Gleam vs Vast: which giveaway tool fits you?

Updated 10 November 2026 · By the Vast team

Gleam is the long-running general giveaway tool, with a wide list of actions, fraud filters on every plan and a rules generator that handles free-entry laws. Vast is newer and built for game communities, with Steam and Twitch actions that are checked, official rules drafted for you, and API keys that let an AI agent draft giveaways on paid plans. If you need the most checking across the most networks, Gleam is ahead today. If your giveaway is a game, a stream or a Discord server, Vast is worth a look.

Vast is our product, so weigh that. We checked what we could on November 10, 2026, and where we couldn't, we say so. Gleam's live site blocked us again with an access error (HTTP 403), as it did on November 8, so everything about Gleam below comes from its pages in the Internet Archive, dated in the text. Gleam may have changed since. Confirm on Gleam's pricing page before you decide.

At a glance

GleamVast
Free planYes, "basic features"Yes
Paid entry priceCompetitions from $29 a monthBasic $15 a month, or $108 a year
Steam actionsLogin, play a game, join a groupWishlist, play, own, join a group
Discord actionsLogin, join a server, boost, roleJoin a server
Twitch actionsLogin, follow, channel points, subscriberFollow, subscribe, channel reward
X actionsLogin, post, hashtag, repost, view, followFollow, tag, repost
Fraud filterBuilt in, on all plansYou review entries by hand
Winner drawRandom from verified entriesRandom, weighted by entries
RulesGenerated, with free-entry alternativesGenerated, you add the gaps
AI agent supportNot found in its docsPaid plans, via API keys

Free plans and prices

Gleam. The pricing page (archived August 9, 2026) says you can create a free account to try basic features for Competitions, and that a minimal giveaway can run for free. It does not list what the free plan caps in the copy we read. Competitions plans start "from $29/mo". The same page lists Rewards, Captures and Galleries from $49 a month and a Full Package from $119 a month, which only matter if you want those other apps. Gleam's docs mention a "Hobby plan" that unlocks custom terms, but the pricing page we read doesn't show a price per plan, so we can't tell you what Hobby costs.

Vast. There is a free plan. Paid plans as of November 10, 2026 are Basic $15 a month ($108 a year), Pro $49 ($348), Business $149 ($1,188) and Enterprise $399 ($2,988). The plans page lists what each includes, and our plans comparison goes through them.

Who wins. Vast is cheaper at the entry point ($15 against $29), but we can't compare what each plan includes because Gleam's page doesn't show it in the archived copy. Ask Gleam what the free account caps and which plan unlocks each action you need.

Checked actions: Steam, Discord, Twitch and X

"Checked" means the tool asks the platform whether the entrant really did the thing, instead of trusting a button press. Gleam's verified actions page (archived February 8, 2025) says Gleam uses integrations with APIs and social networks to check that entrants completed actions before awarding entries, except on a handful of networks such as LinkedIn, YouTube and Snapchat.

Steam

Gleam's Steam doc (archived August 21, 2025) lists login with Steam, play a game and join a group. It also notes that you can restrict Steam "limited profiles", and that private profiles can't be checked. It lists no wishlist action in the copy we read.

Vast supports Steam actions for wishlisting a game, playing or owning it, and joining a group. Players connect their Steam account, and Vast checks the action. Players need their Steam profile and game details set to public. Our guide on how to get Steam wishlists covers the wishlist case.

Who wins. Vast, if your goal is wishlists, because the Gleam doc we read doesn't list one. Both check group joins and whether someone played a game.

Discord

Gleam's Discord doc (archived June 24, 2026) lists login with Discord, join a server, boost a server and hold a specific role. It also offers an option to accept only accounts with verified email addresses.

Vast has one Discord action, join a server. You give it the server name and a discord.gg invite link. Vast does not check Discord joins automatically today, so look over winners before you announce them. There is no role or boost action.

Who wins. Gleam, clearly. More Discord actions, and a role check is the one that matters most for communities.

Twitch

Gleam's Twitch doc (archived February 19, 2026) lists login, follow a channel ("awarded once the follow status is verified by Gleam"), channel points rewards and a subscriber action that validates a current subscriber. It also adds a free-entry option for paid subscribe actions.

Vast checks Twitch follows, subscriptions and channel reward redemptions through the player's connected Twitch account.

Who wins. A tie on the core actions. Gleam adds a free-entry option for paid subscribe actions, which is useful if you ever give entries for subscribing.

X

Gleam's X doc (archived February 15, 2026) lists login, post, hashtag, repost, view a post and follow, and says the follow action verifies existing followers. A "throwaway" setting can reject low-quality accounts. It also says a photo-selection action is no longer supported because of X API limits.

