Contra expert networks · four playbooks
Four more badges.
Base44, Ideogram, Anything and Kittl. Every brief below was read off the live Contra listing on 31 July 2026 and checked against your actual profile. They're ordered by how much work each one costs against what the network is worth - work down the list, not across it.
The order to do them in
Progress on each card is read from your saved checkboxes, so this page always tells you where you actually are.
Base44 8 experts
Two apps, no paid plan, a network so new Contra still labels it "just getting started." Cheapest badge on the board and it won't stay cheap.
0 / 8 02Ideogram $2.2M+ routed
Richest network of the four by a distance - 300 hires. Wants 10+ published generations proving text rendering, stylization and prompt remixing. Text inside images is a typography problem, which is your home turf.
0 / 10 03Anything 1 project only
Lowest build requirement of all four, but the only one with essay questions - a specific bug you hit and your top three tips. The writing decides it, and you already carry the Vibe Coder tag.
0 / 8 04Kittl needs Pro plan
Six mandatory requirements, dismissed if you miss one. The only badge here gated behind a paid subscription - though their FAQ offers free upgrades if you ask in the application. Two project briefs are already on your machine from March.
0 / 12What's the same everywhere
Learn this once and it applies to all four, plus FLORA, plus the other 31 networks on Contra.
- Who decides
- The tool company, never Contra. Contra's help doc: "Applications are reviewed by the partner company behind each Expert Program - not by Contra."
- The form
- One text box, 1,500 characters, plus an optional "Link Example Projects" field. Contra tells you applications with at least one linked project are 50% more likely to be read.
- Profile bar
- 4+ projects/posts, name, photo, links, location, bio, wallet. Contra's fuller definition adds 2+ services and social links. You clear all of it already - 15+ projects, 5 services, 3 social links, wallet live.
- Review
- Bi-weekly for most. Email only if you're selected. Most partners never reply to unsuccessful applicants.
- Judged on
- "Demonstrated expertise in the tool/product" and "quality and originality of work."
- You get
- The badge, a slot on the tool's Contra expert page, priority placement in Discover, and - per Contra's help doc - "a boost to your Discovery score." Badge count is a direct input, so each one compounds.
- Killer clause
- Every single brief carries it: "Incomplete applications or applications that do not meet the outlined requirements will be dismissed." Nobody writes back asking you to fix it.
Where you'd stand after all four
Five badges today: Framer, Replo, Lummi, Kajabi, MagicPath. Add FLORA plus these four and you're at ten.
Discovery score counts badges directly, and yours is 201 - community benchmarks put 221 in the top 1% of creatives on the platform. Four badges is the most direct lever you have on that number.
Worth knowing what it doesn't buy: Top Independent is invite-only and personally vetted by Contra staff. One creative posted about sitting at 3 badges, 24 reviews and a 250+ discovery score still without it. Badges move discovery traffic, not tier.
Rules that repeat across all four
- Template-derived work is an explicit disqualifier. Readymag words it as "projects made out of templates without significant design changes will not be considered." Framer answers "Do template customizations qualify as client work? No."
- Dead links kill applications. Open every link you submit in a private window, logged out, before you send.
- Tag your work with the tool. Every brief judges "demonstrated expertise in the tool" - untagged work makes a reviewer hunt.
- Use the tags off the listing. Each opportunity page carries role tags at the bottom. Those are the words that company uses about its own users. Put them on your profile.
- Match your email. Sign up to each tool with the address on your Contra account - that's where the acceptance email lands.
- Reapplying is allowed. Kittl says so outright. Bi-weekly review implies a rolling queue everywhere else.