or email address to create unique, memorable referral codes like chamal69 instead of x7Gf2.)
Waiting List Queues
Action-based rewards
Automated rewards delivery
Email automation features include using your own email address (for From field) & SMTP server, double opt-in, customizable layouts, and email analytics.
Advanced Fraud Protection
Advanced Analytics
Multiple integration options, including custom JavaScript, WebHooks, Rest API, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, KissMetrics, and Zapier
Data import and export
Invitation codes with a maximum usable amount and expiration date

Pros

Unlimited team members
Unlimited number of automated emails
Ability to top-up subscribers for a small fee
Automatic Spam Email Blocking, Block Signups from Bots, Automatic Spam Email Blocking
Role-Based Access Control
GDPR and CCPA Compliance
256-bit SSL Encryption
Advanced pre-launch and Beta-management features such as Stateful User Flow (Track users from the waitlist and beyond as they move through the flow from Applied → Invited/Rejected → Active users), Gate Access & Deliver Invitation Codes, and Invite-a-Friend System (Similar to how Gmail launched back in the day)
Code Injection (fire custom JS scripts on header and footer of both signup and referral pages)
Install on any platform with simple code insertion or utilize Prefinery’s advanced options to fetch data from existing forms.
360 view on subscribers, including the ability to add notes, see which emails have been opened, etc.,
Limit signups, shares, and referrals per IP

Cons

No templates
No features to run leaderboard competition
No custom actions builder
No social login options

Pricing

Prefinery does not have a free plan but a 14-day free trial. Its paid plans start from $200/mo, and two other high-level plans include more features than the first tier.

PromoSimple – A simple giveaway maker

PromoSimple lets you create simple giveaways in a matter of seconds with its easy setup.

Key features

Templates & Themes
WYSIWYG Facebook & Web page designer
Embed the widget on your site, install the giveaway tab on your Facebook page, or run giveaways on PromoSimple’s hosted pages
Real-time analytics, including trending reports and insights
Random & Manual winner selections
Collect customer info in Dropdowns, Checkboxes, or Multiple Choice
Capture extra fields of data – Phone, Zip code, Date of birth, etc
Restrict entrants by Age and Location
10+ Social actions
HTML/CSS design of Facebook & Microsite
Google Analytics integration and direct integrations with email list management services like MailChimp, MadMini, and CampaignMonitor

Pros

Validate an entry with Twitter
Add custom fields of data
Set Start/End times down to the Minute and Timezone
Display a custom design or message to display to users once they’ve completed the promotion’s required entry section.
Get access to Giveaways Network to promote your sweepstake

Cons

Limited integrations and No Zapier integration
No split testing features
No email notification feature
Cannot use the custom domain name
Features and integrations are limited and capped based on the subscription plan
No Geo-targeting features
Cannot track conversions made via giveaway promotions
No custom actions builder
Designs are old-fashioned

Pricing

PromoSimple giveaway maker has a free plan. Its paid plans include more features and the basic plan costs $19/mo. Not any plan has a cap on the number of giveaways or entries/leads.

PerkZilla – An online giveaway tool for scaling and more engagements

PerkZilla is another online giveaway tool that lets you grow your business via contests, giveaways, early access programs, rewards & unlocks and referral programs.

Key features

Unlimited campaigns
Unlimited email automation
Performance Analytics
Widgets and forms
Advanced fraud detection and prevention
Integrations: Mailchimp, AWeber, ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit, and more
WebHooks and API
Multiple Prize or Reward Delivery: Coupon Code, Delivery URL, Other Instructions

Pros

Visual builder
Run leaderboard competitions
Landing pages and widgets
Use your own domains/URLs for referral links
Actions for bonus entries and the ability to offer bonus credits for completing all actions
Multiple social networks support, including Tumblr, Telegram, Reddit, Viber, and WhatsApp
Trigger automation based on the user’s status

Cons

No A/B testing functionality for landing pages and emails
No custom fields support
No Zapier integration
No conversion tracking functionality
Cannot share campaigns with others
Cannot use own SMTP
No multiple brand identities
No custom lead tracking feature
Reports and analytics can be improved

Pricing

PerkZilla was first launched on JVZoo, then on a couple of Facebook groups and Appsumo as “lifetime deals.” Currently, PerkZilla has three paid plans:

1. Starter – $29/mo – 10K participants, 1 campaign
2. Growth – $49/mo – 50K participants, 15 campaigns, remove PerkZilla branding
3. Unlimited – $99/mo – Unlimited participants, unlimited campaigns, 5 teammate accounts, 5 sub-accounts

What is the best giveaway tool for your needs?

