Casting Websites for Actors: Which Ones Work and How to Use Them

Main casting websites in the United States

The main casting websites in the United States are Backstage, Actors Access and Casting Networks, plus Central Casting for background work. Backstage asks for a subscription to create your profile and to apply, Casting Networks lets you open a free profile but charges a subscription to apply, Actors Access has a free profile and paid options for submitting your full profile, and Central Casting’s support pages describe sign-up as free.

Before you compare them, it helps to know how the work reaches you. A casting director or filmmaker sends a project’s breakdown (a synopsis of the script with character descriptions, location, start dates, pay and union status) to a service such as Breakdown Services, and decides whether it goes to agents and managers, to actors, or to both. That means some roles are visible to you on these sites and others only reach you through a talent agent or manager. So a profile on these sites is one route to auditions, not the only one.

Backstage

Backstage has been running since 1960 and lists casting calls for film, television, commercials, theater, voiceover and brand content. You need a paid subscription both to create your talent profile and to apply, with monthly, six-month or annual plans. According to its help center, subscriptions renew on their own until you cancel, monthly plans are not refundable, and six-month or annual plans can be refunded if you cancel within 30 days of the purchase or renewal.

Its help center also says the listings cover mostly the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and that a team reviews every posted listing to reject the ones that are not legitimate. Backstage also offers a Spanish translation in beta.

Mandy and StarNow

Mandy and StarNow belong to the same company as Backstage, although each has its own listings and its own talent database. Mandy focuses on film, television and theater and includes crew jobs; StarNow adds modeling and content creation. Billing works the same way: you need a paid subscription to apply, and it renews automatically.

Actors Access

Actors Access is the actors’ side of Breakdown Services, the company that distributes casting breakdowns. According to the Breakdown Services FAQ, casting directors and filmmakers send in their project details and choose where the breakdown goes: agents and managers see it on a platform called Breakdown Express, actors see it on Actors Access, and some projects are released to both. The casting director decides, so you will not see every project yourself. The company says it posts both union and non-union projects, and that it posts over 97% of the scripted content that needs actors in North America.

An Actors Access profile is free to create and keep, and the same profile can be shared with all your agents and managers. The free Starter membership includes two photos, your acting resume, a size card, special skills, role match alerts, and access to self-tape and live audition invitations. According to its memberships page, it also lets you view the breakdowns released to Actors Access and submit your name and resume. To respond to projects with your full profile you need an Actors Access Plus membership, which allows unlimited submissions, or you can pay on a per-project basis; extra media costs a fee on top. Members of SAG-AFTRA, the U.S. actors’ union, get a 20% discount on the annual Plus membership. If you live outside North America you can still register for a free account, but most of the projects are for actors who can work in North America.

Casting Networks

Casting Networks has two tiers. With the free account you can build your profile and your acting resume, browse the posted roles, save searches with alerts and respond to audition media requests; if you have representation, your agent or manager can submit you. To submit yourself to the roles on its Casting Billboard you need the Premium membership.

According to its membership page, Premium is paid monthly or yearly, with prices listed in local currency for several countries, including Mexico and Colombia: check that page for the current price before you subscribe. One key detail about the free account: it includes two photos, one video and one audio file that cannot be swapped or deleted later, so choose carefully what you upload. To make those photos count, see our guide on how to take headshots at home.

Central Casting (background work)

Central Casting mainly casts background actors (also called extras), stand-ins and doubles, although its support pages say it is occasionally asked to provide featured roles. It describes itself as the leading background casting company in the United States and is part of Entertainment Partners. Its support pages describe signing up as free, with no experience required; union and non-union actors are welcome, and you must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

You apply online with your appearance details, your sizes and current photos: one headshot and one full-body shot. Central Casting says professional headshots cannot be used for background work because they are often retouched. After that, casting directors and production companies contact you by email or text message when you fit a role, and the site also posts casting calls on an Open Roles page. Its support pages mention offices in California, New York, Georgia and Louisiana, and say that in California and New York you must complete required training before you are eligible to work. They also warn that background work is sporadic and comes with no guarantee, so it is not advisable to rely on it as your only income. For the full picture, read our guide on how to become a background actor.

