OpenSession vs pretalx
OpenSession
opensession.dev
pretalx
pretalx.comSide by side
| Figure | OpenSession | pretalx |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | €41.58/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 4 |
| Spec score · Speaker Management Software | 8.3 (#9) | 8.8 (#5) |
| Call for Papers | Organizers build MDX submission forms with custom components, conditional fields, file uploads, and multi-speaker support. | Organisers can brand CFP pages, set multiple deadlines, accept multiple languages and use a custom domain. |
| Purpose | OpenSession is an open-source platform for conference organizers to manage calls for papers, abstract review, agenda scheduling, and speaker onboarding. | pretalx manages conference calls for participation, submission review, talk selection, speaker communication, scheduling, and publishing. |
| Review | Reviewers can vote on submissions, leave comments, and see aggregate scores without admin access. | Organizers can assemble reviewer teams, collect ratings and reviews, and ask reviewers additional questions. |
| Scheduling | The agenda builder places accepted sessions into rooms and time slots and flags room and speaker conflicts. | The schedule editor uses speaker availability, warns about conflicts and supports public updates, RSS and static exports. |
| Self-hosting requirements | Self-hosting requires a Cloudflare account, Node.js 18 or newer, pnpm, and a domain pointed at Cloudflare; Google OAuth is optional. | Installation requires Linux administration, Python 3.13+, SMTP, cron or another scheduler, PostgreSQL 16+ or SQLite 3.37+, nginx or another reverse proxy and Redis. |
| What it does | OpenSession manages conference calls for papers, abstract review, agendas, and speaker onboarding. | pretalx manages a conference from call for participation through proposal review, speaker communication, scheduling and publication. |
Plans
pretalx
- Self-hostedFree
- Additional provider services€80, paid once
- Self-hosted support contract€499 a year
- pretalx.com hostingPriced on request
In their own words
OpenSession
OpenSession is a free, MIT-licensed platform for managing conference programs from proposal intake through speaker onboarding and agenda publication. Organizers create call-for-papers forms with MDX, conditional logic, multiple speakers, and file uploads; each speaker may submit up to three talks per event. Reviewers can vote, comment, and view aggregate scores without administrator access. The agenda builder assigns accepted sessions to rooms and time slots while flagging room and speaker conflicts. Schedule changes automatically update RFC 5545 ICS invitations. Accepted speakers receive a self-service portal for profiles, submissions, onboarding tasks, and files. Organizers can publish embeddable agendas and speaker galleries, plus JSON and ICS feeds. The software can be self-hosted on Cloudflare Workers, using D1 for its database and R2 for files. The listed plan is free, billed free forever. Cloudflare’s listed free-tier limits are 100,000 requests daily, 5 GB of D1 storage, and 10 GB of R2 storage. It does not cover CRM, marketing pages, or payment processing.
pretalx
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.