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Mar 1, 2023

Top 10 Best Awards Management Software for 2024

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Looking for the best awards management software in 2024? We compared dozens of platforms and selected the top 10 potentially worth your time. Plus, we've prepared some extremely useful tips on what to look for when choosing your awards management platform. Have a look!

What to look for in an awards management solution

Maybe you’ve seen your competitor use an awards management system and want to check what it can do for you. Or you just want to find one for your awards since organizing them takes too much of your time. Either way, you might not be fully aware of WHAT and WHY you should be looking for. Let’s start with possibly the simplest explanation you’ll find online.

Awards management software is a cloud-based platform that helps you manage your awards faster, more simply, and more smoothly. You create and manage your program entirely online: collect and handle entries, set and monitor the judging process, and release results.

Here’s the process visualized:

awards management process

Basically, what such a solution does is:

  • Save you tons of time

Ok, that's a no-brainer — it’s the purpose of any software. That said, the amount of time awards management software saves you is truly impressive. With Evalato, for instance, you can save 70% — 80% staff time on average. Now that’s what we’re talking about.

“Using Evalato has saved a considerable amount of staff time [70%  staff time saved] which has greatly increased our ability to provide better quality and more frequent awards programs.’’, Garrett Mickley, AIBD Communications DirectorRead AIBD, says in his case study.
  • Organize and streamline it all

It’s like living in a smart home — you can automate all tedious tasks. Awards management software streamlines your workflow, empowers, and simplifies the evaluation process, automates repetitive tasks, and helps you manage everything with a click of the mouse. Yes, managing applications could be that easy!

  • Quick setup 

With saving time being the purpose, you want a solution that won’t require too much time and effort spent on setting it up. Especially if you are a first-time user of this type of solution, you will benefit from an awards management system that offers some type of program with pre-configured settings so that you don’t necessarily have to start from scratch. 

  • Eliminate miscommunication and human error

Every good awards management software has the function of automating your communication with judges and applicants. That's a huge time saver and reduces immensely the risk of miscommunication. The other important thing is that the system calculates the evaluation results for you, so it eliminates the element of human error.

  • Help you grow

First and foremost, an awards management platform removes the lengthy and tiring administrative processes so that you can focus on growth. Second, top solutions include analytic tools where you can measure results and act accordingly. They also have integrations with Google Analytics, Hubspot, Zapier, or other tools so that you can collect data, track conversions, and streamline all your processes. Some even offer sales tools to boost the number of entries and payments you receive.

  • Make applicants and judges happy

If you are good at your job, you know that happy applicants and judges are key to a successful awards competition. A good awards management solution makes their participation smooth as butter as well. It’s that simple.

Awards management software features

Here are the essential features you should be looking for: 🕵

  • Customization options

The more you can customize, the better. You need to be able to customize the style and colors of your webpage/registration form, the currency, language, forms, program URL, and anything else you deem important.

  • Website builder / embeddable registration form

Most solutions provide the option to easily create a webpage for your awards. Other solutions like Evalato go the extra mile and also offer the option to embed your awards registration form directly into your website. If you have a stellar website for your awards, you should definitely consider an embeddable registration form as it's the better option in terms of brand awareness, SEO, and an uninterrupted customer experience.

  • Personal portals for applicants and judges

It’s recommended that applicants and judges have their own online space to work in. Even better if that workspace has “resume” functionality so progress can be saved and work can be restarted at any time.

evalato application portal
  • Automated emails

An awards management system allows you to handle all applicant communication easily, including confirmation emails, application status updates, deadline reminders, judge invitations, and so on.

  • Various voting options

Obviously, that’s a key feature for any awards management system. The most popular voting types are score, popularity, simple review, points, positional voting, as well as the option for a single transferrable vote. Public voting is a must if you want to boost your awards visibility. Don't settle with a platform that offers anything less.

Evalato judging modes
  • Analytic tools

If you want to skyrocket your numbers, make sure the platform you choose has analytic tools and can integrate with Google Analytics or other solutions you use. That way you can make data-based decisions and grow both your awards and your business. Now that you know the features any software for managing awards needs to have to get the job done, let's have a look at our top 10 picks for 2024. Note that this is not a ranking and the software solutions are listed in no particular order.👇🤩

The Top 10 Аwards Management Software in 2024

  1. Evalato
  2. SurveyMonkey Apply
  3. Judgify
  4. OpenWater
  5. Wizehive (Zengine)
  6. Submittable
  7. AwardForce
  8. AwardStage
  9. Reviewr
  10. Submit

1. Evalato

Evalato is one of the leading solutions on the market due to its unrivaled customizability, ease of use, flexibility, and robust set of features. It is designed to make awards management a breeze, streamline all your processes, and help programs grow exponentially. Unlike most similar solutions, Evalato offers an embeddable registration form for your website along with the standard option for creating an awards webpage. Evalato also provides you with tools to boost the number of award entries you receive. Another distinctive advantage of the platform is that it offers unlimited free testing — you can simply sign up and test it, no strings attached.

Source: Capterra; last update: June 2024

Pros: Unlimited free testing; exceptional UX; embeddable registration form and flexible sales tools that go with it; score normalization; pre-configured customizable templates;

Cons: Doesn't have a free plan

Price:

  • Starter plans: €900-€2500 per program | Includes: up to 50-200 applications; customizable process, amazing 5-star support
  • Business plan: €4300 per program | Includes: unlimited applications; all essential features, amazing 5-star support
  • Premium plan: €4900 per program | Includes: unlimited applications; all business features, amazing 5-star support
  • Enterprise: quote-based | Includes: unlimited applications, all premium features, dedicated account manager, and priority support

2. SurveyMonkey Apply

Specifically created for grants, scholarships, and similar programs, SurveyMonkey acquired Fluidreview (another awards management platform) a few years ago. It offers lots of features tailored to grantmakers. They also offer free implementation services. To see how much the solution will cost you, however, you’ll need to ask for a quote. They don’t offer a free trial.

