Hamsterra vs
Hamsterra vs Hidden Gems
Both get advance review copies to readers. Hidden Gems is a managed service whose team offers the book to its own reviewer list for a per-reader fee; Hamsterra is a free self-serve ARC workspace with paid plans for higher limits. Here is how they compare on the same 16 points we use for every product.
This comparison is published by Hamsterra. Product names belong to their respective owners. No affiliation or endorsement is implied. Spotted something out of date? Send a correction.
Side by side
“Not publicly confirmed” means we could not find it on the product’s public pages; it does not mean the feature is missing.
| Point | HamsterraFree, Stash, Hoard | Hidden GemsARC programme (per reader), MAX |
|---|---|---|
| Access and pricing | ||
| Free plan for authorsWhat an author can do without paying | Free with limits 100 readers per campaign, 100 invitation emails in any 30 days, 500 MiB of files, 1 pen name. No time limit. | Not offered No free author tier for the ARC programme: each booking requires a deposit, followed by per-reader charges or the flat MAX price. Sources: E2,E4 |
| Introductory offerTrial, welcome credit or one-time free start | Not offered No trial: the Free plan has no end date. | Not publicly confirmed No trial or free first campaign is described on the official pages. Sources: E1,E2 |
| Billing modelHow paid use is charged | Free; paid for higher limits Subscription: Stash €8 a month before VAT (UK consumers: €9.60 including 20% VAT), Hoard €15 a month before VAT (UK consumers: €18 including 20% VAT). No per-book or per-reader fees. | Paid Per book: a $20 non-refundable deposit covers 1–10 readers, then $3 per reader, or a flat $400 for MAX. Billed only for readers who reserve, in steps of 5. Sources: E2,E4 |
| Product accessWho can start and how | Free Open sign-up after email verification. No book approval before publishing. | Paid Open booking of a calendar date in 16 listed genres; other genres by contact. Late details or file problems can cancel the slot. Sources: E1,E2 |
| Finding readers | ||
| Own readers and teamSending to readers the author already has | Free with limits Invitations to readers who opted in on Hamsterra, counted against the invitation limit. No import of an existing contact list. | Not publicly confirmed Not described in the published ARC offer; the FAQ presents running your own ARC team as an alternative to the service. Sources: E2 |
| Reader discovery on the platformReaching readers the author does not know yet | Free Published campaigns appear in the public ARC catalogue while eligible for listing. No paid promotion. | Paid The core of the service: the book is offered to Hidden Gems’ reviewer list in the chosen genre. According to hiddengemsbooks.com, “thousands” of readers; sign-ups are not guaranteed. Sources: E1,E2 |
| Private campaignA campaign not shown publicly | Not offered No private, link-only or invite-only campaign setting. | Not publicly confirmed Not described in the published ARC offer, which runs on Hidden Gems’ reader list. Sources: E1,E2 |
| Reader approvalWho decides which readers get a copy | Free The author approves or declines each application, manually or automatically, with an optional form. | Paid Readers reserve copies themselves in a points system; Hidden Gems may limit or remove readers. Author approval of individual readers is not described. Sources: E1,E2,E4,E7 |
| Delivery and results | ||
| Reader recordsContacts, history and export | Free with limits Contacts with consent history and tags; CSV export of eligible contacts who opted into the author’s reader list; blocked readers. No contact import or notes. | Not publicly confirmed Author-side reader records are not described in the managed offer. Reader emails are not shared; the author sees review links for the book. Sources: E2,E4,E7 |
| Delivery formatsHow readers receive the book | Free EPUB and PDF download. No browser reading, no Send to Kindle, no audiobooks. | Paid ePub and PDF, each under 10 MB. Readers download from a dashboard or email links; ePub can also be emailed or sent to Kindle. Sources: E2,E7 |
| Review trackingHow reviews are followed up | Free Readers add up to 10 review links; reminder rules. Self-reported, not checked on review sites. | Paid The author picks review sites; readers submit a review link or a reason, helped by an automatic review search. Hidden Gems sends reminders and a wrap-up email. Sources: E2,E7 |
| Private feedbackFeedback only the author sees | Free Up to 5,000 characters with any result. | Paid Readers can leave an optional private comment; the wrap-up email passes these comments to the author. Sources: E2,E7 |
| Growing a list | ||
| Reader magnetsFree books for list sign-ups | Free with limits 1 open magnet on Free; 5 or 20 on paid plans. | Not publicly confirmed Not part of the ARC programme. A paid romance newsletter promotion features free books; email collection for the author is not described. Sources: E5 |
| Group giveawaysSeveral authors sharing one giveaway | Free with limits 5 giveaways at a time on Free; on paid plans the limit follows the giveaway rating. | Not publicly confirmed No multi-author giveaway is described on the official pages read. Sources: E1,E3,E5 |
| Visible copy personalisationReader details printed in the copy | Free Each campaign copy shows the reader’s name and a Copy ID; a free-book copy shows the reader’s email. Not DRM. | Not publicly confirmed No watermark or personalised copy is described in the published ARC offer. Sources: E2 |
| Campaign analyticsNumbers about visits and results | Free with limits Last 30 days on Free; 12 months, sources and CSV export on paid plans. | Paid A wrap-up email once reviews are logged. A dashboard or other reporting is not described. Sources: E2 |
Scroll the table sideways to see both products.
