Fourwaves vs PragmaPlanner

Fourwaves is a conference management service for academic and scientific events, covering abstract submissions, peer review, registration, event websites, programs and attendee apps. Submission forms can support calls for papers and abstracts, and organizers can export abstract books with author indexes. Review workflows offer single- or double-blind processes, reviewer conflict detection and custom scoring grids. Its iOS and Android app includes the event program, personal agenda, participant list and presentation materials, and works offline. An API with organization-specific keys provides endpoints for event, registration, form, submission and session data. The free Starter plan costs nothing and caps yearly submissions at 25. Essential costs $999 a year with a 100-submission limit; Advanced costs $2,599 a year with a 300-submission limit. Each lists a 3% service fee. When a yearly cap is reached, new submissions pause until an upgrade, though existing submissions, registrations and event websites remain accessible. The company describes its audience as research communities, universities, scientific societies and research networks.

PragmaPlanner is web-based event-organisation software for building multi-track schedules for conferences, interview days and summits. Its solver searches scheduling combinations while considering attendee satisfaction and organiser constraints. You can assign speakers, record participant preferences, set room capacities and blocked times, and lock rooms or time slots. The software flags speaker overlaps, capacity problems and invalid placements. Attendee records can include descriptions, email addresses, availability and preferences, with assignments tracked in the project. CSV and ICS support data exchange, while customizable PDF exports create agendas. ICS import and export work with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook and other digital calendar systems. Roomless sessions can run concurrently without room collisions, and hybrid schedules can combine physical and Roomless sessions. Projects are encrypted on the user's device before syncing or sharing, using AES-256-GCM, ECIES-based key exchange and HKDF-SHA-256. The maker says its servers cannot see schedules or participant data. The free plan costs nothing for up to 30 participants and 50 projects. Pro costs what you agree with the maker, billed plus taxes, with higher limits and priority support.