Best Webinar Software Shortlist
Here’s a brief overview of the webinar software I researched for this article.
- GoToWebinar - Best for large organizations
- BigMarker - Best for webinar automation
- ClickMeeting - Best for education features
- Demio - Best hassle-free webinar tool
- Webex - Best for virtual conferences
- Zoho Meeting - Best for Zoho users
- Adobe Connect - Best for customization
- EverWebinar - Best for pre-recorded webinars
- GetResponse - Best for built-in email marketing tools
- WebinarNinja - Best for small-scale webinars
- Zoom - Best for hosting webinars on social media
- Google Meet - Best free webinar software
If you’re searching for new ways to attract engaged leads, interact with audiences, receive real-time feedback, and benefit from exciting guest speakers, using the best webinar software can help. Many people don’t realize there’s more to webinars than just the content; you’ll need to invite and manage attendees, handle the online event, and measure success. This is where you’ll use webinar software to help simplify and automate the functions related to operating a webinar, allowing you to focus on sharing your knowledge.
Whether running a product or service demo for potential customers, using a paid workshop, or sharing the best lead generation methods, implementing any webinar software options in this article will be beneficial.
What Is Webinar Software
Webinar software refers to specialized digital tools or platforms designed to host and conduct live online presentations, seminars, workshops, or interactive events over the internet. These software solutions enable individuals, businesses, or organizations to engage with a remote audience in real-time, offering features such as video and audio streaming, screen sharing, interactive chat, polling, Q&A sessions, and audience engagement tools. Webinar software serves as a powerful tool for remote communication, knowledge sharing, lead generation, training, and marketing purposes, providing a virtual environment that fosters collaboration and knowledge exchange among participants regardless of their geographical location.
Overviews of the 12 Best Webinar Software
Here are the overviews of the best webinar software I evaluated to help you choose the best one for your business.
1. GotToWebinar - Best for large organizations
GoToWebinar is a popular webinar platform that provides many valuable features for large organizations to help plan, promote, host, and analyze online events.
Why I picked GoToWebinar: If you’re working within a large organization, GoToWebinar is most suitable for your needs because it helps reduce the clutter and confusion that occurs when organizing large-scale webinars and reach more people. GoToWebinar can help you whether you’re hosting live or pre-recorded webinars and provides helpful tools that will enhance webinar engagement. For example, you can measure your webinar’s success live during the event through the real-time engagement dashboard.
GoToWebinar Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include the ability to turn high-performing webinars into high-quality content that key audiences want to watch repeatedly. You can also create channels that host all previous webinar videos and help people who want to follow your content but aren’t familiar with your organization.
Integrations include connections with some of the most popular applications used by large organizations, such as AWeber, Clio, HubSpot, Leadpages, Marketo, Okta, Salesforce, Unbounce, Zendesk, Zoho CRM, and other software options. If you need custom integrations with your current systems, you can use a paid Zapier account or GoToWebinar’s API.
Pricing: From $49/organizer/month, billed annually.
Free Trial: 7-day free trial + Free demo available.
Pros
- Excellent video and audio quality
- Worldwide accessibility
- User-friendly and intuitive
Cons
- Doesn’t work on web browsers
- Email reminder editor is complex
2. BigMarker - Best for webinar automation
BigMarker helps businesses create automated webinar workflows by enabling users to schedule webinars as one-time or recurring events.
Why I picked BigMarker: You can use the platform’s automated webinar capabilities to handle tasks such as managing waiting rooms, posting in chat spaces, and ending webinars. With BigMarker, you can get an overview of the functions and activities you can customize and trigger for your webinar. You can automatically open waiting rooms and close them when the event starts, draft messages and polls beforehand and post them to the chat at a specific time, or schedule downloadable handouts, pop-up calls-to-action, and giveaways to increase engagement.
BigMarker Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include hybrid webinar tools that allow you to cater to both online and in-person events. BigMarker also offers interactive features, including networking areas, interactive agendas, and more.
Integrations include connections with leading marketing, CRM, and email tools, such as ActiveCampaign, Calendly, Dropbox, Eloqua, Eventbrite, Google Analytics, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Salesforce, Slack, and other software options. You can also use the platform’s API or a paid Zapier account to create custom integrations.
Pricing: From $89/month.
Free Trial: Free trial available.
