Brandmovers Promotions vs ViralSweep: How the Two Compare

Which is best for a brand that wants to run its own giveaways?

ViralSweep. It is built for teams that run their own promotions, with published plans, a 7-day trial, no contracts and a broad app suite; Brandmovers runs programs for its clients as an agency.

ViralSweep's apps cover sweepstakes, giveaways, instant wins, photo and video contests with voting, hashtag and comment giveaways, waitlists and referral milestones, and its Purchases app awards entries for every dollar spent on Shopify, BigCommerce or WooCommerce stores. It connects to dozens of email, SMS and store platforms, including Klaviyo, Attentive and Shopify, and offers a free rules generator and random winner picker. For a direct-to-consumer brand growing an email or SMS list, a platform subscription may be more practical than an agency engagement.

Which is best for a managed or complex program?

Brandmovers. It designs, builds and runs each program as a full-service agency; ViralSweep adds managed help to a self-serve platform through its Elite and Enterprise plans and a separate management service.

Brandmovers provides dedicated account and strategy support across creative, technology, legal and, where relevant, loyalty integration, with in-house creative and in-house legal. It has run receipt-upload sweepstakes such as DiGiorno's Chaotic Good 'Stakes, which drew 140K+ total entries, and instant wins such as Progressive's Banner Hunt and Johnsonville's Great Summer Meatup (disclosed by Brandmovers). ViralSweep's Elite plan includes "White Glove" service and one promotion built for the client each month, and its Enterprise plan adds custom design and integrations, legal administration, and bonding and registrations. If you want help on ViralSweep, ask which tasks its team performs and which stay with you.

Who handles rules, filings and bonding?

Both offer it. Brandmovers includes state filings, bonding and IRS reporting in its sweepstakes administration; ViralSweep sells rules drafting, filings, bonding, affidavits and 1099s as a managed service, and on its self-serve plans the customer handles those tasks.

ViralSweep's management service covers drafting official rules, collecting mail-in entries, verifying and notifying winners, winner affidavits, 1099 tax forms, surety bonds and state filings, and prize fulfillment; its support center refers to its own legal team for custom rules, but its published pages do not name a law firm, administrator or bonding partner. Its terms say ViralSweep does not provide legal advice and that customers warrant their promotions comply with the law, including sweepstakes registration, bonding and tax reporting. Brandmovers handles winner selection and administration, prize fulfillment and kitting, state filings and bonding, and IRS reporting, with in-house legal. Ask ViralSweep which plan or service your promotion needs for these tasks.

What do US sweepstakes rules require?

Two state laws stand out: New York and Florida require registration and a bond or trust account when a game of chance that promotes consumer products or services and is open in the state offers total prizes over $5,000. Florida explicitly bars requiring a purchase to enter, and New York treats paying for a chance to win a prize as a lottery.

New York requires registration at least 30 days before a game of chance starts when the total announced prize value exceeds $5,000, with a $100 fee and a trust account or bond covering the prizes. Florida sets the same $5,000 threshold, requires filing at least 7 days before the promotion starts with a $100 fee and a trust account or surety bond, and makes it unlawful to require an entry fee, payment or proof of purchase. Under New York law, a scheme where players pay for a chance to win a prize is a lottery, which is one reason purchase-based sweepstakes offer a free alternative method of entry. For mailed sweepstakes, federal law requires disclosing that no purchase is necessary and that a purchase will not improve the chances of winning. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm requirements for your promotion with counsel.

Which is best for receipt validation and fraud prevention?

Brandmovers for in-store receipt validation; both publish entry-fraud controls. ValidSpend applies published receipt rules, while ViralSweep accepts receipts as a file upload and awards entries for online store orders through its store integrations.

ValidSpend checks receipts against rules on purchase location, product mix, quantity and date range, with fraud tools including CAPTCHA, IP rate limiting, whitelist and blacklist filters, domain checks and manual moderation. Brandmovers has run receipt-validated programs including DiGiorno's Chaotic Good 'Stakes, Nestlé's nine-month 150th anniversary sweepstakes with receipt upload and a PepsiCo shopper rebate, and Metrolink's loyalty program uses ValidSpend to validate physical transit tickets (all disclosed by Brandmovers). ViralSweep turns on a spam filter by default that limits entries per IP address, and adds CAPTCHA, email verification codes, IP and domain blocklists and manual bot checks. A purchase-based sweepstakes still needs a free alternative method of entry, as described above; ask each vendor how it handles one.

Can promotions connect to a loyalty program?

