Zealous is a cloud-based submissions management platform for any program that collects and evaluates entries: awards, competitions, grants, open calls, residencies, fairs, and commissions. One subscription covers unlimited programs, so an awards program in spring, a grant round in autumn, and a residency call in winter all run from the same dashboard, with the same login and the same support team. Entry collection, judging, payments, and results live in one place instead of spread across forms, spreadsheets, and email.
Zealous is built around presentation. Applicants submit rich media rather than compressed attachments: images preserved with lossless compression, video up to 4GB, audio, documents, and embedded content from Vimeo, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Sketchfab. Judges assess the work as it was meant to be seen, whether that is a visual portfolio, a research paper, or a business proposal.
Key Features & Capabilities
Customizable application forms with conditional logic, automated fee collection through Stripe with payments going directly to your account, and judging tools that require no training. Applicants save drafts and resume on any device. Judges score against criteria you define, with configurable score ranges for each round and anonymous review that hides applicant details automatically. Real-time progress tracking shows exactly where each reviewer stands, and automated reminders chase anyone who has not started. Clone a program for its next edition and carry over categories, criteria, form fields, and reviewer assignments.
Target Users & Applications
Zealous serves foundations, universities, museums, galleries, publishers, professional bodies, corporate innovation teams, and cultural organizations. Clients include the British Library, University of the Arts London, Pearson, Cambridge University, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Programs range from art prizes, photography contests, and design competitions to research funding rounds, pitch competitions, and industry awards.
Performance & Impact
Zealous has operated for 15 years from the UK and supports 500+ organizations and a network of 180,000+ creators. Customers report large reductions in administrative time and higher entry volumes year over year, with individual cases covering an 80% cut in workload and a 22% rise in submissions. The platform runs on Google Cloud with 99.98% uptime, GDPR-compliant data handling, and PCI DSS payment processing.
Pricing & Support
Monthly billing with no annual contracts, no setup or onboarding fees, and unlimited support on every plan. Pause between cycles and pay only while a program is active, or take a 33% discount on annual billing. Plans are priced on submission volume rather than the number of programs you run. The first 20 entries are free, and most organizations go live within 48 hours using ready-made templates.
Why Choose Zealous
Most platforms treat a submission as a form response. Zealous treats it as work someone spent weeks preparing, and builds the collection, viewing, and scoring experience around that. The result is fewer support emails from applicants, panels that finish on time, and selection decisions you can defend to trustees or an FOI request. Organizations move to Zealous from spreadsheets that became a liability at scale, from email and shared drives, and from platforms charging setup fees and annual lock-ins.
Average Rating: 4.7/5.0
Total Reviews: 16
How Do G2 Users Rate Zealous?
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Ease of Use: 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
Who Is the Company Behind Zealous?
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Seller: Zealous Solutions Ltd.
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Year Founded: 2011
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HQ Location: London
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LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
15 employees on LinkedIn®
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Ownership: Private. Zealous is bootstrapped and founder-owned, no outside investment.
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Phone: +4420 8142 8874
Who Uses This Product?
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Top Industries: Fine Art
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Company Size: 88% Small, 6% Medium
What Are G2 Users Discussing About Zealous?
