Indico vs Sessionize

Indico is a free, open-source tool for organizing events, archiving materials, and supporting collaboration. It provides workflows for seminars, meetings, workshops, and conferences, and can bring an institute’s events together. For conferences, organizers can handle registration and abstract submission, store papers and other materials, and provide participant badges. Events use hierarchical categories, protections for resources, and roles within events. The room-booking module supports delegated management, booking approvals, and audiovisual equipment management. Indico integrates with Zoom so participants can join video conferences with a single click; listed plugins also cover PayPal payments and Amazon S3 event-file storage. It can be customized through configuration and plugins, and its HTTP Export API exposes category contents, events, rooms, and bookings. Indico is installed as a self-hosted instance. The project began in 2002, and CERN adopted it for event management in 2004 and has financed its development since. The maker describes room booking as suited to companies, research institutes, and universities.

Sessionize is cloud-based event content management software for organizing in-person or online events. Its workflow covers calls for speakers, proposal evaluation, speaker and session management, and schedule building. Organizers can create submission forms with custom fields, submission limits, deadlines, and agent mode. Evaluation options include star ratings, Yes/No decisions, and comparisons. Schedules can be arranged by drag and drop, embedded on websites, or retrieved as JSON or XML. The included attendee app works on phones, tablets, and desktops, supports offline use, and lets attendees build personal schedules. API integration and embedding support event websites, mobile apps, and WordPress sites. Sessionize lists unlimited sessions, speakers, team members, organizers, and evaluators. Its free trial requires no credit card. Community events can use the free plan, while a Professional event costs $499, paid once for one event occurrence. Sessionize does not provide attendee management or ticket selling, live streaming or video hosting, or an event webpage builder. It is available on Android, iOS, and web.