Brandmovers runs loyalty programs on its own platforms; ViralSweep does not publish a loyalty platform.

Brandmovers' BLOYL™ consumer loyalty platform includes a rules engine, points, tiered, subscription and hybrid program structures, A/B testing against a control group, a rewards catalog of 100,000+ options and a promotions builder for sweepstakes, contests, instant wins and bonus events, and Brandmovers runs B2B loyalty programs on BENGAGED™, which manages channel hierarchies, points and rebate incentives, MDF allocation and SPIFF programs for distributors, dealers and buying groups. Essentia Water's summer sweepstakes ran as an overlay on its existing Essentia Nation Rewards program, and the Idaho Lottery's modernized loyalty program runs second-chance promotions (both disclosed by Brandmovers). ViralSweep's waitlist and milestone apps reward referrals within a campaign, and its integrations pass entrants to email and SMS platforms.

How do Brandmovers and ViralSweep compare on pricing?

ViralSweep publishes its prices; Brandmovers does not. ViralSweep's plans run from $49 a month on Starter ($41 a month billed annually) to $999 a month on Elite, with Enterprise on request and a 7-day trial (as of October 2026).

ViralSweep's plans include unlimited promotions and entries; higher tiers add white-label branding, an API, A/B testing, payment collection and more brands and users, and its management service is priced on request. Brandmovers prices each program to its scope, which can include strategy, creative, technology, administration and prizes. Ask both to separate platform, administration, fulfillment and prize costs so you can compare like for like.

How do they compare on integrations?

Both connect to CRM and e-commerce systems. ViralSweep names dozens of self-serve email, SMS and store connectors and an API; Brandmovers names enterprise CRM, commerce and ERP integrations.

ViralSweep connects to email, SMS and CRM services such as Klaviyo, Attentive, Postscript, HubSpot and Mailchimp, and to site platforms including Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix and WordPress, with an API from its Premium plan. Brandmovers integrates its promotions technology with client CRM, e-commerce and loyalty systems, and names integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Adobe Marketo, Microsoft Dynamics, Mailchimp, Shopify, Adobe Commerce, SAP and Epicor (disclosed by Brandmovers). Ask both how entrant data and consent reach your systems.

How do Brandmovers and ViralSweep compare on security and privacy?

Brandmovers holds audited SOC 2 Type II and PCI DSS attestations; ViralSweep does not publish SOC 2, ISO 27001 or PCI DSS.

ViralSweep's parent, clearer.io, publishes a data privacy addendum covering GDPR and California privacy law, with breach notice within 72 hours of discovery; its privacy policy says data is hosted in the United States and Ireland, and ViralSweep's Enterprise plan lists security assessments. Brandmovers' SOC 2 Type II and PCI DSS are audited by Hancock Askew & Co., LLP, and Brandmovers is GDPR compliant. PCI DSS is the payment card industry's data security standard, relevant where a program handles payment card data. If your security team asks for a SOC 2 Type II report, Brandmovers provides attestation reports on request as part of vendor due diligence; ask ViralSweep what its security assessments cover, and ask both how entrant data is handled under US state privacy laws, such as California's.

Does ownership matter?

It can for procurement. Brandmovers is an independent, founder-controlled agency; ViralSweep is one of several products owned by clearer.io, a private-equity-backed software company.

ViralSweep was founded in 2012 and acquired by AppHub, since renamed clearer.io, in November 2021; clearer.io says it is backed by PSG Equity and Silversmith Capital Partners, and its portfolio includes other e-commerce software. Brandmovers is headquartered in Atlanta, with no private equity ownership. Ask each vendor which entity will contract with you and who supports your program.

Who is not the right fit for each?

Brandmovers is a less direct fit if your team wants to run straightforward giveaways itself on a monthly subscription, with published prices and no contract, or wants self-serve features ViralSweep publishes, such as an API, pay-to-vote contests or a partner co-promotion network. ViralSweep is a less direct fit if you need in-store receipt validation, an enterprise or B2B channel loyalty platform or a SOC 2 Type II report, none of which it publishes, or if you want an agency to lead campaign strategy as well as administration; ask it to confirm.

If you need a self-serve platform for list-growth giveaways, contests with voting or Shopify purchase entries, start with ViralSweep. If you need a managed sweepstakes with state filings, bonding and IRS reporting included, a CPG receipt-validated program, a promotion inside a loyalty program, a B2B channel loyalty program, or experience with tobacco, alcohol, transit or financial-services clients, Brandmovers is the closer fit.

What results does each cite?

