All ShortStack Reviews
1-25 of 144 Reviews
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Scott
Verified reviewer
Telecommunications, 51-200 employees
Used weekly for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed July 2018
Shortstack is Great
We use the platform at various tradeshows and events. It captures information of attendees and offers a clean interface.
PROSAfter using a lot of different platforms for online contests, my previous company settled on ShortStack and it was a great decision. One of the first things I did with my new company was purchase ShortStack so we can run contests.
CONSI really can't think of a con, you definitely get what you pay for.
Vendor Response
Thanks, Scott! We're blushing over here! We're so glad you're loving the ShortStack platform. Thanks again for your great feedback.
Replied July 2018
Tara
Verified reviewer
Retail, 51-200 employees
Used less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
3
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
3
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed October 2018
Great Resource, Intermediate Ease, Kind of Pricey
When I had questions they would refer me to the help section on the website which was outdated. Overall, it's a great tool if you have the money. They have multiple tiers to unlock different functionalities which was disappointing. Charge one price and give me all the things.
PROSThis was somewhat intuitive to use once you get the hang of it. You are easily able to integrate your social profiles to push out your campaign. We did photo submission contests and it worked great. Created a Giveaway section on our Facebook page and promoted it from there. Great turnout with a little Facebook promotion behind it.
CONSIt was kind of pricey for what you are getting. The software to building out your page if very technically involved so my assumption is that is what you are paying for. The overall collection of emails and assets, such as images, is fairly easy. Would probably make up for itself if you are doing a larger giveaway versus some under $100 items like we did. That way you are more likely to convert those into entries, aka emails that you can use.
Vendor Response
Hey Tara! This is super valuable feedback! Thanks so much for taking the time to let us know about those Help resources - we're always working toward making those better. And we're always looking for feedback on our pricing structure, so this is very helpful. Thanks again!
Replied October 2018
Momoko
Marketing and Advertising, 51-200 employees
Used monthly for less than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
3
EASE OF USE
3
VALUE FOR MONEY
3
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
3
Reviewed October 2019
A good basic software to create promotion
Despite having a difficult time navigating the page and not having some key needed features, ShortStack is a great platform for users to be creative and interact with the community.
PROSI like that this software has all the basic functions needed to help create online application forms for giveaways contests, e-mail sign up lists, interactive quizzes, photo contests, or surveys, with the public. I like how it has different themes to help get you started on a new idea for promotions. There's also a lot of functions to explore to customize your page.
CONSI dislike how hard it is to navigate on the site; even though there are a lot of great features, it can really overwhelm the page when they are not explained or shown properly. I had previously had to contact customer service many times in order to understand where each function is or how to use them. I also dislike how there's no function to add social media buttons such as to follow or like certain posts from Instagram or Facebook. Most of the time I want to use ShortStack to give exposure to our business instagram and Facebook page so having the functions and features to do so is important.
Vendor Response
Hi Momoko! Thank you so much for your very thoughtful feedback. We take it very seriously and use it to continue to make our platform better. Unfortunately, there isn't a way to add buttons to campaigns to like individual posts on Facebook or Instagram. You can embed specific posts in campaigns - clicking on them will direct the user to instagram where they can like the post. You can use embed code to add a Facebook Like button to a campaign, but there currently isn't a way to add a Follow button for Instagram. The best way to do this would be to link to your Instagram profile with a CTA of "Follow us on Instagram", so, when the link button is clicked, your Instagram page will open and the user will instinctually click "Follow". I hope that tip is helpful for you! We look forward to working with you more, down the road.
Replied October 2019
Andy
Verified reviewer
Marketing and Advertising, 2-10 employees
Used weekly for less than 6 months
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
3
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed November 2019
Shortstack review
Getting custom-branded landing pages and contests up is very easy. The email tool built into each contest provides us a way to layout an entire contest campaign while logged into the platform, which is a major benefit to us.
PROSShortstack offers a great drag and drog type page builder with several contest tools that allow us to run successful contests. The drag and drop type builder allows us to create very custom-branded landing pages that our clients appreciate and users love.
CONSAs you start to use the software, you quickly realize that you need to upgrade to one of the larger plans to access the features that make the software attractive for most contests. We have the $199 agency option, which is relatively high considering our CRM costs about half that per month. After 12 months we will evaluate whether the monthly cost for the service is worth it.
