## Introduction

Submittable has long been the default platform for managing submissions, applications, and awards. Founded in 2010, it built its reputation early within the literary magazine community and grew into a robust, comprehensive system that now dominates the market.

Over time, however, Submittable has shifted its focus away from the arts and toward **corporate grants, CSR programmes, social impact initiatives, and large foundations**. That shift has come at a cost: reduced flexibility, rising prices, and a move away from creator-first thinking. While the platform offers a wide range of enterprise-grade features, most are unnecessary for small-to-mid sized creative organisations—and they come with a hefty price tag. Today, Submittable is among the most expensive options available.

Put simply, if you work in the **creative industries**—arts organisations, prizes, awards, festivals, publishers, or small-to-mid sized cultural bodies—it's often no longer the right fit.

Below are **six strong alternatives to Submittable**, each with different strengths depending on your scale, budget, and priorities.

\*All data in this article is based on publicly available information and reviews for these sites as of February 2026.

## 1\. **Dapple - The Creator's Choice**

**Best for:** Modern creative organisations that want flexibility without enterprise bloat.

**Ideal users:** Creative-based calls for entry, awards, prizes, art programmes, exhibitions, fellowships, residencies, publishers and creative teams.

Dapple is a **modern, sleek alternative in a sea of legacy software**. It's built from the ground up for creative organisations—not retrofitted from corporate grants or academic admissions tools.

Where older platforms prioritise compliance and scale, Dapple prioritises **creators, reviewers, and real-world creative workflows**. The result is software that feels contemporary, flexible, and built for the creative user.

### What Sets Dapple Apart

- **Built with creatives in mind**  
  Designed around how artists, writers, photographers, and judges actually submit and review work—not how procurement teams think about forms.

- **Enterprise-grade features at accessible pricing**  
  Powerful workflows, automations, and review tools without locking creative orgs into eye-watering annual contracts.

- **Highly flexible setup**  
  Works well for:
  
  - Awards & prizes  
  - Open calls  
  - Exhibitions & showcases  
  - Editorial or publishing submissions  
  - Multi opportunity

- **Visual-first experience**  
  Image-forward layouts and clean presentation make Dapple especially strong for:
  
  - Art & photography awards  
  - Judge & reviewer experience  
  - Design competitions  
  - Image-based exhibitions and selections

- **Modern, intuitive interface**  
  No legacy UI, no clunky admin panels. Easy for submitters, reviewers, and internal teams alike.

### Things to Be Aware Of

- Not designed for **public voting** or popularity-based contests  
- Best suited to **juried, curated, or panel-led** decision-making

**Bottom line:**

If Submittable feels expensive, bloated, or no longer aligned with the creative world, Dapple offers a genuinely modern alternative—one that balances power, flexibility, and fairness without losing its soul.

## 2\. **Zealous - The Arts Awards**

**Best for:** Awards, competitions, and talent-led programmes

**Ideal users:** Creative awards, innovation prizes, talent discovery initiatives

Zealous has carved out a strong reputation in awards management, particularly in creative and innovation-led spaces. It offers polished workflows for submissions, judging, and shortlisting.

### Pros

- Strong focus on **awards and competitions**
- Robust judging tools and workflows
- A discovery platform
- Good reputation among award organisers

### Cons

- Pricing can rise quickly as you scale
- Less flexible for non-award use cases (e.g. open-ended submissions)
- Some creative orgs may find it slightly "process-heavy"

**Bottom line:**

A solid, professional choice for structured awards—but less flexible if your needs go beyond formal competitions.

## 3\. **Award Force - The Enterprise Awards**

**Best for:** Large-scale, high-volume awards

**Ideal users:** National or international awards with complex judging panels

Award Force is one of the most established players in the awards software space. It's powerful, feature-rich, and built to handle scale.

### Pros

- Robust and reliable
- Handles complex judging, scoring, and panel structures
- Trusted by major global awards

### Cons

- Expensive compared to most alternatives
- Can feel overwhelming for smaller creative organisations
- Less emphasis on creator experience
- Legacy platform with dated UI.

