Webinars can be a fantastic way to market your products and services, especially with the growth of virtual events in 2020. The ROI of webinar marketing can be impressive. But it’s important to invest in the best webinar software for your needs.
Webinar platforms offer many different options and features depending on your needs. Some factors to consider when you’re comparing different webinar services include:
- Security
- Attendee limits
- Ease of use for attendees (do they have to download an app or software, or can they simply visit a web link?)
- Ability to record
- Quality of audio and video
- Options for audience interaction and engagement (live chat, polls, countdown timers, etc.)
- Screen sharing
- Number of presenters supported
- Price
If you’ve ever hosted or attended a webinar before, you’ll know that technical issues are part and parcel of this relatively new technology. Slow or dropping connections, audio and visual problems, or finding out your recording didn’t work are all common glitches that can make your webinar experience less than smooth.
While some of these issues are dependent on external factors such as internet connection strength, choosing the best webinar software for your needs means there’s a much better chance of your webinar running smoothly and without technical problems.
1. Demio
Best all-round webinar software
Demio is a simple, browser-based webinar platform that makes it easier for you to focus on running your webinar with less work setting it up.
Demio is designed to maximize your webinar attendance rates and grow your brand, with all the tools you need to create engaging live, automated, and webinar replays
Features
- Run live, series, hybrid, automated, or on-demand webinars
- Fully brandable
- Modern, clean registration pages and webinar rooms
- Automated and customizable email reminders
- Flexible replays
- Detailed analytics and insights
- Integrate with other marketing tools and platforms
- Live chat, Q&A, polls
- Cloud storage for HD replays
- 24/7 live chat support
Cons
- Integrations are limited compared to some other platforms
Pricing: From $34 a month for up to 50 attendees
2. WebinarJam
Best webinar platform for driving sales
WebinarJam was created in 2013 as a more affordable and easy-to-use alternative to other webinar platforms, which at that time were mostly aimed at large corporations.
WebinarJam makes it easy for you to create a webinar, even if you’ve never hosted one before. The cloud-based platform can support up to 5,000 attendees and 6 presenters.
Features
- Up to 5,000 attendees and 6 presenters
- HD video that works on all devices
- Audience poll, surveys, Live chat, Q&A, private chat, and sticky announcements
- Automated recordings that includes all chat, product offers, and everything that happened in the live webinar
- Flexible scheduling (immediate, in the future, recurring, or “always-on”)
- Invite attendees on stage
- Broadcast from your mobile device
- Mobile-friendly registration page builder with templates and free hosting
- Email and SMS reminders
- Eye-catching sales offers with countdown timers
- Panic button to restart and move attendees to a new webinar in case of technical issues
- Browser-based with no need for attendees to download software
- Drawing board and screen annotations
- Automated integrations
- Run free or paid webinars
- Real-time analytics
Cons
- Some users have reported technical issues such as a delay on seeing chat messages
- Users on the basic package are limited to webinars of 2 hours
- Slow response from technical and customer support
Pricing
From $499 a year for unlimited webinars up to 2 hours long, supporting 2 presenters and up to 500 attendees
3. EverWebinar
Best for webinar marketing automation
From the company behind WebinarJam, EverWebinar is designed for businesses and internet entrepreneurs who want to run a webinar marketing campaign on auto-pilot. You can also import your WebinarJam live webinars and convert them into evergreen webinars.
EverWebinar is designed to make it impossible for viewers to tell the webinar they’re viewing is pre-recorded and not live. Sophisticated simulations replicate the attendance patterns, chat, and interaction of a live webinar.