Vendor Response
Thank you, Andy! We love that you're lovin' ShortStack and appreciate your feedback about our pricing. Thanks again!
Replied November 2019
Anonymous
51-200 employees
Used more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed July 2018
Plug & Play - Mostly. Enjoyed the Features
I used Shortstack multiple times to run contests around email collection and was pleased with the results. It was easy to implement and after a few rough starts, was fairly easy to construct a campaign.
PROSAfter creating everything at Shortstack, it was really easy to implement on my side. I implemented a campaign on both Magento and Shopify with absolutely no problem. It worked well the entire time it was live.
CONSGetting started for the first time was a little complicated/confusing. I wasn't sure what to do and had to restart my project a few times after not being sure what I was doing. After I figured it out though, no problem.
Vendor Response
Thanks so much! We really appreciate your stellar review.
Replied July 2018
Mostafa
Animation, 1 employee
Used weekly for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
3
EASE OF USE
3
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed October 2023
I really liked my ShortStack experience
hortStack is a versatile marketing platform that specializes in creating and managing interactive campaigns, contests and landing pages for businesses and organizations. Here are some key points about ShortStack: 1.
CONSVersatile, specializing in creating and managing interactive campaigns and contests
Scott
Verified reviewer
Marketing and Advertising, 2-10 employees
Used monthly for less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed January 2019
The software works great, your target audience may not
So far, it's been great. Customer service was excellent both before and after I made my purchase. Software works wonderfully. I would recommend their service with the proviso that you need to target a responsive audience.
PROSEasy to put together a promo, lots of templates to choose from, lots of different types of promotions to run
CONSIt's not the software - it's the audience that can be problematic. I've run 3 different refer-a-friend promos. One was pretty good, one was so-so, and one went downright terrible. Again, the software worked flawlessly! It was the audiences that really determined how things worked. You need to start out with a large initial email list, or a large reach with an extremely targeted message to get the audience you want to respond.
Vendor Response
Wow! Thanks so much, Scott! We're so glad ShortStack has worked well for you (functionally speaking). If you ever need advice or questions about best practices, it wouldn't hurt to give us a shout (theteam@shortstacklab.com). Thanks again!
Replied January 2019
Emily
Verified reviewer
Hospitality, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used less than 6 months
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed September 2020
Quick set-up and top-notch customer service!
Customer service was top-notch, especially during a time when many companies had to scale back personnel due to the pandemic. I received quick responses to my questions and a personalized walk-through of the software tailored to our time-sensitive needs.
PROSThe software was easy to work with and allowed for the high level of branded customization that we needed.
CONSOur needs were specific to one campaign which has ended. I wish I could revert to the free trial without losing all of the data related to our campaign. We may choose to upgrade again in the future, but do not need ongoing paid access.
Reason for choosing ShortStack
Shortstack provided the level of customization we needed as well as the ability to set our campaign up for social media submission and form submissions with photos.
Vendor Response
Thank you for this amazing review, Emily! I'm so glad our support team was there for you when you needed them. We hope to work with you again!
Replied September 2020
Rebecca
Verified reviewer
Health, Wellness and Fitness, 2-10 employees
Used monthly for less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed July 2018
Landline Pages Made Easy
I’ve had had really good experience with short stack so far, and I don’t know anything about computers or programming or making pages… It is a little overwhelming at first, but after playing around with it for a bit it gets super easy and you can save your templates
PROSThis has a great visual interface making it super easy to do basic coding and create your own landing pages and giveaway pages and ability to export the list if you upgrade
CONSWhat I like least about this software is the fact that they do not have a phone support for customer service and I had to email people whenever I have a question, but at least they respond very quickly!
Vendor Response
Hey Rebecca! Thank you so much for this amazing review! We truly appreciate your feedback. I wanted to drop a line here to let you know that we have recently implemented live-chat to help with all of your support needs. : ) Hopefully, that's a bit easier than emailing back and forth. Looking forward to working with you down the road! Thanks again.
Replied July 2018
Paul
Verified reviewer
Wholesale, 1 employee
Used monthly for less than 6 months
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed February 2019
Be lazy and look good doing it
This program is cooler than a well-diggers butt. These contest and sign-up pages come out looking like a someone who knows what they are doing developed them. If you have a client that wants email addresses, this is how you get them.
