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ProgramChair
What ProgramChair is
ProgramChair manages academic conferences from submission and peer review through decisions, program planning, room scheduling, and proceedings. Organizers can configure submission and review forms with session types, topics, word limits, and scoring criteria. Authors keep an account across conferences, add co-authors, upload manuscripts, and edit proposals while submissions remain open. Reviewers can be matched by topic or assigned through a proposed balanced allocation, then view anonymised papers. Organizers can schedule reminders and sort submissions by score, score spread, or reviewer disagreement. The scheduler groups related work, places sessions in available slots, and flags author scheduling conflicts. Mailings are logged by recipient with delivery status and message content, and failed messages can be resent. A readable, single-file backup can be downloaded and restored, covering submissions, reviews, the roster, and program. ProgramChair is available hosted or self-hosted, with all features and stages included in either option. It is free to use, with registrant-based rates set with each society.
Who it suits
It suits academic societies, including groups with volunteer boards, rotating program chairs, and no technical staff. Hosted and self-hosted options support different operating arrangements.
What it does well
- Configurable submission and review forms
- Topic-based reviewer matching and allocation
- Program scheduling flags author conflicts
- Audited mailings with resend support
- Readable single-file conference backups
What to know first
- Pricing is set separately with each society
- The software is described as new
- Only a small number of 2027 societies invited
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted | Per registrant; rate set with each society · Runs on your site and domain · Uses your outgoing mail · All features and stages included | On request |
| Hosted | Per registrant; rate set with each society · Provider-hosted and maintained · Mail handled on provider infrastructure · All features and stages included | On request |
As programchair.io lists them, read 5 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Verdict
ProgramChair covers the main academic conference workflow, including reviews, scheduling, communications, and backups. Societies can choose provider hosting or run it on their own site and domain.
Facts from ProgramChair's own pages
- Audience
- The product is aimed at academic societies, including organizations with volunteer boards, rotating program chairs, and no technical staff. · programchair.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Data export
- Organizers can download and restore a readable, single-file conference backup containing submissions, reviews, roster, and program. · programchair.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Email audit
- Mailings are logged by recipient with delivery status and the message sent, and failed messages can be resent. · programchair.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Peer review
- Reviewers can be matched to proposals by topic or assigned through a proposed balanced allocation, and see anonymised papers. · programchair.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Pricing
- The software is free to use and charges are based on registrants; rates are set with each society, with no setup fee or annual minimum. · programchair.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Product maturity
- The maker describes the software as new and says two societies have committed their 2027 conference seasons to it. · programchair.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Program scheduling
- The scheduler groups thematically similar work, distributes sessions across available slots, and flags author scheduling conflicts. · programchair.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- ProgramChair manages academic conferences from submission and peer review through decisions, the program, and proceedings. · programchair.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Review management
- Organizers can schedule reviewer reminders and sort submissions by score, score spread, or reviewer disagreement. · programchair.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Submission forms
- Organizers can configure submission and review forms with session types, topics, word limits, and scoring criteria. · programchair.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Submissions
- Authors can maintain an account across conferences, add co-authors, upload manuscripts, and edit proposals while submissions are open. · programchair.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Support and availability
- The site invites prospective societies to contact [email protected] and says it is taking on a small number of societies for 2027. · programchair.io, 5 Oct 2026
Where ProgramChair stands on Freedom251
- Event Scheduling Software#12 of 34