Explore Talent is a real company that has sold casting-call memberships from Las Vegas since the early 2000s, so it is not a fake website. Its public record is poor, though. The BBB rates it D minus and says it is not accredited, it settled a Federal Trade Commission case in 2018 that included misleading sales calls, and the price people report paying for a year runs from about $200 to $289. Most model work never passes through a casting board like this one.
If you are on the $2 trial, or someone from Explore Talent just called to say a casting director is interested in you, this is what the company says about itself, what the public record shows, what it costs, how to get your money back, and where a model gets booked for less.
Is Explore Talent legit?
Explore Talent is a legitimate business in the narrow sense: it is registered, it has operated for over twenty years, and paying members can submit to the casting calls it lists. The problems are in how it sells. The FTC alleged in 2018 that its telemarketers told people, without basis, that casting directors had chosen them for roles, and the company paid $235,000 to settle. Whether it is worth paying for is a separate question, answered further down.
| Question | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| What it is | An online casting-call and talent listing service, not a licensed talent agency. Operated by Prime Sites, Inc. in Las Vegas |
| How long | The site says "Since 2003". The BBB file says the business started in August 2002 |
| Members it claims | "Over 10 million" on one page, "well over 11 million" on another |
| Published price | Only a trial: "$2 for the first 7 days". No plan prices on any page we could read |
| What members report paying | $288.73 for a year (2024), $200 for 12 months on sale (2025), $450 and $475 in other reports |
| BBB | Not accredited, rated D minus for failing to respond to 5 complaints, 1 of 5 stars from 5 reviews |
| Federal record | FTC settlement, February 2018: $500,000 penalty suspended on payment of $235,000 |
| Refund window | Full refund if you cancel within 10 business days of starting to use it, under its own user agreement |
How much does Explore Talent cost?
Explore Talent does not publish its membership prices on its website; the only figure on its own pages is a trial of $2 for seven days. The FTC's 2018 complaint put a Pro membership at $39.95 a month. More recently, BBB complaints describe paying $288.73 for a year in January 2024 and $200 for a 12-month plan on sale in 2025, and one PissedConsumer reviewer reports paying $475 for three years.
SideHusl, a review site that updated its page in April 2025, lists a 3-month plan at $100, a year at $289, and says the checkout pre-selects a 6-month plan at $188 unless you change it. It also says the membership can renew until you cancel. We could not open the checkout to confirm that ourselves, so treat those figures as reported, and read the plan and renewal terms on the payment screen before you enter a card.
For comparison, Backstage publishes its prices openly (from $24.95 a month, less on longer plans), which we set out in is Backstage worth it. A plan whose price you only learn on a sales call is harder to compare, and that is worth noticing on its own.
What does a free Explore Talent account get you?
A free account lets you build a profile and browse listings, but submitting is the paid part. Every listing we read carried the line "Upgrade to PRO to submit to more casting calls", and the company's About page says that Pro members can "submit yourself at no charge to Casting Directors and Agents" and appear first in its talent search. In 2018 the FTC wrote that free users "cannot apply for the listed opportunities" at all.
Explore Talent reviews and BBB record
Explore Talent's own "legit" page says it holds BBB accreditation. The BBB says otherwise on both of its listings: the business is not accredited and is rated D minus, the lowest grade above F, because it failed to respond to five complaints. All five complaints from the last three years are marked unanswered, and the five customer reviews average 1 star. The second BBB listing sits under the category "advance-fee modeling agencies".
