Both plugins bring your Cadmium Education Harvester program into WordPress. MetaSprout does it for $299 a year, with a visual designer that lets your own team build the schedule. No developer, ACF or page builder required.
Who wrote this: Elevate The Web, the team behind MetaSprout. We’ve kept every ParrotWP® detail to what its own website says, as of November 3, 2026.
Your fit
Find your fit.
MetaSprout is your fit if…
You want your own team to design the schedule, visually, with no developer or extra plugins.
You want filters, search, popups and calendar downloads ready out of the box.
You’d rather pay $299 a year than $1,725, and can arrange the Cadmium key directly.
Your host runs PHP 8.2+ and a current version of WordPress.
You run more than one event or year and want each kept separate and cleanly archived.
You want 12 months of support from a team that’s actively building the product.
ParrotWP® may suit you if…
You’re on an older PHP or WordPress setup that can’t be upgraded.
You want the Cadmium key and the software in one purchase.
You already have a developer or agency who’ll build the front end.
You already run ParrotWP® successfully and don’t need to change.
You're ok having to install extra plugins to make ParrotWP® work properly.
You're fine with a plugin that hasn't been updated since 2025.
Neither plugin fits if you don’t use Cadmium Education Harvester, or you run WordPress multisite.
In action
This is what your team builds.
A published MetaSprout schedule from our interactive demo, with day tabs, filters, search, presenter details and calendar downloads. Everything in it, from the filters to the card layout, is customizable in Layout Studio.
Every row comes from each vendor’s own published information. Where a vendor doesn’t say, we’ve written “Not stated” rather than guess.
MetaSprout and ParrotWP® compared, grouped by topic
Feature
MetaSprout
ParrotWP®
Building your pages
Visual layout designer
Layout Studio: cards, directories, filters, day groups and popups
No premade layouts; build with ACF plus Elementor, Divi or Gutenberg
Works without ACF
Yes
No; ACF Pro is required (and included)
Works without a page builder
Yes; place layouts with a native block or shortcode
Not strictly, but needed in practice to design layouts
Visitor filters, search and sorting
Built in: day, time, track, room, search and sort
Not provided out of the box; you build them
Add to calendar (.ics)
Yes
Yes
Presenter directory
Yes
Yes
Sponsors
Yes; presenter and sponsor records
Yes; sponsored sessions, logos and a sponsors section
Data and syncing
Data source
Cadmium Education Harvester
Cadmium Education Harvester
Control what the public sees
A dedicated step to approve public fields
Field selection at import
Custom fields
All 280+ Cadmium custom fields, mapped to custom fields or taxonomies per event
Supports 280+ Cadmium custom fields
Data cleanup rules
Yes, with a preview before saving
Field transformations, such as date formats
Preview an import before applying
Yes
Not stated
Scheduled sync
Every 15 minutes, daily or weekly
WP-Cron, external cron or manual
If Cadmium is unreachable
Your site keeps showing the last good data; retry the run when ready
Data is stored in WordPress; failure behavior not stated
Multiple events or years on one site
Separate event connections; archiving keeps records
Not documented
Price and license
Annual license
$299 per site, per year
$1,725 per site, per year (listed as a limited-time 25% saving)
Renewal price
Same as your purchase price: $299 per site, per year
Not stated
Cadmium API key
Not included; contract with Cadmium
Included (ParrotWP® values it at $500)
Staging and local installs
Free
Not stated
Free version
No
No
Refund window
7 days, if it won’t work on your site
14 days
If the license expires
Public pages keep working; new imports and layout editing pause
Plugin stops working until renewed (vendor says no data is lost)
Setup and support
Support included
12 months by email, with a reply within one business day
6 months, plugin issues only
Updates included
12 months
12 months
Paid onboarding
Not offered
Optional $750 one-time call
Try before you buy
Interactive demo of a sample conference
Video, plus a live demo with a specialist
Requirements and hosting
Minimum WordPress and PHP
WordPress 6.6+, PHP 8.2+
WordPress 5+, PHP 7.4+
Minimum PHP memory
256 MB
128 MB
Hosts tested
xCloud, GoDaddy, WP Engine, Cloudways, Kinsta and AWS
GoDaddy, WP Engine and Cloudways named; WP Engine’s 60-second script limit can interrupt large imports
WordPress multisite
Not supported
Not supported
Developer tools
WP-CLI, public read API, shortcodes, native block
REST API, WP-CLI, shortcodes via ACF
Track record
Publisher
Elevate The Web acquired the MetaSprout team in 2026. They are dedicated to this plugin only.