PROSThe template system makes it so easy to wait to the last minute to do stuff. I can get a contest page set up in 30 minutes, then take it to my bosses and tell them with a straight face that it took 8 hours. The page looks and performs so good that no one blinks an eye. One time they actually applauded.
CONSWhen you upload images you have to do the sizing blind. Make it so the uploader suggests the optimally sized image (either pixel size or aspect ratio). Not knowing the best size made things even tougher when it came to making sure everything looked good on mobile too.
Vendor Response
Paul! This is the best. I'm so glad ShortStack helps you free-up your day, while getting you a round of applause from the higher-ups. We love your feedback about the image sizing. I'm throwing that out to the team to see how we can make it more user friendly. In the meantime, reach out to us in support and we'll send you our sizing guide with image recommendations. Your review totally made our day! Thanks again.
Replied February 2019
Kate
Business Supplies and Equipment, 51-200 employees
Used monthly for less than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
3
Reviewed July 2018
Stacks up to the hype
We have been using shortstack platform to create promotional competitions for seasonal campaigns which in turn has increased our sales during these times. Overall it’s a great tool and allows businesses like ours to not pay more for pricey developers we can do this ourselves for minimal cost but great results.
PROSEase of use, If you have some coding experience and can learn quickly this platform can be easy to implement once you get the hang of it. I could also adapt to suit my needs by adding unique code. Any questions I had were quickly and expertly answered by the support team. The framework of the design was easy to work with and design our own backgrounds and elements for also which made the end result presentation much more professional looking.
CONSIt can take a while to get the hang of the platform particularly if you are using sporadically. It would also be good to have the platform save all your data inputted without deleting if you don’t have monthly subscription - this would work better for us for seasonal campaigns as we only use 2 or 3 months but have to pay for 12 to make sure our data not deleted. The data tools also could be more refined ie it would be good to know which people clicked on which element within the design I don’t think this is possible atm from what I have seen.
Vendor Response
Thanks so much for your thoughtful review! I wanted to let you know about our option to pause your account. You can pause an account for up to 90 days, during which time, you won't be charged the monthly subscription fee. It's a way to keep the data in your account without having to pay for the full 12 months. I hope that helps you out! If you have any more questions, we can be reached at theteam@shortstacklab.com.
Replied July 2018
Betsy
Public Relations and Communications, 1 employee
Used monthly for less than 6 months
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed December 2020
Social Media Contest Launch for NonProfit
Great. I would highly recommend.
PROSI planned a series of social media photo contests for my client, Greenwich Botanical Center, to help create engagement during the COVID shut down of their programs and events. We held two photo contests 1) Hydrangea Envy and 2) Dazzling Dahlias and both were well received and increase overall engagement in our social media and web visits. Shortstack was very easy to use without extensive software knowledge in this space other than creating simple websites. It was easy to use and there was ALWAYS customer support at my beck and call. Every time I had a question...someone ws right there to guide me and put me back on track. on the higher priced subscription.The interface with our social media accounts was also a breeze for voting on FB and sharing. I still have the subscription and now want to do regular contests for all of my clients.
CONSMy only issues were that someone with an IT background used software to hack the voting and gave themselves over 4000 votes by appearing as unique IP addresses for each vote. My other issue was I found it hard to really. be creative in the initial design of the landing page...but that being said it always looked beautiful for my client and looked professional. I did not ask for more assistance to go to the next design level ann maybe that is also available at a higher subscription rate...I did not look.
Vendor Response
Thank you, Betsy! It sounds like your overall ShortStack experience was a good one! But sorry you had to deal with a cheater. That is never fun. We have a few resources on our blog that may help you combat cheating in the future. If you head to our blog (https://www.shortstack.com/blog/), in the search bar type in "cheating" and you'll see a whole list of articles. Thanks again for your feedback!
Replied December 2020
Anonymous
11-50 employees
Used weekly for less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
3
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed April 2019
Great software for a space with very limited options
Overall experience with ShortStack has been great. In a nutshell, the ability to fully customize your campaign to how you like - matching your brand identity, and prevention of looking like complete spam - has been easier and more robust than other platforms I have tested such as KingSumo for example.
