Airballoon vs EasyChair

Airballoon9.2Visit EasyChair9.0Visit

Higher score Airballoon #2 in Call for Papers Software 9.2/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 2 features Visit Airballoon

vs

EasyChair #3 in Call for Papers Software 9.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 2 features Visit EasyChair

• Airballoon fits best

  End-to-end conferences with attendee operations

• EasyChair fits best

  Established academic conferences on a budget

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Side by side

Feature	Airballoon 9.2/10 Visit ↗	EasyChair 9.0/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.2	9.0
Ranking	#2 in Call for Papers Software	#3 in Call for Papers Software
Best for	End-to-end conferences with attendee operations	Established academic conferences on a budget
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free plan + paid
Starting price	Free plan	$4/unit usage-based
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Mobile	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Email, Docs	Docs
Compliance	SSO/SAML, PCI DSS	GDPR
Integrations	9 integrations	4 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Airballoon 2/2 · EasyChair 2/2
Blind review	✓	✓
Schedule builder	✓	✓
Specs
Submission types	Mixed	Mixed
Review stages	Custom	Custom
Submission limit	Not checked yet	20 submissions
Reviewer limit	Not checked yet	200 reviewers
Our review
Pros	Supports paper, abstract, poster, and proposal submissions Combines blind review, committee management, and custom review stages Extends into websites, schedules, registration, networking, and payments	Free tier covers submissions, reviewing, blind review, hosting, and backups Supports rebuttals, scheduling, proceedings, registration, and Smart CFP Professional and Executive add program, analytics, export, and integration features
Cons	Registration can incur transaction fees Presentation storage can incur storage fees Its broad event scope may exceed the needs of CFP-only teams	Free is sized for up to 20 submissions and 200 reviewers Paid tiers charge per submission rather than through annual pricing Access is web-based, with advanced needs split across multiple tiers
Our verdict	Airballoon is a web-based conference-management platform from Lumvex Labs LLC for academic conferences and workshops. It covers the conference lifecycle from CFP publication and paper, abstract, poster, and proposal submissions through… Read the review →	EasyChair is a web-based conference management system for chairs, program committees, reviewers, authors, and organizers. It covers the academic event workflow from call-for-papers publishing and abstract or paper submission through… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Airballoon — where it wins

  • Supports paper, abstract, poster, and proposal submissions
  • Combines blind review, committee management, and custom review stages
  • Extends into websites, schedules, registration, networking, and payments

  Where it doesn't

  • Registration can incur transaction fees
  • Presentation storage can incur storage fees
  • Its broad event scope may exceed the needs of CFP-only teams

• EasyChair — where it wins

  • Free tier covers submissions, reviewing, blind review, hosting, and backups
  • Supports rebuttals, scheduling, proceedings, registration, and Smart CFP
  • Professional and Executive add program, analytics, export, and integration features

  Where it doesn't

  • Free is sized for up to 20 submissions and 200 reviewers
  • Paid tiers charge per submission rather than through annual pricing
  • Access is web-based, with advanced needs split across multiple tiers

• Airballoon9.2/10 · Free plan

  A broad web-based conference system covering CFPs, review, event operations, and attendee engagement.

  Visit AirballoonFull verdict →
• EasyChair9.0/10 · Free plan

  A broad academic conference workflow with a useful free tier and usage-based upgrades.

  Visit EasyChairFull verdict →