Webinars have proven time and again that they’re an effective way to generate leads and grow your brand. This increasing popularity has allowed multiple webinar platforms to spring up and carve out a slice of the market.
If you’re here then you probably already know what a webinar is and how effective they are for selling almost any type of product. Let’s skip that part for now and take a look at the best webinar software on the market so you can choose the correct one for your brand.
Table of Contents
Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our comparisons and recommendations. We try our best to keep things fair and balanced, in order to help you make the best choice for you.
TL;DR - just tell me what the best webinar software is
Webinarjam – This is a solid tool for entrepreneurs and sales teams who want to leverage live presentation to convert visitors. It has a wide range of features such as landing pages, email automation, in-presentation offers, and more. It’s also one of the most inexpensive tools on this list. Where others would charge you $500- $1,000 a month, Webinarjam’s highest plan doesn’t even get to $100/m.
Demio – This webinar tool is relatively new when you look at some of the other heavy hitters on this list. The team knew this so they built a webinar platform specifically for marketers. It’s beautifully designed, intuitive, and has advanced features like email marketing, automated webinars, landing pages, and so much more. It’s a bit more expensive than Webinarjam but if you want a tool that’s incredibly simple to use then it’s a great choice.
Easywebinar – This robust webinar software is geared towards helping you build your audience on multiple platforms. You’re able to stream your live presentation to places like Facebook and YouTube at the click of a button. It also has a few key features that make it possible to close deals directly from the webinar like inserting offers, live chat to answer questions, and email automation.
Any of these three tools will help you make the most of your webinar strategy. If you want more options, keep reading.
Header | WEBINARJAM | DEMIO | EASYWEBINAR |
|---|---|---|---|
INSERT OFFERS | |||
LANDING PAGES | |||
NO SOFTWARE DOWNLOADS | |||
AUTOMATED WEBINARS | |||
EMAIL AUTOMATION | |||
WIDE RANGE OF INTEGRATIONS | |||
DETAILED ANALYTICS | |||
A/B TEST PAGES | |||
SMS MARKETING | |||
Cell |
What are the best webinar platforms?
This collection of webinar software is ranked based on a number of criteria such as the feature set, the shortcomings, pricing, reliability, and other customer reviews. Each one is a solid solution but some are better for specific types of businesses. Keep your own situation in mind when you’re going through the list so you can make the right decision for yourself.
1. Webinarjam
WebinarJam is a popular webinar service that was founded by entrepreneurs who were frustrated with their own webinar marketing experience. It has grown into a company serving tens of thousands of customers and has all the features a modern webinar user needs to turn attendees into customers and fans. You can read our full WebinarJam Review here.
Key features
- Supports up to 5,000 users in a single presentation
- Interact with live chat, Q&A, and polls to boost engagement
- Invite webinar attendees to the stage as a presenter
- Handle email marketing and SMS marketing from the platform
- Introduce offers to your live attendees and encourage conversions
- Works on all major browsers and you don’t need attendees to download any software
- Share files with attendees
- Inject videos directly into your webinars
- Integrates with a wide range of tools
- Multiple presenters
- Attendees can register with a single click
- Analytics to understand engagement and other important metrics
Cons
- A limited number of landing page templates that need an update
- Some users report a lag between what you’re saying and what attendees see
Pricing
WebinarJam has a 14-day $1 trial so you can test out all the features and even produce some revenue. After that, it has three pricing tiers of $479, $783, and $997.
Rated 4.2 on Capterra
2. Demio
Demio is one of the few webinar software tools on this list that was built with marketers in mind. Sure, some of the other webinar services have marketing features but that’s because of customer demand. Right from the beginning, Demio has worked to make those features a core part of the application. It’s relatively new on the scene but is developing a great product. You can read our full Demio review here.
Key features
- No software downloads for attendees
- Can run live and automated webinars from the same platform
- Also run hybrid and on-demand webinars
- Use chats and polls to engage your audience
- Share files within the chat interface
- Intuitive interface that even a beginner can master
- Custom fields can be used with the registration forms
- Handle email marketing from within the platform
- Present offers from within the presentation
- Analytics to understand performance across the entire event such as registration, attendee engagement, sales, etc.
