--- title: "Zealous Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra" description: "Is Zealous the right Contest solution for you? Explore 59 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/203404/Zealous/reviews/" page_type: "reviews" language: "en" --- Zealous 4.7 (59) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/203404/Zealous/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated August 10th, 2026 # Reviews of Zealous Ease of use 4.4 Customer Service 5.0 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews Kimberly R Contest Chairperson for a Nonprofit OrganizationWriting and Editing, Self-employedUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “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.“ August 8, 2025 TR Tamara R CEOOnline Media, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “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!“ May 28, 2026 CR Claire R CEONon-Profit Organization Management, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “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.“ June 2, 2026 SW Stephen W ConsultantAutomotive, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “Some of the demo videos early on were a bit confusing.“ June 2, 2026 JD Juliet D DirectorArts and Crafts, Self-employedUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “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. “ March 16, 2026 SW Stephen W ConsultantAutomotive, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “Prior to being on the pro version, it felt a little lonely trying to navigate.“ June 2, 2026 Kimberly R Contest Chairperson for a Nonprofit OrganizationWriting and Editing, Self-employedUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “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!)“ August 8, 2025 RM Rose M Project ManagerNon-Profit Organization Management, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “We discovered some issues with the accessibility of the platform, specifically for entrants using screen readers.“ August 8, 2023 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 59 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Kimberly R. Contest Chairperson for a Nonprofit Organization Writing and Editing Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Zealous is a labor of love, and it shows." August 8, 2025 5.0 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 RG Rita G. Publisher Publishing Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "photo magazine Zealous submissions review" August 4, 2026 4.0 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. Alternatives considered [Submittable](https://www.capterra.com/p/158382/Submittable/) Reason for choosing Zealous Price was the main factor in selecting Zealous 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. Review Source SKL Siska Kristanti L. Design Innovator Higher Education Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Zealous User Experience Review" July 3, 2022 3.0 Thankfully there was excellent customer support that helped our problems be resolved Pros The public voting feature is a great tool for competition organizers Cons Sadly that there were some bugs while the public voting is live Reason for choosing Zealous There is the public voting and judging round which we wanted Review Source FP Florina P. Program Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "DI\_PLOMA AWARDS experience" July 21, 2026 5.0 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 KS Katie S. Events Manager Events Services Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Functional and usable but small changes could make a big difference" July 18, 2023 4.0 Overall our experience with Zealous was positive - the platform is easy to use, the low pricing allowed us to forgive some of the (very small) annoyances and the excellent customer service throughout was also a strong bonus. We appreciate how welcoming they were of feedback and their desire to make improvements and changes to the functionality accordingly, so would definitely recommend Zealous and would be happy to use the platform again going forward. Our application numbers were up on the previous year. Pros Overall, Zealous was a good platform - it was relatively straight forward to set up and use and served it's purpose (in our case, collating entries for an industry awards event). The pricing structure was a huge improvement on the platform we had used prior which compensated for some of the features we lost by changing platforms. However, the best thing about Zealous is their customer service. Their team are very warm and friendly, no query is too much trouble and they are quick to respond to any queries. They also invite feedback in a way which made me feel that they really do want to continue improving, not just as a box-ticking exercise, and I have already been informed that some of our suggestions are being actioned which is really encouraging. It makes us feel valued as customers and makes it all the more likely that we will return year on year. Cons It would have been good to have been able to fully customise the forms - some of the language didn't really suit our audience (it is quite arts-centric) so we had to be creative in how we made the obligatory fields work for our applicants. It would also be great to have greater control over comms sent via the platform, i.e. reminders of application deadlines etc, which currently can't be sent en masse to those with applications in progress (they had to be done individually) and also can't be branded to our company. Both of these would be great features to have. Switched from [Award Force](https://www.capterra.com/p/148148/Award-Force/) It was extremely expensive for an awards portal when we only attract up to 150 applications. It was also quite clunky and difficult to set up. Zealous was much more user friendly. Review Source kB kathryn B. PTSA Higher Education Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Outstanding Judging Platform with equally outstanding Customer Service " December 16, 2020 5.0 I cannot express how delighted and thankful I am with the Zealous product and the Zealous team. The platform is extremely easy to use for the administrators, entrants and judges alike. The process saved hundreds of hours as the site organizes the project, presents options for the contest as well as provides options for judging. The team at Zealous is extremely supportive and has a sincere interest in ensuring the event is structured in a way to ensure success. The contest was an essay contest for a US High School, and ease of use was a critical need. The number of entries received were double what was expected. This success is highly correlated to the professionalism of the platform the users saw, and the ease of use for High School Students is a very big deal. This essay contest was for students to document how Covid-19 has impacted them, in 2020. It is likely the essay contest would not have taken place had it not been for Zealous. Thank you \[SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN\] - you are