PromoSimple
PromoSimple is a self-serve SaaS platform for creating and managing online giveaways, contests, and sweepstakes. Founded in 2011 in Boston, the platform serves SMBs, agencies, and brands with native integrations to email and social tools for audience and list growth.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersBoston, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What PromoSimple does
PromoSimple operates a self-serve SaaS platform that enables businesses to create, launch, and manage online giveaways, contests, and sweepstakes. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Boston, the company serves a horizontal customer base spanning small businesses and startups, marketing agencies and brands, and individual content creators and influencers. The platform is positioned for non-technical users to launch promotional campaigns in under 60 seconds, with the stated business purpose of helping customers grow mailing lists and social media followings through viral engagement mechanics. Notable named users include Shopify, Yelp, Kissmetrics, 99design, Swisse, and I Love Free Concerts, though these logos are listed as 'trusted by' references rather than disclosed paying enterprise accounts.
The platform is built as a cloud-based SaaS with a WYSIWYG editor, real-time analytics and reporting infrastructure, and embeddable entry forms deployable across customer websites, WordPress instances, and Facebook pages. PromoSimple maintains native integrations with four major email service providers (MailChimp, Constant Contact, Campaign Monitor, Mad Mimi) for automatic list building, and with all four major social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram) for social-as-entry mechanics. Additional features include a viral 'Refer A Friend' module that awards extra contest entries for referred signups, an automated official rules generator, custom field capture, age and location restrictions, Google Analytics integration, CSV data export, mobile-responsive layouts, and white-label customization for agency clients. PromoSimple does not publicly disclose any mobile applications, public APIs, or AI/ML capabilities, and has no disclosed patents, trademarks, or regulatory certifications.
The company operates a subscription SaaS model with multiple pricing tiers addressing SMB and agency/brand buyers, though specific price points are not publicly disclosed in the source material. Go-to-market is fully product-led: customers self-register through the website (via email or Facebook login), create campaigns, and manage them independently without sales interaction. Marketing relies on a content blog, a public Giveaways Directory, the Giveaways Network community, and viral in-product referral mechanics. The company lists Nick Owsley as co-founder, operates with a headcount of 1-10, has not disclosed any external funding rounds, and its legal entity is PromoSimple, Inc. The firm maintains no disclosed parent company, board, or institutional investors based on available information, consistent with a bootstrapped, founder-operated small business.
PromoSimple firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- PromoSimple
- Legal name
- PromoSimple, Inc.
- Website
- https://PromoSimple.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- PromoSimple is a self-serve SaaS platform for creating and managing online giveaways, contests, and sweepstakes. Founded in 2011 in Boston, the platform serves SMBs, agencies, and brands with native integrations to email and social tools for audience and list growth.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where PromoSimple is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
PromoSimple business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription: PromoSimple operates as a subscription-based SaaS platform with multiple pricing tiers. The platform offers Plans & Pricing with different feature levels, supporting both individual/small business users and agencies/brands requiring advanced customization capabilities.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
PromoSimple product offering
Product offeringCore offering
PromoSimple is a self-serve SaaS platform that enables businesses, agencies, and individuals to create, customize, and run online giveaways, sweepstakes, and contests in under 60 seconds. It bundles a WYSIWYG form builder, real-time analytics, embeddable entry widgets, native integrations with Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/Instagram and MailChimp/Constant Contact/Campaign Monitor/Mad Mimi, and a Refer-A-Friend viral growth engine into a single subscription product used to grow mailing lists and social followings.
Product overview
PromoSimple is a single unified SaaS product — an online giveaway and contest creation platform. It provides a single core product that allows users to create, customize, and manage promotional giveaways, contests, and sweepstakes. The platform integrates social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram) and major email service providers (Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, Constant Contact, Mad Mimi) to automatically sync entrant data. Users can create campaigns in minutes, customize entry forms with colors and themes, embed campaigns on websites and Facebook pages, and access real-time analytics.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- PromoSimple Cloud-based self-serve SaaS platform that lets businesses, agencies, and individuals create, customize, and run online giveaways, sweepstakes, and contests in under 60 seconds. Includes a WYSIWYG editor, real-time analytics and CSV export, embeddable mobile-responsive entry forms, native integrations with major email service providers and social networks, automated Official Rules generation, custom field capture, age/location restrictions, and a Refer-A-Friend viral loop to grow mailing lists and social followings.
- Facebook Sweepstakes PromoSimple capability for running sweepstakes and contests on Facebook, with Facebook login as an entry method, Facebook Like as an entry action, and the ability to embed entry forms directly on Facebook pages.
- Twitter Sweepstakes PromoSimple capability that enables running sweepstakes with Twitter login/follow as required or optional entry actions, plus referrals distributed via Twitter unique URLs.
- Pinterest Contests PromoSimple capability that adds Pinterest follow or pin actions as contest entry methods, with Pinterest contests surfaced as a dedicated product offering.
- Instagram Contests PromoSimple capability that adds Instagram Follow as an entry action for contests, delivered as a dedicated product offering alongside Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest sweepstakes.
- Refer A Friend Sweepstakes PromoSimple capability that awards users extra entries when their friends enter the promotion through their unique referral URL via Facebook, Twitter, and other channels, creating viral referral loops.
