CaFÉ Pricing Explained for Art Organizations (2026)

CaFÉ pricing explained

CaFÉ, operated by Creative West, uses a layered organization-pricing model. A reliable budget needs to include more than the call-activation price.

Pricing below was verified from CaFÉ's official organization-pricing page on October 3, 2026.

Published charges

Charge	Published amount	Notes
Organization onboarding	$225	One-time organization setup
Pro call	$250	Applications are charged separately as artists apply
Plus call	$475	First 250 applications are included
Application fee	$2.49	Every application on Pro; each application over 250 on Plus
Annual renewal	$120	Organization renewal
Payment processing	3.25%	Applies when CaFÉ processes application payments

CaFÉ lists its online jury module in both Pro and Plus. Both include unlimited jurors and unlimited jury rounds. The separate Smart Call service (from $225) is assisted call setup; it is not the price of adding jury functionality.

Example budgets

For a new organization running one Pro call with 100 applications, the published platform charges before payment processing are:

• $225 onboarding
• $250 Pro call
• 100 × $2.49 application fees = $249
• Total before payment processing: $724

For a new organization running one Plus call with no more than 250 applications:

• $225 onboarding
• $475 Plus call, including the first 250 applications
• Total before payment processing: $700

In later years, replace onboarding with the published $120 renewal. If application fees are collected, add the 3.25% processing charge to the scenario. Taxes, optional services, and contract-specific terms may also change the total.

What the price includes

Do not treat the pricing page as a feature limit table. CaFÉ's value includes an established opportunity directory and artist audience, call administration, application intake, and its jury module. A gallery comparing CaFÉ with another system should separately evaluate what happens after decisions: artwork intake, space planning, labels, sales, member relationships, websites, campaigns, and operational reporting.

Budget with your own numbers

Use this formula for a first-year Pro estimate:

onboarding + call fees + application fees + payment processing + optional services

For Plus, subtract the applications included in the plan before calculating additional application fees. Confirm the current price and included volume directly with Creative West before approving a budget.

To see how these per-call charges compare with a flat-plan model, read the sourced Crafted Call vs CaFÉ comparison or the wider call-for-entry software comparison.