--- title: "Zealous Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra" description: "With the help of Capterra, learn about Zealous Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Contest products and more." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/203404/Zealous/" page_type: "product" language: "en" --- # Zealous Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on August 10, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[FAQs](#faqs)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Integrations](#integrations)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) Zealous ## What is Zealous? 🏆 Revolutionize contest management with Zealous: Starting at just $37/month, no hidden fees. Award-winning and built for growth. Automate submissions, boost visibility with our 70k+ creative network and simplify judging with our stunning gallery. Streamlined, secure, and efficient: Zealous simplifies contest management from entry collection to judging, saving you time and resources while keeping data secure. Engaging and flexible: With a visually captivating gallery and versatile voting options, enhance both participant and judge experiences. Affordable and effective: Monthly plans, cancel anytime. Get started for free: Dazzle your stakeholders with a cutting-edge, efficient solution. Zealous is the future of contest & awards management! ## What is Zealous used for? [Contest](https://www.capterra.com/contest-software/) Top alternative Featured Overall rating Based on 59 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive 98% Neutral 2% Negative 0% Starting price £26 Flat Rate, Per Month Free trial available Includes Free Version Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for Zealous?[Manage this product listing](https://digitalmarkets.gartner.com/get-listed/claim-bx?url=https://zealous.co&name=Zealous) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### Zealous 4.7 (59) VS. [4.6 (73)](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/reviews/) Starting Price £26 Other Starting Price $5100 Per Year Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 4.4 (59) Ease Of Use 4.2 (73) Value For Money 4.7 (55) Value For Money 4.3 (64) Customer Service 5.0 (59) Customer Service 4.9 (70) ## Zealous alternatives [4.8 (193)](https://www.capterra.com/p/148148/Award-Force/reviews/) Starting price $2625.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 99% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.4 (156)](https://www.capterra.com/p/154791/ShortStack/reviews/) Starting price $99.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 89% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.7 (40)](https://www.capterra.com/p/232111/RQ-Awards/reviews/) Starting price $1275.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 98% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars Highest Rated [4.8 (398)](https://www.capterra.com/p/158382/Submittable/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 98% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/203404/Zealous/alternatives/) ## FAQs about Zealous Overview ### What problems does Zealous solve? Zealous solves the administrative chaos of running competitions, awards, and open calls by centralizing submissions, anonymous judging, shortlisting, scoring, analytics, and branded entry workflows. Arts organizations, schools, nonprofits, and awards teams use it to reduce manual administration, handle rising submission volumes, support non-technical applicants and judges, and run remote review processes smoothly. Answer based on 29 reviews Overview ### Which roles and teams benefit most from Zealous? Zealous is most used by creative leaders, directors, founders, and communications teams managing submissions, judging, and audience engagement. Arts administrators, curators, and program managers rely on it to run competitions, organize entrant workflows, coordinate reviewers, and present opportunities professionally while keeping creative programs efficient and easy to administer. Answer based on 56 reviews Overview ### What company size and industries is Zealous built for? Zealous is built for small businesses managing contests, with 86% of reviewers from small companies and Arts and Crafts leading at 27%. It also serves non-profit organizations at 16% and education management at 11%, with smaller representation from midsize and enterprise teams at 7% each, mainly for contest use. Answer based on 56 reviews Features and Usability ### What are the key features of Zealous? Zealous includes core competition management features like entry management, electronic submission, customizable forms, and reporting. Its key differentiators are judging management with blind judging, scoring, category assignments, and public voting, plus email reminders and automated messaging. Reviewers also highlight media submission handling, data export, and role-based permissions. Answer based on 29 reviews Pricing ### How much does it cost and what fees or limitations are included? Zealous starts at £26 per month for the Starter plan, with a free version and free trial available. Pro costs £79 per month, and Scale costs £239 per month. All paid plans include a 2.2% + 20p commission on entry fees, capped at £2, plus submission and feature limits by tier. Answer based on 5 reviews Integrations ### Which third-party tools and platforms does Zealous integrate with? Zealous connects natively to Stripe for payment processing and billing workflows. Answer based on 2 reviews Getting Started and Support ### What training and onboarding options does Zealous offer? Zealous provides in person training, live online sessions, webinars, documentation, and videos to help teams get started. In person and live online sessions support guided instruction, webinars cover features in a group format, documentation offers written reference, and videos provide self-paced learning. Answer based on 1 reviews Getting Started and Support ### What customer support options does Zealous offer, and how do users rate the experience? Zealous offers email/help desk, FAQ/forum, a knowledge base, phone support, and chat. Users consistently describe support as quick, accessible, and highly helpful, with tailored guidance, proactive check-ins, and