Submittable alternatives: where to go and how to move your grant programs
Seven destinations, one per reason to leave, and an eight-step migration plan.
The short answer: Dapple for a lit mag, prize or small call on monthly billing ($69 a month), Good Grants for a public price and unlimited users ($3,950 a year), SurveyMonkey Apply for big volunteer panels, Evalato for 50 entries or fewer, Submit.com for one large annual call, Optimy if you also run sponsorships and volunteering, and SmartSimple if your process is heavy. We compared their pricing pages, limits and import paths. For the wider field, read our grant management software ranking.
The ranking is editorial: a sponsored placement is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
Some links may be affiliate links. They don't change the order of the tools or our take on them.
Why teams leave Submittable, and what gets in the way
Submittable's applicant portal is well liked. Departures come from the entry plan's limits, the price step between tiers, and a platform that broadened into CSR. Seven reasons, each read on Submittable's own pages or in dated customer reviews.
Basic runs out fast
Submittable Basic, at $999 a year, includes three team seats, 300 submissions a year and one project. A five-person panel or a second call is enough to outgrow it.
Multi-stage review sits above Basic
Basic keeps yes/no voting, anonymized data and team assignments, but custom and multi-stage review sits on higher plans. That's often the reason to buy grant software in the first place.
Monthly billing: a trick for one-cycle teams
Paid monthly, Basic is $119, or $1,428 over twelve months, against $999 paid annually. But a team that runs one cycle a year is better off monthly: three months (open call, review, decisions) come to $357. Before you pick monthly, get written confirmation that you can stop whenever you want.
A platform that grew into CSR
Submittable now pitches itself as a social impact platform covering grants, employee giving and volunteering. In 2024 it also bought WizeHive, so if WizeHive is on your shortlist, know that it's the same company: moving there isn't leaving. If all you do is review applications, a more focused tool may fit better.
Paid add-ons and cluttered lists
On Submittable's review pages, a grantmaker who onboarded in 2024 (on WizeHive, now part of Submittable) found that features mentioned in the sales call cost extra, a bill they called prohibitively expensive for a small organization. Another reviewer asked in 2024 for folders to organize projects, forms and reports, as the lists grow long. On the literary side, one small US press put the savings from its 2020 move to Duosuma at about $2,500 a year: an old figure, worth checking against today's prices.
Data residency and languages
Funders outside the US often want a choice of hosting region and multilingual forms. Good Grants lets you choose the storage region and Optimy hosts in the EU or US; both list it plainly on their sites.
Leaving takes planning
Read your Customer Terms of Service before you start. The contract renews automatically for a term at least as long as the first one, unless you give written notice of nonrenewal at least 90 days before the term ends. At renewal, fees move up to the current list price, capped at a 15% increase. Terminate early and every fee left until the end of the term becomes due at once. After the contract ends, you get 30 days to download your data. And don't let an invoice slide: at 60 days past due your team is locked out, at 90 days your open calls close, and at 120 days the account is cancelled.
You're leaving because… go to…
The right alternative depends on what's pushing you out. Usually one line applies. Each card links to the full profile below.
$3,950/year, unlimited users, no cut of disbursements.
Your panel has dozens of volunteersSurveyMonkey ApplyUnlimited reviewers and admins on every plan.
You get 50 entries or fewerEvalato€2,500 for 50 entries, unlimited free testing. From 100 entries, Good Grants Intro (€3,200) costs less.
You run one big call a yearSubmit.com1,000 applicants, 20 reviewers, 5 admins for €5,995.
You run a lit mag, a prize or a small call and want monthly billingDappleStarter at $69 a month for 5 users and 500 submissions a year.
You also run sponsorships and volunteeringOptimyEU or US hosting, 24 languages, from €650/month.
Your process is heavy and tied to an ERPSmartSimpleConfigured around your workflow, implementation included in the project.
Submittable alternatives, tool by tool
For each tool: why move there, who it fits, its limit, how to migrate and what it costs. Prices are those the vendors list in 2026, in the currency they show. One more name shows up on most lists: OpenWater, application and review software for associations, foundations and universities (grants, scholarships, fellowships, awards, conference abstracts). Its pricing page has an estimator: one program is $6,650 a year and one admin $2,400 a year, so $9,050 a year to get started, about nine times the price of Submittable Basic.