Companies that use PromoSimple
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
PromoSimple technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration8 records
Feature7 records
PromoSimple partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- MailChimpcoreNative integration with MailChimp enabling automatic subscription of contest entrants to MailChimp lists. Entrant details sync instantly to email marketing account.
- Constant ContactcoreNative integration with Constant Contact enabling automatic subscription of contest entrants to Constant Contact lists. Entrant details sync instantly to email marketing account.
- Campaign MonitorcoreNative integration with Campaign Monitor enabling automatic subscription of contest entrants to Campaign Monitor lists. Entrant details sync instantly to email marketing account.
- Mad MimicoreNative integration with Mad Mimi enabling automatic subscription of contest entrants to Mad Mimi lists. Entrant details sync instantly to email marketing account.
- FacebookcoreFacebook integration allows Facebook login/signup for contest entries, Facebook Like as entry action, and ability to run promotions on Facebook pages with embedded entry forms.
- TwittercoreTwitter integration allows Twitter login/signup for contest entries, Twitter Follow as entry action, and sharing promotions via Twitter. Referrals can come through Twitter links.
- PinterestcorePinterest integration allows Pinterest as an entry method where users can follow Pinterest accounts as contest entry action. Pinterest Contests page is listed as a specific product offering.
- InstagramcoreInstagram integration allows Instagram Follow as entry action for contests. Instagram Contests page is listed as a specific product offering alongside Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter sweepstakes.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights3 records
PromoSimple competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Gleam.io: Gleam is the leading direct competitor in the giveaway/contest SaaS category. It offers highly similar functionality — viral entry actions, email capture, social integrations, and embeddable campaigns — and is widely considered the category leader that PromoSimple competes against for SMB marketing dollars.
- Woobox: Woobox is a direct competitor offering social media promotions, contests, sweepstakes, and instant-win games for brands and agencies. It targets the same Brands & Agencies segment with comparable features around custom field capture, entry actions, and social platform integrations.
- ShortStack: ShortStack is a direct competitor focused on interactive campaigns, contests, and giveaways for brands and agencies. It offers similar template-based campaign builders, social entry mechanics, and white-label options for the same customer segments PromoSimple serves.
- Vyper: Vyper is a direct competitor specializing in viral giveaways and contests with referral mechanics very similar to PromoSimple's 'Refer A Friend' feature. It targets the same SMB and ecommerce customer base with a comparable self-serve PLG model.
- KickoffLabs: KickoffLabs is a direct competitor in the referral-giveaway and viral campaign SaaS space. It emphasizes landing page builders tied to giveaway mechanics, overlapping significantly with PromoSimple's contest-creation and viral-growth value proposition.
- Rafflecopter: Rafflecopter is a direct historical competitor in the giveaway/contest SaaS category, serving bloggers and small brands. Despite reduced market presence, it is frequently listed alongside PromoSimple as an alternative for the same use cases.
- Wishpond: Wishpond is a broader marketing platform that includes contests and giveaways as one of its core offerings, alongside landing pages and email. It overlaps with PromoSimple in the contest functionality but bundles additional features, making it a competitive alternative for SMBs seeking an all-in-one tool.
Broad incumbents
- HubSpot Marketing Hub: HubSpot is a broad incumbent marketing automation platform whose ecosystem touches the same workflow (list growth, lead capture, email marketing) that PromoSimple serves. As a much larger player, it competes indirectly by absorbing lightweight promotional campaign use cases into its broader suite.
- Mailchimp: Mailchimp is both a partner (via PromoSimple's native integration) and a broad incumbent that bundles email capture, landing pages, and basic marketing automation. It represents both a distribution channel for PromoSimple and a potential substitute for the simplest use cases.
Regional players
- Sweepstakes.com: Sweepstakes.com operates a sweepstakes and contest aggregation/directory model, overlapping thematically with PromoSimple's Giveaways Directory and Giveaways Network content properties. It serves as an adjacent participant in the same promotional campaign ecosystem rather than a direct SaaS competitor.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
PromoSimple social profiles
Digital presencePromoSimple financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
PromoSimple leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
PromoSimple funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
PromoSimple M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about PromoSimple
What does PromoSimple do?
PromoSimple is a self-serve SaaS platform that enables businesses, agencies, and individuals to create, customize, and run online giveaways, sweepstakes, and contests in under 60 seconds. It bundles a WYSIWYG form builder, real-time analytics, embeddable entry widgets, native integrations with Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/Instagram and MailChimp/Constant Contact/Campaign Monitor/Mad Mimi, and a Refer-A-Friend viral growth engine into a single subscription product used to grow mailing lists and social followings.
Is PromoSimple a public or private company?
PromoSimple is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was PromoSimple founded?
PromoSimple was founded in 2011. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is PromoSimple based?
PromoSimple is headquartered in Boston, United States, in the North America region.
How does PromoSimple make money?
One revenue line is on record: saaS Subscription.
Who are PromoSimple's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Gleam.io, Woobox, ShortStack, Vyper, KickoffLabs, Rafflecopter and Wishpond. Broad incumbents are HubSpot Marketing Hub and Mailchimp. Sweepstakes.com is listed as a regional player.
Does PromoSimple have an API?
No public API is recorded for PromoSimple.