The Best Award Force Alternative for Creative Submissions | Dapple

What's the difference?

If you're searching for an Award Force alternative, you're likely comparing awards management platforms for an upcoming competition, prize, or recognition programme.

Award Force is a well-known awards management software platform used by large organisations globally. It offers entry collection, judging tools, reporting, and security features.

But many creative organisations — particularly those running visual arts, design, photography or copy-based opportunities in publishing, literature or academia — are now looking for something more modern, more flexible, and easier to use.

That's where Dapple comes in.

Dapple is a next-generation awards management platform built specifically for creative programmes. It combines a modern UI, superior judging workflows, flexible monthly pricing, and a streamlined setup process.

If Award Force feels enterprise-heavy or outdated, Dapple offers a cleaner, more visual alternative.

Features and Interface

Dapple is built by creatives for creatives and this really shows in the features and interface. Designed with a modern, sleek UI, it's easy to use and simple to navigate.

• Beautiful, fully customisable entry forms
• Multiple rounds and workflows
• Category and subcategory analytics
• Visual-first kanban board layout for image-based entries
• Round based automations

While Award Force provides robust functionality, its UI reflects earlier-generation software design. Dapple feels current — because it is. For organisations that care about brand experience and design quality, this matters.

Entrants

The entrant journey feels modern, polished and integrated — not like a third-party portal. Here's what that looks like:

• Beautiful entry forms: Custom backgrounds, headers, and a sleek visual layout improves the whole experience.
• Easy-to-use: Drag and drop, multiple field options and smart conditional logic make it simple for entrants to complete.
• Payments: Payment baskets with secure checkout and automatic tracking.
• Draft reminders: Customise automatic email reminders that nudge unfinished entrants back to complete their submission — increasing conversion rates.
• Entrant accounts: They can view entries, download files, see payment history, upload supplementary material, and message your team directly.

The result? Higher completion rates, happier entrants, and an awards process that feels as thoughtful as the work being submitted.

Judges

As the beating heart of any awards, your judges should have the most easy-to-understand, frictionless way of reviewing entries. Dapple provides:

• Personalised: Customisable judging accounts to fit preferred workflows
• Media: Optimised for high-res image and video review
• Feedback: Clear scoring, voting and commenting with quick toggles.
• Dashboard: An overview of feedback and scores where edits are made before submitting to admin.
• Simplicity: Easy to operate with no steep learning curve

Judges value a simple, fluid experience, with a clear to-do list and overview of their previous feedback. Entrant creativity should be the focus, not software friction.

"I've used Award Force for years. Judging in Dapple is so much more user-friendly, visual and quicker to complete."

— Emily RF, Founder

Pricing

Software aimed at enterprise customers typically comes with mandatory annual contracts and highly restrictive entry-level plans. Dapple is different:

• No annual lock-ins but flexible monthly options
• A lower entry-level starting price point
• More accommodating feature access
• No onboarding fees
• Scalable plans for growing programmes

If you're a small-to-medium creative organisation, you shouldn't need an enterprise budget to run a professional awards programme. Dapple makes professional awards management accessible.

Setup

Legacy, enterprise-led software can be powerful — but with great power comes great configuration overhead. Dapple focuses on simplicity:

• Create an account for free to set up and test
• Smart form generator to build forms in seconds
• Duplicate projects in one click
• Free onboarding and setup assistance
• Minimal onboarding required

Most creative teams don't have internal IT departments. Dapple is built so that it can be set up quickly without the need for assistance. A full awards programme can be set up in a matter of hours.

Let's compare

Compare the top-level costs and features across both platforms.

*All data on this page is based on publicly available information and reviews for this software as of February 2026.