rock stars! If you are deciding on a platform to use for your contest, stop here and use Zealous. Pros The software was extremely flexible to use and was able to be modified to fit the needs of the Contest. The entrants are students, and some of the judges are also students, so anonymous judging was required. The contest was set up so the entrants would have minimal questions (i.e., distractions) to answer prior to entering the contest. We had a lower than expected drop out rate from initial review of contest to actual entry to contest, which is a huge win. The contest also required a large number of judges, from students, alumni of the school, and community members. This was also easily accommodated in zealous.co. The results of the contest will be posted on various local, state and ideally national museums and archives. A huge shout out to Zealous.co who has a flexible product that performs and is part of this historical process. Well done. Cons Nothing. The product met the objectives of the essay contest with clear guidelines, and ease of use for administrators, judges and entrants, as well as the museums who will be archiving this information. Alternatives considered [OpenWater](https://www.capterra.com/p/140294/OpenWater-Awards/)[Judgify](https://www.capterra.com/p/160569/Judgify/) Reason for choosing Zealous Flexibility, customer service and the clear match between the contest and its requirements to a judging platform. The contest is being run by a student as well, so ease of use was required, and again delivered by Zealous.co. Review Source Response from Zealous Solutions December 22, 2020 Hi Kathryn, thank you so very much for taking the time to submit your review! We're thrilled you had a good experience, and please don't hesitate to let us know if there is anything we can improve on in the future. Fikri H. Director E-Learning Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Unexpected Experience but a Smooth Sailing in Scoring Competition with Zealous" May 5, 2021 5.0 I had so much fun and hoping to use this in the future. Worth every single pennies I spent. Pros Considering this a scoring platform, but take it as an automation software which made everything essential, from organising your judges, assigning the scoring to the judges, and even calculating your average scores with an easy UI and commandable UX. It takes some time to learn but the best thing is the customer service themselves helped by assisting me with detailed walkthrough (through Microsoft Teams), and countless email of questions to which they assist me very well. The application and the scoring data can be downloaded easily as csv files, and even all applications can be in PDF forms. Truly appreciate it especially if you have to manually assign later on. I'd like to appreciate too how the team helped me initially when we encountered problems with my card (I couldn't pay through the website), but they invoiced me the payment (through email) and everything went well. Cons I really wish that sub-categories can be introduced because mainly categories only might not be sufficient for the data. In example, Category A and sub-category 1 (instead of separating them into categories only). Another thing is, you may need to cater your own tutorial (but it's not really difficult) for the judges considering the level of understanding and literacy. Alternatives considered [Submit.com](https://www.capterra.com/p/178668/Submit-com/) Reason for choosing Zealous CONSIDERABLY CHEAPER!! And I am so amazed by the helpful customer service. Review Source Response from Zealous Solutions May 6, 2021 Hi Fikri, Thank you so very much for your kind review! We'll take a look into subcategories - in the meantime, it's worth noting you can create different opportunities for different categories, and then use the categories tag as subcategories. This is especially useful when you have different judges for different categories - and allows you to measure progress on each category as you begin receiving submissions. Thank you again! Guy CR Claire R. CEO Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Awards system review" June 2, 2026 4.0 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 TR Tamara R. CEO Online Media Used the software for: 2+ years ### "3 years in w zealous." May 28, 2026 5.0 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/) Reason for choosing Zealous Ease of setup - self led trialling process. Review Source SW Stephen W. Consultant Automotive Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Garage Awards 2026" June 2, 2026 5.0 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 MW Michelle W. Publisher Architecture & Planning Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Lots of Praise for Zealous!" September 12, 2023 5.0 Thanks for helping us up our game with a much enhanced submitter experience, easy to use platform for judges, and all around huge time saver for us as administrators. Your customer service, and specifically Diana, went above and beyond for us. Pros Having the submissions and judging housed in the same platform was a gamechanger for our 4year old global competition. Cons There a still a few features that we wanted that were not available to us. We found some work arounds but look forward to seeing the new enhancements before our next competition comes around. Reason for choosing Zealous It fit our needs (video uploads etc) for a reasonable cost. Review Source AD Annie D. Programmes Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Amazing platform and support " March 15, 2023 5.0 Pros Really enjoy using Zealous for our artist call out opportunities - it's very customisable with the different functions/features to suit our opportunities. Also easy to invite other stakeholders as judges onto the platform and review submissions. Being able to save submissions on the account as well as exporting them is also a bonus. What really makes Zealous stand out is having an amazing account manager who can answer any queries and offer 1-1 support as a user. Happy to keep using Zealous for our future projects! Cons Customisable automated emails for applicants would be great in the future. Review Source LU Laura U. Student Engagement and Events Officer Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Excellent platform for student competition judging" January 26, 2024 4.0 Great - much easier for our company to manage submissions and judging process of our Art and Poetry competitions. \[sensitive content hidden\], our account manager, is a star - she's very responsive and helpful, thank you! Pros Easy to use platform with excellent customer support. Great features for set up and judging abilities. Cons Occasional bugs which impact the ease of submissions. Review Source HC Hilary C. Events Officer Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Highly Recommend Zealous" April 20, 2021 5.0 \[SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN\] and his team provide the ultimate customer service and more. Their technical ability is second to none, \[SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN\] is