- Integrates with multiple email marketing services and CRMs
Cons
- The initial plan has a very limited number of attendees
- Customization of emails and pages is limited
Pricing
Demio has a 14-day free trial. Afterward, you can sign up for paid plans that cost $49/m, $99/m, and $234/m for 50, 150, and 500 max attendees respectively.
4.9 stars on Capterra
3. Easywebinar
EasyWebinar is a solid webinar software solution that caters to brands in many different industries. It’s built on the back of both automated and live webinars. When you find a presentation that works for you and your audience, you’re able to turn it into an automated presentation and generate sales all day every day. If that’s your goal, Easywebinar is the best webinar platform for it. You can read our full EasyWebinar review here.
Key features
- Live and automated webinars
- Native integrations to popular email marketing services
- Live chat and poll capability
- Support multiple presenters
- Stream on multiple social platforms at the same time (YouTube & Facebook)
- Webinar engagement analytics
- Send offers within live and automated presentations
- Manage emails for webinars
- Custom thank you page
- Embed the registration form on your own pages
Cons
- The interface can be confusing to people who aren’t used to webinar software
- Doesn’t host the videos for the automated webinars
Pricing
It has a 14-day trial to test out all the features. The paid plans cost $78/m, $129/m, and $499/m for 100, 500, and 2,000 live attendees respectively.
4.4 stars on Capterra
4. GoToWebinar
GoToWebinar is considered by many to be the best webinar software in the market. I won’t argue that assessment but I can agree that it’s one of the oldest webinar services available. It boasts tens of thousands of users and millions of presentations each year so you can be sure it’s a platform that’ll handle whatever you throw at it.
Key features
- Use the setting from previous webinars as templates for future ones
- Create a channel page to showcase on-demand webinars
- Use polls and surveys to engage your audience
- Multiple presenters at once
- Large number of integrations with email marketing and CRM tools
- Registration referral tracking
- Event engagement analytics
- Simple email marketing features
- Simple registration page
Cons
- Very limited landing page and email customization options
- Users reported technical glitches since the acquisition by LogMeIn
Pricing
$109/m, $249/m, and $499/m for 100, 500, and 1,000 maximum attendees.
4.5 stars on Capterra
5. ClickMeeting
ClickMeeting is one of the more popular webinar software tools on this list and comes with the full range of features needed to engage and convert visitors to lead and customers. It’s a solid choice if you want a flexible platform in terms of pricing, features, and attendee limits. View the full review here.
Key features
- Live and automated webinars
- Integrate with PayPal and set up a paywall for webinars
- Multiple presenters
- Q&A, polls, and live chat
- Create custom registration pages and form fields
- Stream webinars directly to Facebook or YouTube
- Use whiteboards to doodle and aid comprehension
- Insert offers directly in the presentation
- Mobile app that lets you run webinars on the go
- Webinar ratings
- Stats for attendee engagement and demographic data
- Stores webinar recordings for you
Cons
- The interface is dated and could be improved with an update
- Cannot customize specific emails with your messaging or branding
Pricing
It has a 30-day free trial to explore the platform. Paid plans start at $30/m for up to 25 attendees and go up to $359/m for 1,000 attendees with many options in between.
4.2 stars on Capterra
6. WebinarNinja
Webinarninja may not be as popular as many of the tools on this list but it delivers with a solid webinar platform trusted by some of the largest brands in the world. It has an emphasis on design which turns an otherwise complicated experience into something simple and quick - You can view the full review here.
Key features
- Live and automated webinars
- Set up a webinar series people can register for
- Q&A, live chat, and polls
- Insert video into presentation
- Show timely offers to attendees
- Hosts videos for automated webinars
- Control email marketing from the application
- Full customization of registration landing pages
- Analytics that breaks down show ups, registrations, offer clicks, and more
- Many native integrations with email and CRM services
Cons
- The automated webinars have a few UI quirks like offers not being in the main viewing area when presented
- Add-on is needed to work with the web app
- Cannot delete test webinars without going through another process first
Pricing
It has a 14-day free trial. Paid plans cost $49/m, $95/m, $159/m, and $249/m for 100, 300, 500, and 1,000 attendees respectively.
