# Compare OpenWater vs Judgify 2026 | Capterra

> Unsure of what to choose? Check Capterra to compare OpenWater and Judgify based on pricing, features, product details, and verified reviews.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/compare/140294-160569/OpenWater-Awards-vs-Judgify

---

# OpenWater vs Judgify Features and Cost Comparison

Last updated March 13th, 2026

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews  
moderated by our Reviews Verification team.[Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/)

Your comparison:

OpenWaterJudgify2/4 selected

[OpenWater](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/)[4.6 (73)](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/reviews/)

[Judgify](https://www.capterra.com/p/160569/Judgify/)[4.2 (29)](https://www.capterra.com/p/160569/Judgify/reviews/)

[## OpenWater](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/)[4.6 (73)](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/reviews/)

Starting Price

$5100.00/year

Value-for-Money

4.3

Functionality

4.2

Ease of Use

4.2

Customer Service

4.9

Reviews Sentiment

LM

Based on [73 reviews](#user-reviews)

Positive

70

Neutral

2

Negative

1

[## Judgify](https://www.capterra.com/p/160569/Judgify/)[4.2 (29)](https://www.capterra.com/p/160569/Judgify/reviews/)

Starting Price

$500.00one time

Value-for-Money

4.2

Functionality

4

Ease of Use

3.8

Customer Service

4.6

Reviews Sentiment

IO

IO

TB

Based on [29 reviews](#user-reviews)

Positive

22

Neutral

6

Negative

1

## Summary

* * *

Features in Contest Software

Best performer

39 / 48

Only OpenWater

-   Access Controls/Permissions
-   Activity Dashboard
-   Alerts/Notifications

10 / 48

User satisfaction

User satisfaction

4.6

User reviews[73](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/reviews/)

Ease of use

4.2

Functionality

4.2

Value for money

4.3

Customer support

4.9

User satisfaction

4.2

User reviews[29](https://www.capterra.com/p/160569/Judgify/reviews/)

Ease of use

3.8

Functionality

4.0

Value for money

4.2

Customer support

4.6

Price starts from

Price starts from

$5100Per Year

-   Free version
-   Free trial

Price starts from

$500Per User, One Time

-   Free version
-   Free trial

Best for

Best for

Associations, Societies, Foundations, Higher Ed, Non-Profit Organizations

Best for

event awards owners, marketing and PR specialists, HR managers, Education and Healthcare profs

## User reviews

Pros & cons

LM

Luis M.

Senior Program Coordinator

> "Thanks to its various features, we've been able to adapt our processes to be more effective as the number of sessions received..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6883435)

JK

Jenna K.

Education Systems Program Specialist

> "Also, this is probably our biggest issue, but only one person can own and fill out a form— others can't log in to complete their..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___7036054)

CK

Christina K.

Editorial Director

> "Finally, the winners' entry materials are used to create feature stories in our magazine, so we have everything we need for our..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6288558)

AR

Amanda R.

Education Administrator

> "To keep emails from being sent to the same people multiple times, we have to go in and individually mark that each presenter has..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6879440)

LM

Luis M.

Senior Program Coordinator

> "Thanks to its judging process, we can incorporate +70 experts who review more than 1800+ session proposals."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6883435)

LH

Lawrence H.

Coordinator

> "While the system provides a great tool to manage these programs, the price increase for the service isn't matching additional..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6877409)

CL

Chantelle L.

Internship and Work Study Coordinator

> "OpenWater has allowed our organization to streamline every one of our programs and application processes."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___7011770)

TB

Tammy B.

Event Program Manager

> "The interface and moving around inside the product is still a bit clunky. Once you know where to look, all the features are there,..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6877392)

PS

Paige S.

Membership Manager

> "The judging portal also works very well for our evaluators and the entire platform is very customizable."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6877341)

JK

Jenna K.

Education Systems Program Specialist

> "We've been told that this is just the way it is... But we keep getting complaints about it because it makes our reviewers' jobs..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___7036054)

JK

Jenna K.

Education Systems Program Specialist

> "This is a huge benefit to us as when there are bugs or we need help with something quickly, they are right on it!"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___7036054)

LM

Luis M.

Senior Program Coordinator

> "At times, it can be quite challenging to view all the data points of your program easily."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6883435)

LM

Luis M.

Senior Program Coordinator

> "As for value for money, OW is flexible regarding the number of programs you can use simultaneously and does not charge for..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6883435)

HN

Holly N.

Project Coordinator

> "Sometimes our members have problems logging into OpenWater, even though we use a single sign on that should be tied to our..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6293778)

JK

Jenna K.

Education Systems Program Specialist

> "OpenWater has great customer service and quick response times."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___7036054)

JK

Jenna K.

Education Systems Program Specialist

> "Just looks outdated and is not always very user friendly)."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___7036054)

CK

Christina K.

Editorial Director

> "Then it is easy for the entrants to navigate as they enter our program and the judges to use as they remotely judge our entries."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6288558)

BT

Brandi T.

Undergraduate Research and Training Programs Manager

> "I end up not using the website for my event because aesthetically it is not appealing."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6304206)

LM

Luis M.

Senior Program Coordinator

> "My plan is to keep using OpenWater in the near future and I am always excited about the new features they are rolling out."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6883435)

AR

Amanda R.

Education Administrator

> "It causes problems every year."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6879440)

CL

Chantelle L.

Internship and Work Study Coordinator

> "It's felt very much like a collaborative process as my coworkers and I learn to use the platform."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___7011770)

CB

Cyndie B.

