8 Best Webinar Platforms of 2023: The In-depth Guide with Pros and Cons

Organizing and hosting webinars you can be proud of means engaging attendees with your content, generating qualified leads, and seeing an increase in attendance rates.

But, you’ll need to choose the right webinar software to support and scale your marketing efforts – and have better control over the entire webinar experience before, during, and after the event.

With so many tools and platforms out there boasting similar features, we’ve put together this useful guide to the eight best webinar platforms – so you can make the right choice when promoting your brand.

How to choose the best webinar software?

When choosing the best platform to turbocharge your webinar presentations, it’s important to:

1. Define your webinar hosting goals
2. Know what to look for in a webinar vendor

Here’s how.

Define your webinar hosting goals

Knowing your webinar hosting goals is crucial to selecting the right platform.

Think about what your brand aims to achieve and how your webinar will help you achieve it: do you want to increase brand awareness or build a bigger community? Are you looking to establish thought leadership or increase video engagement?

No matter what your webinar goals are, you’ll need to define them to better structure your webinars and delight attendees (and complete step #2).

Know what to look for in a webinar platform

Narrow down your webinar goals or KPIs to help you target the specific features you’ll need within a single hosting platform (also see: best webinar platform comparison).

For example, suppose you want to create a more engaging webinar to generate leads. In that case, you might want to focus on a platform with engagement features like Q&As and webinar live polls, or an analytics dashboard that can be leveraged in lead generation strategies.

Webinar platform comparison: 8 Best tools for 2023

Selecting the right platform to host a webinar can be tricky. You don’t want to invest in and roll out a new software that’s cumbersome for users or not quite meeting your webinar hosting needs.

We’ve come up with a shortlist of the top 8 webinar platforms (and their pros and cons) – so you never have to worry about hosting another boring webinar that doesn’t drive impact. Our top picks are:

1. Livestorm
2. Zoom Events and Webinars
3. GoTo Webinar
4. Microsoft Teams
5. Airmeet
6. WebinarJam
7. Webinar Geek
8. Webex

Let’s take a closer look.

The best webinar software: Livestorm

This video engagement platform has everything you need to organize, execute, and create your first webinar from start to finish – giving you more control over the entire webinar experience and your online presence.

You can create custom registration pages, forms, cadences, reports, etc., and access real-time analytics and insights that drive lead generation.

It’s a browser-based platform that’s easy to access, so attendees don’t have to worry about downloading anything. It also has a host of engagement features to spark interest in participants and positively impact attendance duration.

Livestorm's Pros:

• Customized registration pages and easy registration directly from LinkedIn
• Ability to easily embed registration forms
• Email cadences
• Analytics dashboard and data export
• Native integrations with CRM and up-to-date contact records
• Live engagement features: chat, Q&A, polls, virtual whiteboards, emoji reactions, etc.
• Custom design
• Infinite screen prevention
• Browser-based platform with easy room access
• On-demand and automated webinars to capture more leads
• Automated invites, reminders, and follow-ups for continuous engagement
• Virtual backgrounds
• Green room to prepare for the webinar or share media files prior to the webinar

Livestorm's Cons:

• Livestorm’s free trial has limits that restricts the length of webinars and number of attendees

Best for:

• Businesses looking for an in-browser solution that does everything from pre-webinar setup (registration forms, email invites) to hosting and recording
• Marketers looking for a webinar hosting solution with reliable analytics and CRM sync to be leveraged in lead generation strategies

Pricing:

• Starts free
• Options to upgrade:
  • Pro: $88/month
  • Business: request custom quote
  • Enterprise: request custom quote

Zoom Events and Webinars

Zoom Events and Webinars (Zoom’s webinar software) is a popular choice due to its ability to host up to 50,000 webinar attendees and 1,000 video panelists live. It’s a trusted platform with a variety of webinar features and settings.

But – be cautious of a platform that flaunts its scale and prioritizes the number of settings or features over its functionality. All these bells and whistles can get in the way of hosting an excellent webinar for reasons like negatively impacting video quality and session longevity.

