CueCall vs. Cast98: auditions are the first act

Cast98 focuses on the front end of a community theatre production: auditions and casting, conflict calendars, rehearsal scheduling, attendance, company communications and, in some setups, digital playbills.

Where Cast98 wins

  • Auditions as the annual crisis — hundreds of sign-ups, a wall of conflicts to reconcile, a company to keep informed — is exactly what a casting-first platform is aimed at.
  • A company whose production after casting already runs smoothly on whatever it uses.

Where CueCall differs

  • CueCall runs auditions too: public sign-up pages with time slots, role preferences, conflicts, headshots, resumes and recordings; sessions and check-in; panel notes and ratings; callbacks; a casting board; and cast offers with accept and decline tracking.
  • Accepting an offer files the performer onto the cast roster with their conflicts and headshot, and the same system then carries the production to strike: scenes, blocking, cues, inventory, budget, files, rehearsal reports and the program.
  • A company's people roster and inventory carry across productions rather than being rebuilt each season.
  • Contact details, documents and measurements — much of it belonging to minors — are visible only to the roles entitled to see them.

Side by side

Auditions

  • Cast98: Sign-up, casting, conflicts and attendance.
  • CueCall: Public sign-up, sessions, panel notes, callbacks, a casting board and cast offers.

Scheduling

  • Cast98: Rehearsal scheduling and conflict calendars.
  • CueCall: A production calendar with conflicts, availability, subscriptions and an AI-drafted rehearsal plan.

Communications

  • Cast98: Company messaging.
  • CueCall: Announcements, department-tagged notes and rehearsal reports emailed to the team.

After casting

  • Cast98: Digital playbills in some setups.
  • CueCall: Inventory, budget, blocking, cues, mic plots, run sheets, files, and the printed and digital program.

Pricing

  • Cast98: See the vendor's current plans.
  • CueCall: Per show, not per user: the first two shows free for a year each, then $14.99 a year per show or $49 a year for unlimited shows.

Which to choose

Choose Cast98 if auditions and company communications are the whole need.

Choose CueCall if you want the system that ran the audition to run the production that follows it.

Some companies run both, and nothing in CueCall requires using every part of it.

What CueCall deliberately does not do

  • Ticketing, box office and patron CRM. Out of scope by design; pair CueCall with a dedicated provider such as Tessitura, Spektrix or AudienceView.
  • Fundraising and donor management. Donors and sponsors can be listed in a show program, but CueCall does not run campaigns, process gifts or keep donor records.
  • Payroll and contracts.
  • Live show calling or cue playback. CueCall documents cues; it does not fire them.

CueCall pricing

  • The first two shows are free for a full year each, with every feature and unlimited users.
  • Additional shows are $14.99 per year each.
  • Unlimited shows: $49 per year.
  • Pricing is per show, not per user — adding your entire cast, crew and creative team costs nothing extra.
  • School district pricing with student login: $299 per year with five classrooms included, then $70 per classroom. This is the plan for schools that need district single sign-on and a signed data processing agreement. A classroom is a class or group of up to 35 students, with unlimited shows, and orders are paid by purchase order and invoice.
  • After a show's year ends there is a 7-day grace period, then the show becomes read-only. Data is never deleted.

The CueCall features this compares

  • Auditions & Casting — A public audition signup link, registrant materials and media, audition sessions, callbacks, and cast offers with acceptances tracked.
  • People Roster & Profiles — Cast and crew records with headshots, documents, contact details and show assignments, including merging duplicates.
  • Organizations (Company Accounts) — A company workspace with its own shows, roster, shared inventory pool, company documents and member roles.
  • Inventory & Ownership Tracking — Costumes, props and set pieces catalogued with photos, categories, QR codes and owned/rented/borrowed status plus rental history.
  • Scene Breakdown & Readiness — Scenes are the hub that links people, inventory, notes and files, with a readiness status tracked per discipline.

Read next

Company positioning above reflects each product's own public description of itself; verify current features and pricing with the vendor before relying on it.

  • The long version: Cast98 alternatives, in depth
  • How CueCall compares to other theatre software — An honest map of theatre software — scheduling, scripts, casting, blocking, stage-management paperwork, ticketing — and where CueCall fits among them.
  • CueCall vs. Propared — Propared is a planning-first calendar for live events; CueCall attaches the schedule to casting, inventory, budget and paperwork. Where each one wins, side by side.
  • CueCall vs. ProductionPro — ProductionPro centres on the script and score; CueCall is a prompt-book-shaped script viewer plus the casting, inventory, budget and paperwork around it. Side by side.
  • CueCall vs. BackstageOS — BackstageOS is stage-management documentation; CueCall covers the same paperwork plus casting, budget and company-wide inventory. The closest comparison, side by side.
  • CueCall vs. Stage Write — Stage Write is the Broadway standard for spacing charts; CueCall documents blocking on ground plans, synced to the music, as one thread of the production. Side by side.

Try CueCall

Your first two shows are free for a full year each, with every feature and unlimited users. Pricing is per show, not per user.