Features
- HD video and screen sharing
- Schedule webinars for a specific date and time or auto-detect best time based on timezone
- On-demand webinars and instant replays
- Live chat and Q & A
- Live chat simulator for pre-recorded webinars
- Audience polls and surveys
- Easy traffic split testing
- Live offers with countdown timers and multiple payment gateways
- Automated email and SMS reminders
- Real-time webinar and traffic analytics
- Mimic attendee attendance for evergreen webinars
- Pre-designed customizable landing pages
- Automated integrations
- Free Training
Cons
- Not designed for live webinars and you’ll need to pay for both services if you want the benefits of running both live and automated webinars
Pricing: $499 a year for unlimited webinars
4. Zoom Webinar
Best for virtual meetings and mastermind groups with a small number of attendees
If you hadn’t even heard of Zoom last year, the chances are you used it at least once this year. With the coronavirus lockdowns of 2020 came an immediate need for businesses and clients, colleagues, teachers, students, family, and friends to communicate remotely. Zoom took off as the platform of choice as it was free and easy to use
Zoom is primarily video meeting software that runs on a cloud platform. It also offers a webinar solution that supports up to 100 interactive participants and up to 10,000 view-only attendees]
Features
- HD video with the option for virtual backgrounds and filters
- Live streaming integration with Facebook Live and YouTube Live
- On-demand webinars
- Auto-generated transcripts
- Reports and analytics on registrants, attendees, attendee engagement, and more
- Q&A, polling, and virtual hand raising
- Option to promote attendees to panelists
- Integrates with marketing automation platforms including Salesforce, Marketing, HubSpot
- Brandable emails and registration pages
- Attendees do not need an account and can join the webinar through a browser
- More secure than Zoom Meeting
Cons
- Large webinars can get expensive
- Lack of analytics data, compared to other software
- Zoom is primarily meeting software with a webinar extension
Pricing: From $14.99 a month for unlimited meetings with up to 100 participants. Packages are available to add up to 10,000 view-only attendees at additional cost, starting at $40 a month for 100 attendees.
5. Zoho Meeting
Best budget webinar software
Similar to Zoom, Zoho Meeting is primarily video conferencing software. However, the platform includes everything you need to get started with webinars and is very affordable for running small webinars when you’re just starting out.
As a full cloud-based platform, attendees don’t have to download any software to view your webinar, and pre-recorded webinars can be stored on the cloud for later replays
Features
- Schedule one-time or recurring webinars
- Registration moderation to limit attendees or require payment
- Add co-hosts and co-organizers
- Record, replay, and share your webinar
- Fully brandable and customizable registration form and emails
- Live chat, Polls, broadcast messages, Q&A, raise hand, and allow attendees to speak
- Reports on webinar attendees, performance, and polls
- Integration with Zoho CRM and Campaigns
Cons
- Limited integrations outside of Zoho software
- Limited analytics and automations if you’re not already using Zoho CRM and Campaigns
Pricing: Free version allows you to host webinars for up to 10 attendees. From $15 a month for up to 25 attendees with cloud storage for 25 session recordings
6. WebinarNinja
Best webinar landing pages and sign-up forms to increase attendance
WebinarNinja is designed to be easy to use (so easy to use that their sales video claims a baby can use it.) They claim you can launch your webinar in just 10 seconds.
The platform comes with dozens of professional templates for registration, so your webinar sign-up forms will look great without the need for design skills. There are also built-in marketing tools to help get your webinar in front of more pairs of eyes.
- Run live, automated, series, or hybrid webinars
- Webinar finder search engine exposes your webinars to a wider audience
- Includes a suite of marketing tools to engage with your audience and grow your following
- Cloud-based and no need for attendees to download software
- Email notifications and automations
- Media library for all your marketing assets
- Highly converting registration page templates
- Detailed reports and statistics
- Integrations with most major marketing and email platforms including Mailchimp, ConvertKit, AWeber, LeadPages, HubSpot, and more
- Includes “WebinarNinja Academy” video training to help you get more out of your webinars
Cons
- Reports of poor customer support
Pricing: From $39 a month for up to 100 attendees
7. ClickMeeting
Best for running online training and educational webinars
Clickmeeting is browser-based webinar software that’s ideal for running educational courses, and training sessions, product demos, online business meetings, and events.
Features
- Run on-demand and automated webinars
- Presentation tools and on-screen whiteboard
- CTA button to drive in-webinar sales
- Stream on Facebook or YouTube
- Paid webinars option
- Multiuser accounts and sub accounts makes it ideal for teams
- Custom branding and customized invitations
- Webinar waiting room with agenda
- Polls and surveys
- Simultaneous chat translation
- Moderated Q&A and private chat
- Mobile application for running and managing webinars wherever you are
- Webinar and attendee statistics
- Cloud webinar storage
- Supports up to 1,000 attendees
- Free 30 day trial
Cons
- Webinar templates are very basic
- No option for recurring webinars
Pricing: From $25 a month for up to 25 attendees or $40 a month including automations
8. EasyWebinar
Best for advanced webinar marketing
EasyWebinar is designed for marketers and entrepreneurs that want to grow and drive sales with features focused on maximizing conversions, optimizing engagement and automating your webinar marketing strategy.
