Where to find open calls: 10 sites compared

An open call is any invitation to send work or apply under stated rules. The real question is where to find the ones that fit what you make, where you live and what you can spend.

What’s the best site to find open calls?

The best one depends on what you make and what you need from it: a list of calls, a place to apply, or a record of what you sent.

Pick a starting point from the table, then read the notes below it. “Not stated on their site” means we couldn’t find it on their public pages, not that the feature doesn’t exist. Prices are what the site charges you, separate from any fee the organizer charges.

Which open call websites should visual artists try?

Try ArtConnect for range, CuratorSpace or CaFÉ when you want to apply on the same site, NYFA for grants across art forms, Artenda for reminders and ArtRabbit for an edited weekly pick. Pick by the kind of application you’re making, not by how many calls a site says it has.

ArtConnect

ArtConnect’s open call pages put the deadline and a fee tag on every card, so you can tell a free call from one that charges before you click. There’s also a page of calls without fees. Residencies, exhibitions, grants and commissions share one list, which helps if you’re not after one kind of thing.

The tag says “Free” or “Yes”, not how much. It won’t cover shipping, travel or what you pay to take part, either. Read the organizer’s rules and check you’re eligible before you put time into an application.

The free plan lets you view five calls a month. Emerging ($3 a month billed yearly, or $6 monthly) adds unlimited calls, a weekly email of matches, a saved list and a way to add deadlines to your calendar. Mid-career ($5 or $10) adds a full artist profile. The pricing page says prices don’t include VAT.

CuratorSpace

Use CuratorSpace when you’d like the call and the application in one place. Its artist FAQ says you can apply on the site, save an application to finish later and check its status in your account. That suits you if you’re preparing several exhibition applications with images and supporting text. It’s free for artists, with paid upgrades from £5 a month.

Bookmark a call and they’ll send reminders as the deadline gets close or if the details change. Each call’s cost is on its own page, not in the list. The free account doesn’t make the call free: organizers can still charge an entry or exhibition fee. And the status page only covers what you sent through CuratorSpace, so keep a record of email submissions somewhere else.

CaFÉ and Creative West

If an organizer asks you to upload images, answer eligibility questions or enter work for a jury on CaFÉ, start there. It’s built for juried exhibitions and public art, and your applications, started and sent, sit on a My Entries page.

Its “Find Calls” link now opens a Creative West portal, the new version of the CaFÉ call listings, so older screenshots of the filters won’t match. Each card shows the application fee. For free calls, set the fee range to zero; there’s also a “$25 and Under” shortcut. Earlier product updates added a filter for participation fees collected through CaFÉ and an “Outside the US” region. Follow a call and, if you opt in, you’ll get an email before it closes. The account is free.

Check the practical fit, too. A regional show may need the work delivered in person, even though anyone can fill in the online form.

NYFA

If your work crosses forms, NYFA’s board is a good place to look. It covers literary, performing and visual arts, with grants and residencies next to calls to show work, and its “No Fee Application” filter clears out application charges in one go. A free account saves listings and searches and emails you when new matches are posted.

Treat each result as a lead. The funder’s own rules decide whether it fits you: a call filed under literary arts can still be limited by where you live, your experience or the kind of project. A no-fee application can also lead to a paid workshop or residency, so read the participation terms too.

Artenda

Artenda is built around reminders. Add a call to your agenda and they’ll email you before the deadline. Its listings show the application fee apart from the residency’s rent or fee, which helps when your shortlist mixes supported residencies with programs that charge you to attend.

It’s €3.49 a month after a 30-day free trial, and the subscription starts on its own unless you cancel. Check the checkout currency, the billing terms and what your account can search before you pay. The coverage is art calls, so if you’re sending out poems or stories you’ll still want a magazine database.

ArtRabbit

ArtRabbit picks its calls from submissions and its own research, and emails a selection to about 23,500 art practitioners every week. You can filter by type and location, and some listings give the entry fee. The bonus is the exhibition listings on the same site: look up a venue’s past shows and artists to see whether the call fits the work it actually shows. Their site doesn’t mention a submission tracker or deadline reminders, so keep your own calendar and record.

Where do writers find magazine calls and contests?

Research in a magazine database such as Poets & Writers or Chill Subs, find calls with a form attached on Submittable Discover, and get the final rules from the magazine’s own submission page.

Submittable Discover

Discover lists calls that take work through Submittable’s own forms, so you go straight from the call to the form. You can search by topic and date, save calls and follow organizations, and there’s a “No Fee” filter. The account is free.