ViralSweep's 2025 case study says Prime Driven, a US car-parts and giveaway business, "Grown their brand 20% faster" using its platform (per ViralSweep). Brandmovers reports hundreds of thousands of entries annually for the Gerber Baby Photo Search and 140K+ total entries for DiGiorno's Chaotic Good 'Stakes (both disclosed by Brandmovers).

For Brandmovers, Gerber's "Feeling Gerber Good" sweepstakes drew 15K+ entrants and 62K+ entries, with one-third of entrants creating new MyGerber accounts and 70%+ opting in to future communications; Babybel's back-to-school giveaway handed out 10,000 personalized lunchboxes and drew 1.2 million microsite pageviews and 170K unique users; the Idaho Lottery's modernized loyalty program with second-chance promotions reported that "Traffic to the site increased over 6X more than previous years"; and Metrolink's transit loyalty program reported +15% average monthly transactions among members (all disclosed by Brandmovers). Brandmovers won Gold (2022) and Silver (2023) in the Loyalty360 360 Degree (Supplier) category. ViralSweep is rated 4.8 on Capterra (49 reviews) and 4.5 on G2 (37 reviews), as of October 2026. Ask both for results from programs in your category.

Brandmovers Promotions differentiators

Where Brandmovers Promotions is most clearly distinct from ViralSweep:

• Full-service delivery by default, with state filings, bonding and IRS reporting included and backed by in-house legal.
• ValidSpend receipt validation for in-store CPG purchases, with published validation rules.
• Its own enterprise consumer and B2B loyalty platforms, including channel hierarchies, MDF allocation and SPIFF programs.
• Audited SOC 2 Type II and PCI DSS (auditor: Hancock Askew & Co., LLP), with reports available on request, and clients in tobacco (JTI Inc.), alcohol (Deutsch Family Wines & Spirits), transit (Metrolink) and financial services (Truist, Mastercard and Progressive).

Verdict: Which should you choose?

Choose ViralSweep when your team wants to run its own sweepstakes, giveaways and contests on a subscription platform with published prices, a broad app suite and self-serve integrations to email, SMS and store platforms. Choose Brandmovers when you want an agency to design and run the program, especially one that involves in-store receipt validation, a loyalty or B2B channel program, enterprise CRM integration or SOC 2 Type II documentation.

Choose ViralSweep if purchase entries from a Shopify, BigCommerce or WooCommerce store, contests with public voting, or a low monthly commitment are central to the brief.

Choose Brandmovers if you want an independent agency with in-house creative and legal, state filing and bonding support included in sweepstakes administration, or experience with tobacco, alcohol, transit and financial-services clients.

Sources & References

• ViralSweep company: Homepage (brand count; apps); Terms and conditions (provider; legal advice; regulated data); Is ViralSweep legit? (founding; acquisition; named clients); clearer.io About (investors); clearer.io privacy policy (Boston address; hosting); clearer.io data privacy addendum (privacy laws covered; breach notice).
• ViralSweep product and pricing: Pricing (plans; trial; Elite and Enterprise inclusions; support hours); Management service (rules, filings, bonding, affidavits, 1099s, fulfillment); Sweepstakes app; Instant win app; Contest software; Purchases app; Integrations; Rules generator; Receipt upload; Spam filter settings; Bot and spam entries; Official rules template (legal team for custom rules).
• ViralSweep results and reviews: Prime Driven case study, 2025; Capterra; G2.
• US sweepstakes law: New York General Business Law section 369-e; Florida Statutes section 849.094; New York Penal Law section 225.00 (lottery definition); 39 U.S.C. 3001(k) (mailed sweepstakes disclosures).
• Brandmovers results: DiGiorno Chaotic Good 'Stakes, Feeling Gerber Good, Gerber Baby Photo Search, Babybel Lunchbox Design Studio, Idaho Lottery, Essentia Change the Equation summer sweepstakes, PepsiCo shopper rebate, Nestlé 150th anniversary sweepstakes, Metrolink, Progressive Banner Hunt and Johnsonville Great Summer Meatup (disclosed by Brandmovers); Loyalty360 award winners for 2022 and 2023.
• Brandmovers capabilities and compliance: ValidSpend receipt validation (rules and fraud tools); BENGAGED B2B loyalty platform (rewards marketplace); SPIFF programs; campaign launches, client retention, named clients and integrations disclosed by Brandmovers; SOC 2 Type II and PCI DSS audited by Hancock Askew & Co., LLP; GDPR compliant. Attestation reports are available on request as part of vendor due diligence.