The best webinar software makes it simple and easy to meet online for events, conventions, and seminars.
1. Best overall
2. Best for browsers
3. Best for education
4. Best for enterprises
5. Best for automation
6. FAQs
7. How we test
The best webinar software will be able to help you keep in touch with customers, staff, and other audiences, by providing an easy to use video conferencing platform.
However, unlike general conferencing, webinar software is primarily used for event management over the internet, such as conventions, workshops, presentations, and seminars, in order to reach a large number of people at the same time.
It is possible to do this using YouTube, but webinar portals and applications enable a more interactive experience, allowing for customer feedback as well as question and answer polls.
Managing large numbers of virtual attendees requires planning and coordination, and webinar solutions have different approaches to the management of participants.
We assessed these webinar software across various aspects, like the installation process, the user interface, the maximum number of viewers, and the pricing models. We also judged how reliable the software were and whether they had browser functionality, among other aspects.
Here are five of the best webinar software choices that can get people together from any part of the globe for a lecture, discussion, or information exchange.
We've also featured the best online collaboration tools.
The best webinar software of 2024 in full:
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Best overall
Instead of just offering webinars, Livestorm has three different flavors available that allow for conventional pre-organized, on-demand and automated seminars to be provided.
Webinar content can be created beforehand and uploaded, presented live or be a combination of those scenarios. And, you can co-host with another company if you want to mix things up a bit.
Attendees can interact with the presenters, ask questions, be asked questions with polls. And, all the interaction can be recorded, and the reaction to presentations is available through analytics and reports after the event.
What has attracted many to Livestorm is that the data generated by a webinar can be funneled into a wide selection of apps, including Zapier, Hubspot, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics and Google Analytics.
Those wishing to experience Livestorm can do so using a free version of the service that limits the webinar to a single meeting, 4 participants, 10 registrants and 20 minutes in length.
Livestorm offers three paid solutions: Pro, Business and Enterprise. The cheapest option, Pro starts at around $90 per month if billed annually.
For more extensive online meetings, Webinar Premium offers unlimited webinars, unlimited moderators, 4-hour events and up to 100 attendees.
Best for browsers
Zoho is an amazingly successful brand that has solutions for CRM, project management, helpdesks, collaboration and marketing.
Among the application, stable is Zoho Meeting, a product that many would conclude is exclusively a video conferencing offering. But it’s much more than that, and one of the best features is the ability to host webinars.
Used in this way, Meeting offers many of the classic webinar features including a sophisticated registration solution, email notifications and reminders, Polls and Q&As, phone dial-ins, multiple presenters and post-webinar reporting.
It also uses Chrome and Firefox extensions to schedule and start webinars, and the only technical requirement to view is a capable browser.
As this is a Zoho solution, we expected great integrations, and Meeting interacts with both Zoho CRM and Zoho Campaigns for promotion. These connections allow webinars to drive sales opportunities and process them using the other Zoho tools.
Webinars are charged a monthly fee based on the maximum number of attendees. Their Standard plan costs $8 per month, per 25 attendees, if paid annually, and their Professional plan is charged at $16 per month, per 25 attendees, on a yearly basis.
Read our full Zoho Meeting review.
Best for education
The origins of ClickMeeting are videoconferencing, and it can be used for that purpose effectively. However, it also can be used to host webinars and has a raft of functionality dedicated to that purpose.
Hosted webinars can have a bespoke pre-event engagement, including a waiting room before the start of the presentation where extra information can be offered to attendees.
Polls and surveys can be used to maintain the engagement of those watching, even if the content isn’t live. You can freely mix live events with pre-recorded ones and have segments of both.
For live webinars, a whiteboard can be active during the presentation or afterwards for a Q&A session.
One aspect to ClickMeeting that has enhanced its reputation is that it can be used to monetize webinar content using the platform’s integration with PayPal to manage funds securely.
ClickMeeting offers a free trial for up to 25 attendees for a 30 day period. The lowest tier "Live" plan includes all you need for live meetings with 6 hours of recording storage and 1GB of file storage. The "Automated" plan offers 10 hours of recording storage, 2 GB of file storage, plus automated Webinar cycle.
The top tier "Enterprise" plan offers a scalable and customizable solution for large events or multiple meetings.
Read our full ClickMeeting review.
Best for enterprises
For a while GoToWebinar by LogMeIn was indeed, the go-to solution for webinars.
The features available include pre-webinar processes, real-time analytics, lead management, the sharing of notes on mobile and audience interaction.
One very useful feature is the ability to share an installable application, enabling a webinar for using that tool to get everyone ready to use it within the webinar.
All the attendee facing parts can be rebranded, including the registration pages, emails and the web interface. But, this functionality is mostly limited to logos.
Despite some shortcomings, many companies like this tool, even if some think that it needs a revamp on the administration side of the system. And, others have complained that you can have audio or videos issues if you use the web interface and not the dedicated desktop application.
Pricing on GoToWebinar is also a possible stumbling block, as this is one of the more expensive options. The basic tiers are Starter, Pro and Plus, that cover 100, 500 and 1000 participants respectively. Pro level or higher is needed to record presentations.
An Enterprise tier is also available with quoted pricing that can handle 5,000 attendees for those with big webinar ambitions.
Best for automation
The solution offered by EverWebinar is heavily focused on selling and specifically using the webinar model to present a sales pitch.
Therefore, it is focused on delivering on-demand webinars that have been finely crafted to deliver the best possible sales pitch and clinch the deal with it.
The best process to evolve a webinar is to use the sister product, WebinarJam. This is a conventional webinar site, and it can stream a live event or pre-recorded presentation.
Once you’ve given a live presentation that generated the sales, you can then convert that into the Everwebinar format. And, use the same content repeatedly.
Because those viewing the content will need to register ahead of time, they’re more inclined to think that the presentation is live, even if it isn’t.
The other important advantage of this methodology is that it enables webinars to be run in remote time zones from where the content is hosted.
We've also featured the best free office software.
FAQs
What is webinar software?
Webinar software is software for hosting online video conferences, like meetings, presentations, seminars, etc. These are generally used by businesses to ensure a smooth and professional webinar experience.
Webinar software can either be used through the browser or by installing on the computer, smartphone, or tablet.
How to choose the best webinar software for you?
When deciding which of the best webinar software to use, first consider what actual needs you have. For example, someone simply wanting to talk to a handful of people on a casual basis may find a budget option is the most cost-effective as well as providing all of the necessary fundamental tools that would be needed. However, if you're planning to carrying out a series of business webinars with a large number of people on a regular basis then you will probably want to look at the higher-end options.
How we test
To test for the best webinar software we searched for a range of popular options and took recommendations from people we know who use webinar software regularly. We then tried each platform to see how user-friendly each was, as well as determine what range of tools and advanced webinar options were available. The maximum number of viewers and the pricing models also came into account when determining our best list, among other features.
Read how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar.
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