4.4 stars on Capterra
7. EverWebinar
EverWebinar is from the same people who developed WebinarJam and the webinar services work seamlessly together. WebinarJam is for live webinars while Everwebinar is for automated webinars. You can take a WebinarJam presentation and convert it to an Everwebinar automated presentation at the click of a button.
Key features
- Dynamic attendee counts
- Robust scheduling options such as just in time webinars, multiple times a day, and blocking out night time presentations
- Can A/B test landing pages
- Insert offers at the exact second based on your recorded presentation
- Replicate live chats
- Actually sit in on chats and reply to people watching the automated presentation
- Integrations with popular email marketing services and CRMs
- Analytics for registrations, attendee engagement, and offer conversions
- Handle email marketing and SMS from the platform
Cons
- Doesn’t host your video files for you
- It’s only useful for automated webinars instead of live or true presentations
- The UI is due for an update
Pricing
Everwebinar also has a $1 14-day trial and then costs $497/year.
8. BigMarker
BigMarker is relatively new on the scene but it’s definitely making waves as an all-in-one webinar platform. It offers many features that competitors don’t focus on or can’t build which makes it unique in many ways. It’s young so it may not be as robust as many other platforms on this list but that shouldn’t stop you from giving it a chance.
Key Features
- Embed videos on other websites
- Capture leads from embedded videos
- No software downloads needed to use the product
- Integrates with multiple CRM and email marketing platforms
- Live, automated, and evergreen webinars
- Set up channels with all your best content and generate leads
- Live stream to other platforms such as Facebook Live
- Create landing pages and registration forms
- Handle email marketing from the platform
- Analytics to measure multiple touchpoints before and after lead generation
- One-on-one meeting rooms for chats and demos
Cons
- The tool itself can be slow which impacts your ability to get in and out quickly
- It has many features and can be difficult to learn for newbies
- Can start lagging when meetings run long
Pricing
BigMarker has a 7-day free trial and add-on marketing services that can be purchased. The core webinar software costs $89/m, $189/m, and $399/m for 100, 500, and 1,000 subscribers respectively.
4.8 stars on Capterra
9. GetResponse
GetResponse started as a simple email marketing tool for newsletters and autoresponders. Today, it’s an end-to-end marketing solution that includes Facebook Ads management, landing pages, and even webinar software.
Key Features
- No downloads required to use the software
- Chat features to engage attendees
- Livestream to Facebook or YouTube
- Use polls and Q&A to interact with attendees
- CTA within presentation to sell offers
- Integration with ads platform to drive sign ups
- Built-in email and robust email marketing platform
- White boards to aid in comprehension
- Clear analytics of attendee engagement
- Charge for your webinars
Cons
- It has many features so it can be difficult to find you way around the tool
- Webinar reliability needs to be improved
- Doesn’t have integrations with other email services
Pricing
GetResponse has many pricing options which depend on your email list size. It starts at $15/m for 1,000 contacts and $1,199/m for 100,000 contacts.
4.2 stars on Capterra
10. Livestorm
Livestorm is a combination online meeting tool and webinar software that’s ideal for internal communication on a remote team, meeting with clients, and hosting smaller webinars. It has a great interface and solid features to meet your needs. It’s one of the only free webinar software choices on this list.
Key features
- Run live and automated webinars
- Meet with small groups of people in an intimate set up
- Integrates with a wide range of tools
- Handle email marketing from within the webinar software
- Build simple registration landing pages
- No need to download software to run or join a webinar
- Q&A, chat, and polls
- Support for multiple hosts
- Embeddable forms with custom fields
- Track where you’re getting registrants from
- See the engagement and duration of attendance for individual registrants
- Store recordings on the platform
- Export data using CSV or Excel
Cons
- The entry level pricing for the webinars is on the high side
- Limited customization is available for the landing pages
- There’s no express creation option or ability to save settings for a new webinar
Pricing
Pricing starts at zero then costs $39/m/host for just the meeting software. It costs $109/m/host for the webinar software and 100 attendees. You can add 250 or 1,000 attendees for $109 and $229 respectively.
