HotCRP vs MeetingHand Abstract Management

HotCRP manages conference paper submissions and reviews, either as open-source software for self-hosting or through the hosted HotCRP.com service. Submission tools include customizable forms, optional registration, program-committee conflict collection, and configurable PDF checks. Papers can be assigned by hand, in batches, or automatically, including through globally optimal assignments. Search, sorting, bulk downloads, formulas, and tags help organize submissions. Review workflows support custom forms, LaTeX math, multiple rounds, offline reviewing, delegation, and external reviewers. Program committee meeting tools include rebuttals, votes, rankings, a live tracker, decision types, and mailing users. The REST API uses bearer tokens that can be scoped, including for read-only access or selected papers. HotCRP.com connects with ACM publication services for copyright forms, final versions, PDF checks, proceedings, and Digital Library export. Self-hosting requires a web server and software including Nginx, PHP 7.3 or higher, MariaDB, and PHP packages. Listed free plans serve certain sponsored events and classroom use; independent conferences pay $7.50 per submission after the deadline.

MeetingHand Abstract Management helps academic event organizers collect, review, schedule and publish submissions. Organizers can configure submission forms with topics, presentation types, rules, deadlines and author fields, and accept text, file or multimedia uploads. Review features include assigning reviewers, recording scores and comments, tracking progress on dashboards and conducting blind peer review. Authors can edit abstracts until the deadline if the organizer enables that permission. Accepted submissions can be scheduled into a multi-track agenda and exported as a book of abstracts. Abstract submission can connect with conference registration through single sign-on, with an option to require payment for submissions. MeetingHand says the system is designed for events with hundreds or thousands of submissions. Pricing depends on registrations or abstracts collected: Free covers up to 25, Pay as you go costs $4.90 a month and is charged according to collected registrations and abstracts, and Small is a prepaid plan at $990 a month for 250. The Medium plan covers 1,000, but no price is listed. The software is web-based. MeetingHand offers human support and a knowledge center; it also notes that its site is not tailored to regulations such as HIPAA or FISMA.