Platform Comparison
Conferences.Center vs PaperPlaza
PaperPlaza (PaperCept) is the purpose-built conference system behind IEEE robotics and controls societies — ICRA, IROS, CDC and CASE among them. It solves the IEEE proceedings problem well, for the societies it serves. Conferences.Center brings that same class of IEEE Xplore delivery automation to any IEEE-sponsored conference, alongside a modern interface and the rest of the event.
Comparison as of July 2026, based on publicly available information about PaperPlaza. Product capabilities and pricing change over time — verify current details with each vendor. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we’ll correct it.
The short version
PaperPlaza exists because IEEE proceedings preparation is genuinely painful. IFAC and the IEEE Control Systems and Robotics societies funded a specialised system with a persistent researcher database, integrated plagiarism checking and Xplore-oriented PDF handling — and that is a real endorsement of the problem being worth solving.
The catch is availability. PaperPlaza is tied to its sponsoring societies: if your conference is not run under one of them, it generally is not an option. Its interface is also widely described as dated, and its pricing is not published.
Conferences.Center takes the same problem — compliant metadata, table of contents, copyright manifest, page-1 copyright-line stamping, DOI verification — and makes it available to any IEEE-sponsored conference, with ACM TAPS and Springer LNCS delivery packages and Crossref DOI deposit alongside it.
We are not arguing an ICRA-scale conference should leave a system built for it. This comparison is for the many IEEE-sponsored conferences and workshops outside those societies that have no purpose-built Xplore tool at all.
Feature-by-feature comparison
Conferences.Center vs PaperPlaza across the workflows that matter for running a conference.
| Capability | Conferences.Center | PaperPlaza |
|---|---|---|
| AI-assisted conference setup | Yes — AI-assisted setup can draft tracks, timelines, and workflows from a brief or CFP for organizer review. | No — configuration is manual, in a long-established interface. |
| Abstract & paper submission | Yes — CFP, abstracts, and full papers with multi-track submission and format checks. | Yes — mature submission handling with a persistent researcher PIN database used across its societies' conferences. |
| Peer review (blind, COI, rebuttal) | Yes — single- and double-blind review, conflict-of-interest checks, and structured rebuttal periods. | Yes — established review workflow refined over two decades of society conferences. |
| Reviewer matching / suggestions | Yes — reviewer suggestions from roles, tracks, and workload; organizers approve every assignment. | Partial — keyword and society-database driven rather than AI-assisted affinity scoring. |
| Ticketing & payments | Yes — built-in ticketing with Stripe-hosted payments where configured. | Yes — registration is handled for its societies' conferences. |
| Live / hybrid event hub | Yes — live/hybrid hub with agenda, Q&A, polls, and attendee access for online and in-person formats. | No — no live or hybrid event tooling. |
| Attendee networking | Yes — attendee profiles, networking spaces, and meeting workflows, with assisted matching where configured. | No — not part of its scope. |
| Analytics | Yes — dashboards for submissions, reviews, registration, attendance, engagement, and revenue where configured. | Basic — operational reporting for chairs. |
| Data export & portability | Yes — structured exports across submissions, reviews, schedules, registrations, and attendees. | Available to chairs, though not through a documented public API. |
| Pricing model | Published per-event pricing from $290 for small events, with plans for larger or recurring conference programs. | Not published — arranged through the sponsoring society; generally unavailable to conferences outside IFAC/IEEE CSS/RAS. |
| Best for | Teams that want submissions, peer review, scheduling, registration, attendee operations, and reporting in one platform. | IEEE robotics and controls conferences run under IFAC, IEEE CSS or IEEE RAS. |
Where a cell says “varies by plan”, “add-on”, or “limited”, availability depends on the vendor’s tier or is not a core focus of that product.
Where PaperPlaza is strong
Purpose-built for IEEE proceedings, with Xplore-oriented PDF handling and integrated plagiarism checking.
A persistent researcher database spanning its societies' conferences, so authors and reviewers carry identity between events.
Two decades of refinement against the specific needs of robotics and controls conferences.
Effectively free to conferences run under its sponsoring societies.
Why teams choose Conferences.Center
One platform for peer review, ticketing, and the live event — instead of stitching several tools together.
IEEE Xplore delivery for any IEEE conference
PaperPlaza proves the Xplore pain is real enough that three societies built a private tool for it. We built the same class of automation — compliant metadata (CSV/XLSX/JSON), table of contents, copyright manifest, page-1 copyright-line stamping and DOI verification — and made it available to any IEEE-sponsored conference, not only members of those societies.
ACM and Springer too, plus Crossref DOIs
The same delivery pipeline generates ACM (TAPS-oriented) and Springer LNCS metadata packages, and deposits DOIs directly with Crossref. If your society publishes across more than one venue family, that breadth matters.
A modern interface your volunteers will actually use
Program committees are volunteers. A current, responsive interface with AI-assisted setup and a keynote-aware schedule optimiser reduces the training burden that a long-established system carries.
Pricing you can read before you commit
Our plans are published, including a free tier for small academic conferences. You do not need a society relationship or a quote to find out what it costs.
Who should choose which
Choose PaperPlaza if…
Stay with PaperPlaza if your conference runs under IFAC, IEEE CSS or IEEE RAS, your committee knows the system, and its society-specific workflow and researcher database are doing real work for you.
Choose Conferences.Center if…
Choose Conferences.Center if your IEEE-sponsored conference sits outside those societies and has no purpose-built Xplore tooling, if you publish with ACM or Springer as well, or if you want registration, scheduling and the live event in the same platform as review.
Frequently asked questions
Can any conference use PaperPlaza?
Generally no. PaperPlaza is tied to its sponsoring societies — IFAC and the IEEE Control Systems and Robotics societies — so conferences outside them usually cannot use it. That restriction, more than any feature difference, is the reason most IEEE-sponsored conferences need an alternative.
Do you submit our proceedings to IEEE Xplore for us?
No, and we are careful about this wording. We generate a delivery package that is ready for submission — metadata, table of contents, copyright manifest, page-1 copyright-line stamped PDFs and DOI verification. Submitting it to IEEE remains the organiser's step, because IEEE offers no public API for a third-party platform to push into.
Do you check for plagiarism like PaperPlaza does?
We ship an integrity scanner that detects hidden text and embedded prompt-injection payloads in submitted PDFs, plus citation-check guidance and an optional operator-keyed external similarity provider. We do not claim parity with an integrated commercial plagiarism database, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise.
What does it cost?
Pricing is published on our site, including a free tier for small academic conferences running core peer review. Paid plans add AI-assisted reviewer matching, the research-integrity suite, scheduling, registration and publisher delivery — and we never take a percentage of your registration revenue.
Keep exploring
Compare with other platforms
See the conference-operations workflow
Review how Conferences.Center connects setup, submissions, peer review, registration, and live operations in one organizer workspace.