Gleam Competitions vs Award Force

Gleam Competitions9.1Visit Award Force8.7Visit

Higher score Gleam Competitions #1 in Contest Software 9.1/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 2 features Visit Gleam

vs

Award Force #3 in Contest Software 8.7/10 Paid ✓ 0 of 2 features Visit Award Force

• Gleam Competitions fits best

  Social giveaways and multi-channel competitions

• Award Force fits best

  Awards programs with complex judging workflows

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Side by side

Feature	Gleam Competitions 9.1/10 Visit ↗	Award Force 8.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.1	8.7
Ranking	#1 in Contest Software	#3 in Contest Software
Best for	Social giveaways and multi-channel competitions	Awards programs with complex judging workflows
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	—	$3,250/yr
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Browser extension	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Email, Tickets, Docs · 24/7	Email, Tickets, Phone, Docs
Compliance	SOC 2, 2FA	SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SSO/SAML, 2FA
Integrations	17 integrations	11 integrations
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Gleam Competitions 0/2 · Award Force 0/2
Social sharing	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Custom branding	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Contest formats	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Entry methods	Email subscriptions, social follows and visits, comments, shares, hashtags, video actions, file uploads, quizzes, custom actions, coupon codes, Discord entries, and event actions	Not checked yet
Entry limit	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Winner selection	Both	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	90+ entry methods across social, email, commerce, video, and communities Hosted pages, embeddable widgets, and automatic entry verification Random or manual winner selection with fraud detection and CAPTCHA	Supports multiple judging modes and configurable, multi-stage reviews Combines judge assignments, score matrices, and progress monitoring Collects entry fees and offers reporting, exports, and integrations
Cons	The Free plan includes only 20+ entry types Manual winners, branding, and location restrictions require Pro API access is listed as beta and available only on Premium	No free plan; Growth starts at $3,250 per year Growth limits annual entries to 10k and uploads to 10MB Branding, custom domains, and multilingual support require Pro
Our verdict	Gleam Competitions is a web-based platform for creating giveaways, sweepstakes, photo contests, raffles, caption-to-win campaigns, and user-generated-content promotions. It suits creators, small businesses, agencies, brands, and larger… Read the review →	Award Force is a cloud-based awards management platform for organizations running awards, recognition programs, contests, and other submission programs. Its configurable entry forms, entrant portal, judging workflows, results, reporting,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Gleam Competitions — where it wins

  • 90+ entry methods across social, email, commerce, video, and communities
  • Hosted pages, embeddable widgets, and automatic entry verification
  • Random or manual winner selection with fraud detection and CAPTCHA

  Where it doesn't

  • The Free plan includes only 20+ entry types
  • Manual winners, branding, and location restrictions require Pro
  • API access is listed as beta and available only on Premium

• Award Force — where it wins

  • Supports multiple judging modes and configurable, multi-stage reviews
  • Combines judge assignments, score matrices, and progress monitoring
  • Collects entry fees and offers reporting, exports, and integrations

  Where it doesn't

  • No free plan; Growth starts at $3,250 per year
  • Growth limits annual entries to 10k and uploads to 10MB
  • Branding, custom domains, and multilingual support require Pro

• Gleam Competitions9.1/10 · Free plan

  A flexible contest builder with broad entry methods, fraud controls, and tiered campaign features.

  Visit GleamFull verdict →
• Award Force8.7/10 · Paid

  A configurable awards platform built for programs with complex judging workflows.

  Visit Award ForceFull verdict →