4.7 stars on Capterra
11. Crowdcast
Crowdcast is possibly the only webinar platform that’s focused on making it easier for creators to set up and run large scale presentations. It has many additional features that will appeal mostly to their target demographic and not larger businesses.
Key features
- Invite attendees onscreen
- Use Q&A, live chat, and polls
- No need to download any software to use it
- Embed individual events on your website pages
- Collect payments through Stripe for your events
- Integrate with Patreon
- Limit the number of seats
- Export your data
- Track where your registrants were generated
- Stream on Facebook
- Use Zapier to connect with hundreds of other platforms
Cons
- Not designed for very large crowds because the database can freeze and prevent people from accessing the event
- Product isn’t intuitive for those who aren’t tech savvy
- Lag when switching from screen share to PowerPoint
Pricing
$29/m, $49/m, $89/m, and $195/m for 50, 100, 250, and 1000 attendees respectively. It also has a 2 week free trial.
4.7 stars on Capterra
12. Livestream
Livestream is a Vimeo company that combines meetings, employee training, and live events inside a single webinar platform. It has many features that could be considered enterprise but the pricing is unbeatable which makes it worth a try.
Key features
- Live stream via Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and Periscope
- Customize the player to match your brand
- Password protect presentations
- Q&A, live chat, and polls
- Real time analytics
- Basic lead capture
- Track views and drop-off metrics.
- Unlimited attendees for live streams
Cons
- Basic webinar solution that’s missing core marketing features
- The dashboard can be confusing for specific features
- The UI is dated and needs a major overhaul
Pricing
You get unlimited live viewers for just $75/m with Livestream.
4.7 stars on Capterra
13. Zoom
Zoom is more or less the elephant in the room. It boasts over 10 million users worldwide and is a publicly traded company. It’s ideal for both small and large organizations that want to meet with teammates, clients, or host webinars. It’s a free webinar platform but it lacks many of the core marketing features of the other tools.
Key features
- Supports up to 100 presenters
- Bring attendees on stage to share the screen with you
- Q&A, chat, and polls
- Reporting for registrants and engagement throughout the presentation
- Integrate with major marketing tools
- Add a paywall to your webinars with a PayPal integration
- Simple customization of registration forms
- Handle email marketing for your event through the webinar service
Cons
- Granular admin controls are lacking
- Audio is often choppy or has a lot of feedback in it
- It lags when rapidly switching between screen sharing and webcam view
Pricing
Pricing ranges from free to $14.99/m/host, $19.99/host/month with a minimum of 10 hosts, and $19.99/host/month minimum of 50 hosts.
4.6 stars on Capterra
14. Restream
Restream is a live presentation and streaming platform that’s laser-focused on amplifying your message as far as it’ll go. One of the major features is the ability to simultaneously stream to 30 platforms at once. You can tap into YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitch, and even more. If your major concern is growing an audience or sharing an important message then this is the perfect tool for you. If you want to generate direct sales from the webinar then it’s not the best option.
Key features:
- Stream on up to 30 platforms simultaneously
- Bring on cohosts with the click of a button
- Add logo customization and photo overlays to emphasize your brand
- Highlight comments from social platforms and display it on the screen
- People on different platforms are able to chat together (and hide offensive comments)
- Simple viewer analytics
Cons:
- It’s missing many of the core webinar features like sign up forms
- No email marketing features
- Doesn’t support third-party integrations beyond other streaming platforms
Pricing.
Restream has five pricing plans which range from free all the way up to $299/m. They’re divided based on the features you have access to and how much of that feature you can use. For example, some plans allow 10 presenters while some only allow 6.