one-to-one assistance. A few mention early learning materials being confusing or feeling less guided before upgrading. Answer based on 22 reviews Bugs and issues ### Does Zealous have bugs or technical issues? Zealous works well for most award and submission workflows, but occasional bugs and setup hiccups still come up. Small teams and first-time organizers often mention responsive support, quick fixes, and ongoing product updates, though some users report issues with public voting, loading speed, formatting, accessibility, or niche workflow needs. Answer based on 22 reviews ## Features AI summary Based on 246 Contest reviews Capterra data shows that buyers of contest software rank the following features as their top priorities: - **Judging Management** (**48%** of reviewers rated this feature as critical) - **Scoring** (**56%**) - **Entry Management** (**59%**) Zealous supports all three of the features reviewers value most: **Judging Management**, **Scoring**, and **Entry Management**. Combined, these capabilities help businesses organize submissions, manage fair and consistent evaluations, and track scoring across the full contest process, allowing teams to run competitions more efficiently and make decisions with greater confidence. Judging Management 4.6 (20) 90.00% of 20 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Choose winners for contests, promotional events, games, or sweepstakes via voting, polls, random selection, etc. Scoring 4.6 (17) 88.24% of 17 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Automatically calculate score after the assessment Entry Management 4.6 (20) 85.00% of 20 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Manage entry processes via custom forms Customizable Questions 4.6 (22) 77.27% of 22 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Tailored or customizable questions for more targeted and relevant data collection Customizable Forms 4.4 (13) 100.00% of 13 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Customize contracts and forms to collect specific information Customizable Fields 4.3 (20) 75.00% of 20 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Customize data fields to support various needs and use cases Zealous 33 features ### All Features - Access Controls/Permissions: Define levels of authorization for access to specific files or systems - Activity Dashboard: Dashboard to view the status of ongoing processes, identify current incidents and track past activities - Activity Tracking: Track and document all activities across devices, networks, and other systems - Alerts/Notifications: Alerts or notifications of various types such as pop-up messages, sounds, banners, or badges - Awards Management: Distribute awards to winners via prizes, coupons, giveaways, items, redemption codes, etc. - Categorization/Grouping: Organize and group data or items based on various criteria - Commenting/Notes: Leave comments and notes on documents for others to view - Contact Management: Manage, organize, and store contact information - Customizable Branding: Add customized logos and colors to align with company branding - Customizable Fields: Customize data fields to support various needs and use cases - Customizable Forms: Customize contracts and forms to collect specific information - Customizable Questions: Tailored or customizable questions for more targeted and relevant data collection - Customizable Templates: Pre-designed layouts that can be customized to match preferences and requirements - Data Import/Export: Import and export data to and from software applications - Document Review: Review and analyze existing information across documents - Electronic Payments: Electronically collect payments for goods or services - Email Reminders: Reminders sent via email - Entry Management: Manage entry processes via custom forms - For Marketers: For the intention to be used by marketing teams - Forms Management: Store, manage and track all forms in a centralized location - Judging Management: Choose winners for contests, promotional events, games, or sweepstakes via voting, polls, random selection, etc. - Landing Pages/Web Forms: Create landing pages or online forms designed to capture new leads and prospects - Polls/Voting: Enable custom polls/voting to facilitate decision-making or increase engagement - Progress Tracking: Reporting on how each user, task or process has advanced since its initiation - Promotions Management: Design, communicate, and distribute incentives to perform a specific action - Real-Time Analytics: Analyze and gain insights into data in real-time - Real-Time Data: Receive data and information in real time - Reporting & Statistics: Collection, analysis, and representation of numerical data and generation of reports to understand various patterns - Scoring: Automatically calculate score after the assessment - Social Promotion: Market event via social media tools - SSL Security: Security protocol that ensures secure, encrypted communication over the internet, safeguarding sensitive data from unauthorized access - Third-Party Integrations: Set up connections to third-party platforms to improve business processes - Workflow Management: Create, design and manage workflows for repetitive tasks --- Features 4.3 (59) 4.3 Based on 59 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.7 (55) Free Trial Free Version [View pricing plan details](https://www.capterra.com/p/203404/Zealous/pricing/) Free Plan £0.00 It includes: - 20 entries - Unlimited programs - Unlimited draft entries - Unlimited file storage - Unlimited judges - Unlimited categories - HD Video Streaming Starter £26.00 Flat Rate,Per Month It includes: - Up to 75 submissions - Unlimited programs - One scoring round - Judge comments & chat - Unlimited categories - Invoicing & refunds - 2.2% + 20p commission on entry fees (capped at £2) Pro £79.00 Flat Rate,Per Month It includes: - Up to 300 submissions - Unlimited scoring rounds - Multiple criteria scoring - Public voting - 1 hour onboarding - 2.2% + 20p commission on entry fees (capped at £2) Scale £239.00 Flat Rate,Per Month It includes: - Up to 1,000 submissions - Customize automated email content - Zapier integration - Webhooks - 2.2% + 20p commission on entry fees (capped at £2) Enterprise Contact