Pros
- Powerful automation workflows
- Excellent customer support
- Simple to use
Cons
- Finalizing recordings takes time
- Mobile experience needs improvement
3. ClickMeeting - Best for education features
ClickMeeting is a robust platform that helps marketing teams create educational webinars and reach out to customers for product training and marketing campaigns.
Why I picked ClickMeeting: If you have a product or service that requires some training to help customers understand their features and benefits, ClickMeeting has helpful tools for you to create training and classroom-style presentations. ClickMeeting does this by empowering you to create customizable waiting rooms with agenda layouts, presenter details, and file delivery. It also provides a suite of tools, including additional rooms, polls, and whiteboards.
ClickMeeting Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include customized invites for audiences and registration pages with custom branding to simplify webinar signups. ClickMeeting also provides analytics tools that help you gather attendees’ opinions and reactions about your webinar and analyze these details to help you improve upcoming webinars.
Integrations include native connections with popular third-party applications like Dropbox, GetResponse, Google Analytics, Google Calendar, HubSpot, Keap, Moodle, Outlook, Pipedrive, Slack, and other software options. You can also create custom integrations with a paid Zapier account or ClickMeeting’s API.
Pricing: From $26/month, billed annually.
Free Trial: 30-day free trial.
Pros
- Helpful customer support
- Useful for webinars on desktop or mobile
- Easy to use
Cons
- Can take time to learn at first
- Sometimes, attendees have difficulty joining the platform
4. Demio - Best hassle-free webinar tool
Demio is a browser-based webinar software that provides a hassle-free webinar experience for hosts and audiences.
Why I picked Demio: The platform helps users create webinars for a variety of purposes and is designed for marketers to sell their products and services. With Demio, you can easily create simple live and on-demand webinars and use existing webinar footage to develop automated webinars. Demio is a helpful option for beginners and those who aren’t experienced in using complex interfaces with a significant number of settings.
Demio Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include automated webinar recording to help you if you forget to hit the record button. Demio also enables you to enhance engagement with your webinars through audience polls, calls-to-action, handouts, and launch offers.
Integrations include connections with tools to help increase efficiency, such as ActiveCampaign, AWeber, ConvertKit, Drip, GetResponse, HubSpot, Keap, Marketo, Ontraport, Salesforce, and other software options. You can also use a paid Zapier account or Demio’s API to create custom integrations between the platform and your current systems.
Pricing: $41.58/month, billed annually.
Free Trial: 14-day free trial.
Pros
- Simple, hassle-free webinar tool
- Intuitive public chat feature
- Excellent audience insights
Cons
- Needs more social media integration
- No customizable background capabilities
5. Webex - Best for virtual conferences
Webex is designed explicitly to manage conferences for team meetings, offer online training sessions, and provide remote support.
Why I picked Webex: What sets this apart from the rest of the webinar software options in this article is that Webex is best used for internal conferences with your teams. With Webex, you can communicate with employees via video meetings, events, and interactive presentations. You can host various live events and training sessions with chat and brainstorming tools for collaboration.
Webex Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include an AI-powered meeting assistant that creates real-time transcriptions and develops post-meeting recaps, helping you focus on facilitating webinar discussions. Webex also offers accessibility capabilities, allowing people with disabilities to participate in meetings without any issues.
Integrations include connections with hundreds of industry-leading third-party applications to help you accomplish more, such as Constant Contact, Dropbox, Gong.io, Marketo, Microsoft Teams, Nimble, Salesloft, Slack, Todoist, Zendesk, and other software options. If you need custom integrations with your toolset, you can use Webex’s API or a paid Zapier account.
Pricing: From $56.25/month, billed annually.
Free Trial: Free demo available.
Pros
- Excellent conferencing capabilities
- Adjusts video quality based on internet speed
- Helpful video captioning tools
Cons
- Complex user interface
- Lacks mobile capability
6. Zoho Meeting - Best for Zoho users
Zoho Meeting is a webinar software that’s best suited for businesses that are already using Zoho products because it effectively integrates with the rest of the Zoho suite.
Why I picked Zoho Meeting: The platform is a browser-based webinar software that helps you to host video conferences or webinars. Zoho Meeting is a part of the Zoho product suite that will enable you to connect the platform with the vendor’s other products, such as CRM, marketing, management, and other various tools. With Zoho Meeting, you can host recurring webinars, schedule webinars, and invite guest speakers for your online events.
