Microsoft CMT vs EasyChair

MCMicrosoft CMT9.0Visit EasyChair8.5Visit

Higher score MC Microsoft CMT #1 in Call for Papers Software 9.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 2 features Visit Microsoft CMT

vs

EasyChair #2 in Call for Papers Software 8.5/10 Free plan · paid from $4 Free plan✓ 2 of 2 features Visit EasyChair

• Microsoft CMT fits best

  Free, full-featured academic conferences

• EasyChair fits best

  Established academic conferences on a budget

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Side by side

Feature	MCMicrosoft CMT 9.0/10 Visit ↗	EasyChair 8.5/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.0	8.5
Ranking	#1 in Call for Papers Software	#2 in Call for Papers Software
Best for	Free, full-featured academic conferences	Established academic conferences on a budget
Pricing model	Free	Free plan + paid
Starting price	Not published	Not published
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Tickets, Docs	Docs
Integrations	1 integrations	4 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Microsoft CMT 2/2 · EasyChair 2/2
Blind review	✓	✓
Schedule builder	✓	✓
Specs
Submission types	Mixed	Mixed
Review stages	Custom	Custom
Submission limit	Not published	20 submissions
Reviewer limit	Not published	200 reviewers
Our review
Pros	Supports submissions, revisions, camera-ready papers, and presentations Deep review controls include blind review, conflicts, quotas, and bidding Covers multi-track planning, copyright collection, and session scheduling	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	Web-based delivery limits the platform choice to browser access Reviewer capacity is configured by conference chairs, not fixed product-wide Its focus on academic peer review may not suit general event management	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	Microsoft CMT is a free, cloud-hosted conference management system for academic and scientific peer review. It is designed for conference chairs, reviewers, authors, and proceedings editors managing submissions from abstracts through full… 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

• Microsoft CMT — where it wins

  • Supports submissions, revisions, camera-ready papers, and presentations
  • Deep review controls include blind review, conflicts, quotas, and bidding
  • Covers multi-track planning, copyright collection, and session scheduling

  Where it doesn't

  • Web-based delivery limits the platform choice to browser access
  • Reviewer capacity is configured by conference chairs, not fixed product-wide
  • Its focus on academic peer review may not suit general event management

• 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

• MCMicrosoft CMT9.0/10 · Free plan

  A free, full-featured system for managing academic submissions, reviews, rebuttals, and schedules.

  Visit Microsoft CMTFull verdict →
• EasyChair8.5/10 · Free plan · paid from $4

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

  Visit EasyChairFull verdict →