ZAPP alternatives for art fair and juried festival organizers
ZAPP runs artist applications, image jurying, fee collection and a shared events calendar for juried art fairs. Here is where it is the better choice, and where Map D and other tools fit the booth map and booth sales better.
Written by Map D, which is one of the alternatives listed below. Claims about other platforms are limited to what those companies publish themselves, and each is sourced at the foot of the page. Last verified November 2026.
Hall A
LiveHall A revenue
$184,600
Trusted by associations, expos and show organizers since 2011
What ZAPP is good at
ZAPP was built with art shows for juried art fairs, and for most juried fairs it is the right place to select artists. If the following describe your fair, keep it on your shortlist.
- A large existing artist base: artists apply to hundreds of shows nationwide through one website, entering their contact details once and reusing images from a personal image bank.
- Jurying built for art: juror accounts with control over what each juror sees, a remote or in-person jury, a Monitor view to zoom into images and a Projected view for a projection system.
- Score-driven decisions: tools to move artists to invited, not invited or waitlisted statuses based on their scores, across multiple jury rounds.
- Fee collection for application, jury and booth fees and deposits, with booth types, quantities that show as sold out, and an income breakdown report.
- Published event pricing, artists use ZAPP free, and add-ons for booth maps, onsite booth scoring and awards, and a public gallery of accepted artists.
Why organizers look elsewhere
The gaps that send trade show organizers looking for an alternative.
- Booth placement is an add-on in ZAPP: its Booth Map tool lets the administrator assign booths visually on your own site map with pins. Fairs that want accepted artists to choose and pay for their own booth on a live map may want a tool built around selling from the floor plan.
- Fairs that sell booth services such as electricity or corner upgrades, take deposits months ahead, track artist insurance and want a choice of payment gateway may want those on the same record as the map.
- Festivals that also sell sponsorships, run a vendor or food area, or publish a visitor map with wayfinding may want one map for the whole site, not only the artist booths.
How Map D compares
Map D’s column states what Map D does. Where a ZAPP equivalent is not publicly documented, the row says so rather than guessing.
- Map D offers
- 6 of 10
- ZAPP publicly documents
- 7 of 10
The second bar counts what ZAPP documents on its own site, which is not the same as what it can do. A criterion we could not verify is shown as unverified, not as missing — if ZAPP covers it somewhere we did not find, that is a gap in our checking rather than in their product.
| Criterion | Map D | ZAPP |
|---|---|---|
| Published pricing | Included | Documented |
| Pricing unit | Included | Documented |
| Artist applications with an image bank | Not offered | Documented |
| Jury scoring of artists | Not offered | Documented |
| Application and jury fee collection | Not offered | Documented |
| Booth map and booth assignment | Included | Documented |
| Artists pick and pay for a booth on a live map | Included | Unverified |
| Artist insurance tracking | Included | Unverified |
| Choice of payment gateway | Included | Unverified |
| Onsite booth scoring and awards | Not offered | Documented |
$3,499
—
Map D’s rates are per event and listed on the pricing page. The dashed column has no height and no figure on purpose: where rates are not published we will not put a number on them, and where they are published we will not restate one that can change without notice.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Map D | ZAPP |
|---|---|---|
| Published pricing | Yes. Building one event's map in the editor is free; publishing and online booth sales start at $3,499 per event. | ZAPP publishes its event plans, with custom quotes for organizations running 10 or more events, and states that using ZAPP is free to artists (checked November 2026). |
| Pricing unit | Per event, with no per-booth fee and no Map D transaction fee on booth sales. | ZAPP prices each event by application volume, with a setup fee plus a licensing fee, a per-application fee or both, and card fees on payments; licensing and per-application fees can be deducted from fees collected on ZAPP (checked November 2026). |
| Artist applications with an image bank | Not documented. Map D collects custom questions at booking, which can include a file upload, but it has no artist image bank or shared application across shows. | ZAPP documents custom application questions with conditional logic, and an artist image bank reused across shows (checked November 2026). |
| Jury scoring of artists | Not documented. Map D's help documentation describes approving orders for booths, not applications scored by a jury panel. | ZAPP documents juror accounts, remote or in-person jurying, image viewing modes and status changes based on scores (checked November 2026). |
| Application and jury fee collection | Not documented. Map D sells booths, services and sponsorships; it does not describe a separate fee to apply or to be juried. | ZAPP documents application and jury fees with regular, early bird and late rates (checked November 2026). |
| Booth map and booth assignment | Core to the product. Floor plans and site maps drawn to scale in the editor, with booth types and prices, and booths assigned manually or chosen by the exhibitor. | ZAPP's Booth Management add-on lets the administrator assign booths visually on your own site map with customizable pins, plus a Booth Request tool for invited applicants (checked November 2026). |
| Artists pick and pay for a booth on a live map | Artists select an available booth, add services such as electricity with limited inventory, and pay online or offline, with deposits; every sale updates the map. | ZAPP sells booth fees to invited applicants and documents admin booth assignment on a map; whether artists choose their own booth on the map is not described on its pricing page (checked November 2026). |
| Artist insurance tracking | With Insurance on your show, exhibitors buy cover through Vertical Insure or upload a certificate, and the COI Compliance tab shows who is covered. | Insurance or certificate tracking is not described on ZAPP's event pages (checked November 2026). |
| Choice of payment gateway | Stripe, Authorize.Net, PayPal, Payflow Pro, NMI, BluePay or QuickBooks Payments, plus ACH through Authorize.Net, and check, wire or invoice offline. | ZAPP says it is PCI compliant but does not name a payment processor or a choice of gateways on its payments page (checked November 2026). |
| Onsite booth scoring and awards | Not documented. Map D's help documentation does not describe judging booths or awarding prizes at the event. | ZAPP Onsite is a priced add-on for scoring booths and awarding winners at the festival from a mobile device (checked November 2026). |
The alternatives worth shortlisting
Map D
Art fairs and festivals that jury elsewhere and sell booths from a live map
Accepted artists pick, add services to and pay for a booth on the map, with approve-first sales, an exhibitor portal, insurance tracking and published per-event pricing. No artist jurying or application fees.