Reviewed in October 2026: the details of the U.S. websites in this section come from their official sites and help centers. Plans and prices change, so check each site’s membership page before you pay.

For a side-by-side comparison of the three big US platforms, with what is free, what a paid plan adds and how self-tapes work on each, read Actors Access vs. Backstage vs. Casting Networks.

Casting websites in Latin America

In Latin America, Onlinecasting has country versions with a free profile and an optional membership, and Alternativa Teatral posts Argentine castings that you can read without registering. Both sites are in Spanish.

Onlinecasting (Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Peru)

Onlinecasting has versions for Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Peru: onlinecasting.com.ar, onlinecasting.mx, onlinecasting.co and onlinecasting.pe. All four list the same responsible company, based in Denmark. Creating your profile is free, and agencies and production companies post their castings at no cost from an agent profile that the site approves.

What you pay for: according to the FAQ of the Argentine version, some castings require an active VIP membership to apply. You can try it free for seven days, and when the trial ends you are charged for the plan you chose, so note the date if you plan to cancel. Another tip: on the home page of some versions the listings do not show the location, so confirm the city and country before you apply.

Alternativa Teatral (Argentina)

Alternativa Teatral has been an online performing arts portal since 2000, with show listings, ticket sales and a section of castings and calls for theater, short films, music videos and photography. You can read the listings without registering and, in the ones we checked, the contact email was visible. Each listing shows the type of pay (paid, cooperative or unpaid), the expiration date and how many earlier postings the person casting has. A cooperative show is one where the cast shares the box-office income, as explained in our note on independent, cooperative and commercial theater.

The site also publishes a safety notice that applies to any website: never pay whoever is casting you, or pay for courses to be considered, prefer meeting in offices rather than in bars or hotels, bring someone you trust and report abuses.

Casting websites in Spain

In Spain, Clandestino Castings reviews every listing and charges a yearly payment to apply, and Solocastings works as a free board.

Clandestino Castings

Clandestino Castings has been running since 2006. Reading the full listings is free; to send your application through its form you need the Castings Pro subscription, a single yearly payment with no automatic renewal. According to its FAQ, every call goes through a manual review, and it rejects unpaid projects, student work and listings without a professional company behind them. It also states that it is not an agency and does not take a commission on your work.

Solocastings

Solocastings is a Spanish casting board where production companies, channels, agencies, schools and creators post for free. Each listing shows who is organizing it and the city; in the one we checked it also said whether the job was paid, and applying took only a form with your name, email and a short introduction. Since the site does not explain whether it reviews the listings, check each poster yourself.

How to build a strong profile

A strong profile is complete, current and honest: recent photos without filters, a short reel with your best work first, a resume with real training and experience, and up-to-date physical details. It is what a casting director sees when searching the database.

• Main headshot: a recent close-up with even lighting and no filters.
• Full-body and mid-shot photos: they show your real build and how you would look on screen.
• Reel: short, with your best scene first. If you do not have one yet, a well-made self-tape does the same job.
• Acting resume: real training, plays, short films and commercials, from the most recent to the oldest.
• Physical details and playing age: height, hair and eye color, and the age range you can play.
• Specific skills: languages, accents, sports, singing, dancing, instruments or driving. Clandestino, for example, explains that casting directors filter profiles in its directory by physical traits, age or skills.
• Location and availability: your city, whether you can travel and whether you have a work permit in other countries. This matters on some sites: Central Casting requires you to be legally authorized to work in the United States, and Breakdown Services notes that most of its projects are for actors who can work in North America.

Use the same photos and the same professional name on every platform so people recognize you. If you need to put all of this in order, see our guide on how to prepare your audition materials and our explainer on what a self-tape is.

How to spot legitimate listings

A legitimate listing says who is casting, for what project, when, where and under what terms, and it never asks you for money to audition. Paying a platform’s subscription is buying a service; a person casting who charges you to be seen is something else, and a sign of a scam.

