Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Cvent Abstract Management

Indico is a feature-rich, web-based event management system developed at CERN for organizing lectures, meetings, workshops, and conferences. It combines event content management with end-to-end workflows such as submissions, reviewing, registration, and room booking.

Key Features

• Hierarchical event content management with long-term archival of materials and metadata
• Conference organization workflows including call for abstracts, abstract reviewing, and paper reviewing
• Configurable registration forms with support for integrating external payment systems
• Timetable and agenda management, including drag-and-drop scheduling
• Participant logistics tools such as badge and ticket generation/printing
• Room booking and management with permissions and scheduling support
• Extensible architecture via plugins and integrations with collaborative/video-conferencing tools

Use Cases

• Managing scientific conferences with abstract submission, reviewing, and proceedings workflows
• Organizing institutional meetings and lectures with agenda building and material archival
• Centralizing room booking and event scheduling for campuses and large organizations

Indico is well-suited for organizations needing a robust, scalable event platform that covers the full event lifecycle. Its granular permissions model, archival focus, and extensibility make it a strong fit for both recurring internal meetings and complex international conferences.

OSEM (Open Source Event Manager) is a web application for organizing events, tailored to Free and Open Source Software community conferences. It helps teams manage the full lifecycle of a conference, from content collection to publishing the schedule and handling attendee registration.

Key Features

• Event splash pages for promoting the conference
• Call for Papers workflow to receive, classify, and evaluate submissions
• Session management with detailed public session pages
• Schedule/agenda creation and publishing for attendees
• Registration and ticketing support for tracking attendees
• Administration tools to manage event configuration and operations
• Basic analytics to track program and audience evolution

Use Cases

• Run a community conference with submissions, reviews, and a published agenda
• Maintain a public event website with sessions and speaker information
• Manage attendee registration and ticketing for an in-person or hybrid event

OSEM is a solid choice for teams that want a purpose-built conference manager with a focus on CFP-driven programs and attendee-facing schedules, while keeping full control over event data and workflows.

pretalx is a conference planning and management tool that supports organisers from call for participation through review, scheduling, and publishing the final program. It is designed for multi-track, multi-day events and is highly configurable and extensible via plugins.

Key Features

• Configurable Call for Participation (CfP) and submission forms
• Reviewer workflows for scoring, selection, and optional anonymised reviewing
• Schedule planning for multi-day, multi-room, and multi-track events
• Publishing and managing schedule releases and program updates
• Speaker management, communication, and post-event feedback collection
• Extensibility through a plugin ecosystem and customizable appearance

Use Cases

• Running a conference or meetup with an open call for talks or workshops
• Organising review committees and selecting submissions transparently
• Building and publishing a public schedule for multi-track events

Limitations and Considerations

• Advanced customisation beyond built-in settings may require plugin development

pretalx fits teams that need a full CfP-to-schedule workflow with strong reviewing and scheduling capabilities. It is suitable for both small community events and large conferences that require structured submissions and multi-track planning.