Dapple: month-to-month pricing for lit mags, prizes and small calls
Monthly, like BasicWhy move to Dapple. If you pay Submittable Basic monthly, that's $119 for three seats and 300 submissions a year. Dapple Starter is $69 a month, billed monthly, for five users, 500 submissions a year and ten projects. The free trial runs with no end date, so you can build your form and scoring before you pay anything.
Who it's for. Literary magazines, small presses, prizes, residencies and small grant calls: Submittable's original crowd.
Who it's not for. A funder tracking budgets and payouts: fund management (budgets, payment schedules, approvals) starts on Growth, at $239 a month.
Its limit. Starter caps you at three reviewers and one review round per project: unlimited reviewers and multiple rounds start on Growth. And if you charge reading fees, Dapple takes 2% plus $0.25 per payment, on top of Stripe's fees. On a $25 contest entry, that's $0.75 per entrant before Stripe.
How to migrate. Dapple's switching guide carries over contacts only: export applicants and creators from Submittable as a CSV (email and name, plus optional date of birth and address, up to 1,000 rows per file). Past submissions and their files stay in Submittable, so keep your archive export. Rebuild your form yourself during the trial: onboarding calls come with Growth and Pro, not Starter. Then open your next reading period on Dapple.
Price. Starter $69, Growth $239, Pro $469 a month, billed monthly; annual billing saves the equivalent of two months, and registered nonprofits get 10% off annual Growth and Pro. The trick for one reading period a year: on a monthly plan you can pause, and Dapple moves your account to its free plan with your data kept until the next call.
- Price
- Starter $69 a month
- Volume
- 500 submissions a year, 5 users
- Best for
- lit mags, prizes, residencies
- Limit
- 3 reviewers on Starter
Good Grants: a public price and unlimited users
Clearest pricingWhy move to Good Grants. If the reason you're shopping is that every Submittable renewal feels like a new negotiation, Good Grants is the opposite. Its pricing page lists the Intro plan at $3,950 a year and Premium at $7,900, with a price list in US dollars, euros, pounds and other currencies. There are no seats: reviewers, board members and program officers all get access under the same contract. The vendor also states it takes no cut of the money you disburse, which matters once your grant budget grows.
Who it's for. Foundations, councils and corporate funders running one to a handful of programs a year who want next year's software cost known today. The interface comes in more than forty languages; running one call in several languages at once is a Premium feature.
Who it's not for. A team handling twenty applications a year. At this price, a good form builder feeding a spreadsheet is usually enough.
Its limit. Intro includes one application form; Premium includes ten. Running three separate programs? Price Premium from day one.
How to migrate. Good Grants lists three import routes: Zapier, Google Sheets through its integration marketplace, or a paid import service run by their team. Check the plan: on the pricing grid, Zapier, Make and the integration marketplace are ticked for Premium, not Intro. On Intro, that leaves the paid import service, or re-entering only the grants still in progress. Good Grants says simple setups go live in as little as 24 hours.
Price. Intro $3,950/year, Premium $7,900/year, Enterprise on quote. Good to know: Creative Force, the company behind Good Grants, also sells Award Force, its awards software, which many Submittable comparisons list on its own. Same vendor, so not a second opinion: Growth at $3,250 a year for free-to-enter programs, Pro at $6,500 a year if you charge entry fees, plus a one-off $2,300 onboarding service.
- Price
- $3,950/year (Intro)
- Users
- unlimited
- Best for
- fixed budgets, big panels
- Limit
- 1 form on Intro
SurveyMonkey Apply: unlimited reviewers on every plan
For large review panelsWhy move to SurveyMonkey Apply. The three-seat cap is what pushes most small teams off Submittable Basic. Every SurveyMonkey Apply plan includes unlimited reviewers and unlimited admins. Pro handles up to 1,000 applicants on one program, Enterprise up to 5,000 across ten programs. Implementation services come with each plan: five hours with a specialist on Pro, up to three programs on Enterprise and up to five on Enterprise Plus. Mind the plan: the Salesforce sync, multiple languages, fund tracking and single sign-on are ticked from Enterprise up, not on Pro. It comes from the SurveyMonkey team (see our SurveyMonkey review), but Apply is a separate product built for applications and review panels.