Advertising Lecturer

> "There could be changes to uncomplicate the process, but I honestly don't know how to do it."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6293934)

JM

Jenni M.

Executive Director

> "The submissions are especially easy and most studios thank us for using open water."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6877645)

DR

Douglas R.

Professor

> "It slowed me down, was cumbersome and had no option to get a printout of the application to review off line."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#SoftwareAdvice___6217444)

LS

Linzee S.

Communications Project Manager

> "judgment rounds were nice since each entry need to be reviewed by multiple people."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6280206)

RT

Robyn T.

Senior Director

> "Not intuitive, the learning curve is steep."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6284147)

AR

Amanda R.

Education Administrator

> "The customer service is top-notch. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6879440)

BT

Brandi T.

Undergraduate Research and Training Programs Manager

> "It is not an intuitive platform. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6304206)

BT

Brandi T.

Undergraduate Research and Training Programs Manager

> "Overall I have been satisfied with the excellent technical support I received during the height of my event planning and..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___6304206)

MF

Michelle F.

Associate Advertising Manager

> "The interface and customization tools can be a little confusing at first."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#Capterra___2969231)

[View Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/reviews/)

IO

Irene O.

Chief Executive Officer

> "What I liked most about Judgify was its user-friendly interface and the robust features it offers for..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/160569/Judgify/#Capterra___6426748)

AY

Ammin Y.

ceo

> "The interface for payment is 100% counterintuitive."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/160569/Judgify/#Capterra___2733500)

[View Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/160569/Judgify/reviews/)

## User interface

4.56 (73)

[Judgify](https://www.capterra.com/p/160569/Judgify/)

4.21 (29)

### Features

OpenWater

Top features

39/48

-   Access Controls/Permissions
-   Activity Dashboard
-   Activity Tracking
-   AI Copilot
-   Alerts/Notifications
-   API
-   Awards Management
-   Blind Judging
-   Categorization/Grouping
-   Commenting/Notes
-   Contact Management
-   CRM
-   Customizable Branding
-   Customizable Fields
-   Customizable Forms
-   Customizable Questions
-   Customizable Templates
-   Data Import/Export
-   Document Review
-   Electronic Payments
-   Electronic Submission
-   Email Reminders
-   Entrant Management
-   Entry Fee Processing
-   Entry Management
-   For Marketers
-   Forms Management
-   Fraud Detection
-   Generative AI
-   Judging Management
-   Landing Pages/Web Forms
-   Lead Generation
-   Multi-Channel Marketing
-   Polls/Voting
-   Progress Tracking
-   Promotions Management
-   Real-Time Analytics
-   Real-Time Data
-   Reporting & Statistics
-   Scoring
-   Single Sign On
-   Skills Contests (Photo, Essay, Design, etc)
-   Social Media Integration
-   Social Promotion
-   SSL Security
-   Sweepstakes
-   Third-Party Integrations
-   Workflow Management

[See all features](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/#features)

Judgify

10/48

-   Access Controls/Permissions
-   Activity Dashboard
-   Activity Tracking
-   AI Copilot
-   Alerts/Notifications
-   API
-   Awards Management
-   Blind Judging
-   Categorization/Grouping
-   Commenting/Notes
-   Contact Management
-   CRM
-   Customizable Branding
-   Customizable Fields
-   Customizable Forms
-   Customizable Questions
-   Customizable Templates
-   Data Import/Export
-   Document Review
-   Electronic Payments
-   Electronic Submission
-   Email Reminders
-   Entrant Management
-   Entry Fee Processing
-   Entry Management
-   For Marketers
-   Forms Management
-   Fraud Detection
-   Generative AI
-   Judging Management
-   Landing Pages/Web Forms
-   Lead Generation
-   Multi-Channel Marketing
-   Polls/Voting
-   Progress Tracking
-   Promotions Management
-   Real-Time Analytics
-   Real-Time Data
-   Reporting & Statistics
-   Scoring
-   Single Sign On
-   Skills Contests (Photo, Essay, Design, etc)
-   Social Media Integration
-   Social Promotion
-   SSL Security
-   Sweepstakes
-   Third-Party Integrations
-   Workflow Management

[See all features](https://www.capterra.com/p/160569/Judgify/#features)

### Recognition

No recognitions have been awarded to OpenWater

No recognitions have been awarded to Judgify

### Deployment & support

OpenWater

Deployment

-   Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based
-   Desktop Mac
-   Desktop Windows
-   Desktop Linux
-   On-Premise Windows
-   On-Premise Linux
-   Desktop Chromebook
-   Mobile Android
-   Mobile iPhone
-   Mobile iPad

Support

-   Email/Help Desk
-   FAQs/Forum
-   Knowledge Base
-   Phone Support
-   24/7 (Live rep)
-   Chat

Training

-   In Person
-   Live Online
-   Webinars
-   Documentation
-   Videos

Judgify

Deployment

-   Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based
-   Desktop Mac
-   Desktop Windows
-   Desktop Linux
-   On-Premise Windows
-   On-Premise Linux
-   Desktop Chromebook
-   Mobile Android
-   Mobile iPhone
-   Mobile iPad

Support

-   Email/Help Desk
-   FAQs/Forum
-   Knowledge Base
-   Phone Support
-   24/7 (Live rep)
-   Chat

Training

-   In Person
-   Live Online
-   Webinars
-   Documentation
-   Videos

### Company Details

OpenWater

-   By Advanced Solutions International
-   Located in United States
-   Founded in 1991

Judgify

-   By GlobalSign.In
-   Located in Singapore
-   Founded in 2007

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4.5

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