Shareaholic
Shareaholic is a privately held content marketing and audience engagement platform that provides social sharing, content recommendations, analytics, and native advertising tools to over 300,000 SMB website publishers and content creators globally, monetizing through freemium subscriptions, native ads, and affiliate commissions.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersCambridge, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Shareaholic does
Shareaholic is a privately held, venture-backed content marketing and audience engagement platform founded in 2009 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, though it operates as a fully remote team of fewer than ten employees. The company provides an integrated suite of website tools designed to help publishers and content creators acquire, engage, analyze, and monetize their audiences. Core products include one-click social share buttons covering 100+ destinations, related-content and related-product recommendation widgets, a content analytics dashboard, social follow buttons, a branded smart URL shortener with cross-platform retargeting, and a native advertising suite comprising Anchor Ads, Outstream Video Ads, Native In-Feed Ads, and Auto Affiliatize affiliate links across a network of 35,000+ retailers. The company also maintains the YARPP (Yet Another Related Posts Plugin) WordPress plugin acquired in 2019 and offers a suite of developer APIs (Share, Follow, Link Shortener, QR Code, Content & Ads Feed, Analytics Data, Share Count Lookup, ID Match).
The platform is built on AWS infrastructure with Cloudflare CDN, secured under a VPC with TLS v1.3 and post-quantum cryptography, and engineered for 99.95% uptime and a 100/100 Google PageSpeed Insights score on desktop. Shareaholic supports more than 300,000 websites reaching 350-450 million people globally each month, with over 300 million pieces of content indexed across the publisher network. The company distributes primarily through product-led self-service with a 100% free tier, supplemented by marketplace listings in the WordPress plugin directory and browser extension stores (over 2 million Chrome downloads), and embedded integrations across more than 50 CMS and e-commerce platforms including Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, Magento, Drupal, Joomla, and HubSpot.
Shareaholic generates revenue through three streams: a freemium model with paid subscription tiers for advanced features, native advertising on the publisher network, and affiliate commissions from automated link conversion. Stripe handles payment processing under PCI Service Provider Level 1 compliance. The company has raised approximately $7.75 million across four disclosed funding rounds between 2009 and 2014 from investors including General Catalyst Partners, NextView Ventures, Kepha Partners, 500 Startups, Boston Seed Capital, The Kraft Group, Vinyl Capital, HubSpot, and the MIT Entrepreneurship Center. No acquisition of the company, secondary transaction, or IPO has occurred; the founding team and venture backers remain in place more than fifteen years after founding.
Shareaholic firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Shareaholic
- Legal name
- Shareaholic, Inc.
- Website
- https://shareaholic.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Shareaholic is a privately held content marketing and audience engagement platform that provides social sharing, content recommendations, analytics, and native advertising tools to over 300,000 SMB website publishers and content creators globally, monetizing through freemium subscriptions, native ads, and affiliate commissions.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Shareaholic industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Content Marketing and Audience Engagement Platform
- NAICS
- Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (5162), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Creator Commerce & Affiliate Monetization Platforms (MPACAFAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Influencer Marketing & Creator Marketplaces (BPAMALAG), Live Commerce & Shoppable Creator Campaigns (BPAFAHAL), Social Commerce & Creator Storefronts (Shoppable Links) (MPACAGAI), Affiliate Marketing & Partner Networks (BPAMALAI)
Keywords
Where Shareaholic is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cambridge
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Shareaholic business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Freemium/Subscription: Basic services are free; paid upgrades for advanced features including subscription plans with month-to-month or annual automatic renewal. Subscriptions can be cancelled anytime.
- Native Advertising: Publishers monetize through Anchor Ads (up to +400% better monetization), Outstream Video Ads, and Native In-Feed Ads. Advertisers pay for content boosts to reach engaged audiences.
- Affiliate Marketing: Auto Affiliatize Links automatically converts site links into affiliate links. Commission earned from purchases through network of 35,000+ retailers.