Zoho Meeting Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include tools that allow you to export detailed webinar analytics in XLS and CSV formats. Zoho Meeting also provides customizable registration forms, helping you create perfect forms for your webinars.
Integrations include connections with other Zoho products, such as Zoho Campaigns, Zoho Connect, Zoho CRM, Zoho LandingPage, Zoho Mail, Zoho Marketing Automation, and Zoho Projects - and you can integrate with third-party tools such as Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, and Slack. You can also use a paid Zapier account or the platform’s API to make custom integrations between Zoho Meeting and your current systems.
Pricing: From $8/organizer/month, billed annually.
Free Trial: 14-day free trial + free plan available.
Pros
- Effectively connects with other Zoho products
- Allows users to brand webinars
- Excellent quality for lower budgets
Cons
- Can be slow
- Customer support needs work
7. Adobe Connect - Best for customization
Adobe Connect helps marketing teams create consistent webinar experiences through customizable layouts, allowing them to set the stage and create robust experiences.
Why I picked Adobe Connect: I added Adobe Connect to this list because the platform helps you customize your webinar room and optimize it to meet your needs. You can use the tool’s various templates to customize your virtual layouts to make your webinars more visually appealing. Adobe Connect enables you to customize your webinars through functional windows called Pods; all you have to do is set the name, position, and size to create your layouts.
Adobe Connect Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include a backstage area for hosts and presenters that allow them to add and edit webinars in real time. Adobe Connect also offers a live engagement dashboard, helping you gauge what audiences think about your online event.
Integrations include connections with third-party applications that extend the platform’s extensibility and efficiency, such as Acorn LMS, AudioOne, Canvas, Intellum Platform, KAMWISE, Krisp, LearnUpon, Moodle, MOS Chorus, SumTotal, and other software options.
Pricing: Pricing upon request.
Free Trial: Free demo available.
Pros
- Excellent collaboration capabilities
- Intuitive user interface
- Simple customization tools
Cons
- Steep learning curve
- No clear pricing structure
8. EverWebinar - Best for pre-recorded webinars
EverWebinar is a pre-recorded webinar software that helps marketing teams connect with audiences and expand their influence using video-on-demand capabilities.
Why I picked EverWebinar: You may have audiences in various parts of the world, each in a different time zone. Instead of forcing them to stay on your live webinar, you can use EverWebinar to create automated, on-demand videos that allow target audiences to view them at their convenience. EverWebinar is an excellent option if you’re looking to host automated webinars, but you can also host hybrid webinars, allowing you to be in the webinar session to chat with audiences, adding a live, interactive element to it.
EverWebinar Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include an Ask a Question option that sends attendees’ questions to your email instead of the regular chat area. EverWebinar also offers an intelligent webinar bot that shows your offers at the time of your choosing.
Integrations include connections with various systems such as Deadline Funnel, Pipedream, ProductDyno, Raklet, Stackreaction, Thrive Architect, Thrive Leads, Thrive Theme Builder, UpViral, and WiseNotify. Using a paid Zapier account or EverWebinar’s API, you can create custom integrations with your current systems.
Pricing: From $41.58/month.
Free Trial: 14-day trial for $1.
Pros
- Easy to set up pre-recorded webinars
- Simple user interface
- Multiple registration page templates
Cons
- No interaction overview
- Customer support needs work
9. GetResponse - Best for built-in email marketing tools
GetResponse is an online email marketing tool that provides webinar hosting capabilities to help businesses communicate with audiences and sell products and services.
Why I picked GetResponse: The platform is a popular email marketing tool used by thousands of marketing teams - and now your marketing team can use it to host online webinars. GetResponse allows you to schedule webinar campaigns for email subscribers, send reminders, and share the event on social media; you can also create registration pages to collect new emails and send automated thank-you messages. You can use GetResponse to run live and on-demand webinars with up to 1,000 live attendees, share the stage with multiple speakers, and manage unlimited webinars.
GetResponse Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include quick scheduling tools that allow you to select dates and times and create unique URLs for webinars. GetResponse also offers analytics tools and reports detailing attendance response rates and other essential metrics.