If you digest all the giveaway apps listed on this page, you will already know that it is a tricky question. So, here are the best online giveaway tools, social media contest apps, and referral invite software based on your requirement.

Best giveaway software for lead generation and integration with sales funnels

When speaking of sales funnels which software comes into your mind at first?

Yes, Clickfunnels, right?

Well, guess what, Russel Branson and his Clickfunnels team use the UpViral giveaway app to integrate with Clickfunnels sales funnels and recommend it to others!

UpViral’s unique features like:

Drag-and-drop page builder (it’s like Clickfunnels and Brizy page builders where you decide which element where to put)
Ability to run rewards & grand prize campaigns at once and the capability to capture leads on multiple sales funnel’s pages and redirect all traffic to a single page (i.e., your tripwire offer page or webinar page)

makes it so unique.

If you are in competitive niches like Network marketing, Crypto, Business Opportunities, Work from home, Health and Fitness, funneling post-signup traffic to an Upviral funnel to build a viral loop will not only reduce cost per lead (CPL) but also increase the net profit. That is why I recommend Upviral for solo ad leads funnels and even using it for solo ads affiliate marketing campaigns.

Best social media contest app to boost social engagement, increase followers and organic reach

In this article, you might find out that there are lots of social media sweeps apps. However, Gleam dominates in this area, considering its feature-richness, maturity, popularity, and acceptance among general people.

Additionally, you can use a tool like SweepWidget to save money on social media contest tools. In Gleam, you have to upgrade to a higher plan to use top-notch features and integrations.

Best eCommerce giveaway software for Shopify shop owners and WooCommerce site owners

When choosing an excellent eCommerce-friendly online giveaway software, it’s crucial to consider these two factors.

1. Ability to deliver coupon codes – It’s better if the tool supports dynamic coupon codes instead of sitewide vouchers, so you can decide which products to promote.
2. Integration with payment processing tools

ViralSweep, Gleam, and Vyper support sales or transaction tracking in various ways. Also, they can deliver coupon codes based on referrals and how much referrals have been spent on a store.

Alternatively, GrowSurf can also reward people who referred customers to your online store.

Best referral generation software for tech businesses

When deciding on a perfect referral marketing software, it is essential to identify what it offers:

1. Customization
2. Tracking
3. Integrations with tools you use, such as Stripe, BuddyPress, MemberPress, PayPal
4. Importing and exporting contacts
5. Resetting points so you can restart the referral campaign without changing the permalinks of the campaign nor participants’ referral links

The best referral software for tech companies on this list is GrowSurf. It lets you customize the structure of the referral program (i.e., two-sided rewards, grand prize giveaway for the random winner(s), and leaderboard competition) and appearance to match your brand.

Best WordPress giveaway and contest plugin

Most of the online giveaway tools listed here let you embed the giveaway on your WordPress site with a script. However, if you are looking for a dedicated tool to hold giveaways on your WordPress site, nothing beats RafflePress and KingSumo in terms of features and limits.

It appears KingSumo has been abandoned since there was a cloud version of it. On the other hand, RafflePress is by the team behind OptinMonster, so you can expect life-along updates and feature improvements.

Best evergreen contest tool for perpetual giveaways

One of the best things about running giveaways is that those can be designed to run periodically so participants can have more chances to become a winner, and holders can generate free leads and free traffic every day, every week, and every year as long as prizes are offered.

Most tools listed here allow resetting points in a giveaway and extending the giveaway’s end date. Giveaway apps like UpViral, GrowSurf, KickOffLabs, and ViralSweep let running evergreen contests according to your setup.

Right giveaway app for SEO

By using the right giveaway tool for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), you, as a blogger, website owner, or agency, can:

Boost referral traffic and improve metrics like average time on page, social shares, bounce rate, etc.
Get many social and web mentions that lead to co-citations and backlinks. You can use a brand monitoring tool like Awario (check the website from here) to track these throughout the giveaway period and after that.
Get people to search your brand on Google, increase the search volume of brand keywords, and make your brand significant in the eyes of Google.