4.7 stars on Capterra
15. Webinargeek
Webinargeek is a hidden gem when it comes to webinar tools. It has a simple-to-learn interface that allows you to create every type of webinar you can think of such as recorded, live, hybrid, and more. Webinargeek also does a good job of integrating marketing tools into the platform so you can make the most of every presentation you hold. For example, you can create sales pages, present offers, post-webinar evaluation form, a company page, and so much more.
Key features
- Automated, hybrid, live, on-demand, and recorded
- Email marketing for pre and post-registration follow-up
- Create registration and sales pages
- Set up paid webinars
- Live chat and polls
- Use quizzes to engage viewers
- Company page or channel of all upcoming or past webinars
- Simple analytics
Cons
- Limited number of email marketing and CRM integrations
- The analytics can be improved with more metrics
- Some integrations are considered premium and you have to pay extra
Pricing:
Webinargeek starts at €12/ and works it’s way up to €39/m for up to 100 attendees. It’s €99 for up to 500 attendees and if you need more than that, you’ll have to pay enterprise pricing. Plans are also limited based on bandwidth which can get dicey since webinars are so resource-intensive. Though it’s a great solution based on features, I feel like the plans are trying to nickle and dime me out of my last dollar.
4.7 stars on Capterra
16. JetWebinar
JetWebinar bills itself as the first webinar platform specifically designed for high-attendance online broadcasts. It has three core competencies which include live webinars, automated webinars, and virtual meetings. It also has a number of features that help you sell more and even scale your activities beyond what you alone can accomplish.
Key Features
- Live and automated webinars
- Virtual meetings with multiple participants
- Live chat
- Email marketing features
- Affiliate management
- Create custom landing pages
- Downloadable files within the live presentation
- Show offers to attendees
- Force redirect users to sales page
Cons
- The website gives off a mid-2000’s vibe
- The starter plan is a bit expensive
Pricing
JetWebinar has three main pricing plans that cost $79/m, $197/m, and $479/m, for 100, 500, and 2,000 attendees respectively. Each one comes with all features and the only difference are the contact limits available.
4.4 stars on Capterra
17. Dacast
Dacast is a live streaming platform that also allows you to securely host and store your video files. It’s more than just a webinar platform, rather, it’s a platform you can build on and develop your own tools with. If that’s not your thing, you can use the live streaming tools to reach your audience no matter where they are in the world. Dacast prides itself on being able to scale with you no matter how large your audience is.
Key features:
- Fully customizable player
- Robust security features like password protection, IP restrictions, and more
- Live stream directly from your website
- Add a paywall to live events
- 24/7 tech support for all users
- Facebook integrations
- Countdown timer
- Real-time analytics
- Has an API which you can use to build more robust solutions
Pros
- - Missing many webinar features for sales like live chat
- - Doesn’t integrate with many other tools
- - Geared more towards technical users or teams
Pricing
Pricing starts at $19/m up to $289/m when paid annually but if you choose monthly then the $19/m option isn’t available and pricing starts at $165/m. Pricing depends on how many people watch a stream and how long they watch it. For example, if you have 1,000 viewers and they watch for 60 minutes then you’ll pay $125 but if you have 1000 viewers and they watch for 10 minutes then you’ll pay $19.
What is a webinar?
A webinar is an online seminar held that can be held live or prerecorded. It allows you to connect with a few people to thousands and overcome the inherent challenges experienced when hundreds of people wish to gather in one place.
Though it’s online, webinars are highly interactive mediums and because of that, are ideal for selling products and services to multiple people at once. They’re also a great tool for training groups of people and taking their questions live.
What to look for in webinar software
Before you settle on a webinar solution for your business, there are a number of criteria to measure it against.
Features
Most webinar tools have similar features such as live streaming and uploading documents for your presentation. There are also a few features peculiar to each one that may be a better fit for your specific situation.
For example, some webinar platforms require your attendees to download additional software and don't work well on mobile. If most of your audience is on a mobile device then this may be a problem for you.
Integrations
The last thing most people want to do is purchase new software and then realize it doesn't play nice with their tech stack. At that point, you have two options, keep the new software or replace it and start searching again. Neither choice is ideal.