us for pricing It includes: - Larger annual submission numbers - Application uptime SLA - Procurement support - Non-standard contract terms - Dedicated account manager - No commission on entry fees Value for money 4.7 (55) 4.7 Based on 55 reviews ## Integrations [ Stripe](https://www.capterra.com/p/123889/Stripe/) ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 5.0 (59) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 5.0 (59) 5.0 Based on 59 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 4.7 Based on 59 reviews Filter by rating 5(43) 4(15) 3(1) 2(0) 1(0) Mentioned topic Sorted by most recent CB Claudia B. Corporate Sustainability Financial Services ### "An easy and sleak to use platform with excellent support" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 August 17, 2026 I have used Zealous twice, for a photography competition and a charity competition. The submissions on the platform are visually striking and nice to look through. I particularly liked the judging feature for the charity competition, as it aggregated and averaged the judges’ scores against the submissions, making the process fair, straightforward and easy to manage. Pros Zealous is simple, beautiful to view and it was easy for employees to use. The support has been phenomenal, with helpful videos tailored to your needs and guidance on how to make your initiative work well and efficiently. Cons Nothing so far. We are still testing the platform, but our experience to date has been very positive. The platform has been straightforward to use, and we have not encountered any issues or limitations so far. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RG Rita G. Publisher Publishing ### "photo magazine Zealous submissions review" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 August 4, 2026 Pretty good! The team behind the software has been really helpful when needed attending to questions and issues quickly is SO important! Pros It's a great tool for working with a lot of submissions and judges. Once set up, it's been helpful to be able to take payments - or not, and review work in one place. Cons A few small glitches... (luckily the humans behind the software are lovely and helpful!) One main issue that would improve my life would be if the sales report info could be merged with the submissions info as a single document/ download. I currently have to combine these 2 documents manually. Additionally, the way that I have to manage the submissions I don't want the judges to see is glitchy/ manual. The way that pricing works is also a little confusing at times. The rates are great - but the way it sometimes gets managed can be tricky. Switched from [Google Forms](https://www.capterra.com/p/176571/Google-Forms/) price and ease of use had us switch from $$$$ options and low cost/ high work options. Alternatives considered [Submittable](https://www.capterra.com/p/158382/Submittable/) Reasons for choosing Zealous Price was the main factor in selecting Zealous Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. FP Florina P. Program Manager Non-Profit Organization Management ### "DI\_PLOMA AWARDS experience" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 July 21, 2026 Overall the experience was great. No matter the small problems that we got, we received great support, always fast answers and solutions to all the problems. This was a great plus cause we always knew that if we write to you we will receive support in minutes. Great customer support. Pros Easy to use and very intuitive. It was pretty easy to use all the features and we received great support from the team where we got stuck. Cons There was a step during the project where we could not go into the public vote without jury vote completed, and that gave us some anxiety, but we received help in managing this. Also with the jury allocation we were having some problems because of the fact that not all jury members entered the platform at the same time. Switched from [Evalato](https://www.capterra.com/p/180032/Evalato/) Cost vs value. For what we needed the previous platform costs to much. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. SW Stephen W. Consultant Automotive ### "Garage Awards 2026" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 June 2, 2026 Excellent - \[sensitive content hidden\] our account manager was superb and held our hand as much as we needed. She was a star. Pros It’s and easy to use platform made even better by the support. We upgraded to Pro and it was a great decision. Cons Some of the demo videos early on were a bit confusing. Prior to being on the pro version, it felt a little lonely trying to navigate. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. CR Claire R. CEO Non-Profit Organization Management ### "Awards system review" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 June 2, 2026 It created a professional look and a relatively easy system to work with once teething problems were resolved. \[sensitive content hidden\] was great in supporting us. A lot of the challenges we had were with encouraging our judges to accommodate a new on-line system after many years of off-line forms but Zealous was a great step forward. Pros The support given by the team was hugely helpful - it makes such a difference to have access to people! Cons It would be useful to have different judging questions for different categories. It would also be useful to have freeform answers within the questions where judges could enter their comments, along with a section where you elect if the applicant won/highly commended/commended, or other categories that would be relevant to the awards. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. TR Tamara R. CEO Online Media ### "3 years in w zealous." 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 May 28, 2026 We've used them for 3 years now and have always had ease of use with our judges (over 160 applications per year now) and entrant communications. The zealous team are so proactive in reaching out if they spot anything on our subscription that could help us further - above and beyond. Pros Zealous has given us such an exceptional customer service over the last 3 years (even if a cheaper alternative) we would never go elsewhere. Cons Sometimes there a cheeky box somewhere that I havent found to either tick or untick - but thats likely more a me problem than a platform problem! Alternatives considered [Award Force](https://www.capterra.com/p/148148/Award-Force/) Reasons for choosing Zealous Ease of setup - self led trialling process. