Product Updates
Regular improvements based on organizer feedback to make award program management simpler and more reliable.
VAT and GST on Entry Fees
If your organization is tax-registered, declare your tax once and every entry fee handles it correctly. Set the name, the rate, and whether it is added on top of your fee or already included in it; entrants see the rate next to every price, pay the right total at checkout, and receive a tax invoice with your registration number so business entrants can reclaim what they paid. Discounts apply before tax, exactly as your accountant expects, and the entries CSV breaks every payment into net, tax, and gross for filing. Works for UK and EU VAT, Australian and New Zealand GST, or any declared sales tax.
Program Branding
Your program pages should look like your program, not ours. Upload your logo and it takes over the navigation on every public page. Pick your brand color and the entire public surface follows it: buttons, links, timelines, the entry form, judging and voting screens, and the gallery. Top it with a wide hero banner that renders exactly as you cropped it. AwardKit handles the contrast math automatically, so your color always stays readable, and your social share images are composed from your hero, logo, and color. All of it is included in the one flat plan; elsewhere, branding like this is an enterprise-tier upsell.
AI Program Import
Skip the blank page. Paste your award program URL, upload your entry pack PDF, or paste the text of your call for entries, and AwardKit drafts the whole program for you: categories, entry fees with early-bird pricing, key dates, judging criteria, entry form questions, and awards. You review every field before anything is created, and if one source missed something, add another and it fills only the gaps without touching your edits. In our testing, a real 42-page entry pack became a ready-to-review program with all 24 of its categories in under a minute.
Entry Autosave and Save-and-Resume
Entrants never lose their work again. The entry form now saves progress automatically as they type, with a quiet indicator confirming every save. They can close the tab mid-entry and pick up exactly where they left off, on any device: drafts appear on the program page with a one-click Continue. And if someone steps away during an entry fee checkout, their entry waits on their entry page with a Complete payment button instead of vanishing. Long forms and paid entries deserve a safety net; now they have one.
Multi-Round Judging
Run your program the way real juries work: a screening round narrows the field, then a final panel judges the shortlist. Add a round in one dialog, give each round its own criteria, judges, and dates, and advance your shortlist straight from the results table. Judges keep the same link the whole way through, and a live funnel view shows exactly where every round stands. Single-round programs stay exactly as simple as before.
Redesigned Dashboard Navigation
A new sidebar layout puts every part of your program one click away. Categories, awards, entry fees, and discount codes now live together in a single Categories tab, and scoring is built right into the Judging page.
International Organizers and 23 Currencies
AwardKit now works for organizers worldwide. Onboard a Stripe account from any supported country, and choose from 23 program currencies for your entry fees, up from 5. Fee inputs adapt to each currency symbol automatically.
Documentation Site
A full documentation site is now live, with step-by-step guides and instant search to help you set up and run your program from start to finish. Self-serve, no sales call required.
Entry Fee Collection with Stripe Connect
Charge entry fees and get paid directly. Set per-category fees, collect payments when entrants submit, and route funds straight to your own Stripe account through Stripe Connect. Zero commission, with discount codes built in for early-bird or member pricing.
AwardKit is Now Live
AwardKit is now available! The all-in-one award management platform that lets you focus on your program, not administration. Set up in under an hour, run without stress, and save 40+ hours on program logistics.
LinkedIn Certificates
Entrants can now add verifiable certificates directly to their LinkedIn profile with one click. Each certificate links back to a unique verification page with program details, awards, and entry info. Great for entrants looking to showcase their award program achievements where it matters most.
Entry Gallery
Showcase all submitted entries in a beautiful public gallery after your program. Visitors can browse entries, see team members, and view award winners. Each entry gets its own shareable page, perfect for entrants to highlight their work and for organizers to celebrate what their community built.
Judging Rooms
Split your judging panel into parallel rooms. Create rooms, assign judges and entries, and each room scores its own set of entries. Perfect for large programs where you need judging to happen in parallel across multiple panels.
Category-Level Scoring
Organizers can now enable a dedicated scoring layer for categories and subcategories. Flip it on, and judges will score each entry within its categories separately alongside the standard criteria, making it easy to determine category-level winners independently from overall rankings.
