Do you need an account to get a judge rating
Browsing is open, but ordering needs sign-in.
The short answer
No. You can browse the judge panel without an account, but "Get rated" needs one, and so does following a judge. Signing in takes a moment, and it only comes up at the point where you actually order.
So the sensible order is to look around first, decide who you like, and sign in when you are ready.
What works signed out
Open the Judges window and the whole panel is there. The category pills at the top filter the grid. Tap a judge to open her profile: intro clip, photos, star average, follower count and bio.
That is enough to compare judges properly, and how to read a judge profile shows what to look at. Prices are visible too: every judge sets her own price per medium, so the figure on her card is the one you pay.
What needs an account
Two things. "Get rated" is the order button, and you need to be signed in to use it. Following is the other; how to follow a judge explains what it does.
This post does not describe signup steps in detail, because the page itself only says that signing in takes a moment. If you are not signed in when you tap "Get rated", that is the point where you are asked to.
How the rest of the site compares
The judge panel is one of several places with this split. Some of the site works signed out, and some does not, and what you can do for free lists which. Getting started is the better entry point if you are new and want the whole route from opening the site to your first rating.
When you do sign up
An account is a thing worth protecting from the start, because it holds your balance and your history. The UK National Cyber Security Centre’s password advice is to combine three random words and avoid personal details such as significant dates, sports teams and family or pet names.
Once you are in, an order charges your Coin balance there and then, and if your balance is short the top-up window opens instead of the order failing.
A sensible order of operations
Start signed out. Browse a few profiles, compare the prices per medium and read each intro clip. That costs nothing and needs nothing from you.
When you have a favourite, sign in, open her profile and tap "Get rated". Pick the medium, attach up to 3 photos, add a note if you want one, and pay. What to write in the note and how many photos to send help with the two parts that are left to you.
If the order goes wrong later, the "Report a problem" link on the rating card opens a ticket tied to that order, and the delivery route is My Collection on the Ratings tab.
Browsing also lets you check something before you commit: the price per medium on each card, the star average, and the follower count. All of that is visible without signing in. There is no cost to looking, so there is no reason to sign in early. Wait until you have a judge in mind and the account does its job at the only moment it is needed.