Pretalx review: open-source Call for Papers and conference scheduling tool. See features, hosted pricing, self-hosting, and alternatives.
Pretalx is open-source software purpose-built to run a conference's speaker program from start to finish: opening a Call for Papers, reviewing and selecting submissions, communicating with speakers, and publishing the final schedule. It is especially popular in the Python and broader open-source conference community, where organizers value transparent, self-hostable tooling over closed commercial platforms.
The project is maintained primarily by Tobias Kunze, who also operates the hosted version of the service at pretalx.com. Because the underlying code is open source, any organizer with the technical resources can self-host Pretalx at no license cost, while those who prefer a managed setup can use the hosted service and pay based on event size.
Pretalx lets organizers build a fully custom Call for Papers form, then route submissions through configurable review workflows that can be anonymous or open, with flexible scoring and selection criteria suited to single-track meetups or large multi-room conferences alike. Built-in email tooling helps organizers communicate with speakers at each stage, including proofreading and editing before messages go out in bulk.
Once talks are selected, Pretalx's scheduling tools automatically build a conference schedule and notify speakers and attendees of any changes. A plugin ecosystem allows the platform to be extended for specific needs, and because the codebase is open source, technical teams can inspect, modify, or self-host it entirely rather than depending on a closed vendor.
Pretalx is free to self-host indefinitely since it is released as open-source software; organizers only pay for their own server and maintenance time. For the hosted service at pretalx.com, pricing is not a flat monthly fee but is calculated based on expected attendee numbers and standard ticket price, so cost scales with the size of the event.
The smallest community events can run a Call for Papers on the hosted platform for roughly 60 euros, and non-profit, volunteer-run community events can qualify for a discount of up to 25 percent. Organizers can explore and configure the hosted platform for free and only pay once they make their event public, and events with unusual revenue models can contact the team directly to arrange custom pricing.
Self-hosting Pretalx is free since it is open source; the hosted version at pretalx.com is priced based on expected event size.
Managing a conference's Call for Papers, speaker review, communication, and schedule publishing.
No, Pretalx focuses on the speaker program; organizers typically pair it with a separate ticketing tool like Pretix for registration and payment.
Pricing scales with expected attendee count and ticket price, starting around 60 euros for the smallest events, with discounts for non-profit community events.
The project is maintained primarily by Tobias Kunze, who also runs the hosted service at pretalx.com.
Yes, the full codebase is open source and available on GitHub for self-hosting.
Yes, it supports both single-track events and large multi-room, multi-track conferences.
They are separate products built by related members of the German open-source events community; Pretalx handles the speaker program while Pretix handles ticketing.