Integrations include connections with top online tools and services, such as Google Analytics, HubSpot, Jotform, LiveAgent, OptiMonk, OptinMonster, Outgrow, ReferralRock, Salesforce, WordPress, and other software options. You can also use GetResponse’s API or a paid Zapier account to create custom integrations.
Pricing: From $15.58/month, billed annually.
Free Trial: Free plan available for 30 days.
Pros
- Quick customer support responses
- Built-in landing page A/B testing
- Detailed webinar analytics
Cons
- Reminder email tools are challenging to find
- No questions allowed during replays
10. WebinarNinja - Best for small-scale webinars
WebinarNinja is an all-in-one webinar software that allows businesses to create small-scale webinars that connect with audiences and increase engagement while solidifying attendees’ experiences.
Why I picked WebinarNinja: The software is a popular all-in-one webinar platform you can use to create a variety of presentations, such as typical marketing webinars, events with multiple presenters per presentation, educational content, and more. WebinarNinja is a suitable option for marketing teams operating small-scale webinars for under 100 attendees. The software is cloud-based, so your audience can access your webinars from any web browser without downloading any applications.
WebinarNinja Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include a media library that holds all of your videos, images, templates, and logos in a centralized area. WebinarNinja also provides statistics that help you measure attendance, engagement, and click-through rates and other vital details.
Integrations include native integrations with ActiveCapaign, AWeber, ClickFunnels, Constant Contact, ConvertKit, Drip, HubSpot, Instapage, Keap, Mailchimp, and other software options. You can also use a paid Zapier account to connect WebinarNinja with your current toolset.
Pricing: From $24/month.
Free Trial: 14-day free trial.
Pros
- Extensive training available
- Excellent customer support
- Simple webinar setup
Cons
- Direct software integrations are limited
- Some video quality issues
11. Zoom - Best for hosting webinars on social media
Zoom is a customizable webinar software that enables marketing teams to host live events across various social media channels.
Why I picked Zoom: As a marketer, you understand the significant success organizations have with social media campaigns. With Zoom, you can combine social media strategies with webinar capabilities by hosting these events across various networks. Zoom allows you to stream webinars on Facebook, where you can give your webinars custom names and decide whether you’re live streaming from a personal account, fan page, or group; hosting webinars on YouTube requires an account to be enabled for live streaming.
Zoom Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include interactive capabilities such as polls, Q&As, and live chat to help you engage attendees. Zoom also provides closed captioning to help attendees who are hard of hearing or using devices on mute.
Integrations include connections with popular business tools and applications, such as Asana, Gong.io, HubSpot CRM, Jotform, Microsoft Teams, monday.com, Pipedrive, Salesforce, Slack, Zendesk, and other software options. You can also use Zoom’s API and a paid Zapier account to create custom integrations.
Pricing: From $12.49/month, billed annually.
Free Trial: Free plan available.
Pros
- Easily organizes webinars
- Good user interface
- Flexible for any business size
Cons
- Can be glitchy
- Events over 40 minutes require a paid plan
12. Google Meet - Best free webinar software
Google Meet provides a free platform that enables marketing teams to hold webinars and online events.
Why I picked Google Meet: The platform is part of Google’s Workspace platform, allowing you to invite up to 250 attendees. When using Google Meet, you can enable screen sharing, which empowers you to make engaging presentations from other Google applications, such as Slides, Docs, Drawings, and Sheets. Google Meet can adjust automatically to ensure you're always streaming high-quality audio and video - and best of all, it's free.
Google Meet Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include the ability to create unlimited webinars, up to 300 hours per meeting. Every webinar hosted on Google Meet is saved to Google Drive, allowing everyone to review recordings with proper access.
Integrations include connections with systems such as Desktop.com, Fireflies.ai, Flowtrace, Freshteam, Gong.ai, Google Contacts, Otter.ai, Pipedrive, SalesDeck, Salesmate, and other software options. You can also create custom integrations with a paid Zapier account.
Pricing: Free.
Pros
- Free to use
- Excellent webinar quality
- Easy to use
Cons
- Lacks customization options
- Limited features
Other Options
There’s a significant number of webinar software to choose from, and you might need extra help to find other options for your business. So, I added another brief list of webinar tools that are worth considering.
- Microsoft Teams - Best for capturing attendee interest.
- Vimeo - Best for repurposing webinars.
