The Modern Alternative
to Submittable
Dapple is a modern Submittable alternative for awards, open calls, residencies, exhibitions and grants. It's more visual, easier to use, flexible and charges lower fees.
How Is Dapple Different From Submittable?
Submittable was originally built as a submissions platform for literary magazines and creative open calls. It has since pivoted into a corporate social responsibility and grants management platform for large companies — its current customers include Amazon, Meta, and Visa, and its homepage no longer mentions artists or creatives.
Dapple is what Submittable used to be, rebuilt for today: modern, simple and fair on price. It's built for organisations running awards, residencies, exhibitions, open calls, publishing programmes and grants. It combines a modern submission experience for entrants, a workflow that reviewers and judges actually enjoy, and transparent monthly pricing that doesn’t require a procurement department to approve.
Features and Interface
How Does Dapple’s Workflow Management Compare to Submittable?
Dapple supports multiple simultaneous programmes on every plan, including entry-level tiers. Submittable limits most plans to a single programme and organises its interface around compliance workflows, budget tracking, and employee giving tools — features built for grants teams at large foundations, not the open call you’re running.
- Visual kanban view across all submissions and stages
- Multiple simultaneous programmes on every plan
- All projects visible from a single hub
- Drag-and-drop stage management
- Filters, tags, and saved views
- Unlimited stages on every plan
You see every submission moving through your pipeline in real time, from one hub, with no programme limits and no hunting through tabs for status updates.
Entrants
What Is the Entrant Experience Like on Dapple vs. Submittable?
Dapple’s entry forms are designed to feel welcoming and quick to complete. Submittable’s are built for compliance-heavy processes, which can feel clinical and slow for applicants who just want to submit their work.
- Beautiful entry forms: with custom backgrounds, headers, and an on-brand visual layout
- Unlimited form fields: on every plan (Submittable restricts fields on entry-level plans)
- Drag-and-drop builder: multiple field types, dynamic steps, and conditional logic
- Dynamic payment options: based on form selections, with instant payouts to your own Stripe account
- Customisable automatic draft reminders: that bring unfinished entrants back — improving conversion and revenue
- Entrant accounts: for viewing entries, downloading files, tracking payment history, uploading supplementary material, and messaging your team directly
Judges
How Does Judging and Review Work in Dapple Compared to Submittable?
Dapple’s review rounds are built for visual and media-based work — photography, film, design. Submittable’s review tools are built for grant committees evaluating dense written proposals, and the interface reflects that.
- Personalised, customisable judging accounts: with clear individual to-do lists
- Optimised: for high-resolution image and video review
- Custom scoring criteria: votes, and comments with due dates and minimum/maximum requirements
- Multiple review rounds: a dedicated one for each stage of the application journey
- Collated feedback overview: for admins across all judges and rounds
Judges see exactly what’s assigned to them, where they left off, and what’s complete — with no training required.
"Submittable is complex, difficult to use and doesn't really suit our needs. Dapple is the opposite. You haven't missed anything!"
— Rebekah B, Exhibition Co-ordinator
Pricing
Is Dapple Cheaper Than Submittable?
Yes. Dapple’s entry-level plans start at $49 a month with no annual contract. Submittable’s entry-level plans typically require annual contracts starting at around $10,000 a year, with restrictive feature sets like limited form fields or a single programme.
- No annual lock-ins — flexible monthly billing on every plan
- Lower entry-level starting price
- More generous feature access on lower-tier plans
- Lower transaction fees on submission payments
- Plans that scale as your programme grows
If you’re a small or mid-sized organisation, you shouldn’t need an enterprise budget to run a professional awards programme.
Setup
How Fast Can You Set Up Dapple Compared to Submittable?
Most Dapple programmes go live within hours. Submittable typically requires an onboarding process — setup calls and, for larger programmes, paid professional services — before a programme is configured and ready to launch.
- Smart form generator that builds forms in minutes
- Pre-built, industry-specific project template libraries
- Custom branding with your own images and headers
- Demo mode helps you test workflows before going live
- Automations for stage moves and entrant messaging
- One-click duplication of any existing project
Dapple is designed to be fast. A smart form generator, a large library of ready-made templates, one-click project duplication and an interface your whole team can navigate without a training session. Most organisations are live within hours.
How Much Are Submittable’s and Dapple’s Submission Fees?
Submittable charges 5% + $0.99 per paid submission. Dapple charges 2% + $0.25 in the US (2% + £0.20 in the UK), plus Stripe's standard processing fees. On a programme processing thousands of submissions a year, that difference adds up quickly — use the calculator below to see your exact savings.
Submittable also processes payments through its own payment system, so funds don’t reach you for over a month. Dapple connects directly to your own Stripe account, so funds are deposited instantly, with Dapple’s fee and Stripe’s standard processing fees deducted.
On average, organisations save around 30–35% on submission fees by switching from Submittable to Dapple. For example, a programme collecting $5,000.00 a year in submission fees pays around $1,240.00 with Submittable. Dapple estimated annual cost is $845.00, with estimated savings of $395.00. Use the calculator below to estimate your own savings based on your submission volume and average fee per entry.
See how much you can save with Dapple v Submittable
Dapple uses Stripe Connect to integrate directly with your own Stripe account. Every payment is instantly deposited into your Stripe account, with Dapple's small fee and Stripe's standard processing fees deducted.
