Best sites to hire models for a photoshoot as a brand

We run PostModels, so read this comparison with that in mind. We have tried to be fair about where other options win, because the right site depends on the job. A label shooting 40 product looks next Thursday needs something different from a photographer building a portfolio on a free weekend.

Use this quick rule of thumb before you read the details.

• Paid e-commerce, lifestyle, social or UGC shoot with a budget: a casting platform built for brands, such as PostModels
• National TV spot or a campaign with a famous face: a full-service modeling agency
• Unpaid creative test shoot with a photographer: a portfolio community such as Model Mayhem
• One-off local job where you mainly want low cost: a general gig marketplace such as Airtasker
• Acting roles and film or theater auditions: Backstage

If you are a model deciding where to apply rather than a brand hiring, our casting call website comparison is written for your side of the market.

The table compares the six routes US brands use most. It describes how each one works rather than quoting exact competitor prices, because those change often. Check each site's current pricing before you commit.

PostModels is a casting platform built for the hiring side. You post a casting with role, date, city or remote, rate, usage and deliverables. Verified adult models apply, you shortlist and message, send a booking request, sign the booking agreement and pay through the platform. Talent search lets you filter by city, sizes, measurements and availability and message models who have not applied.

Where it wins: identity and age checks on every profile, usage terms written into each booking, and one place for applicants, contracts and payment. Plans start at $49 a month billed yearly on the Brand plan, with a 10 percent platform fee on bookings paid through PostModels. Where it is weaker: it is a newer marketplace, so talent depth varies by city, and it does not cast actors for film or TV.

If you sell apparel, our page on how to hire models for a clothing brand walks through size-first casting for product pages and lookbooks.

A good agency sends a curated package, handles contracts and steps in if a model cancels. That is worth paying for on a national campaign with a big media buy. The trade-off is cost and speed: you pay the model fee plus an agency service fee that is commonly around 20 percent, and packages can take days. For a 30-look e-commerce day, most small and mid-size brands find the markup hard to justify.

Model Mayhem is a long-running community where models, photographers, stylists and makeup artists keep portfolios and post casting calls. It has a free basic account and paid tiers that unlock more casting calls and messaging. Many shoots on it are time for prints, where nobody is paid and both sides get images. That suits portfolio building, but it means you sort through mixed experience levels, and contracts and payment stay off the platform.

Backstage is the best known casting site in the US for actors, with film, TV, theater and commercial auditions. Casting notices are reviewed before they go live, and you can browse a talent database. For acting roles it is the obvious choice. For an e-commerce or clothing shoot it is not built around sizes, product deliverables or image usage, so you end up handling the commercial details yourself.

On a general marketplace you post a task, set a budget and local people offer to do it, with reviews from earlier tasks. It can work for a simple local job, such as a person to hold a product at a market stall. It is not a modeling tool: there are no measurement filters, no usage terms and no model release built in.

Searching a local hashtag and sending DMs costs nothing and can find great faces. It is also where most of the problems in this industry start: nobody verifies identity or age, the person who arrives may not match the photos, and usage terms rarely get written down. If you go this route, get a signed release and check identity before the shoot. Our guide to fake casting calls covers the warning signs from the model side, which helps brands look trustworthy too.

Five questions decide which option fits your shoot. Answer them before you post anywhere.

1. 1Is the job paid? If yes, use a platform where payment and usage are part of the booking, not an afterthought.
2. 2Do sizes matter? For clothing, swimwear or fitness, you need size and measurement filters, or you will cast people who cannot wear the samples.
3. 3Where will the images run? Website and organic social only is the cheapest usage. Paid ads, print and packaging need written terms, explained in our guide to model usage rights.
4. 4Do you need identity and age checks? For any brand with a reputation to protect, yes. Every model you book must be an adult.
5. 5How often do you shoot? One shoot a year can go through an agency. A shoot every month is cheaper on a subscription platform with no commission.

The site matters less than the brief. Posts with a clear role, date, city, rate, usage and deliverables get fewer but better applicants. Our step-by-step guide on how to run a model casting has a template you can copy, and how much to pay a model gives day rate ranges by city so your rate attracts experienced talent.

Most brands hire a model because the photos feed product pages and ads. Once you have the finished selects, you can turn the product photos into ad creatives for each placement size, and keep the usage term from the booking agreement in mind so ads stop running when the term ends.