EasyChair

EasyChair is a web-based software service for managing academic and scientific conferences. Its central function is to support the flow of research papers from submission through peer review, revision, decision-making, and conference-program preparation. The service is used by conference organizers, program chairs, reviewers, authors, and other members of scholarly communities, providing a shared online environment for workflows that would otherwise require multiple tools or substantial manual administration. The software has been in continuous development since 2002. It was originally associated with the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester and became known within the scientific community as a practical system for organizing submissions and reviews. Its adoption expanded across disciplines and conference communities; reference material reports use by more than 41,000 conferences by 2015 and more than 2.5 million users in 2019. These figures describe reported usage of the service rather than sales or financial performance. EasyChair historically offered a standard service free of charge. Its commercial model changed over time: by 2022, only a minimal level of service remained free, while broader functionality was offered through paid arrangements. The service is now operated commercially by EasyChair Ltd., a company established in Stockport in 2016. No public-company listing or ticker is identified in the available reference material. In addition to workflow management, EasyChair provides an online publication service for conference proceedings. Introduced in 2012 initially for computer-science events, the publication offering was expanded in 2016 to cover all scientific disciplines. This broadened the brand from a submission-and-review utility into a more complete infrastructure service for scholarly events, connecting conference administration with open-access dissemination of accepted research. EasyChair’s positioning is utilitarian and infrastructure-oriented rather than consumer-facing. Its value lies in centralizing complex academic workflows, maintaining structured records of submissions and reviews, and reducing the administrative burden on volunteer or institutional conference committees. The service is comparable in broad function to other academic event-management systems, but the available material does not establish a distinctive technical feature set, market-share ranking, or formal corporate strategy beyond its conference-management and proceedings-publication roles. The brand remains active and is principally associated with academic conference administration. Its public identity is closely tied to the EasyChair website and the scholarly communities that use the platform. Information about its founders, current executives, detailed financial results, headquarters operations beyond the Stockport corporate association, and specific customer segments is not established by the supplied sources.

EasyChair emerged as an academic conference-management system and has been under continuous development since 2002. Its original institutional association was with the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester. The system addressed a recurring administrative problem in scholarly publishing: conferences need to collect large numbers of papers, assign submissions to reviewers, receive evaluations, communicate decisions, manage revisions, and assemble an accepted program, often through committees whose members are distributed across institutions and countries. During its early development and expansion, EasyChair became a recognizable web-based tool within the scientific community. Its role was not to conduct research or publish a conventional journal, but to provide the administrative infrastructure around academic events. The system was used for submission and review processes and was generally compared with other conference-management products such as OpenConf. The available reference material reports that the software had been used by more than 41,000 conferences by 2015. It also reports more than 2.5 million users in 2019, illustrating the scale of its scholarly-community adoption, although the sources do not provide a detailed breakdown by geography, discipline, or customer type. A major extension came in 2012, when EasyChair introduced an online publication service for conference proceedings. The initial scope was computer science, matching the service’s established user base and institutional origins. This addition allowed conference materials to be made available online through the same broader service environment, linking administrative management with dissemination of accepted work. In 2016, the publication service was expanded to cover all sciences, increasing its potential relevance beyond computer-science conferences. The company and operating model also changed. EasyChair was formerly run through the University of Manchester’s Department of Computer Science, but it later became a commercial service owned by EasyChair Ltd. in Stockport. The company is identified as having been established in 2016. The supplied material does not identify an individual founder, executive team, ownership structure beyond the named company, or financial results. EasyChair’s pricing model evolved as the service matured. It was previously available with a standard free service, but reference material states that, as of 2022, only minimal services were free. The shift indicates a move toward monetizing broader service access while retaining a limited free tier. No pricing schedules, revenue figures, user fees, or profitability data are established by the available sources. Today, EasyChair remains an active web-based platform serving academic and scientific conference workflows. Its historical development can therefore be understood in three broad stages: initial creation and continuous software development beginning in 2002; expansion from conference submission and review into proceedings publication in 2012 and then across scientific disciplines in 2016; and commercial consolidation under EasyChair Ltd., accompanied by a more restricted free offering by 2022. The available material does not support claims about current market share, product architecture, artificial-intelligence capabilities, or specific institutional partnerships.

• 2022

  Free service becomes limited

  [1]EasyChairen.wikipedia.org

  The service’s earlier standard free offering is reduced to a minimal free level, with broader functionality available through paid access.

• 2019

  Reported user base exceeds 2.5 million

  [1]EasyChairen.wikipedia.org

  Reference material reports more than 2.5 million users in the scientific community.

• 2016

  EasyChair Ltd. is established and publication scope expands

  [1]EasyChairen.wikipedia.org

  EasyChair becomes associated with the commercial company EasyChair Ltd. in Stockport, while its proceedings publication service expands from computer science to all sciences.

• 2015

  Reported use surpasses 41,000 conferences

  [1]EasyChairen.wikipedia.org

  Reference material reports that the software had been used by more than 41,000 conferences by this year.

• 2012

  Online proceedings publication service launches

  [1]EasyChairen.wikipedia.org

  EasyChair adds an online publication service for conference proceedings, initially focused on computer science.

• 2002

  EasyChair development begins

  [1]EasyChairen.wikipedia.org

  EasyChair enters continuous development as a web-based system for academic conference submission and peer-review administration.

A practical, internationally used infrastructure platform for academic conference submissions, peer review, event administration, and open-access proceedings publication.

• Academic conference management software · 2002

  EasyChair Conference Management

  The core EasyChair service supports academic and scientific conferences by collecting research-paper submissions and organizing peer-review workflows. It provides a shared web-based environment for conference committees, reviewers, authors, and program administrators. The available material identifies submission and review as its principal functions, but does not document every current module or feature.

• Open-access scholarly publication service · 2012

  EasyChair Proceedings Publication

  This service provides online publication for conference proceedings. It was introduced in 2012 with a computer-science focus and later expanded in 2016 to encompass all scientific disciplines. It extends EasyChair’s role beyond event administration by supporting online dissemination of conference research.

• 2022

  Reduction of the standard free offeringPrice change

  Background

  EasyChair had historically provided a standard service free of charge.

  Action taken

  By 2022, only minimal services remained free, with broader service access treated as paid.

  Aftermath

  The change reflected a more commercial access model, although the available sources do not provide pricing details or financial outcomes.

  Source

• 2016

  Expansion of proceedings publication across scientific disciplinesStrategy

  Background

  The proceedings service had initially been limited to computer science.

  Action taken

  EasyChair expanded the publication service to cover all sciences.

  Aftermath

  The move widened the potential scope of the brand’s publication offering beyond its original disciplinary base.

  Source

• 2012

  Launch of the online proceedings publication serviceProduct launch

  Background

  EasyChair had established itself as a conference submission and review platform and expanded into the publication stage of the academic-event workflow.

  Action taken

  The service introduced online publication for conference proceedings, initially serving computer-science events.

  Aftermath

  The publication capability was later broadened to all sciences in 2016.

  Source

1. 1EasyChairen.wikipedia.org
2. 2EasyChair official websiteeasychair.org