Program Announcements
Post announcements that display as banners on your program page, and send email updates to all entrants. Perfect for sharing deadline reminders, judging updates, or important announcements during your award program.
Guided Program Creation Wizard
Creating a program is now a guided multi-step experience. Set up categories, prizes, and custom form questions before your program goes live. Choose exactly which features you need (program page, registration, entries), and everything can still be changed later.
Top Picks Voting Method
A new voting method that lets judges or audiences quickly pick and rank their top entries. Voters choose their favorite entries and rank them, with points assigned by position. Perfect for large programs where speed and simplicity matter.
Entry Details on Results Page
Preview the full entry details directly from the results page without navigating away. Click any entry to open a slide-out panel with all the details, making it faster to review and assign winners.
YouTube & Loom Video Embeds
Entries now support embedded YouTube and Loom videos with a clean, distraction-free player. Videos appear everywhere entries are surfaced, on entry pages, during voting, and on the results page, so judges and audiences can watch demos without leaving AwardKit.
Import Entrants from CSV
Bulk import entrants from a CSV file. Upload your spreadsheet, map columns to fields, and import hundreds of entrants in seconds. Great for adding pre-registered participants or importing from other platforms.
Custom Judge Assignments
Control which entries each judge reviews. Assign judges to specific categories, manually include or exclude entries, or automatically distribute workload evenly across your judging panel.
Fresh New Navigation
We completely redesigned the organizer dashboard with a clean horizontal navigation bar and contextual tabs. Managing your award program now feels faster and more intuitive with everything just one click away.
Multiple Entries Per Entrant
Entrants can now submit multiple entries to a single program. Perfect for organizations entering across multiple award categories or entrants with multiple qualifying projects.
QR Codes for Easy Sharing
Instantly generate QR codes for your registration and entry pages. Display them at your venue, add to slides, or print on posters. Entrants just scan and go.
Confirmation Emails
Entrants now receive professional confirmation emails when they register or submit an entry. Each email includes quick links to view or edit their information.
Build for Free, Pay to Go Live
Set up your entire award program for free. Build your forms, categories, and judging workflow, invite your team, and preview everything before you commit. You only pay when you are ready to open submissions and go live.
Export Results to CSV
Download your program results as a CSV file with one click. Get all entries, scores, and rankings in a spreadsheet-ready format for reports or further analysis.
Unified Program Pages
All your program URLs now live under one clean structure. Entrants get a simpler experience navigating between registration, entries, and program information.
Require Registration for Entries
Control who can submit to your program. Enable the new "Require Registration" toggle on entry forms to only allow registered entrants to submit entries.
Streamlined Registration & Entry Forms
Forms are now smarter and simpler. Each program gets one registration form and one entry form with purpose-built fields. System fields like name, email, team members, and categories are automatically configured.
Category & Awards System
A flexible system for organizing your program. Create categories and subcategories, define awards at each level, and assign winners directly from the results page with a dedicated award management panel.
Enhanced Results Page
Results page now features a two-column layout with integrated winner selection. See all entries alongside available awards, assign winners with one click, and track progress visually.
Simplified Voting Setup
Setting up voting is now easier than ever. Choose your voting method, configure criteria, and launch voting in minutes. Smart defaults get you started faster.
Category Badges
Visual badges now clearly identify category types across the platform. Instantly see if an entry is competing for overall prizes, category awards, or special awards.
Special Award Categories
Added dedicated support for special award categories. Create separate categories with dedicated awards, independent from main categories but fully integrated into judging.
Lightning-Fast Performance
Everything loads instantly now. Smart data caching keeps your dashboards responsive even with hundreds of entries. Handle programs with 1000+ entrants smoothly and reliably.
Google Sign-In & Two-Factor Authentication
Your account is now more secure and easier to access. Sign in with Google for one-click access, add two-factor authentication for extra protection, and manage your sessions across all your devices.
Team Collaboration
Invite your organizing team to collaborate on AwardKit. Work together on forms, manage entries, and coordinate judging, all in one place. No more email chains or file sharing.
Real-Time Voting System
Zero-friction voting is here. No accounts needed for judges, instant results, and complete transparency. Share public links or send personalized invites to judges. You control who votes and how.