PROSGenerally speaking, the software is easy to use. Setting up a campaign, connecting an optional autoresponder is quick and painless. Exporting the data collected from entrants and selecting custom fields for forms are some of the most liked features across the board here. It is also nice to have the option to publish as a standalone landing page, or on your site - a feature we haven't found much success with on other platforms.
CONSThe design features are clunky and difficult to use unless you have a skilled designer who also knows how to code.
Vendor Response
Thanks so much! We're glad ShortStack is working well for you.
Replied April 2019
jared
Health, Wellness and Fitness, 11-50 employees
Used more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
3
EASE OF USE
3
VALUE FOR MONEY
3
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
3
FUNCTIONALITY
3
Reviewed July 2018
review
it works well when we use it, we do not use it monthly and the monthly service charge is why we will be discontinuing your services
PROSthis is a good product that is easy to use
CONSthe monthly service charge requires us to pay for a service every month when it does not get used monthly
Vendor Response
Hi Jared! Thank you so much for your feedback! I'm so happy you find ShortStack easy to use. I also wanted to mention that we offer the option to pause your account, for up to 90 days, so you don't have to delete it and start from scratch down the road. If you have questions about pausing an account, feel free to email us at theteam@shortstacklab.com Thanks again!
Replied July 2018
Lily
Real Estate, 501-1,000 employees
Used weekly for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed April 2019
Used it for years
An easy, affordable solution.
PROSEasy WYSIWYG designer. I use mostly for simple splash pages, some social contests. Have not explored the full functionality for a while, but I know there is lots more.
CONSNot really loving the new design, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Everyone grumbles about change.
Vendor Response
Thanks for this great review, Lily! If you need any help navigating the platform, we're always happy to help. Just send an email to theteam@shortstacklab.com. Thanks again!
Replied April 2019
Abner
Marketing and Advertising, 11-50 employees
Used less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed June 2020
Love this product!
I loved it so far! There is a learning curve but overall its pretty good.
PROSIt gets updated every time I use it, so it keeps getting better.
CONSInstagram post-filters is a nightmare, sometimes I just want to select certain posts to display during my campaign and not have them update dynamically on the lP
Reason for choosing ShortStack
At the time, price, and features. Now its more money but we are locked into the 30 dollar plan. Now it's too expensive and not worth it in my opinion unless used for serious things.
Vendor Response
Hi Abner! Thanks for this great review. For your Instagram posts, you can use the Approval feature in the Entries Manager to control which posts are seen in your live campaign. Reach out to us at theteam@shortstacklab.com for more info. Thank again!
Replied July 2020
George
Retail, 11-50 employees
Used daily for less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed March 2020
Perfect
I love how easy it is to customize our landing pages and then publish them. I also love the hashtag aggregator
CONSThe only issue is that it took my team a little bit to learn all the customization options
Vendor Response
Wow! Thank you so much for this 10/10 review!
Replied March 2020
Erin
Hospitality, 11-50 employees
Used less than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
4
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed August 2019
Great Product & User Friendly
I have enjoyed the few campaigns I have created. It was fun to play around with and easy to make.
PROSShortStack is very each to use, even for a first-timer. Most of the software is intuitive and also easy to navigate.
CONSSome of the functionality can seem overwhelming during your first try. It also doesn't seem very intuitive on where to download your collected emails.
Vendor Response
Thanks for your feedback, Erin! We're really glad you found the platform intuitive and easy to navigate.
Replied August 2019
Jessica
Retail, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used monthly for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed February 2019
Amazing social software!
We've used Shortstack for several years to run social contest and it's great! We enjoy the ability to have an advent calendar giveaway at Christmas, collect leads, run photo contests and endless other possibilities. Data files are easy to export and the ability to have a auto response email to submissions is great! Customer service is great any time we've encountered an issue or question.
CONSThere are some limitations what you can do with templates if you don't know CSS or have a person for that on your team.
Vendor Response
Wow! Thanks for the stellar review, Jessica!
Replied February 2019
Dan
Non-Profit Organization Management, 2-10 employees
Used weekly for less than 6 months
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed August 2021
Pretty robust and video tutorials help a lot
Overall, ShortStack did the job I needed it to do and I found that it had the features I needed compared to some of its competitors.