- Payment Processing: Credit card processing via Stripe for subscription billing and advertising purchases. PCI Service Provider Level 1 certified.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free tier - 100% free to get started |
| Subscription | Monthly | Paid subscription plans for advanced features |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Content Boosts advertising starting at $100 minimum |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels4 records
Shareaholic product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Shareaholic provides a freemium content marketing and audience engagement platform that helps website publishers and content creators grow traffic, engagement, and revenue through an integrated suite of website tools. Core offerings include one-click social share and follow buttons, content and product recommendation widgets, a content analytics dashboard, a smart branded URL shortener with retargeting, native in-feed advertising (Content Boosts), and ad monetization features (Anchor Ads, Outstream Video Ads, Native In-Feed Ads, Auto Affiliatize affiliate links), complemented by a developer API suite and the acquired YARPP WordPress plugin.
Product overview
Shareaholic is a content marketing platform and website traffic toolkit offering 13 integrated modules. The core products include Social Share Buttons, Related Content/Products recommendations, Content Analytics, Social Follow Buttons, Smart URL Shortener with retargeting, Content Boosts (native advertising), and various ad monetization tools (Anchor Ads, Outstream Video Ads, Native In-Feed Ads, Auto Affiliatize Links). Developer APIs include Share, Follow, Link Shortener, QR Code, Content & Ads Feed, Analytics Data, Share Count Lookup SDK, and ID Match API. The company also maintains YARPP (Yet Another Related Posts Plugin) for WordPress as an acquired product. The platform supports 300,000+ websites and integrates with major ad platforms for retargeting.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- YARPP: Yet Another Related Posts Plugin - A WordPress plugin for displaying related posts.
Products and services
- Social Share Buttons One-click share buttons that let website visitors share articles, comments, purchases, or other activities to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and 100+ destinations. Designed for website publishers and content creators who want to increase content distribution without custom development.
- Related Content Content recommendation widget that surfaces relevant articles from across the publisher's site to increase pageviews, engagement, and time on site.
- Related Products Product recommendation widget that highlights relevant products to increase engagement and potentially drive e-commerce conversions.
- Content Analytics Single-dashboard analytics providing a clear view of audience and content performance metrics to help publishers inform content strategy and grow site traffic.
- Social Follow Buttons Social follow buttons that help publishers grow their social influence on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, and other social networks.
- Smart URL Shortener / Link Manager Branded URL shortener with retargeting capabilities that captures, analyzes, and re-targets audiences across ad platforms with every link click.
- Content Boosts (Native Advertising) Self-service native advertising platform enabling advertisers and publishers to promote content to thousands of niche, highly-engaged audiences across the Shareaholic publisher network via in-feed promoted content.
- Anchor Ads Mobile ad format that sits anchored at the bottom of the user's screen, remaining visible while visitors scroll, and reportedly monetizing up to 400% better than standard display ads.
- Outstream Video Ads Video ad format served outside of a video player, typically between paragraphs of text, designed to be 100% viewable and unobtrusive.
- Native In-Feed Ads Sponsored content marketplace where publishers earn revenue when readers click through to sponsored articles promoted in their in-feed content recommendations.
- Auto Affiliatize Links Automatic affiliate link conversion tool that turns existing site links into earning opportunities across a network of 35,000+ retailers, with commissions paid on resulting purchases.
- Share Button Browser Extension Browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and other browsers that enables sharing any web content with followers across 100+ destinations, with over 2 million Chrome downloads.
- YARPP (Yet Another Related Posts Plugin) WordPress plugin for displaying related posts via algorithmic matching and theming, maintained under Shareaholic's portfolio with full support added by GoDaddy in 2023.
- Shareaholic for WordPress WordPress plugin combining Share Buttons, Related Content recommendations, Analytics, and Channels syndication in a single package, available via the WordPress plugin directory.
Quantifiable outcome
- Anchor Ads monetize up to +400% better than standard ads
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Shareaholic
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Shareaholic technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration25 records
AI capability2 records
Feature8 records
Shareaholic partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreCloud infrastructure provider. Shareaholic's application and data infrastructure is hosted on AWS with VPC, end-to-end security, and ISO 27001 and SOC certifications.
- CloudflarecoreContent delivery network provider. Static assets hosted on Cloudflare's premium global CDN for faster load times and increased reliability.
- StripecorePayment processing. Stripe is PCI Service Provider Level 1 certified and handles all credit card processing for subscriptions and advertising.
- WordPress (Automattic)coreYARPP (Yet Another Related Posts Plugin) developed for WordPress. Full support added by GoDaddy for WordPress users.