Source: Capterra; last update: June 2024

Pros: Free implementation services; 

Cons: No free trial; no free plan

Price: Custom quote only; *Last pricing data update: June 2024; source: SurveyMonkey Apply official website

3. Judgify

Judgify has been around for quite a while. It is currently the only software on the market that offers a free plan, but it is extremely limited in features and volumes.

Source: Capterra; last update: June 2024

Pros: Free plan available

Cons: Lots of limitations in the Free and Pro plans

Price:

  • Basic plan (free): covers up to 100 submissions; only 1 judging round & no public voting; only 5 categories, only self-serve support; includes onboarding fee;
  • Pro plan ($500/program): limited to 500 submissions, 25 categories, 5 rounds for private judging and 1 public voting round; Enterprise plan: customized and by quote only; includes onboarding fee

*Last pricing data update: June 2024; source: Judgify official website

4. OpenWater

OpenWater is one of the oldest awards management solutions on the market. It is suitable mainly for big organizations since it doesn’t have small-budget pricing options. OpenWater also offers a virtual conference platform. There is no free trial.

Source: Capterra; last update: June 2024

Pros: Mobile app for events

Cons: Unclear pricing(the starting price (source Capterra) seems high for small organizations); no free trial 

Price: Unclear pricing; according to data on Capterra, prices start from. $5900.

*Last pricing data update: June 2024; source: OpenWater profile on Capterra, Open Water official website

5. Wizehive (Zengine)

Founded back in 2008 Wizehive (Zengine) is a solution designed specifically to run grants, scholarships, fellowships, internships, HR, and similar awards programs. It provides robust functionalities and some useful grant-specific features. They, however, don’t disclose their pricing and you need a quote to see how much it would cost. There’s no free trial.

Source: Capterra; last update: June 2024

Pros: Grant-specific features 

Cons: Unclear pricing; no free trial; 

Price: By quote only;

*Last pricing data update: June 2024; source: Wizehive official website

6. Submittable

Submittable is one of the most popular solutions out there with a special focus on impact and CSR programs, grants, and scholarships. Its pricing is by quote only so you'll need to talk to a sales rep to see how much it would cost you.

Source: Capterra; last update: June 2024

Pros: Grant-specific features available; 

Cons: Price available by quote only;

Price: Submittable offers three plans but the price is available by quote only.

*Last pricing data update: June 2024; source: Submittable official website

7. AwardForce

AwardForce is a well-known awards management solution. No free trial is available, so if you want to see how the platform works, you need to request a pre-recorded demo (your email is required) or book a call with a sales representative.

Source: Capterra; last update: June 2024

Pros: Gallery-view feature available

Cons: No free trial; no free plans;  

Price: Tiered pricing

  • Growth: €2000/ program (for free-to-enter programs with low entry volumes; only some features included)
  • Pro: €4800/program + Onboarding service: €1500 (for branded programs, with sponsors, and higher submission rates) 
  • Enterprise: By quote (for enterprise needs, major submission volumes)

*Last pricing data update - June 2024; source: AwardForce official website

8. AwardStage

AwardStage is designed mainly for awards competitions and abstracts, and has a ticketing functionality which is great if you have a large awards ceremony with lots of visitors and need a ticketing solution as well. AwardStage doesn’t have a free trial version so you’d need a demo to see how it works. 

Capterra rating: No reviews available as of June 2024

Pros: Ticketing feature

Cons: No free trial; no free plan

Price: Feature-based annual plans:

  • Lite: $1600/program/annum (1-99 submissions; 1 entry form; Up to 10 form fields; Up to 10 categories; Up to 10 judges and some features limitations)
  • Standard: $2985/program/annum (100-249 submissions; Multiple forms; Up to 25 form fields; Up to 30 categories; Up to 50 judges and some other limitations available only in the Pro and Enterprise plans)
  • Pro: $4445/program/annum (250-499 entries; Multiple forms; Unlimited form fields; Up to 100 categories)
  • Enterprise: by quote only (multiple awards programs, unlimited submissions, unlimited categories)  

*Last pricing data update - June 2024; source: AwardStage official website

9. Reviewr

Reviewer is another well-known solution for awards management. The platform provides a lot of demo options and explainer videos.

Source: Capterra; last update: June 2024

Pros: Option to import data

Cons: Unclear pricing, no free plan

Price: Tiered pricing: feature-based annual plans. Pricing is by custom quote only.

*Last pricing data update — June 2024; source: Reviewr official website

10. Submit

Submit.com is another submission management solution that has been around for a while. Free testing is not available so you need to schedule a demo to see how the product works.

Source: Capterra; last update: June 2024

Pros: API

Cons: No free trial

Price: By quote only; starting price: €5.995/year

**Last pricing data update: June 2024; source: Submit.com

Why you should opt for Evalato 🏆

Yes, we’re kind of biased here, you are reading this on our website after all, but we feel that our reasons are quite sound. The award management platform Evalato is pretty much one of the easiest to use while still offering a robust set of features, and is super flexible for organizations of any type and size. Our customers say it best:

Evalato customer review

The platform has also received lots of accolades for being a top awards management solution. Here are the latest ones:

And if these reasons are not enough for you, you’re welcome to try Evalato for free - our test mode allows you to see how everything works before making a decision.

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