**Bottom line:**

Excellent for big, high-budget awards—but often overkill (and overpriced) for smaller creative teams.

## 4\. **Evalato - The European Solution**

**Best for:** Awards that prioritise feedback and scoring

**Ideal users:** EU based design, innovation, and professional competitions

Evalato positions itself around evaluation quality, structured scoring, feedback loops, and transparency in judging.

### Pros

- Strong scoring and feedback features
- Intuitive judging interface
- Good analytics and reporting

### Cons

- Less tailored to literary or arts submissions
- Customisation can be limited
- Pricing not friendly for small orgs

**Bottom line:**

A good fit for evaluation-heavy competitions, but not the most creative-industry-first platform.

## 5\. **SlideRoom - The Academic Solution**

**Best for:** Academic and portfolio-based submissions

**Ideal users:** Universities, art schools, academic programmes

SlideRoom is widely used in education and admissions, particularly where portfolios are involved.

### Pros

- Strong portfolio and media handling
- Familiar to many students and institutions
- Reliable infrastructure

### Cons

- Not designed for awards or creative publishing
- Limited flexibility outside academic contexts
- Legacy platform with dated UI
- Charge fees for each applicant.

**Bottom line:**

Useful in academic settings—but not the best choice for independent creative organisations or prizes.

## 6\. **Submit.com - The Government Solution**

**Best for:** Government bodies and public sector programmes

**Ideal users:** Councils, regulators, public agencies with strict compliance needs

Submit.com is fundamentally different from the other platforms on this list. It is built first and foremost to meet **government and public sector requirements**, with a strong emphasis on compliance, security, auditability, and risk management.

While this makes it a solid choice for highly regulated environments, it also means Submit.com is the **least suitable option for creative industries**.

### Pros

- Strong compliance and security credentials
- Designed to meet strict regulatory and governance requirements
- Reliable for formal, process-heavy application workflows

### Cons

- Not designed for creative submissions or awards
- Rigid workflows with limited flexibility
- Poor fit for visual, portfolio-based, or artistic work
- Creator and judge experience is secondary to compliance needs
- Typically over-engineered for small-to-mid creative organisations

**Bottom line:**

Submit.com excels in government and public sector contexts—but for creative organisations, its compliance-first design feels restrictive and out of step. If you're running arts awards, exhibitions, publishing submissions, or festivals, there are far better, more creator-friendly options available.

## Quick Comparison

| Platform | Built for Creative Industries | Awards & Submissions | Pricing Accessibility | Judge Experience | Visual / Media Strength | Best For |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dapple | ✅ Yes (core focus) | ✅ Yes | ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ | All arts-based submissions & awards |
| Zealous | ✅ Yes (core focus) | ✅ Yes (awards-led) | ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ | Creative & innovation awards |
| Award Force | ⚠️ Partially | ✅ Yes (enterprise) | ⭐⭐☆☆☆ | ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ | ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ | Large, global awards |
| Evalato | ⚠️ Partially | ✅ Yes | ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ | ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ | ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ | Evaluation-heavy competitions |
| SlideRoom | ⚠️ Partially | ⚠️ Limited | ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ | ⭐⭐☆☆☆ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ | Universities, art schools |
| Submit.com | ❌ No (public sector) | ⚠️ Limited | ⭐⭐☆☆☆ | ⭐⭐☆☆☆ | ⭐⭐☆☆☆ | Government & public sector programmes |

## Choosing the Right Submittable Alternative

If you're deciding between these platforms, ask yourself a few key questions:

- Are we serving **creators**, or administering corporate programmes?
- Do we value **affordability and transparency**, or enterprise scale above all else?
- Is the **submitter experience** as important as admin efficiency?

For many creative organisations, the shift away from Submittable isn't about features—it's about **values, trust, and sustainability**.

If your work lives in literature, art, culture, or creativity, choosing a platform that understands that world isn't a nice-to-have. It's essential.

"Running our awards through Dapple was one of the best decisions we made in the whole process. They helped us get set up in a couple of hours, our entrants commented on how easy the process was, we found it so easy to manage and our judges loved it! Would highly recommend."

— Kayleigh M, Awards Manager