Who it's for. Universities, associations and foundations that lean on dozens of volunteer reviewers.
Who it's not for. Anyone who needs a budget figure before the first sales call: every plan routes you to the sales team.
Its limit. Price is negotiated plan by plan. Ask for a two-year proposal so the first renewal doesn't surprise you.
How to migrate. Use the included implementation time: on Pro it's five hours, so bring your Submittable form and scoring rubric ready and spend those hours building the first program with their specialist.
Price. On quote from the sales team, for Pro, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus alike.
- Price
- on quote
- Users
- unlimited reviewers
- Best for
- volunteer review panels
- Limit
- budget known late
Evalato: priced by the number of entries
For 50 entries or fewerWhy move to Evalato. If your program gets 50 or 100 applications a year, a foundation suite is overkill. Evalato prices by volume: €2,500 for 50 entries, €3,500 for 100, €4,500 for 200, then €5,500 for Pro, which goes up to 10,000. You can build and trial a program for free before paying, and it supports more than forty languages.
Who it's for. Awards, competitions, scholarships and small grant calls, especially with multi-round judging.
Who it's not for. Tracking a three-year grant with interim reports and staged payments. Evalato presents itself as awards software built to collect entries, run judging and pick winners; for post-award follow-up, look at a grant suite.
Its limit. A program stays live for 365 days; for next year's edition you renew or clone it. And run the numbers above 50 entries: Good Grants Intro is €3,200 a year on its euro price list (up to 10,000 applications), less than Grow 100 (€3,500) and Grow 200 (€4,500).
How to migrate. Start fresh for the next cycle instead of importing history: keep your Submittable exports as an archive and rebuild your rubric in Evalato.
Price. Grow €2,500 to €4,500 depending on volume; Pro €5,500. Prices are published in euros, so budget for the exchange rate.
- Price
- from €2,500 (50 entries)
- Trial
- unlimited free testing
- Best for
- awards, scholarships
- Limit
- 365-day program
Submit.com: one big call, one program
For a single large programWhy move to Submit.com. Submittable Basic stops at 300 submissions and three seats. Submit.com's Starter plan covers up to 1,000 applicants, 20 reviewers and 5 admins on one program for €5,995 a year. Mind the languages: the multilingual feature (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Irish, Welsh) is a premium feature that the pricing grid marks as not included in Starter, so price it in before you sign.
Who it's for. A funder that runs one major call a year with an external panel that needs limited access.
Who it's not for. Teams running several programs at once: Starter includes one, and Pro is quote-based.
Its limit. The jump from Starter to Pro: past 1,000 applicants or one program, you negotiate.
How to migrate. Rebuild your form from your latest Submittable cycle, field by field, and import only open applications. Closed cycles can stay in a dated export.
Price. Starter €5,995/year; Pro on quote.
- Price
- €5,995/year
- Volume
- 1,000 applicants
- Best for
- one large annual call
- Limit
- 1 program on Starter
SmartSimple: configurable suite for large funders
For complex processesWhy move to SmartSimple. You're leaving because your process no longer fits: staged payments, agreements, impact reporting, links to your ERP and CRM. SmartSimple Cloud is configured around your process and connects to your finance and CRM systems. It is now part of Foundant (SmartSimple by Foundant).
Who it's for. Large foundations, government funders and research grant offices with a project team for rollout.
Who it's not for. A small team that wants to launch next week.
Its limit. Total cost: a one-time implementation fee for the build, then a recurring subscription. Pricing comes as a proposal.
How to migrate. It's a project, not an import: the deployment team moves your forms and data as part of implementation. Negotiate historical data migration into the quote.
Price. Implementation fee plus subscription, by proposal.
- Price
- implementation + subscription
- Strength
- deep configuration
- Best for
- large funders
- Limit
- full rollout project
Optimy: grants, sponsorships and volunteering
For CSR teamsWhy move to Optimy. Submittable has grown into employee giving and volunteering. If that breadth is what you want, but with a team and data hosting in Europe, Optimy covers the same ground: grants, sponsorships, donations and volunteering in one platform. Data sits on AWS in the EU or the US, and applicants fill forms in their own language, with 24 supported.