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. JD Juliet D. Director Arts and Crafts ### "Easy to use and excellent customer support" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 March 16, 2026 I can't fault the service I had with Zealous and would highly recommend them to others - their customer service is exceptional, they represent great value for money and offer a number of options to suit everyone's needs. Thank you for making this such a smooth and enjoyable experience! Pros Zealous is the perfect platform from which to set up and run an international arts competition. It is visually driven and well designed making it appealing to applicants and judges alike. As someone who is not very technically competent I found it surprisingly easy to set up the competition and whenever I did have any queries the customer support was amazing - a super quick response rate with very tailored advice. \[sensitive content hidden\] from Zealous was incredibly helpful; proactively reaching out and checking in with me throughout. The judging process was also very clear and easy to use - we even had a 94 year old judge who managed very ably to navigate the site! Cons The only suggestion I would make is relating to the design of the Competition details section. I would have liked the option to divide the text into chapters or boxes rather than reading as one long section of text over several pages. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. LP Lia P. Marketing Specialist Hospitality ### "Great Zealous Experience!" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 November 13, 2025 This is our second year using Zealous for our competition and we will be using it again next year as well! The customer support is wonderful and the actual platform for submissions is exactly what we need. Pros It is very organized for submissions and the judge feature is very useful! Easy to navigate user interface and amazing customer support anytime we had a question. Cons There were some minor glitches, sometimes with the email permissions, but we reached out to customer support and were greeted with a quick solution each time! Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. AD Alisa D. Student Engagement Manager Education Management ### "Brilliant submissions management platform" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 October 8, 2025 We’ve used Zealous to manage our international Poetry and Art Competitions for several years now. It’s a brilliant platform that has streamlined our processes, freed up capacity, and allowed us to scale. Huge thanks to the team at Zealous for their ongoing support! Pros Brilliant customer service - the team is always happy to help and goes above and beyond to provide support throughout. Their product is constantly evolving and improving to meet the needs of its users (e.g., we can now collect judge comments). Cons At times, the platform can be a little slow to load entries. Despite this, it has still greatly improved the way we manage our competitions. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Kimberly R. Contest Chairperson for a Nonprofit Organization Writing and Editing ### "Zealous is a labor of love, and it shows." 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 August 8, 2025 My organization sought out Zealous after many years of running a contest using Excel spreadsheets and thousands of emails back and forth between the contest chairperson, the office staff, judges and entrants. Our old system was inefficient and, frankly, terrible. Zealous was a blessing to me (this year's contest chair), our office staff, and our judges. I'm not sure that our entrants had too different of an experience, but last year's contest chair told me running the contest felt like a full-time job. This year, using Zealous, putting the contest together was easy. The user-interface as an Opportunity organizer was very easy to understand, and provided me with some structure to organize information the way I liked. The reports I was able to pull at the end of the contest about entrant data are incredible and provide my organization with way more insight than we've ever had before. Beyond all of that, the woman who worked with me to train me in the software and ensure my contest was set up appropriately was incredibly helpful, nice, and made it very clear that Zealous is a labor of love that is constantly seeking ways to improve its service. I've had experience in the past using Submittable as a contest organizer, and can say that Zealous offers everything a contest organizer could need at a much better price (and with the option of being able to pay for the service for only a few months rather than a full year!) than other similar services. Truly I had a fantastic experience using Zealous and I urge anyone considering running a contest using Zealous to do so. Pros I loved so much about Zealous. The way it organizes entries, the way I can fully customize my opportunity to best represent my organization, and the data that I had access to during the duration of my organization's writing contest were all fantastic. The BEST part, though, was the amount of support and guidance I received from our contact there, \[sensitive content hidden\]. She was invaluable and so helpful at answering my many questions and providing guidance on how to use Zealous. Cons I found the process of creating private chat channels for each of my judges to leave private comments on entries was the most tedious part of my experience using Zealous, though the fact that I could create such a thing was greatly appreciated. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/203404/Zealous/reviews/) ## Top-rated software of 2026 ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox. Popular comparisons [OpenWater vs Zealous](https://www.capterra.com/compare/140294-203404/OpenWater-Awards-vs-Zealous) [Awardify vs Zealous](https://www.capterra.com/compare/203404-252478/Zealous-vs-Awardify)