Take the time to understand what the webinar provider you chose integrates with and what it doesn't integrate with. At the very least, it should play nice with your email marketing tool or CRM. Also take your landing page software into consideration when choosing.
Customer Support
The last thing you want to consider is how good the custoemr support is. Webinar tools tend to be complicated (relatively speaking) and, unfortunately, there's no getting around that. Because of this, their customer support is even more important. Answer two questions:
1. Is it responsive
2. Are the reps knowledgeable
If both of those are a go then you're likely in good hands.
Clear benefits of using webinar software
There are many tangible and intangible benefits of using a webinar to grow your brand but I just want to touch on a few.
Build authority
Everyone wants to be an authority and thought leader because there are a lot of benefits associated with it. There are two major pathways to building this authority.
1. Create content in a number of formats over an extended period of time
2. Effectively launch a webinar to your audience or even cold traffic
The second option, for obvious reasons, is attractive to many people. You basically get to build authority in your niche for free. Thousands of people will be signing up for your webinar, going through the training, and buying your products.
Of course, not everyone will buy but they’ll remember the awesome content, possibly buy down the line, or even refer other people to your brand. Even though the webinar is over in less than two hours, its effects can last for a long time.
Generate revenue
I touched on this a bit before but I want to really drive it home by looking at the numbers associated with an optimized webinar. I’m going to assume you’re using paid advertising to generate this revenue. If you’re using your own audience or the audience of your partners then it’s even more profitable.
On average, it costs $5 - $8 to get someone to sign up for your webinar when using paid advertising. We’ll use the average of $6.50. The average attendance rate of all webinars with over 100 participants is 43.3%.
If you spend $6,500 on ads, you can expect 1,000 registrants and 433 attendees. Of the people that attend, roughly 8% will buy a digital product or service that costs up to $1997. Let’s use $997 as our price point which means that 34 people will buy at $997.
That equals, just under $34,000 in revenue. If you remove your expenses from that and account for refunds then you’re looking at $20,000 in profit. All you have to do is rinse and repeat every week until it no longer gives you the same profit margins
Partner with other experts
Another benefit of using webinars is the fact that they expand your network. You have a proven system or methodology and part of being an influencer is helping people achieve their goals with novel strategies.
Influencers in your niche will be more than happy to partner with you and bring their audience along. You get to present your webinar, make money, and build a relationship with someone who’s an authority in their own right.
They may find you through your own marketing initiatives or you can be proactive and reach out to them yourself. Whatever the case, it’s a valuable contact in your industry which will likely open the door for more.
This is the exact strategy ConvertKit used to go from $100,000 to millions of dollars a month in revenue.
Cost-effective
Though I may have mentioned that some of the webinar solutions on this list are expensive, that’s in comparison to other webinar software solutions. In reality, it’s downright cheap when you think about how much you stand to gain.
For example, if you pay $1,000/m for software and it makes you $10,000/m in profit, wouldn’t you make that trade over and over again? I know I would.
With most webinar solutions, the ROI is more than 10x but I just want to present a simple scenario. The challenge most people experience is getting the webinar right. The software is ready whenever you are.
Market research opportunity
This may not be something that comes to mind when you think of webinars because you’re presenting information to an audience. What happens at the end of the webinar? People ask questions about the training or the offer.
That’s a goldmine of information that’ll help you refine your offers in the future or even get new product ideas. Many webinar tools also allow you to initiate polls or use surveys. These can also inform how you tweak the webinar over time and give you insights into who your audience really is.
For example, if you send out a survey asking what your audience does for a living, you may find that most of them are executives while only a small percentage are recent graduates. This will help you tweak your messaging so it better appeals to the people who find your content interesting.
What is the best webinar software for you?
There are many webinar platforms on the market today. Some of them are free, some of them cost hundreds of dollars, and all of them have a slightly different focus.
This post has gone through over a dozen webinar tools and outlined what makes them unique, their drawbacks, and pricing. It’s up to you to pull the trigger and choose one and make the final choice.
Let me know if you need any more information or have any questions about webinar marketing.