Who it's for. Corporate foundations and CSR teams with several programs, particularly with operations in Europe.
Who it's not for. A small nonprofit running a single call a year.
Its limit. Training, professional-services hours and faster support come as service levels priced apart from the licence: €1,000 a year for Basic, €2,000 for Growth, €5,000 for Advanced. If you need one, add it to the subscription before you compare.
How to migrate. Plan six to eight weeks, the go-live window the vendor advertises. Have your program exports ready before signing so setup uses your real fields.
Price. Start from €650 a month; Smart and Professional on request.
- Price
- from €650/month
- Hosting
- AWS EU or US
- Best for
- CSR, sponsorships
- Limit
- service levels extra
The 7 alternatives side by side
Our default picks: Good Grants for a known budget, Evalato for 50 entries or fewer. For scale, take a program with 300 applications a year and six reviewers. It outgrows Submittable Basic (three seats) and Dapple Starter (three reviewers). It fits Dapple Growth at $239 a month, $2,868 over twelve months or about $2,390 billed annually (two months saved), and Good Grants Intro at $3,950 a year. On Evalato it needs Pro at €5,500. For very small calls, a form tool may do: see our form builder comparison.
| Entry price | What's included and how to migrate | |
|---|---|---|
| SubmittableWhere you start | Basic: $999/year ($119 monthly) | 3 seats, 300 submissions, 1 project |
| Good GrantsFixed budget | $3,950/year (Intro) | Zapier and Make on Premium; paid import on Intro |
| SurveyMonkey ApplyBig panels | On quote | Implementation included (5 hours on Pro) |
| Evalato50 entries or fewer | From €2,500 (50 entries) | New cycle rather than import |
| DappleLit mags and small calls | Starter $69 a month | 5 users, 3 reviewers, 500 submissions; contacts-only import |
| Submit.comOne large call | €5,995/year | Rebuild the form, 1 program |
| OptimyCSR and Europe | From €650/month | Go-live in 6 to 8 weeks |
| SmartSimpleComplex processes | Implementation + subscription | Migration inside the rollout |
Entry prices as listed by vendors in 2026, subject to change.
Moving off Submittable in eight steps
Order matters. Each step protects something: applicants, reviewers, active grantees and your archive.
Inventory everything that runs
Week 1List your live forms with their fields and conditional logic, scoring rubrics, review stages, email templates, reviewer accounts and integrations. Note the dates of your next cycles: they set your deadline. A table in Airtable is enough to keep it all in one place.
Pick the right window
Week 1Never migrate mid-cycle. The safe window is between the last decisions of one round and the opening of the next. If grantee reports come in year-round, keep Submittable open until active grants close.
Export applications, scores and files
Week 2Export applications to a spreadsheet program by program, with reviewer scores and decisions. Download attachments for funded applicants separately: budgets, bylaws, signed agreements. File them by grantee ID.
Clean before you import
Week 2Remove duplicates, standardize organization names and date formats, and drop personal data you no longer need. It's the moment to cut five years of declined applications rather than carry them over.
Rebuild the form and the rubric
Week 3Recreate your form from your most recent cycle, not your first. Drop questions nobody uses during review. Keep the rubric identical so scores stay comparable year over year.
Import only what's still alive
Week 3Import organizations, contacts and grants still in monitoring. Closed cycles can stay in your archive export. If your plan includes Google Sheets or Zapier, run a ten-row test first to check field mapping.
Train the panel and run a dry test
Week 4Create a dummy application, push it through every stage and have two reviewers score it. That's how you catch an email firing at the wrong time or a score that never rolls up.
Tell applicants and close the old account
Week 5Update the application links on your site, point current grantees to their new portal, and keep Submittable access until your contract ends. Before you cancel, have a level 4 or 5 admin run a full export (Submissions tab, gear icon, Export Data): the CSV, the PDFs and the attachments. Then send written notice of nonrenewal at least 90 days before your term ends, by email with confirmation of transmission or by certified mail, and keep the proof. After the end, you still have 30 days to download your data.