- Livestorm - Best end-to-end webinar software.
- ON24 - Best for personalizing webinars.
- EventMobi - Best for monetizing webinars.
- Goldcast - Best for B2B marketers.
- BlueJeans Events - Best for production-grade webinars.
- Cvent - Best for simplifying webinar lifecycles.
- Crowdcast - Best for collaborating with presenters.
- WebinarJam - Best cloud-based webinar software.
- Livestream - Best for livestreaming.
- AnyMeeting - Best for webinar promoting tools.
- RingCentral Webinar - Best for tracking deals.
- StreamYard - Best for omnichannel webinar streaming.
- EasyWebinar - Best for growing businesses.
- MaestroConference - Best for social conferencing.
- vFairs - Best for flexible webinar capabilities.
- WorkCast - Best for enhancing webinar potential.
- StreamGo - Best for engaging with audiences.
Selection Criteria For Webinar Software
Here’s a short summary of the main selection and evaluation criteria I used to develop my list of the best webinar software for this article:
Core Functionality
To make it on this list of webinar software, each option will provide specific core functionalities, despite their individual features, which may differ between each platform. Here are the core functionality each option offers that make them webinar software.
- Allows users to host live webinars, which are virtual events conducted in real-time over the internet
- Provides tools to engage and interact with the audience (chat, polling, screen sharing, emojis/reactions)
Key Features
The best webinar software will offer some of the following features.
- Planning and Marketing Tools: Many of the best webinar software will provide tools to help you schedule, plan, and market webinars; these capabilities can include CRM systems, connecting your existing mailing lists, pre-built webinar landing and registration page templates, and attendee analytics.
- High-Definition Recording: Most webinar tools include live event recording in high definition to help you make the most of your webinar content.
- Live Streaming: The ability to live stream webinars helps you maximize exposure and reach potential audiences; some tools enable businesses to set up live streaming across major social media platforms.
- International Dial-In Numbers: To ensure attendees from around the world can access your webinars, many platforms provide international numbers for international audiences to dial and join your event from any location, regardless of their country.
- Security: Webinar software will provide a sense of security to your business and audience by providing tools that protect data and secure connections, ensuring your company’s and attendees’ privacy is safe.
- Analytics: Having features available that allow you to view the results of your webinars will help your business organize more effective future meetings and help you grow; you’ll be able to generate detailed reports with in-depth insights into your webinars’ statistics.
Usability
Using webinar software must be simple to ensure your needs are quickly met, no matter the size of the webinar you’re operating. So, to ensure you can make this happen for you and your team, I looked for options that are easy to learn and navigate. In cases where you can’t find a feature or something isn’t working as it should, I also evaluated webinar tools that offer a support team to help you via email, chatbot, or phone support.
Software Integrations
Marketing consists of automating processes and reporting on a strategy’s success, and I looked for webinar tools that make it easier to do that. The options on this list do this by offering a significant number of integrations, many of which you might be using already. Specifically, these platforms integrate with email automation and CRM tools.
Interactivity
To make your webinars more engaging, it’s essential to create interactive events for your audience. So, to ensure you can do this, I looked for webinar software that promotes interactivity between your business and attendees through various capabilities. These tools can include functionality such as Q&A sessions, polls, and live chat.
People Also Ask
The following are some of the most frequently asked questions people ask when searching for new webinar software.
How much does webinar software cost?
What webinar software is easiest to use?
How can I use webinars in marketing?
Other Video Marketing Software Reviews
Implementing webinar software within your marketing strategy is one effective method to bring in new leads and customers. However, you can use some of the video marketing software in the following reviews to find other methods to amplify your marketing efforts.
The Takeaway
Webinars are excellent tools for your marketing toolkit, whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or a large enterprise. In this article, you learned about some great webinar software that will cater to your requirements. Choosing the most suitable platform to host your webinars isn’t an easy task to accomplish since many tools seem to offer similar feature sets, and it’s not until you use them that you notice the subtle differences between each option. Determining the right webinar platform will help you leave a long-lasting impression on your audience and help you achieve business goals, making it essential to choose the right software that’s available.
Be sure to bookmark this article for future reference if you plan on taking time to make a final decision and if you need help finding other marketing software, such as the options in this list, sign up for The CMO newsletter.