Eventeny
Fairs and festivals that want applications, jury scoring and a vendor map in one platform
Vendor applications on every plan including a free one, jury scoring on Plus and above, and a vendor map on Pro, with a percentage fee on application payments.
EntryThingy
Galleries and organizations running calls for entry
Custom entry forms with multi-image uploads, customizable scoring with ranked results and blind judging, and published per-submission pricing. Booths are not described.
Smarter Entry
Art festivals and competitions that want an integrated entry and jury system
Online registration, fee processing through Stripe, multiple jurors and published results, with published pricing. Booths are not described.
Where Map D is stronger
- Map D fits the step after jurying: accepted artists choose an available booth on your live map, add services such as electricity, answer your questions and pay online, with deposits for sales that open months ahead.
- Manager approval keeps a juried fair in control: the booth is held while you confirm the artist was accepted, booth assignment can be manual, and booth codes keep spaces for returning artists.
- One map can cover the whole festival, including food and sponsor areas, with an exhibitor portal for accepted artists and a published interactive map with wayfinding for visitors.
- Pricing is published and flat per event: building one event's map is free, publishing and online booth sales start at $3,499 per event, with no per-booth fee and no Map D transaction fee on booth sales. More than 900 organizers have run over 9,000 events on Map D since 2011.
When ZAPP is the better choice
- Your main job is selecting artists. ZAPP documents juror accounts, image review and score-based invitations, and Map D does not jury artists at all.
- You rely on ZAPP's artist base: artists already have accounts and image banks and find shows on its events calendar, which no booth-sales tool replaces.
- You collect application and jury fees. ZAPP documents both; Map D sells booths, not applications.
- You assign every booth yourself and a pin map is enough. ZAPP's Booth Management add-on covers that, so a second tool for booth sales adds little.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best ZAPP alternative?
It depends on which part of ZAPP you want to replace. For jurying artists, look at Eventeny, EntryThingy or Smarter Entry, which all document jury scoring. For the booth map and booth sales after jurying, Map D. If you rely on ZAPP's artist base and its jury workflow, ZAPP may still be the better choice for applications, with another tool alongside it for booths.
Can I use Map D with ZAPP?
Yes, as two separate steps. Jury in ZAPP, then send accepted artists to your Map D booth sale, where they pick and pay for a booth on the map. Map D does not document an integration with ZAPP, and if Map D takes booth payments you would not also sell booth fees in ZAPP. Manager approval holds each booth until you confirm the artist was accepted.
Does Map D jury art fair applications?
No. Map D's help documentation describes approving orders for booths, not applications or images scored by a jury panel, and it does not collect application or jury fees. Keep a jury tool for selecting artists and use Map D for the booth map and booth sales.
How does ZAPP charge art fairs?
ZAPP publishes event plans priced by application volume, with a setup fee plus a licensing fee, a per-application fee or both, and card fees on payments, and it states that using ZAPP is free to artists (checked November 2026). Map D's free plan lets you build one event's map in the editor; publishing it and selling booths are paid, from $3,499 per event plus a one-time onboarding fee.
Does ZAPP have booth maps?
Yes, as a priced Booth Management add-on: the administrator assigns booths visually on the event's own site map with customizable pins (checked November 2026). Map D's booth maps are drawn to scale, and artists can choose and pay for an available booth themselves.
Stop reading about it. Build one.
Upload the floor plan you already have and place your booths on it yourself, in Map D’s editor. Free to build, no contract, and nothing to install.
- 900+
- Organizers who have run shows on Map D
- 9,000+
- Events powered since 2011
- 1.8M+
- Booths drawn to date
“I am really excited about this. The staff met with me this morning and we all LOVE the platform. People are already filling out their booths.”
Sources
- ZAPP home page (ZAPP Software, LLC, powered by Creative West; events listings) · checked 2026-11-10
- About ZAPP (history, features for events and artists, free to artists) · checked 2026-11-10
- ZAPP for Events (organizer features) · checked 2026-11-10
- ZAPP pricing (event plans and add-ons, including Booth Management and ZAPP Onsite) · checked 2026-11-10
- ZAPP: collect payments (application, jury and booth fees, deposits) · checked 2026-11-10
- ZAPP: score applications (juror accounts and jury views) · checked 2026-11-10
- Eventeny pricing (rates published, features by plan) · checked 2026-11-04
- EntryThingy home page · checked 2026-11-10
- Smarter Entry home page · checked 2026-11-10
- Map D pricing · checked 2026-11-10