PROSThere are lots of options for the contest types which makes finding a contest that fits your needs easy enough to do. There are a few ways to execute your contest, too, so pretty flexible.
CONSSome instructions are not quite thorough enough so sometimes when you're trying to edit a template or make an adjustment... you have to dig for instructions or information to figure out what to do. I had to reach out to support a few times to figure things out.
Vendor Response
Dan, thank you for your great review! We know the customization of our platform can be overwhelming, but we are happy to hear you utilize the Support Team and our video tutorials. As a reminder, we also have a free, step-by-step guide called ShortStack University (SSU) found here: https://ssu.shortstack.com/.
Replied August 2021
Anonymous
11-50 employees
Used monthly for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
2
FUNCTIONALITY
3
Reviewed June 2018
Overall good. Easy to use and implement campaigns.
Shortstack makes it easy to set up campaigns and lists. There are a lot of templates to choose from. Integrates seamlessly with Facebook. Easy to export lists (entries).
CONSCustomer support - they only offer chat support with no number to call. Hard to use when you don't know how to explain what you are looking to do with a campaign.
Vendor Response
Thanks for leaving us a review! We appreciate the compliments. If you ever have ideas you need to talk through, please get in touch with us via our demo page and you can schedule a time to talk with our team: https://www.shortstack.com/demos/
Replied June 2018
Mitch
Marketing and Advertising, 501-1,000 employees
Used monthly for less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
3
VALUE FOR MONEY
3
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
3
FUNCTIONALITY
2
Reviewed July 2018
Shortstack review
My overall experience with ShortStack has been positive. We have executed several online contests with voting as the winning metric. The interface was easy to use and allowed winners to be chosen quickly. I also like the way the campaign renders on various devices.
PROSIt was easy to figure out how to manipulate the forms. User interface is intuitive. The pre-made templates help to create a functional campaign quickly. I like the voting and the choose a random winner features.
CONSI use it mainly for social media contests and it would be nice to have more variety in the choice of templates or perhaps more customization features.
Vendor Response
Hey Mitch! Thank you so much for your feedback and your stellar review! If you're looking to customize something specific when setting up a template, please reach out to us at theteam@shortstacklab.com. We'll do our best to help you get things set up the way you'd like.
Replied July 2018
Bryan
Civic & Social Organization, 11-50 employees
Used daily for less than 6 months
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
3
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed April 2022
Good solution
Elegant and capable product
PROSGood support on line and from executives
CONSThere is a learning curve which had to be navigated
Vendor Response
Thank you Bryan for your review. To help new users navigate and learn our platform we have several resources available with youtube videos, help docs, blog articles, and support staff. Our most in-depth resource is ShortStack University which can be found here: https://www.shortstack.com/ssu/.
Replied April 2022
Kaajal
Entertainment, 2-10 employees
Used monthly for less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed March 2020
Great platform to increase engagement with fans!
Overall great experience!
PROSI love the design capabilities and how easy it is to analyze, review, and export data. ShortStack makes contesting easy and engaging.
CONSThe widgets are sometimes a bit confusing to use. Generally, the simple ones are easy to navigate but I wish there were a few more concise articles that are geared towards different types of widget usage.
Reason for choosing ShortStack
Pricing limits some capabilities with our clients so we generally stick to Mailchimp for free simple landing pages since widgets are more complicated on ShortStack.
Vendor Response
Thank you, Kaajal! We truly value your feedback! We're continually updating our Help documentation and tutorial videos, and will take this suggestion to heart. Thanks again!
Replied March 2020
Emily
Health, Wellness and Fitness, 51-200 employees
Used monthly for less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed July 2018
Loved using Short Stack for a promotion
The software was mostly easy to use, although it took a few tries at first. Support was always super helpful and quick to answer the questions I had. I was super happy with the way the page looked at the end, although I had to have our designer and web manager help a few times to figure out a few bugs. Overall the page we made was successful and helped us easily collect the info we were hoping for.
CONSIt was not that easy to use if you don't have an idea of basic coding. I'm a marketer and had to get some outside help a few times to have spacing and color on the page the way I wanted. I could fumble through some of it, but had a ton of questions. I wish that it was a bit easier to use.