Entry fees can add up quickly when you're entering multiple photography competitions. At 20-40 USD per entry, a serious competition calendar can easily cost hundreds of pounds a year. The good news? Some of the most worthwhile competitions are completely free to enter.
Free competitions aren't automatically lower quality. Many are funded by museums, cultural organisations, and camera manufacturers who benefit from community engagement rather than entry fees. Here's our pick of the free competitions that are genuinely worth your time.
Why Free Competitions Matter
Free competitions democratise photography contests. They remove the financial barrier that prevents talented photographers — particularly students, hobbyists, and photographers in developing countries — from competing. Some of the most diverse and interesting entries come from free competitions precisely because they attract a wider pool of talent.
Our Top Free Competitions
Smithsonian Photo Contest
One of the most prestigious free competitions in the world. Run by Smithsonian Magazine, it attracts tens of thousands of entries across categories including natural world, travel, people, and American experience. Winners are published in the magazine and exhibited in Washington, D.C.
Rights: Photographer retains copyright. Limited editorial usage for winner promotion.
Wiki Loves Monuments
The world's largest photography competition by number of entries. Focused on cultural heritage sites, it runs nationally in dozens of countries before a global final. All images are donated to Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons licence — understand this before entering, but for heritage documentation, it's a meaningful contribution.
Rights: Creative Commons licence (you choose the specific licence). Your work helps preserve cultural heritage documentation.
iPhone Photography Awards (IPPA)
Despite the name, IPPA has grown into a serious mobile photography competition. Free to enter with categories from nature to architecture. It has launched careers and generated significant press coverage for winners.
Rights: Photographer retains copyright. Winner images used for competition promotion.
Royal Meteorological Society Weather Photographer of the Year
A niche competition that consistently produces extraordinary images. Free to enter, with winning images exhibited at the Royal Meteorological Society and published widely. If you've ever captured an extraordinary storm, rainbow, or atmospheric phenomenon, this is your competition.
Rights: Excellent. Photographer retains copyright with limited promotional usage.
How to Find More Free Competitions
On PhotoCompetitions, you can filter competitions by entry fee to find all free-to-enter contests currently accepting submissions. We update our database regularly, so check back often — many free competitions have shorter entry windows.
Tips for Free Competition Entries
- Don't treat free as throwaway. Free competitions often attract huge entry numbers. Your submission needs to be just as strong as a paid entry.
- Read the rights terms anyway. Free doesn't mean fair. Some free competitions have the worst rights terms because they monetise through image usage rather than fees.
- Enter consistently. With no financial cost, there's no reason not to enter every free competition that fits your work.
- Focus on competitions aligned with your style. A targeted entry to the right competition beats scattergun submissions to every free contest you find.