Actors Access vs. Backstage vs. Casting Networks: Which One Fits You?

How do Actors Access, Backstage and Casting Networks compare?

The table summarizes what each company says about itself. Plans change, so confirm the details on the pages linked in the next section before you pay.

What do you get for free and what does a paid plan add?

Actors Access

A profile is free to create and keep. The free Starter level lets you view every breakdown released to Actors Access, submit your name and resume and receive role match notifications and self-tape invitations. It includes two photos, one SlateShot (a short headshot video) and one shared profile that all your agents and managers use (see the memberships page).

Plus lets you respond to every released project with your full profile, and the FAQ also describes submitting on a per-project basis. Extra performance media costs a fee, and SAG-AFTRA members get a 20% discount on the annual Plus membership.

Casting Networks

The free account includes your profile and resume, two photos, one video and one audio file, role browsing, saved searches and responses to audition and media requests. Submitting to Casting Billboard roles requires Premium, which also removes the media limits and adds Talent Scout, Role Tracker and a custom profile link (see which membership is right for you). New accounts can start with a Risk-Free trial of Premium. Casting Networks says you aren’t charged until the trial ends, but you must add billing information first, so put the end date in your calendar.

Backstage

Backstage’s help center says you need a paid subscription to apply to casting calls, with annual, six-month or monthly plans. Plans renew automatically until you cancel. Monthly subscriptions are not refundable, and six-month or annual plans can be refunded if you cancel within 30 days of purchase or renewal, according to its subscription terms. Its getting started page highlights saved searches with alerts and a media locker for photos, video and audio, plus messaging that lets casting directors contact you without your email address or phone number appearing in your profile or applications.

How do submissions and self-tapes work on each one?

On Actors Access, casting sends an invitation with instructions, attaches Secure Sides (script pages protected with watermarking) and sets a deadline. You upload your self-tape and submit it through Eco Cast. Eco Cast Live is the remote audition option, with a built-in recorder and a waiting room. A free account includes access to both kinds of invitation, and the iOS app lets you upload self-tapes to Eco Cast invitations.

On Casting Networks, a media request asks you to respond with files from your Media Bank or your device, plus an optional note, and the mobile app guide warns that you can’t edit a response once it is submitted. For live auditions, FastCapture Live works inside your account: you launch the session from Your Alerts, wait in a virtual waiting room and need no downloads.

On Backstage, a job poster can ask for a self-tape after you apply. You open the request from My Applications, click Add a Self-Tape and either import a YouTube or Vimeo link or upload a file. The help center says only one tape can be submitted per request and that a linked video must be public or unlisted, never private.

Whatever the platform, the request’s instructions come first. For the recording itself, see our guide on how to record a self-tape, and keep the headshots and resume in your profile current with how to take headshots at home and how to make an acting resume.

Which platform fits your stage?

Beginner without representation

Start with the free levels. A complete Actors Access profile gives you role match alerts and lets you submit your name and resume to released breakdowns, and the free Casting Networks account lets you browse the Casting Billboard and answer requests. After a few weeks you will see which roles in your city and type you could actually apply to. Then add one paid plan, and track what it brings.

If you are looking for representation, Breakdown Services also runs Talent Link, a service that connects actors seeking representation with agents and managers in selected regions. You choose a region and the kind of representation, and your listing is active for two weeks after you go live. Read its terms first, and see how to get a talent agent for the other routes.

Actor with an agent

Your agent submits you to projects released on Breakdown Express, and Breakdown Services says each actor needs an Actors Access account for that, so keep your profile current. On Casting Networks, represented talent can be submitted by their agents and managers. Before you pay for anything, ask your agent which platforms they use and whether they want you to submit yourself at all. If you aren’t sure what the job involves, read what a talent agent does.

Theater

Breakdown Services says it covers theater, and Backstage names theater and musicals among its listings. Actors’ Equity, the union for stage actors, runs its own Casting Call job board for audition notices (see its guidance for producers), and it lists Equity-only auditions among its member benefits. For the New York scene, see auditions in New York.

Commercials

Casting Networks lists commercials on its public casting calls page, and Backstage and Breakdown Services both name commercials among the projects they post. Because casting directors choose their own channels, ask your commercial agent or local casting offices which platform they use before you pay for a second one. Our guide on how to get commercial auditions covers the rest.

Is Backstage worth it?

It depends on what you will do with it. Backstage works on a subscription model: you need a paid plan to apply, much as you need Premium to submit yourself on Casting Networks. Actors Access is the one that lets you submit your name and resume for free.

So the question is whether you will find enough roles that fit you. Count them first: for a week or two, browse the listings that match your age range, location and type, and see what the free profiles on the other platforms bring in the same period. If you try Backstage, remember that monthly plans are not refundable and every plan renews on its own, so write down the cancellation date on the day you subscribe.

Backstage also says that a yellow Instant Access banner marks a notice that has gone live before its editors have reviewed it. Treat those notices with extra care. The company’s scam guidance recommends keeping conversations on the platform and never sending photos for a role that involves nudity.

How do you avoid sites that charge for “guaranteed” auditions?

A subscription to a casting platform pays for access to its listings and tools. It does not buy you an audition, and anyone who promises one is describing something else. These are the warning signs official sources point to:

• Guarantees: the Federal Trade Commission says that in modeling there are “never any guarantees” and lists promised big salaries as a red flag in its guide to modeling scams.
• Money up front: the same guide says never to pay an agency up front, and Casting Networks tells talent that legitimate casting calls never ask for money upfront.
• Vague details and pressure: Casting Networks lists missing basics such as the production company, director, pay or dates, unrealistic offers and pressure to move off the platform. The FTC adds pressure to sign quickly and payment by gift card, wire transfer or cryptocurrency.
• Required extras: the FTC warns against being forced to use a particular photographer.
• Rules you can check: California’s Labor Commissioner says state law prohibits advance-fee talent representation services, and its legislation page describes them as businesses that charge fees while offering to get you an audition, a job or an agent.

Search the company’s name with words like “scam,” “review” or “complaint,” as the FTC advises, and get every promise in writing. Our guide on how to spot a fake casting call goes deeper, and casting websites for actors compares more options. For the bigger picture, start with how to get auditions in the United States.

Frequently asked questions

Is Actors Access free?

Creating and keeping a profile is free. The free level lets you view the breakdowns released to Actors Access and submit your name and resume. To respond to every project with your full profile you need Plus, or you can pay per project, and extra media costs a fee. See the memberships page for current prices.

Do I need an agent to use these platforms?

You can start without one. Create a profile and submit yourself to the roles that are released to actors. Keep in mind that the casting director decides where each project goes, so some roles reach only agents and managers on Breakdown Express.

Can I use all three at the same time?

Yes. Nothing stops you from having a profile on all three. Use the same photos and resume everywhere, and add paid plans one at a time so you can tell which one brings you auditions.

Does paying for a plan guarantee an audition?

Never. A plan gives you access to listings and tools, such as submitting yourself to roles, and casting directors choose who they invite. Be wary of anyone who guarantees an audition or a role, or who asks for money to get you one.

Can I use these platforms from outside the United States?

You can register on Actors Access from outside North America, but its FAQ says most projects are for actors who can work there. Backstage describes its listings as mostly in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. To be hired in the United States you also need legal authorization to work, as our guide on getting auditions in the United States explains.

Reviewed in October 2026.