Total number of submissions you receive per year.
What submitters pay, on average.
| Platform | % Take | Per Submission | Estimated Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Submittable | 5% | £0.75 | £1,000.00 |
| Dapple | 3.5% | £0.40 | £575.00 |
Submittable pricing: 5% of each paid submission fee + £0.75 per transaction.
Dapple pricing: 2% of each paid submission fee + £0.20 per transaction.
The Dapple estimate also includes Stripe's standard processing fees (1.5% + £0.20 for standard domestic cards), which your organisation pays to Stripe. Actual Stripe fees vary by card type and country.
Side by side
How Does Dapple Compare to Submittable on Price and Features?
The table below compares Dapple and Submittable’s published pricing and feature sets directly, plan for plan. Dapple’s lowest plan costs less per month than what most organisations pay in a single year on Submittable.
| Pricing | ✦ Dapple | Submittable |
|---|---|---|
| Submission fees | 2% + $0.25 + Stripe fees | 5% + $0.99 |
| Platform fees | Start from $49/m | Start from $10,000/y |
| Industry discounts available | ✓ | CLMP only |
| Monthly subscription option on all plans | ✓ | — |
| Feature | ✦ Dapple | Submittable |
|---|---|---|
| Workflow & Management | ||
| Multi-projects on all plans | ✓ | — |
| Immediate launch | ✓ | — |
| Visual kanban boards | ✓ | — |
| Project hub | ✓ | — |
| Advanced permissions | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-team & org | ✓ | — |
| Advanced bulk messaging | ✓ | ✓ |
| 1:1 messaging | ✓ | ✓ |
| Submission & creator tags | ✓ | ✓ |
| Administrators can edit applications | ✓ | — |
| Automations | ✓ | ✓ |
| Applications list view | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automated draft reminders | ✓ | ✓ |
| Message scheduling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Judging & Review | ||
| Advanced review features | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bulk assign | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hide fields from reviewers | ✓ | ✓ |
| Customised rounds on all plans | ✓ | — |
| Unlimited judging stages | ✓ | — |
| Forms & Submissions | ||
| Unlimited form fields on all plans | ✓ | — |
| Maximum file size upload limit | 1gb | 400mb |
| All file types | ✓ | ✓ |
| Listings page | ✓ | ✓ |
| Form versioning | ✓ | ✓ |
| Form conditional logic | ✓ | ✓ |
| Auto-form generator | ✓ | — |
| Demo mode | ✓ | — |
| Entry resubmission | ✓ | ✓ |
| HD video hosting | ✓ | ✓ |
| Image display | ✓ | — |
| Analytics, Discovery & Support | ||
| Advanced reporting tools on all plans | ✓ | — |
| Claude MCP integration | ✓ | — |
| Built-in analytics dashboard | ✓ | ✓ |
| Data export | ✓ | ✓ |
| Zapier integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audit history | ✓ | ✓ |
| Discovery platform | — | ✓ |
| Public voting | — | ✓ |
| Corporate volunteering tools | — | ✓ |
| Employee giving tools | — | ✓ |
| Live chat support for all plans | ✓ | — |
*All data on this page is based on publicly available information and reviews for these sites as of February 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dapple better than Submittable?+
For most programmes, yes. If you’re running awards, open calls, residencies, exhibitions or grants and want lower fees, faster setup and a better review experience, Dapple is built for that. Submittable has shifted its focus to corporate CSR programmes, so many organisations end up paying for compliance features they don’t need.
Is Dapple cheaper than Submittable?+
Yes. Dapple charges 2% + $0.25 per submission (plus Stripe’s standard processing fees) compared with Submittable’s 5% + $0.99, and Dapple’s plans start at $49 a month with no annual contract, while Submittable’s entry-level plans typically require annual contracts from around $10,000 a year.
Can I try out Dapple for free?+
Yes. You can get started on Dapple for free with no credit card required, and upgrade to a paid plan once you’re ready to launch a live programme.
How are your submission fees so much lower?+
Your subscription covers the platform, so Dapple’s own fee stays small at 2% + $0.25. Payments go straight into your own Stripe account using Stripe Connect, where Stripe’s standard processing fees apply, with nothing else layered on top. Submittable processes payments through its own system, which adds cost and delays when funds reach you.
Can I still use Submittable?+
Yes. There’s no exclusivity requirement, so you can run programmes on Submittable and Dapple at the same time, or migrate a single programme to Dapple to compare the experience before switching everything over.
When do we receive funds?+
With Dapple, submission payments are deposited into your own Stripe account instantly. With Submittable, funds are typically held in its own payment system for over a month before they reach you.
Can I use Dapple as a Submittable alternative for grants?+
Soon. Dapple is building AI-powered grant management — automated eligibility checks, application scoring, review rounds, Stripe disbursements, and variance reporting — designed for foundations, charities, and arts funders. It's in active development now, and you can join the waitlist on our grant management page for early access.
So which should I choose?+
If you’re a corporation running CSR, employee giving, or large-scale grant programmes, Submittable’s feature set is built for that. If you’re running awards, open calls, residencies, exhibitions or grants and want lower fees, faster setup and a better review experience, Dapple is built for that. And if you’re a grantmaker, Dapple’s grant management is on its way.
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