Once you send something, it sits in your account with its status, and Submittable emails you when the status changes. Its notification list includes reminders for unfinished drafts, but not deadline reminders for saved calls. You can also add submissions made elsewhere by hand, so the tracker isn’t limited to Submittable. You enter those yourself, though; another magazine’s email decision won’t show up on its own. Before you send, check the form for genre, fee, any cap on submissions and the files it wants.

Poets & Writers

The Poets & Writers database is for working out where your work belongs, not just which deadline is next. Filter by genre, payment, response time and whether a magazine is open now or opens within 30 days, and set “Reading Fee” to No to drop the ones that charge. Each entry says whether there’s a reading fee, though not how much, and the publishers supply the details themselves. A free account lets you save entries.

Use an entry as your way into the magazine’s own site, where you can read the work and the current guidelines, including any language or residence rules. A magazine that’s closed now can still go on your list for its next reading period. Contests run on their own terms: the fee, the prize and who can enter may differ from the usual reading period. Keep your own record of genre, manuscript, date sent, status and any withdrawal.

Chill Subs

Got a submissions spreadsheet already? Chill Subs is worth a test. Its tracker imports a custom CSV or your Submittable and Submission Grinder exports, and exports back to CSV. Basic tracking is free for everyone. Listing pages show each call’s submission fee and the exact amount, Browse has a “No fee” filter, and a calendar shows upcoming deadlines.

The membership FAQ lists Better at US$10 a month, separate from their newsletter and workshop subscriptions. The acceptance figures come from submissions writers report, not every manuscript a magazine gets, so check the sample size and labels before you trust a percentage. Our Duotrope alternatives guide compares trackers in more detail.

Where does Missa fit in the comparison?

Missa lists calls across art, writing, film, music and performance, including residencies, grants and prizes, and keeps track of what you send.

Every call links to the organizer’s page, and you apply there, not through Missa. Cards show the fee, “No fee”, or “Fee not listed” when the organizer’s page doesn’t say. The methodology explains how calls are checked. Save a call and you’ll get an email two weeks, one week, three days and one day before the deadline, in your time zone. The tracker keeps what you sent, where and when, and you can import your old spreadsheet. Finding calls, saving them and email reminders are free.

It has limits. Missa doesn’t publish acceptance rates, and a listing doesn’t promise you’re eligible or that the organizer’s page won’t change. Confirm the current rules on their page, and update your records when things move. If you’re researching an organization, start with the directory. If where you live is the first filter, try calls by country.

Which sites show the fee and remind you before a deadline?

Chill Subs, CaFÉ, Artenda and Missa put the fee amount on the listing, and CuratorSpace, CaFÉ, Artenda and Missa can email you before a saved call closes.

Seven of the ten have a no-fee filter or page: ArtConnect, CaFÉ, NYFA, Submittable, Poets & Writers, Chill Subs and Missa. ArtConnect and Poets & Writers tell you whether there’s a fee, not how much.

A fee filter builds the shortlist, and a reminder gets you to act on it. Neither tells you the full cost or whether you can apply. Status emails are a different feature, too: a site that tells you about a decision won’t necessarily remind you about a deadline. Our guide to entry, hanging and participation fees explains why “free to apply” needs a second cost check.

Where do artists outside the US and UK find calls?

Start with the international listings on ArtConnect or Artenda, then check who can apply before you treat a call as open to you.

ArtConnect’s dashboard uses your location to show calls for artists where you live plus calls open to international artists; its full list of calls skips that filter. CaFÉ’s search has an “Outside the US” region, NYFA lets you narrow by location and discipline, and Missa has calls by country. The venue’s country isn’t the country you have to live in. A Paris residency could take someone living in Lagos, while a local grant might only take residents of one city.

Check travel funding, visa support, how they’ll pay you and whether a grant is paid in advance. If the organizer hasn’t explained a restriction, ask them a specific question before you start the application. Our guide to funded calls in Nigeria and Africa goes through that check in more detail.

How do you use several sites without losing track?

Use as many sites as you like to find calls, and keep one record of what you sent. Otherwise it’s forty open tabs and a color-coded spreadsheet that only made sense in March.

Give each call a row with:

When the same call shows up on two sites, compare the organizer, the category and the official page before you start a second application. Set yourself a finish date ahead of the deadline, and save the last day for uploading and checking the receipt.