The best modeling websites for paid work in the US depend on how the work reaches you. Casting boards like Backstage, Project Casting and Casting Networks make you apply to posted jobs. Portfolio networks like Model Mayhem and Modnet help you find photographers and agencies. Models.com is an industry directory, not a job board. A searchable directory like Maxgirls lets brands filter to you and email you.
Most working models use two of those at most. Below is what each site costs a model, read from its own pricing page in September 2026, who actually posts the work, and which kind of model each one pays off for.
What are the best modeling websites?
| Site | How work arrives | Price to the model | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backstage | You apply to posted notices | $24.95 a month, $19.99 on 6 months, $16.66 yearly | Models who also act |
| Project Casting | You apply to posted jobs | Free job board; Premium $20 a month billed annually | Creators, UGC and extras work |
| Casting Networks | Casting directors run sessions, you submit | Free with 2 photos; Premium $29.99 a month or $299.90 a year | Commercial actors and print models in big markets |
| Casting Frontier | You submit to casting projects | Free for unpaid jobs; Premium $15.99 a month, Premium Plus $20.99 | Actors; print is a side category |
| Model Mayhem | Networking with photographers and crews | Check modelmayhem.com | Test shoots and building a book |
| Modnet | Link-in-bio portfolio with agency submissions | Free, by its own description | Models applying to agencies |
| Models.com | Industry directory and news, no job board | Model profiles by invitation only | Signed fashion models with a career record |
| ModelScouts | Staff send your photos to agency scouts | $149 flat, no commission | Aspiring models who want an agency to see them |
| Maxgirls | Brands filter the directory and email you | $19 a month on Talent, $49 on Talent Pro, no commission | Commercial, fitness, fit, parts and event models booked direct |
The column that matters most is the second one. A site where you apply is a site where you compete with every other applicant on every job. A site where the buyer searches is one where the work turns up when your fields match the brief. Both can pay. They reward different kinds of effort.
Casting sites for models: where you apply to jobs
These are notice boards. A casting director, producer or brand posts a job, talent apply, and someone reads the applications. The value is volume and screening. The cost is time, because each notice is a fresh application.
Backstage
Backstage is the best known casting site in the country and it has been running since 1960. It screens the notices posted on it, which is real value. Its center of gravity is acting, with modeling as one category among several. Membership is $24.95 a month (the first month is $18.95), $19.99 a month on the 6-month plan, or $16.66 a month billed yearly, and the checkout was showing a first-year welcome offer at $7.08 a month. If you are weighing it up, is Backstage worth it for models runs the break-even arithmetic.
Project Casting
Project Casting is a job board for creators, actors, models and UGC work, and it states plainly that it is not a talent agency, an employer or a scout. Browsing the board and keeping a profile are free. Premium, at $20 a month billed annually, adds unlimited applications and daily job matches. It is a cheap way to see what is posted in your city before paying anyone.
Casting Networks and Casting Frontier
Both sit inside the professional casting workflow, where casting directors run sessions and talent or their agents submit. Casting Networks gives a free profile with two photos, and Premium is $29.99 a month or $299.90 a year. Casting Frontier's free Basic plan only submits to non-paying jobs; Premium is $15.99 a month or $149.99 a year, and Premium Plus is $20.99 a month or $199.99 a year. Actors Access, at $9.99 a month or $68 a year for its PLUS plan, is in the same family and is built for actors. For a commercial model in Los Angeles or New York who also books on-camera work, one of these is worth holding. For anyone else, read what Casting Networks costs and what it buys first.
Modeling sites for portfolios and agencies
These sites do not book you a paid job directly. They help you build the book, reach agencies, or show the industry who you already are.
Model Mayhem
Model Mayhem connects models with photographers, makeup artists, stylists and retouchers, and for arranging test shoots it is still the biggest network of its kind. Profiles publish without review and rates are not a searchable field, which is why brand buyers rarely use it to book. We could not confirm its current membership prices, so check them on the site before paying. If you also sell makeup, styling or retouching on the side, a gig page for selling your freelance services handles that better than a model profile does. For the sites that do the modeling side differently, websites like Model Mayhem compares them row by row.
Modnet
Modnet calls itself a free link-in-bio platform for models, with tools for submitting to agencies. It is a tidy way to send an agency one link instead of a folder of attachments. It is not where brands go to book.
Models.com
Models.com is the fashion industry's directory, news site and rankings. It is not a job board, and you cannot simply sign up as a model: its own services page says model profiles are by invitation, based on career accomplishments. A paid Pro subscription ($20 a month or $200 a year) is aimed at the agents, casting directors and brands who use the directory.
ModelScouts
ModelScouts is a paid scouting service. For a flat $149 its staff send your photos to scouts at agencies and report results within ten business days, with no commission and no auto-renewal. Its pages describe the profile that comes with it as both three months and one year, so check which one you are buying. It suits someone whose goal is signing with an agency. It does nothing for someone who wants brands to book them this month. Is Model Scouts legit goes through the fee, the BBB record and the look-alike sites before you pay.
Are modeling websites legit?
The ones above are real companies that publish their prices. The warning sign is a site that charges you and then implies casting directors are asking for you. In February 2018 the FTC settled with Explore Talent's operator, which it said had collected information from more than 100,000 children under 13 without parental consent and had telemarketers falsely tell users that casting directors wanted them, to sell a $39.95 a month membership. The penalty was $500,000, suspended after the company paid $235,000.
A site charging a subscription is not a scam by itself. A site or scout charging for a photo package, a workshop or a guaranteed placement before any booking exists is the pattern to walk away from. The four modeling scams that cost models the most covers what each looks like.
Do you have to pay for modeling websites?
No, but the free tiers are narrow. Indeed and Project Casting let you search and apply free. Casting Networks and Casting Frontier have free profiles that limit photos or the jobs you can submit to. Every site that makes you apply charges for the full version, because applying is the product. What you should never pay is a commission to a website, or a fee to be seen by a scout who has not asked for you.
Which modeling website fits the work you want
| The work you want | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Signing with a fashion agency | Agency submission pages, Modnet, ModelScouts | Agencies decide; these get your digitals in front of them |
| TV commercials and acting | Backstage, Casting Networks, Actors Access | Casting directors post and run sessions there |
| UGC, creator and extras work | Project Casting | Its board leans that way and browsing is free |
| Test shoots to build a book | Model Mayhem | The largest pool of photographers and crews |
| Commercial, e-commerce and fitness bookings | Maxgirls | Brands and photographers search by category, city and date, then email you |
| Fit, parts, hostess and promotional work | Maxgirls | Booked on measurements, city and availability, rarely posted as a notice |
Model casting websites against a directory brands search
The biggest difference between modeling sites is who does the searching. On a casting board the buyer posts and waits, and you do the work of applying. On Maxgirls you publish one reviewed profile with your photos, your categories, your city, your height, a day-rate range and whether you are free this month. Brands, photographers and production teams filter on those fields and email you. There is nothing to apply to, and we take nothing from what you book. Casting call websites against a searchable directory sets out the difference row by row.
Talent is $19 a month and Talent Pro is $49, and what each plan includes is on one page. If your work is garment fittings or a specific body type, fit model jobs, petite modeling and mature modeling each cover the clients who book that look.
Where this applies on Maxgirls
Your day-rate range, your categories, your city and your availability sit on your own profile, visible to a brand before they contact you, and Maxgirls takes no share of anything you book.