Pricing and limits
Hidden Gems prices from its official pages; Hamsterra prices from our plans page. Both checked 29 October 2026.
Hamsterra
- Free
- €0
- Stash
- €8 a month or €80 a year before VAT. UK consumers: €9.60 a month or €96 a year, including 20% VAT
- Hoard
- €15 a month or €150 a year before VAT. UK consumers: €18 a month or €180 a year, including 20% VAT
- Readers per campaign
- 100 / 1,000 / 4,000
- Invitation emails in any 30 days
- 100 / 1,000 / 4,000
- Book and promo files
- 500 MiB / 5 GiB / 20 GiB
- Open reader magnets
- 1 / 5 / 20
- Pen names
- 1 / 2 / 5
Prices before VAT; VAT is added at checkout. See plans.
Hidden Gems
- Deposit (first 1–10 readers)
- $20, non-refundable
- Each further reader
- $3
- MAX (all readers who reserve)
- $400 flat
- Minimum order
- 50 readers
- Billing step
- 5 readers, rounded down
- Deposit refund
- Only if no readers sign up
Currency shown as “$”, code not stated; Canadian orders pay GST/HST. The live FAQ dates these prices to 20 September 2018. Per-reader fees are listed “up to 140” readers; MAX is a flat $400. Sources: E2,E4.
Other features
Hamsterra
- Street team campaigns next to ARC campaigns · Free
- Copy check: match a Copy ID to an issued copy; marks can be removed or lost · Free
- Public author and book pages with page designs · Free with limits
- Blocked readers list with import · Free
When each one fits
Hamsterra may fit if you
- want to run ARC campaigns yourself and approve each reader
- want reader magnets and group giveaways in the same workspace
- want to start free, with paid plans for higher limits, extended analytics and more page designs
Hidden Gems may fit if you
- want a team to find genre readers, deliver the book and send reminders
- want to pay only for readers who reserve a copy
- want Send to Kindle delivery and a wrap-up of reader comments
Key differences
- Hidden Gems is a managed service that offers the book to its own reader list; Hamsterra is a self-serve workspace where the author runs each campaign.
- Hidden Gems charges per reader who reserves a copy; Hamsterra has no per-book or per-reader fees.
- Hidden Gems readers reserve copies themselves; on Hamsterra the author approves or declines each application.
- Hidden Gems can send ePub copies to Kindle; Hamsterra delivers EPUB and PDF downloads.
- Hamsterra includes reader magnets and multi-author giveaways; neither is described in the Hidden Gems ARC programme.
Questions
Is Hidden Gems free?
No. Each ARC booking starts with a $20 non-refundable deposit covering the first 1–10 readers, then $3 per further reader, or a flat $400 for MAX. The currency code is not stated.
Does Hamsterra find readers for me?
Every published Hamsterra campaign is listed in the public ARC catalogue, where readers can apply; there is no paid promotion. The author runs the campaign and decides on each application.
How often is this page checked?
Our target review interval is 30 days for prices and 90 days for other points. The dates of the last check are at the top of the page.
Sources
- E1 · ARC Program - HiddenGemsBooks · checked 29 Oct 2026
- E2 · ARC FAQ - HiddenGemsBooks · checked 29 Oct 2026
- E3 · Hidden Gems Books home · checked 29 Oct 2026
- E4 · Terms of Service - HiddenGemsBooks · checked 29 Oct 2026
- E5 · Promotions - HiddenGemsBooks · checked 29 Oct 2026
- E6 · Beta Reader - HiddenGemsBooks · checked 29 Oct 2026
- E7 · Reader ARC FAQ - HiddenGemsBooks · checked 29 Oct 2026