Their software is optimized for running live webinars in high quality that you can also stream simultaneously to YouTube and Facebook Live. You can also record your live webinars to run on-demand at a later date with automation that makes them feel like a live webinar.
Features
- Run live or automated webinars
- Run one-time, evergreen, or recurring webinars
- Integrate with other marketing tools and payment platforms including Aweber, Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Paypal, and more
- Create ticketed events and subscriptions
- Customer engagement tracking tools
- HD video and screen sharing with no delays
- Real time chat
- Send offers in real time, poll your audience, run Q & A sessions and invite attendees to the stage
- Up to 4 presenters
- Stream live on multiple social media platforms at the same time
- Advanced analytics and reporting
- Fully customizable registration, embed, and thank you pages
Cons
- Expensive compared to some other options
- Despite the name, setup is more complex than some other platforms
Pricing: From $78 a month for up to 100 attendees
9. Livestorm
Best webinar platform for B2B marketing
Livestorm is a cloud-based video communication tool designed for businesses to run live events, meetings, product demos, and online courses.
The platform is very simple and easy to use, meaning you can run a webinar almost instantly. Team integration tools also make it ideal for collaborative webinars and there’s full branding control.
Features
- Run live, recurring, pre-recorded, or on-demand webinars
- Audience chat, Q&A, polls, and guest presenters
- Customizable and brandable registration pages and emails
- Automatic email reminders
- One-click live webinars
- Paid webinars
- Unlimited webinar replays and storage
- Automation workflow builder to plan your webinar
- Easily invite moderators and co-presenters
- Instant analytics and insights, including analytics of replays
- Integrates with major CRM and marketing automation platforms
- Supports up to 1,000 attendees
- Up to 6 presenters
Cons
- Charged per host, so can get very expensive for collaborative webinars
- Based in Europe, so there can be a delay when requesting support, depending on where in the world you are
Pricing: Free for webinars of up to 20 minutes and maximum 10 attendees. $99 per user a month for webinars of up to 4 hours and 100 attendees.
10. GoToWebinar
Best for large organizations running high-attendance webinars
GoToWebinar is one of the most popular webinar platforms online with over 50,000 customers and 2.7 million webinars hosted each year.
The platform supports webinars with up to 1,000 participants. With detailed planning and promoting tools you can create your webinar exactly the way you want it and optimize attendance.
Features
- Easy event management and scheduling
- Videos, polls, surveys, stage sharing, and other engagement boosting features
- Automatic email invitations, confirmations, and reminders
- Includes listing in GoToStage directory of on-demand webinars to widen your reach
- Webinar templates
- Branding of all webinar materials
- Engagement dashboard to see audience engagement stats in real time
- Webinar recording
- Schedule pre-recorded webinars
- Comprehensive analytics and reports
- Integrates with all major CRMs and marketing platforms
- Host webinars with up to 1,000 participants, or up to 5,000 on the enterprise plan
Cons
- Requires attendees to download software
- Dated appearance
Pricing: From $49 a month for up to 100 participants
Final Verdict
While all the webinar platforms in this list offer the same basic functionality, there’s quite a lot of variation in the features and pricing. The best choice for you depends on exactly what your goals are from running webinars, how many attendees you expect, and your budget.
FAQ
What is webinar software?
Webinar software allows you to host an online event through streaming video and for other people to virtually attend by watching the video and interact with the host and other audience members.
Most webinar platforms allow you to record your webinar so it can be watched again at any time. They also may have features for managing registrations, monitoring engagement, and driving sales within your webinar.
What is the best webinar service?
Any of the webinar services in this list are a good option for hosting your own webinar. The best for you depends on your personal needs.
How can I host a webinar for free?
Livestorm allows users to run unlimited free webinars for up to 20 minutes with up to 10 attendees. Most of the platforms also have a free trial period you can use if you want to host a one-off webinar.
Is Zoom good for webinars?
Zoom in its basic state is designed for video conferencing rather than webinars, but there’s a paid add-on that gives you specific webinar features.