The complaints follow a pattern worth knowing before you pick up the phone. People describe a text or call saying a brand or casting director is interested (one parent mentions Levi's), followed by a sales call for a membership, then trouble getting a refund inside the window. Two complaints from August 2024 say the writers' personal information was leaked, one saying it turned up on the dark web in connection with the site. Those are claims by customers, not findings, and the company did not answer them on the BBB page.
| Source | Score | What it is based on |
|---|---|---|
| BBB rating | D minus, not accredited | 5 complaints in 3 years, none answered |
| BBB customer reviews | 1 of 5 | 5 reviews, December 2023 to January 2026 |
| Trustpilot | 2.9 of 5 | Only 2 reviews, so it says very little either way |
| PissedConsumer | Not shown here | 134 reviews by its count; recent ones report losses of $200, $450 and $475 |
The FTC case and the Explore Talent lawsuit
In February 2018 the FTC announced that Prime Sites, Inc., doing business as Explore Talent, agreed to a $500,000 civil penalty, suspended when it paid $235,000. The complaint covered two things. First, children's privacy: between 2014 and 2016 the site had more than 100,000 members registered as under 13, collected their information without parental consent and showed some of it on public profiles. Second, sales: the FTC said telemarketers falsely told people that casting directors wanted them, in one case for a "Jack Reacher" sequel, but only if they bought a Pro membership first. The company had to delete the children's data.
The Explore Talent lawsuit people search for is usually Winkler v. Media Entertainment Partners, a class action in Alameda County, California. It alleged the service broke California's rules for talent listing services between 2010 and 2013, including the $50,000 bond the state requires. The defendants denied wrongdoing and agreed to settle; the 2017 class notice offered members three free months of Pro membership. Backstage also reported in 2013 on an actor told he had been cast in a film and asked to pay $199.50 to complete registration. Warner Bros. said it had no relationship with the service. The other large US listing service has its own record, set out in is Nine9 legit.
Can you get a refund from Explore Talent?
Yes, if you act quickly. Section 16 of Explore Talent's user agreement gives a full refund, with no penalty, if you cancel within 10 business days from the date you start using the service; it lists phone cancellation at 888-963-FILM during business hours, 9am to 5pm Pacific, Monday to Friday. Section 17 promises a refund within 7 days if you pay and do not receive the services promised. Cancel in writing as well as by phone, and keep the email.
Two more lines in that agreement matter before you sign up. Section 2 has you consent to autodialed calls and texts, including offers, even if your number is on the National Do Not Call Registry. Section 18 grants Explore Talent the right to use your photos and likeness for its own advertising. Charges show on a card statement as "ExploreTalent 800 495 1212" or a close variant. If a membership has been renewing for months, export your card statement to a spreadsheet and total every charge under that descriptor before you call, so you ask for a specific amount.
Is Explore Talent worth it for models?
For most models it is not, and the reason has less to do with the company than with how model work is booked. Explore Talent sells access to casting calls, which suits actors and extras chasing open auditions. Catalog, e-commerce, fit, lifestyle, beauty and parts work is rarely posted as an open call. A retailer, content studio or photographer searches for a model who matches the brief in their city and emails that person.
| Explore Talent Pro | MaxGirls Talent | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Not published. Reported at about $200 to $289 a year | $19 a month, published, cancel any month |
| How work reaches you | You submit to casting calls it lists | Brands and photographers search by category, city and date, then email you |
| Sales calls | Consent to autodialed calls and texts is in the agreement | No sales calls. Clients contact you by email |
| Your photos | Licensed to the company for its advertising | You keep your rights. The license covers showing your profile and ends when you delete it |
| Who it fits | Actors and extras who want a feed of open auditions | Adult models booked for commercial, print, fit, lifestyle, beauty and parts work |
What to do instead of paying for Explore Talent
Start with the rule the FTC and casting directors repeat: a real agency or client gets paid when you get paid, and nobody legitimate needs you to buy a membership before they will cast you. If a call says a casting director picked you but you must upgrade first, hang up. Our page on how to spot a modeling scam lists the other patterns.
Then put your money where model work is actually found. A reviewed profile on MaxGirls carries your photos, categories, city, sizes, a day-rate range and your availability, so a catalog team shooting next Tuesday can find you. If you are new, print and catalog modeling and lifestyle modeling are the two lanes that book people without agency height or experience. If you are comparing paid sites, the best modeling websites sets their prices side by side.
It takes about twenty minutes to create your profile, a person reviews it before it goes public, and you can cancel any month.
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.