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
What makes a Submittable migration fail
The same mistakes repeat from one funder to the next. None are technical: they're scheduling and scope slips.
Switching mid-cycle
Two live systems means lost applicants and reviewers who don't know where to score. Wait until decisions are out.
Forgetting attachments
Submittable's CSV carries answers, not files: attachments come out in a separate ZIP you have to run too. A missing budget or signed agreement means chasing a grantee.
Changing the rubric at the same time
Change your criteria and your tool together and you won't know whether a score shift comes from the panel or the software.
Ignoring costs around the subscription
Paid service levels, import services, implementation fees: add them all up before comparing with your Submittable invoice.
Missing the renewal date
Write down your Submittable contract end date on day one and subtract 90 days: that's your notice deadline. Miss it and you renew for a term at least as long as the first, with fees that can rise up to 15%.
- Forms, rubrics, emails and integrations inventoried
- Off-cycle window chosen
- Dated export of applications, scores and files
- Data cleaned and trimmed
- Form and rubric rebuilt
- Ten-row test import checked
- Dummy application run end to end
- Site links updated, archive export kept
Submittable alternatives: frequently asked questions
How much does Submittable cost?
Submittable Basic is $999 a year, or $119 a month, for three seats, 300 submissions a year and one project. Above that, pricing is discussed with the vendor. If you charge submission fees, add Submittable's cut: its Customer Terms take 5% of what each submitter pays plus $0.99 per charge. Only free submissions count toward the 300-submission limit. To see the wider market, check our ranking of grant management software.
How do I cancel Submittable?
In writing, at least 90 days before your term ends. Submittable's Customer Terms of Service (v1.4) renew the contract automatically unless either party sends written notice of nonrenewal in that window, by email with confirmation of transmission, certified mail or courier. The same terms let you terminate at any time, but every fee left until the end of the term then becomes due immediately. For invoice questions, the help center points to billing@submittable.com. Export everything before the end: after it, you have 30 days to download your data.
How do I get my data out of Submittable?
A level 4 or 5 admin filters submissions in the Submissions tab, clicks the gear icon, then Export Data. You get three outputs: submission data as CSV, full submissions as PDFs (one ZIP), and uploaded files with their PDFs (another ZIP). Run it program by program. On the submitter side, a personal account is deleted by request within 30 days, but its submissions stay in organizations' accounts with the email anonymized.
What's the best Submittable alternative for nonprofits?
If your nonprofit gives grants, Evalato for small volumes or Good Grants for a fixed annual budget. If it applies for grants, you need a different kind of tool: see our page on grant software for nonprofits and our ranking of nonprofit CRMs.
What's the best Submittable alternative for foundations?
Good Grants if you want a public price, SmartSimple if your process is complex and tied to accounting. Two foundation suites also come up in most comparisons: Foundant GLM (unlimited user licenses, pricing on request; Foundant also owns SmartSimple) and Fluxx Grantmaker, which starts at $13,000 a year plus a one-time setup fee. Both sit above Submittable Basic in budget and setup effort. Our page on grant software for foundations covers suites built for multi-year monitoring.
Can I keep my reviewers without paying for seats?
Yes, with Good Grants (unlimited users) and SurveyMonkey Apply (unlimited reviewers and admins on every plan). Submit.com Starter includes 20 reviewers. Check limited-access roles for external panels too.
Which alternative hosts data in Europe?
Optimy hosts on AWS in the EU or the US, your choice. Good Grants runs on AWS in the EU and lets you choose where your data is stored among several regions. Always ask for the data processing agreement before signing.
How long does a migration take?
Good Grants recommends three to four weeks from sign-off to go-live; with Evalato, which is self-serve, it mostly depends on how long you take to rebuild your form. Optimy quotes six to eight weeks to go live. SmartSimple is an implementation project with a timeline set in the proposal.
What's the best Submittable alternative for a literary magazine?
First check the CLMP member plan: $39 a month or $290 a year with unrestricted seats and six projects but up to 5 form fields per form, plus a $0.99 processing fee per transaction and 5% of each paid submission fee. If you leave, Dapple starts at $69 a month, Duosuma bills by usage, and Subfolio targets small journals too. For a handful of submissions, a Jotform form is enough.
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