How We Score
Every platform is scored 0-10 on five weighted factors. Nothing is hand-waved: every input traces back to a provider's own published page, and every scorecard states when it was last verified.
The rubric
Five fixed-weight factors. The weights don't move per review, per platform, or per anything:
| Factor | Weight | What we measure | Where the data comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credibility & Judging Rigor | 30% | Track record, judge composition, scoring transparency | Judging/FAQ pages, public judge rosters |
| Cost & Accessibility | 20% | True total cost, entry fee plus any mandatory extras, not just the advertised price | Entry-fee and FAQ pages |
| Turnaround Speed | 20% | Time from submission to determination | Deadline calendars and FAQ pages |
| Marketing & Digital Value | 20% | What a winner tangibly receives: badge, backlink, certificate, press distribution, indexed profile | "What winners receive" pages |
| Reach & Eligibility | 10% | Geographic flexibility and business-size range | Eligibility pages |
Why can a free platform outscore a prestigious one on cost, and lose to it on credibility? Because the factors measure different things and the weights are fixed. Track record and judge composition weigh heaviest by design, and that is a disclosed choice, not an accident.
What we don't do
We don't call a program "bad." A $500 judged competition with a six-month timeline isn't worse than a free same-day platform, it's built for a different buyer. We score every platform on the same rubric and let the numbers show who wins which lane.
Rankings move only when a provider's own published facts change. Every recalculation is traceable to a specific published change, a fee schedule, a deadline calendar, a judging page, and the scorecard's last-verified date updates with it.
Sourcing and corrections
Every figure on this site comes from the provider's own published pages, fee schedules, judging pages, deadline calendars, eligibility rules, with a last-verified date on each scorecard. Where a provider's exact current figures vary by program or category, the scorecard says so and points at the specific entry kit rather than guessing.
When we get something wrong, the fastest way to a fix is the contact page: claims are rechecked against the provider's live page and corrected with the verification date updated.