Vast has follow, tag and repost actions for X. They are not checked automatically today.

Who wins. Gleam, because it says it verifies follows and can reject throwaway accounts. On Vast, review winners yourself.

Fraud checks

Gleam's cheating FAQ (archived August 12, 2025) says it has a fraud filter on all plans that detects multiple emails from the same IP address and the use of bots and scripts. You can hover over a flag to see why an entry was flagged, invalidate entries by hand, and check a drawn winner before you finalize the draw. If the winner is no longer valid, you invalidate them and draw another.

Vast has no automatic detection of one person running several accounts today. What you get is tools for your own review: you can filter entries to see everything done from one IP address and mark selected entries invalid. The official rules ban multiple identities and devices, bots and scripts. Pro plans can swap a drawn winner for another entrant.

Who wins. Gleam, by a wide margin. If you expect people to farm your giveaway with throwaway accounts, this alone may decide it.

How winners are drawn

Gleam's winner options page (archived February 6, 2026) says chance-based giveaways use a random draw "from a pool of verified entries", while skill-based contests use a judge panel you set by hand.

On Vast, winners are drawn at random from everyone who entered, and actions worth more entries improve a player's odds. You can also use our free giveaway winner picker to draw from a list you paste in, which runs in your browser.

Who wins. A tie for plain giveaways. Gleam also supports judged contests, which Vast doesn't describe.

Official rules

Gleam's setup doc (archived October 6, 2025) says it automatically generates Terms and Conditions from a "globally compliant template" plus your start and end dates, locations and prizes. Custom terms are available on the Hobby plan or above. Its how to enter doc (archived October 7, 2025) says that for paid actions it can add a free entry alternative, shown only to entrants in countries where one is legally required.

Vast writes official rules for every giveaway. They state that no purchase is necessary, name the sponsor, set the entry period, and cover prizes, odds, winner selection and contact, and a platform disclaimer. You can edit the details or use your own. The weak spots: the generated rules say the giveaway is open worldwide and don't include a minimum age, each prize's value, a skill-testing question for Canada or the exact line Twitch requires, so you add those. Our rules generator guide goes through them.

Who wins. Gleam, for the free-entry handling by country. Vast's rules are a solid start that you finish yourself.

AI agent support

Vast has an MCP server and API keys, so an AI agent such as Claude Code can draft a giveaway, add actions, preview it and report stats. Today API keys for agents need a paid plan. Keys can't see entrants' emails, and publishing needs a key with the publish scope. Some actions, such as Steam and Discord, still have to be added in the web editor. See running a giveaway with an AI agent.

Gleam's docs index lists a Gleam API, but we found no AI agent or MCP documentation in the archived pages we read. That is not proof it doesn't exist. Ask Gleam directly.

Who wins. Vast, on what we could document.

Where each one is weaker

Gleam: We couldn't confirm free-plan limits or per-plan prices, the live site blocked us, and the Steam doc we read has no wishlist action. Its app lineup (Competitions, Rewards, Captures, Galleries) is aimed at marketing teams more than game communities, judging by its pricing page.

Vast: Discord, X and Kick actions aren't checked automatically, there is no automatic duplicate-account detection, entrants need a Vast account or must give a name and email in the embedded widget, and agent keys need a paid plan.

Which one should you pick?

Studio launching on Steam. Vast for wishlist actions that are checked. Check the current Gleam Steam doc first, in case it added one.

Streamer running Twitch and Discord entries. Gleam if you want a role check or to verify follows on X. Vast if Twitch follows, subs and channel rewards are enough.

You expect heavy cheating. Gleam, for its fraud filter on all plans.

You work with an AI agent. Vast.

Tight budget. Start on either free plan with a small giveaway and see which limits you hit.

Whichever you pick, read the rules of each platform you ask people to act on. Prize promotion laws vary by country. This isn't legal advice; check with a lawyer for your country and prize.

Try Vast free. Run a giveaway with checked Steam and Twitch actions and official rules drafted for you. Start a giveaway

FAQ

Is Gleam free? Gleam's pricing page says you can create a free account and run a minimal giveaway. We couldn't confirm what the free plan caps.

Is Vast cheaper than Gleam? Vast's cheapest paid plan is $15 a month; Gleam's Competitions plans start from $29 a month, per its archived pricing page. We couldn't compare what each plan includes.

Does Vast check Discord joins? Not automatically today. Gleam lists a server role check.

Which has better fraud checks? Gleam, which documents a filter for multiple emails from one IP and for bots on all plans.

Can an AI agent run a giveaway on Gleam? We found no documentation for it. On Vast, agents work with API keys on paid plans.

Sources

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