Hamsterra vs
Hamsterra vs Voracious Readers Only
Both put books in front of readers the author does not know yet. Voracious Readers Only is a reader-matching service with a one-time free giveaway and paid ongoing promotion; 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 Spotted something out of date?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 | Voracious Readers OnlyFirst giveaway, Ongoing promotion |
|---|---|---|
| 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 publicly confirmed No permanent free author tier is described; the free offer is one introductory giveaway. Sources: VRO-A |
| Introductory offerTrial, welcome credit or one-time free start | Not offered No trial: the Free plan has no end date. | One-time free offer One free giveaway to 20 new readers per author, “at this time”; not repeatable for another book or genre. Acceptance depends on cover, blurb and fit. Sources: VRO-A |
| 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 Ongoing promotion “starting at just $30 USD a month”; subscriptions renew until cancelled. Included readers or books per month are not stated. Sources: VRO-A,VRO-T |
| Product accessWho can start and how | Free Open sign-up after email verification. No book approval before publishing. | Free Authors apply through a dashboard; VRO accepts or declines each book based on its cover, blurb and fit with the readership. No genre list or ISBN requirement is published. Sources: VRO-A |
| 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 Sending to readers the author already has is not described; whether VRO hosts book files is not confirmed either. Sources: VRO-A,VRO-PR |
| 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 service: VRO advertises for readers and offers books in weekly digests by sub-genre. First 20 readers free once, then from $30 USD a month; reviews not guaranteed. Sources: VRO-A,VRO-H |
| Private campaignA campaign not shown publicly | Not offered No private, link-only or invite-only campaign setting. | Not publicly confirmed Books are offered to VRO’s reader list in digests; a private or link-only mode is not described. Sources: VRO-A |
| Reader approvalWho decides which readers get a copy | Free The author approves or declines each application, manually or automatically, with an optional form. | Not publicly confirmed Readers request copies from weekly digests; whether the author can approve or decline individual readers is not stated. Sources: VRO-A |
| 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. Readers who request a copy give permission to be emailed by the author; which details are passed is not stated. Sources: VRO-A,VRO-PR |
| Delivery formatsHow readers receive the book | Free EPUB and PDF download. No browser reading, no Send to Kindle, no audiobooks. | Not publicly confirmed In the described process the author sends the copy as EPUB or PDF. Delivery by VRO itself is not confirmed. Sources: VRO-H,VRO-T |
| Review trackingHow reviews are followed up | Free Readers add up to 10 review links; reminder rules. Self-reported, not checked on review sites. | Not publicly confirmed Readers get links to review on Goodreads and Amazon; review tracking for authors is not described. Sources: VRO-A |
| Private feedbackFeedback only the author sees | Free Up to 5,000 characters with any result. | Not publicly confirmed Not described on the official pages read. Sources: VRO-A |
| 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 No reader magnet or sign-up page is described. Requesting a copy includes permission to be emailed by the author; it is not described as a newsletter subscription. Sources: VRO-A,VRO-PR |
| 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 Not described on the official pages read. Sources: VRO-A |
| 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 Not described; in the described process the file comes from the author. Sources: VRO-H |
| Campaign analyticsNumbers about visits and results | Free with limits Last 30 days on Free; 12 months, sources and CSV export on paid plans. | Not publicly confirmed Reporting for authors is not described on the public pages. Sources: VRO-A |
Scroll the table sideways to see both products.
Pricing and limits
Voracious Readers Only 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.
Voracious Readers Only
- First giveaway
- 20 new readers, free, once per author
- Ongoing promotion
- From $30 USD a month
- Included readers or books
- Not stated
- Renewal
- Until cancelled
- Refunds
- Paid fees generally non-refundable
- Payments
- Through Stripe
Prices in USD; taxes not stated. Prices are shown at checkout. Readers use VRO free. Sources: VRO-A,VRO-T,VRO-PR,VRO-P.
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
Voracious Readers Only
- Weekly digest emails that offer open titles to readers · Free for the first giveaway, then Paid
- Reader guides on writing reviews and loading ebooks on devices · Free
- Possible help with an author’s investigation of unauthorised copies · plan not stated
When each one fits
Hamsterra may fit if you
- want to run ARC campaigns yourself and approve each reader
- want delivery, review links and private feedback on the platform
- want a free plan with no end date
Voracious Readers Only may fit if you
- want a service to find new readers in your sub-genre
- want to try it once, free, with 20 readers
- want readers who request a copy to agree to be emailed by you
Key differences
- Voracious Readers Only offers books to readers on its own list in weekly digests; Hamsterra lists campaigns in a public catalogue where readers apply.
- Voracious Readers Only gives one free 20-reader giveaway, then paid promotion from $30 USD a month; Hamsterra’s Free plan has no end date.
- In the process Voracious Readers Only describes, the author sends the EPUB or PDF; Hamsterra delivers EPUB and PDF downloads itself.
- Hamsterra includes review links, reminder rules and private feedback; Voracious Readers Only does not describe these for authors.
Questions
Is Voracious Readers Only free?
For readers, yes. For authors, the first giveaway to 20 new readers is free once; ongoing promotion starts at $30 USD a month, and what it includes is not stated.
Does Hamsterra deliver the book to readers?
Yes. Approved readers download the EPUB or PDF from Hamsterra, and each campaign copy shows the reader’s name and a Copy ID. There is no Send to Kindle.
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
- VRO-A · Voracious Readers Only — Authors · checked 29 Oct 2026
- VRO-H · Voracious Readers Only (home) · checked 29 Oct 2026
- VRO-P · Reader sign-up page · checked 29 Oct 2026
- VRO-PR · Privacy Policy · checked 29 Oct 2026
- VRO-T · Terms · checked 29 Oct 2026