APA 2026
By Buzzbox Media · Last reviewed August 3, 2026
What is APA?
The world's largest psychiatric meeting with 15,000+ attendees across all mental health disciplines. If you sell psychotropic medications, neurostimulation devices (TMS, ECT, VNS), telepsychiatry platforms, or mental health digital therapeutics, APA Annual Meeting is the mandatory anchor show. The growing emphasis on measurement-based care creates opportunities for diagnostic and outcome tracking tools.
What are the key facts about APA?
- Host organization: American Psychiatric Association
- Primary specialty: psychiatry
- Scale: mega
- Geography: US National
- International attendance: ~20%
Which device categories fit APA?
Which buyer stages does APA fit?
What does APA charge for booth space?
Cost not published
American Psychiatric Association does not publish booth pricing for APA that we can link to, so we do not list a figure here. We would rather show nothing than an estimate you cannot check. Ask them directly on the APA exhibitor page ↗.
Planning the APA booth itself? Read our guide to medical conference booth design for booth types, union labor rules, and the corner upgrade.
Who attends APA?
APA's Annual Meeting is the world's largest psychiatric meeting, welcoming 10,000+ attendees from around the world. Represents various disciplines in mental health including psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, psychologists. 4.5 days of programming. Historically draws 12,000-16,000 attendees depending on venue city.
- Purchasing authority: ~45% of attendees
- Effective buyers: ~6,750
- International attendance: ~20%
Where is APA held?
- Venue: Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA
- Management company: APA (in-house)
- Product theater: Available
Who else exhibits at APA?
Exhibitor data coming soon for APA.
Is APA worth exhibiting?
Why Exhibit
The world's largest psychiatric meeting with 15,000+ attendees across all mental health disciplines. If you sell psychotropic medications, neurostimulation devices (TMS, ECT, VNS), telepsychiatry platforms, or mental health digital therapeutics, APA Annual Meeting is the mandatory anchor show. The growing emphasis on measurement-based care creates opportunities for diagnostic and outcome tracking tools.
Why Skip
Heavily pharma-dominated exhibit hall: device and digital health companies may get overshadowed by blockbuster drug exhibits. The audience is primarily prescribers, not capital equipment buyers. Booth pricing is opaque. San Francisco's Moscone Center adds high venue and labor costs.
What should exhibitors know before APA?
APA skews pharma-heavy on the exhibit floor (antipsychotics, antidepressants, stimulants) but the digital therapeutics and neurostimulation segments are growing fast. TMS companies (Neuronetics, BrainsWay, MagVenture) have strong presence. Moscone Center is a union venue. San Francisco hotel costs are among the highest of any US conference city.
What is the Buzzbox Score for APA?
7.8 / 10 (Strong)
7.8 out of 10. A solid, dependable show for the right exhibitor. Carried by growth trajectory (9.4: mega-scale and stable and growing year over year). The lightest dimension is data transparency (7.4, ). The world's largest psychiatric meeting with 15,000+ attendees across all mental health disciplines.
How we score
Six weighted factors, each scored on a 0 to 100 rubric then normalized to a 7.0 to 10.0 band. Every show on this list cleared a relevance bar to be included, so 7.0 is the floor; the number tells you how far the leaders pull ahead. A factor we cannot source is left unscored rather than estimated, and the overall score above was set before any figure behind it was withdrawn.
Solid (7.4): 45% purchasing authority (moderate) and mega-scale floor (15,000 attendees).
Not scored on cost: this organizer publishes no booth price we can link to.
Solid (7.4): attendee purchasing-authority data published, and all-in cost estimate available.
Strong (8.4): society-run exhibits (in-house), product theater / demo stage available, and mega-show logistics are well-rehearsed.
Standout (9.3): solid exhibitor rationale, honest "who should skip" guidance, and the flagship / largest show in its niche.
Standout (9.4): mega-scale and stable, growing year over year, and 15,000 attendees.
When are the APA exhibitor deadlines?
| Deadline | Date |
|---|---|
| Meeting Dates | 2026-05-16 to 2026-05-20 |
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a booth cost at APA?
APA does not publish booth pricing we can link to, so we do not list a cost for this show. Rather than estimate one, we point you at the organizer's exhibitor page to request current rates directly.
How many people attend APA?
APA draws approximately 15,000 attendees. APA's Annual Meeting is the world's largest psychiatric meeting, welcoming 10,000+ attendees from around the world. Represents various disciplines in mental health including psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, psychologists. 4.5 days of programming. Historically draws 12,000-16,000 attendees depending on venue city.
When and where is APA 2026?
APA 2026 takes place May 16-20, 2026. The venue is Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA. American Psychiatric Association hosts the meeting.
How many APA attendees have purchasing authority?
About 45% of APA attendees hold purchasing authority, which works out to roughly 6,750 effective buyers out of approximately 15,000 attendees. Effective buyers multiplies total attendance by the share of attendees who hold purchasing authority. Both inputs are estimates drawn from organizer reporting and our own exhibitor research, so read the figure as directional rather than exact.
How does Buzzbox Media score APA?
APA carries a Buzzbox Score of 7.8 out of 10 (Strong), with one caveat on this record: cost efficiency is not scored, because American Psychiatric Association publishes no booth price we can link to, and the overall score was set before that figure was withdrawn. The factors still scored are audience quality, data transparency, exhibitor experience, editorial value, and growth trajectory. Each factor is scored on a 0 to 100 rubric then normalized to a 7.0 to 10.0 band, and every conference in our index cleared a relevance bar to be listed, so 7.0 is the floor. On this record the highest is growth trajectory at 9.4 and the lowest is audience quality at 7.4.