patient, solution focused and always find the time to listen. Our Awards event was hugely successful thanks to Zealous. I would highly recommend them and in fact will be contracting Zealous for the forthcoming awards event we have planned. Pros Quick, efficient, and effective. Clearly designed and thought through from a users perspective. It is streamlined and felt risk free. Uploading data is a step by step process made simple and allows for flexibility and manipulation before going live. Being able to add corporate branding is key as are the various media that applicants can use to upload their entries. The active demo was very useful and being able to view and download data pre, post and during the event was extremely helpful. The cost is also very reasonable. Cons I cant think of single thing I didn't like. Review Source Response from Zealous Solutions April 23, 2021 Thank you so much for your wonderful review Hilary! We really look forward to hosting you again soon. MM Marieke M. Senior Executive Environmental Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Fantastic customer support" January 3, 2023 5.0 Extremely positive. I believe as soon as you sign on to a paid plan you're assigned a dedicated support contact, who can give extremely knowledgable demos and are available if anything isn't going the way you want. Pros Zealous' big selling point is its value for money proposition, especially considering a paid plan means you have access to a dedicated support staff member. The judges and applicants all found the platform easy to use, and if anyone ran into any issues the live chat was available for ad hoc tech questions. The judges especially liked that you can rate applications relative to each other, with scores determining the order of the applications. Cons Very hard to think of something meaningful, but if I had to name anything it would be the fact that judging sits separately and is coordinated separately. This was unexpected but not a major issue. Review Source SS Sophie S. Marketing Officer Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great service!" June 20, 2023 4.0 Pros We were very impressed with the ease of the platform in setting up our awards submission. It made the process simple and we were able to utilise the functionalities to increase our submissions by 50%. Cons We would have liked the option to rearrange the form to suit our process, to have the application form first then submission section afterwards. Review Source AR Anna R. Events Coordinator Entertainment Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Great platform for hosting competitions " June 9, 2022 4.0 We are really happy with our choice of using the platform Zealous to host the first edition of the XP Awards. It has been easy to setup and we had a great user experience. Our judges gave us some positive feedback after having used the platform as well. The team of Zealous has been super helpful and present throughout the entire process. Pros The user experience was great. It was the first time we were hosting a competition and the platform made the process a lot easier that we expected. We have been amazed with the support we have received from the team as well. Cons When grading artworks, the platform takes a bit of time to process the information before moving onto the next artwork. Review Source Response from Zealous Solutions June 16, 2022 Hi Anna, Thanks for the rave review! I've noted down the lag on processing your score and will see if we can optimise it for your next competition. All the very best, Guy EM Ema M. Director Arts and Crafts Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great customer support!" April 12, 2021 5.0 Pros easy to use. great automatic features such as emailing artists and keeping them updated. Cons some bugs within the website. a few applicants complained. Review Source Response from Zealous Solutions April 15, 2021 Hi Ema, Thanks so much for the review! Glad you enjoyed our service. We'd love to look into the bugs you mentioned - if you could email us a little more information we'll be sure them ASAP. Thanks again for taking the time to write the review. Guy FW Flora W. Business Support Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Zealous review" May 21, 2021 4.0 Pros \- The customer service we received was excellent - Found it easy to navigate - It was really good value for money Cons \- Some features didn't quite fit our business model Review Source AB Andrew B. Writing Communities Administrator Writing and Editing Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Good for writing programmes" March 8, 2021 4.0 Easy to set up, helpful, took time to talk to us about our needs. Pros Customer services is very good, easy to edit. Cons Issue with the address function not knowing Scottish place names. Review Source Response from Zealous Solutions March 12, 2021 Thanks for your review Andrew. We'll take a look into our addresses data, it should really include Scottish places! All the very best, Guy JD Juliet D. Director Arts and Crafts Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Easy to use and excellent customer support" March 16, 2026 5.0 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 LP Lia P. Marketing Specialist Hospitality Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great Zealous Experience!" November 13, 2025 5.0 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 CB Claudia B. Corporate Sustainability Financial Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "An easy and sleak to use platform with excellent support" August 17, 2026 5.0 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 AD Alisa D. Student Engagement Manager Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Brilliant submissions management platform" October 8, 2025 5.0 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 AH Alasdair H. Global Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "A fantastic first year on the platform and we look forward to year two" July 3, 2025 4.0 Overall we were really pleased with the experience. Our Awards in the GCC are still new, this was year 3, but we achieved record number of entries, and tripled our budget. The platform added a layer of professionalism to them for both the entries and judging. We're really excited by the team's willingness to listen and build the platform, with constant developments and more knowledge on our end we know next year will help us to grow more. Pros The platform made our judging incredibly easy and the user experience around the submissions, scoring and judging was great. The team at Zealous, especially \[sensitive content hidden\], were always there when we needed them to ask lots of questions and find the best way to build our Awards on the platform. The payments side of things with the Stripe integration made for easy payment and commerce. Cons The platform is still new so they're building lots of areas and developing on the fly. Not necessarily a con, but I'm confident the platform will be greatly improved for the 2026 Awards. Review Source Similar Products Featured