The Art-Call Platform Without Per-Entry Fees
CaFÉ (CallForEntry) charges for onboarding, per year, per call, and per application. Dapple is one flat monthly plan with unlimited calls, instant Stripe payouts, and a jurying experience built for visual work.
What's the difference?
CaFÉ built its reputation on reach — it has a large US artist database which is why so many public art commissions and museum programmes still use it. But that reach comes with a workflow that hasn't kept pace: layered fees (onboarding, annual, per-call, and roughly $2.49 per application on its Pro plan), limited automation, and a jury toolset built narrowly around visual art calls.
Dapple takes the opposite approach. One flat plan from $49 a month covers unlimited calls with no onboarding fee, so running more programmes or accepting more entries never quietly inflates your bill — a sharp contrast to a per-application model that scales your costs alongside your success. Entry fees settle instantly through your own Stripe account at 2% + $0.25 plus Stripe's standard processing fees, with no per-application charge. And because Dapple isn't built around any single medium, it handles art, writing, film, music, and mixed media alike, with review rounds, scoring, voting, and anonymous judging built in from day one. For an organisation weighing a single high-visibility call against a full year of concurrent programmes, the difference isn't really about features — it's that Dapple's costs stay flat as you grow, while CaFÉ's rise with every application you accept.
Side by side
Dapple vs CaFÉ at a glance
Compare the top-level costs and features across both platforms.
| ✦ Dapple | CaFÉ | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing structure | One monthly plan from $49 — unlimited calls included, no onboarding fee | Layered: onboarding fee, annual fee, per-call fee, and per-application fees (around $2.49/application on Pro), as published in 2026 |
| Cost as you grow | No per-application charge — more entries never means a bigger platform bill | Per-application and per-call fees scale directly with volume |
| Entry fee payments | 2% + $0.25 plus Stripe's standard processing fees, paid instantly to your own Stripe account | 3.25% processing on top of platform fees |
| Judging | Review rounds with scoring, voting, comments, and anonymous judging | Jury scoring tools focused on visual art calls |
| Beyond visual art | Any submission type — art, writing, film, music, mixed media, any file type or size | Built around visual art calls specifically |
| Getting started | Free account, no credit card, launch the same day | Onboarding process with setup fees |
CaFÉ figures as published on callforentry.org in 2026 — confirm current pricing with the vendor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Dapple covers the core CaFÉ workflow — publishing a call, collecting entries with images and files, jurying with scores, and notifying artists — with a simpler pricing model: one monthly plan with unlimited calls instead of separate onboarding, annual, per-call, and per-application fees.
CaFÉ's published pricing layers an onboarding fee, an annual fee, a per-call fee, and per-application charges (around $2.49 per application on its Pro plan), plus 3.25% payment processing. Dapple charges a flat monthly subscription from $49 with unlimited calls and no per-application fee, plus 2% + $0.25 on paid entries only (plus Stripe's standard processing fees). For most organisations running more than one call a year, the flat model works out significantly cheaper — and it's predictable.
No — and this is the honest trade-off. CaFÉ's public listings put your call in front of artists who browse the platform. Dapple instead gives you branded submission pages you promote through your own channels, which most established organisations find converts better with their existing audience. If marketplace discovery drives most of your entries, factor that in.
Yes. Dapple accepts any file type or size, including high-res images, video, audio, and 3D files, and jurors view work in a visual interface designed for creative content.
Yes. Dapple supports anonymous review by hiding artist profiles from jurors, so work is scored purely on its merits.
Time the switch between calls: finish your current call on CaFÉ, then launch the next on Dapple. You can bulk-import your artist contacts via CSV (up to 1,000 records per file, with a preview before confirming), and because Dapple accounts are free to create, you can build and test your next call before committing.