One of the biggest reasons many use giveaways on a blog post page is to build backlinks so it will eventually boost Google keyword rankings. So, we need good giveaway tools for websites with HTML embedding support along with these features:

Customizable, branded referral links – Use your own domain name for referral links
High performance – If you use WordPress as the CMS, some plugins impact the performance due to various reasons, like script conflicts. Therefore, the giveaway tool for website should be working properly because the more time it takes to load, the more people abandon the web page.
301 permanent link redirection – So referral links will pass the link juice to the destination page where you held the giveaway

Considering the contest tools listed here, there are a couple of the best online giveaway tools that are SEO-friendly.

GrowSurf – Use your own domain as the referral link (ex: www.pitiya.com/giveaway?ref=sha87HG), Easy installation methods
UpViral – UpViral allows embedding a giveaway on any site with its widget, and custom referral tracking lets passing link juice (i.e: dofollow links) and increases web co-citations

Best referral software for closed-beta programs and waitlists

Not all giveaway apps listed here are capable of holding beta-release or waitlist campaigns.

Prefinery is precisely made to run those types of campaigns. Its features like Magic Profiles, beta invitation codes, vanity referral codes, and waitlist management features will come in handy.

Best giveaway app with gamification features

EasyPromos has taken online contests to another level with games and brackets. Its 30+ robust applications will let you grow your fanbase even further. If you are in a niche such as betting, where it is challenging to acquire customers through traditional methods, EasyPromos would be a great choice.

Best refer-a-friend software for newsletters

Although Viral Loops provides newsletter referral template, tools like SparkLoop.app are dedicated referral tools for newsletters. Especially SparkLoop.app contains features like unique subscriber referral hubs, automated rewards fulfillment (from digital content and reward emails to physical rewards and unique coupons), and an in-email referral section.

Best referral software to work with affiliates

Unfortunately, none of the online giveaway tools listed here can work with affiliates to integrate services like ClickBank, JvZoo, WarriorPlus, ThriveCart, and PayKickStart.

However, GrowSurf’s API is powerful. You can code your dedicated referral program to work with affiliates.

On the other hand, Upviral lets you track signups by appending the ?track=TRACKING-ID part to an invitation link. So you can code your own affiliate tracking mechanism manually.

1. Deliver custom tracking links to affiliates (e.g.: https://enter.pitiya.com/ref/FHF5877AJSHSDH?track=affiliatename). You can also use a URL shortening service with custom domain support, such as Replug, to brand those links. Or even better, use a professional link tracking tool such as ClickMagick to calculate the EPC, CPC, and ROI of entire giveaway funnels.
2. Set a cookie on the browser of people who sign up with the particular affiliate referral link or set up the affiliate status to the affiliate
3. Track conversions on your sales tracking software to share commissions manually or automate it with tools like Zapier with WebHooks

Best Facebook Messenger referral software

Facebook Messenger list building has become so popular in the last few years. Although you can use many giveaway apps listed here to redirect messenger subscribers to a giveaway signup page or directly to the share page with one-click registration links, not all provide tools to empower the campaign inside Facebook Messenger.

That is why you have to use a viral referral app that integrates with Facebook Messenger chatbot builder programs like ManyChat and MobileMonkey. One of the best online giveaway tools that do it very well is Viral Loops.

In fact, Viral Loops has a template (Messenger Bot Giveaway) that you can use instantly without extra steps.

---

Frequently asked questions

Related: Online Lucky Draw Tools: 7 Best Free Contest Random Name Pickers

Final Words on Best Giveaway Apps and Contest Tools

There is no better method than word-of-mouth to get the upper hand on competitive niches without burdening the budget with ads and ineffective promotional methods.

If done correctly, giveaways can be a surefire way to generate leads and customers. Numerous small to medium, and even large businesses utilize online contests and referral programs to hyper-grow businesses.

Whether you are a SaaS business, local business, online store, website owner, or solopreneur who wants to build an email list, running a giveaway can bring nothing but positive results. But it all depends on the offer (incentives) and how you structure the campaign from planning to execution and represent the giveaway, promotion tactics, and the giveaway tool.

In this ultimate list of the best online giveaway tools, you discovered the 20+ best websites to hold giveaways, sweepstakes, and contests. I might have missed several tools. So, this is your time to let us know which giveaway tools you are using and recommend them to others in the comments below.