OpenCFP vs pretalx

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.

pretalx manages conference calls for participation and the work that follows, including submission review, talk selection, speaker communication, scheduling, and publication. Organizers can customize call pages, set multiple deadlines, accept submissions in multiple languages, and use a chosen domain. Review teams can rate and discuss submissions, and organizers can add questions for reviewers. The schedule editor uses speaker availability and warns about conflicts; published schedules can include an RSS feed and public changelog. Organizers can use full API access or download static schedule pages for hosting elsewhere. pretalx is open-source software under the Apache License and can be installed with pip. It can be self-hosted or used as a hosted service. Self-hosted software costs nothing, but server costs and maintenance apply. Hosted service includes backups, certificates, updates, operational maintenance, and assistance; pricing is per event and varies with conference size and ticket price, with no price listed here. The hosted service says it uses servers in Germany, encrypts data in transit, and does not track attendees with cookies, analytics, or sensitive IP logging. Event-page and schedule availability is usually guaranteed for six months after an event.