- Google AdWordscoreNative integration for retargeting. Smart Links technology enables pixel/track/target anyone clicking links for Google AdWords retargeting.
- Facebook Ads ManagercoreNative integration for retargeting through Facebook Ad Manager.
- Pinterest AdscoreNative integration for retargeting through Pinterest Ads.
- LinkedIn AdscoreNative integration for retargeting through LinkedIn Ads.
- Twitter AdscoreNative integration for retargeting through Twitter Ads.
Scale indicators12 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Shareaholic competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- ShareThis: ShareThis is the closest direct competitor, offering social share buttons, follow buttons, and content recommendation tools to website publishers on a similar freemium/self-serve model with comparable integrations.
- AddThis (Oracle): AddThis is Shareaholic's historical direct competitor in share buttons and content engagement; Oracle sunset the free service in 2023, which Shareaholic actively targets with migration content.
- VigLink (now Sovrn): VigLink/Sovrn monetizes publisher outbound links via affiliate programs — a near-identical model to Shareaholic's Auto Affiliatize Links product across a comparable retailer network.
Broad incumbents
- Taboola: Taboola is a large incumbent in content discovery and native advertising on publisher sites, competing head-to-head with Shareaholic's Native In-Feed Ads and Content Boosts products.
- Outbrain: Outbrain is a leading content recommendation and native advertising network for publishers, overlapping directly with Shareaholic's related-content and content-promotion offerings.
- Media.net: Media.net is a large contextual ad marketplace for publishers, competing for the same publisher monetization wallet as Shareaholic's native ad and affiliate offerings.
- Sovrn: Sovrn is a publisher monetization and analytics platform offering demand tools, affiliate (via VigLink), and reporting — comparable to Shareaholic's monetization + analytics stack at a larger scale.
Emerging players
- Ezoic: Ezoic offers AI-driven ad monetization and content recommendations for SMB publishers, overlapping with Shareaholic's Related Content and ad monetization stack on a similar self-serve basis.
- Disqus: Disqus provides engagement and audience tools for publishers including comment systems and analytics — adjacent to Shareaholic's content analytics and engagement suite.
- Bitly: Bitly is a leading URL shortener with link analytics, directly comparable to Shareaholic's Smart URL Shortener / Link Manager and an integration partner.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Shareaholic social profiles
Digital presenceShareaholic compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Shareaholic financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Shareaholic leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Shareaholic funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Shareaholic M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A3 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Shareaholic
What does Shareaholic do?
Shareaholic provides a freemium content marketing and audience engagement platform that helps website publishers and content creators grow traffic, engagement, and revenue through an integrated suite of website tools. Core offerings include one-click social share and follow buttons, content and product recommendation widgets, a content analytics dashboard, a smart branded URL shortener with retargeting, native in-feed advertising (Content Boosts), and ad monetization features (Anchor Ads, Outstream Video Ads, Native In-Feed Ads, Auto Affiliatize affiliate links), complemented by a developer API suite and the acquired YARPP WordPress plugin.
Is Shareaholic a public or private company?
Shareaholic is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Shareaholic founded?
Shareaholic was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Shareaholic based?
Shareaholic is headquartered in Cambridge, United States, in the North America region.
How does Shareaholic make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Freemium/Subscription is the primary driver. The others are native Advertising, affiliate Marketing and payment Processing.
Who are Shareaholic's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are ShareThis, AddThis (Oracle) and VigLink (now Sovrn). Broad incumbents are Taboola, Outbrain, Media.net and Sovrn. Emerging players are Ezoic, Disqus and Bitly.
Does Shareaholic have an API?
Yes. Shareaholic offers multiple APIs for developers including Share API, Follow API, Link Shortener API, QR Code API, Content & Ads Feed API, Analytics Data API, Share Count Lookup & SDK, Open Share Icon, and ID Match API. The APIs are built and run on scaled cloud infrastructure powering over 300,000+ sites, with over 10 years in production. Developer documentation is at www.shareaholic.com/developers.
What industry is Shareaholic in?
Shareaholic's product category is Content Marketing and Audience Engagement Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPACAFAF, Creator Commerce & Affiliate Monetization Platforms, with a secondary code of BPAMALAG, Influencer Marketing & Creator Marketplaces. Its NAICS code is 5418 and its SIC code is 7310.