David James Group, an association marketing and communications agency
Development activity
Active; updates included for 12 months
Latest listed version 3.8.1 (undated); changelog page last modified September 2025
Last updated November 3, 2026. Confirm pricing and features with each vendor before you buy.
Cost
Less to buy. Less to build.
MetaSprout is $299 per site, per year. ParrotWP® is $1,725, a price that includes a Cadmium Education Harvester API key. MetaSprout customers arrange that key directly with Cadmium.
Set aside the $500 ParrotWP® assigns to the key, and its software still costs about $1,225 a year. That’s roughly four times a MetaSprout license.
Then there’s the cost the price tag doesn’t show: the build. ParrotWP® ships without premade layouts, so many teams hire a developer or agency to create their schedule and presenter pages. With MetaSprout, your own team designs them in Layout Studio, included in the license.
MetaSprout renews at the same $299 you paid. ParrotWP® doesn’t publish a renewal price. Cadmium issues keys per event and per vendor, so confirm key pricing with Cadmium.
MetaSprout
$299per site, per year
Software alone
$299
Cadmium API key
Contract with Cadmium
Renewal
Same $299, every year
Schedule and presenter pages
Built in with Layout Studio
Included support
12 months
Staging and local installs
Free
ParrotWP®
$1,725per site, per year
Software alone
About $1,225
Cadmium API key
Included (valued at $500)
Renewal
Not stated
Schedule and presenter pages
Developer or page-builder work
Included support
6 months
Onboarding call
Optional, $750
Strengths
Where MetaSprout pulls ahead.
ParrotWP® has strengths of its own, and we’ve listed them too. If you want a polished, searchable schedule without a development project, the advantages are on MetaSprout’s side.
What MetaSprout gives you
A schedule you design yourselfBuild cards, directories, filters, day groups and popups in Layout Studio, adjusting color, type, spacing and mobile layout as you go. No code.
Filters and search, ready to goAttendees filter by day, time, track and room, search and sort the moment you publish.
Nothing else to installNo ACF, no page builder. Drop a layout onto any page with a native block or a shortcode.
Imports you can trustPreview every change before it goes live. If Cadmium can’t be reached, your pages keep showing the last good data.
Ready for next yearEach event or year gets its own connection. Archive the old one and its records stay put.
Twice the included support12 months of email support, with a reply within one business day.
Where ParrotWP® is strong
Cadmium key includedOne purchase covers the software and the API key.
Runs on older serversPHP 7.4+ and WordPress 5+, with a 128 MB memory floor.
Full design freedomTeams with developers can build any front end they like.
Paid onboardingAn optional $750 onboarding call.
Buyer questions
Questions to ask before you buy.
Put these to any vendor before you commit. We’re glad to answer every one of them at hello@metasprout.io.
Do I need Cadmium, and what does the API key cost?
Yes. Both plugins import from Cadmium Education Harvester and need an Education Harvester API key. With MetaSprout, you arrange the key directly with Cadmium, which issues keys per event and per vendor, so confirm the price with Cadmium. ParrotWP® includes a key in its higher price.
What’s the renewal price after year one?
MetaSprout renews at the same $299 you paid. ParrotWP® doesn’t publish a renewal price, so ask before you buy.
Can I try it before I buy?
Yes. MetaSprout’s interactive demo runs on a fictional conference, so you can try the filters, search and popups yourself, any time. There’s no free version of either plugin: MetaSprout offers a 7-day refund if it won’t work on your site, and ParrotWP® offers 14 days. Once licensed, MetaSprout’s staging and local installs are free.
Do my host and PHP version meet the requirements?
MetaSprout needs WordPress 6.6+ and PHP 8.2+, and is tested on xCloud, GoDaddy, WP Engine, Cloudways, Kinsta and AWS. ParrotWP® runs on WordPress 5+ and PHP 7.4+. Neither plugin supports WordPress multisite.
What happens to my live site if the license expires?
With MetaSprout, your site stays up: published pages keep working, and only new imports and layout editing pause until you renew. ParrotWP® says its plugin stops working until renewed, though no data is lost.
How will the plugin be maintained over the next year?
MetaSprout is actively developed, with 12 months of updates included. At the time of writing, ParrotWP®’s changelog doesn’t show recent dated releases, so it’s worth asking.
Who builds the schedule and presenter pages, and what will that cost?
With MetaSprout, your own team designs them in Layout Studio, included in the license. ParrotWP® ships without premade layouts, so plan for developer or page-builder time.
$299 per site, per year, with Layout Studio, built-in filters and search, and 12 months of support. Explore the demo, then put your own program on your site.
