ConfTool vs OpenCFP

ConfTool is conference management software for academic conferences, congresses, workshops, and seminars, including on-site and virtual events. It supports submissions and reviews, program scheduling, participant registration, administration, and invoicing. With ConfTool Pro, organizers can configure open or blind reviews, optionally use multiple tracks, schedule accepted submissions, and check presenter conflicts. Participants can create personal agendas. Pro registration supports participant groups, time discounts, event options, and admission limits; payments can be handled by bank transfer, PayPal, Stripe, or connections to more than 45 online credit card payment systems. Pro can link sessions and presentations to external virtual-event resources and export data in Excel, Word, CSV, JSON, and XML. ConfTool Standard is free on request for smaller non-commercial events, for up to 150 participants, and requires local installation. Pro is hosted and billed per conference; its fee depends on event requirements and size, and optional modules may cost extra. The maker lists HTTPS access, automatic backups, and role-based access control. Standard comes without support, while Pro includes professional support.

OpenCFP is a free, PHP-based system for collecting conference talk proposals and managing their review. Speakers register with contact information, submit proposals, and manage profiles through a dashboard. Reviewers can view and rate talks, while administrators can review speaker information, favorite proposals, and make selections. Command-line utilities support administration of users and reviewer or administrator groups.

The application sends notifications through configured SMTP settings, and its configuration includes options for OpenCFP Central single sign-on. A Docker Compose file is provided for building and running it in containers. The README lists PHP 7.4 and recommends Apache 2 or later with mod_rewrite and AllowOverride enabled. OpenCFP is listed for Linux, self-hosted, and web use, and costs nothing. The project is in maintenance mode and accepts security fixes only. Setup guidance recommends enabling secure_ssl when possible; it requires a valid SSL certificate. The project also advises protecting collected personal information and deleting database data within 15 months of accepting submissions.