Before you send your information, ask yourself these questions:

• Who is casting? Look up the name of the production company or casting director, their website and their earlier work.
• What are they offering? Pay, profit share or barter, shoot dates and location. If the listing is vague or badly written, be wary.
• Do they charge you? Registration fees, mandatory photos with their photographer, courses or a “reservation fee” are warning signs.
• Are they rushing you or promising the moon? Guaranteeing the role, promising big salaries or rushing you to sign a contract are signs the U.S. Federal Trade Commission lists in its guide to modeling scams.
• How do they want to be paid? If you are asked for gift cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrency, that is a sure alarm, according to the same guide.
• Where and how? An audition in a hotel, a bar or a private home, or a request for intimate photos, is a reason to cut off contact right there.

A listing on a platform that reviews its calls helps, but the final check is yours. To go deeper, see our guide on how to spot a fake casting call.

When a paid membership is worth it

Paying makes sense when your materials are complete, when the platform posts listings that fit your profile in your city or in the market you are aiming for, and after you have tried what it offers for free.

• Look before you pay: Clandestino Castings and the free Casting Networks account let you see listings without a subscription, and a free Actors Access profile sends you role match alerts. Count how many fit your profile over a couple of weeks.
• Choose by market: if you live in Latin America and aim to work in your own country, a platform with local listings will do more for you than a US one. If you are aiming for the US market, the opposite is true.
• Read the renewal fine print: Backstage, Mandy and StarNow renew on their own; Clandestino charges a single payment with no automatic renewal.
• Watch out for free trials: Onlinecasting and Casting Networks offer trial periods and charge you when they end if you stay subscribed. Put the date in your calendar.
• One at a time: start with a single paid membership and measure how many responses it brings before adding another.
• Materials first: paying with old photos or without a reel wastes the subscription, because your profile competes with actors whose materials are all up to date.

The full list by country

The websites in this guide are a starting point. To find agencies, Instagram accounts and casting websites for each country, go to the Latin America Casting Directory. If you are aiming for the US market, read our guide on how to get auditions in the United States. And to see calls posted right now, check the active castings section of Casting and Acting.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best casting website for actors?

It depends on where you live and which market you are aiming for. In the United States, Backstage, Actors Access and Casting Networks are the main options, and Central Casting handles background work. In Argentina, Alternativa Teatral and Onlinecasting are useful; in Mexico, Colombia and Peru, the local versions of Onlinecasting; and in Spain, Clandestino Castings and Solocastings. The best one is the one that posts real listings for your profile in your area.

Are there free casting websites?

Yes. On Alternativa Teatral you can read the listings without registering, on Solocastings you apply with a form, and Onlinecasting profiles are free, although some castings ask for a VIP membership. In the United States, Actors Access and Central Casting let you create a profile or sign up for free (on Actors Access, submitting your full profile is a paid option), while Casting Networks lets you open a free profile but charges to apply and Backstage asks for a subscription to create your profile and apply.

Is it a scam when a casting website charges a membership?

A paid membership is a normal business model as long as it is clear what you pay, how the plan renews and how you cancel. Backstage, Mandy, StarNow and Casting Networks charge subscriptions and explain them in their help centers. What is a sign of a scam is someone casting a role who asks you for money to audition.

Can I submit myself on Actors Access without an agent?

Yes, for the projects posted on Actors Access. The free Starter membership lets you submit your name and resume, and a Plus membership or a per-project payment lets you respond with your full profile. Some breakdowns, however, are posted only to agents and managers on Breakdown Express, because the casting director decides where each project is posted.

Is Central Casting free to join?

Its support pages describe signing up as free, with no experience required. You apply online with your appearance details, sizes and photos, and you must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Central Casting mainly casts background actors, so for speaking roles look at the other websites in this guide.

Is Backstage useful if I live in Latin America or Spain?

You can register, and Backstage offers a Spanish translation in beta, but its help center says the listings cover mostly the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It makes sense if you are aiming for those markets or looking for remote jobs, a category it highlights on its home page. To work in your own country, start with the regional platforms.

How do I know if a casting call posted on a website is real?

Check that it says who is casting and that you can verify them, that it explains the terms, dates and location, and that nobody asks you for money to be considered. If they guarantee the role, rush you, invite you to a hotel or ask for intimate photos, cut off contact.

What casting websites are there in Spain?

Clandestino Castings, active since 2006, reviews every call by hand and charges a yearly payment to apply; Solocastings works as a free board where production companies and agencies post their listings. For other countries, see the Latin America Casting Directory.