Zoom Events and Webinars pros:

• HD webinar recordings
• Livestream to YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, etc.
• Webinar reporting and analytics
• Landing page creation
• Online polls and Q&As
• CRM integration
• Webinar branding
• Registration pages

Zoom Events and Webinars cons:

• Application-based not browser-based
• Admin settings are scattered between the app and web portal
• Susceptible to bandwidth instability

Zoom Events and Webinars is best for:

• Big companies or enterprises looking for an application-based webinar hosting software to connect with a large number of online attendees

Zoom Events and Webinars pricing:

• Plans are based on desired attendee count and all include options to purchase annually at reduced rates:
  • 500 attendees: $79/month/license billed monthly
  • 1,000 attendees: $340/month/license billed monthly
  • 3,000 attendees: $990/month/license billed monthly
  • 5,000 attendees: $2480/month/license billed monthly
  • 10,000 attendees: $6490/month/license billed monthly

GoTo Webinar: easy-to-use webinar software

GoTo Webinar is a robust and dependable platform that’s well-liked for its lack of unnecessary features and its focus on usability.

GoTo Webinar pros:

• Screen sharing, interactive polls, and the ability to draw on your screen
• Multi-presenter webinars
• Engagement and analytics dashboard
• Pre-recorded webinars
• Custom registration forms and quizzes
• Channel traffic and webinar reporting
• Virtual hand-raising
• Webinar transcripts
• Attach or distribute handouts before or during the webinar

GoTo Webinar cons:

• Fewer features than other platforms
• Non-intuitive user interface
• Web app not browser-based
• Difficult to install and set up

GoTo Webinar is best for:

• Small companies looking for a web app-based webinar solution for educational marketing, training, or corporate webinars

GoTo Webinar pricing:

• Lite: $49/organizer/month billed annually
• Standard: $99/organizer/month billed annually
• Pro: $199/organizer/month billed annually
• Enterprise: $399/organizer/month billed annually

Microsoft Teams

This software is great for day-to-day internal meetings and small webinars and is perfect for teams operating within Microsoft.

Though it’s not specifically built for hosting webinars, it’s a great alternative when you don’t need a comprehensive or expensive platform.

Microsoft Teams pros:

• Integration with Outlook and Exchange
• Gifs, live chat, emoji reactions, and whiteboard
• Ability to edit sent messages
• High-resolution video conferencing
• Ability to store media files and documents
• User-friendly platform
• Inexpensive solution

Microsoft Teams cons:

• Not suitable for webinars larger than 100 participants
• Live chat can become buggy
• Slow screen sharing capability

Microsoft Teams is best for:

• SMBs or startups looking for a simple, inexpensive webinar hosting solution for small-scale webinars

Microsoft Teams pricing:

• Premium plans start at $4/user/month

Airmeet: hybrid webinar software

Airmeet is a hybrid events platform that’s popular for planning, running, and measuring successful social webinars. Although it’s less intuitive than other platforms, it’s a powerful tool for hosting a variety of events.

Airmeet pros:

• Landing page and custom form builder
• Recurring or multi-day webinars
• Social lounge and private backstage
• Virtual hand raising, live chat, Q&A, polls
• Engagement and analytics dashboard
• Real-time announcements
• Webinar recordings
• Email invites and reminders
• Browser-based platform

Airmeet cons:

• No instant access to on-demand webinars
• No real-time webinar backup or replay
• Non-intuitive setup
• Payment plans don’t accommodate most startups or SMBs

Airmeet is best for:

• Medium to large-sized companies with a bigger budget looking for a sizable platform for webinar hosting

Airmeet pricing:

• Standard: starts at $200/month billed annually
• Pro: starts at $7,500/year

WebinarJam

This web-based solution lets small businesses create and manage webinar presentations at a low price.

You can host as many as 5,000 attendees and collaborate with up to six other presenters during your webinar. Though it can be prone to bugs and glitches, it’s a well-liked tool that certainly gets the job done.

WebinarJam pros:

• High-quality video and audio broadcasting
• Password-protected rooms
• Can be used on any device
• Live chat and Q&As
• Sticky announcements
• Automated webinar recordings
• Flexible scheduling options
• “Always on” room for immediate access
• Attendee spotlight
• Registration page builder
• Browser-based platform
• One-click auto-register

WebinarJam cons:

• Limited branding customization
• Prone to bugs
• Prone to delays

WebinarJam best for:

• Companies looking for a quick and easy way to host webinars at an affordable price, and don’t prioritize ongoing product support

WebinarJam pricing:

• Starter: $39/month
• Basic: $79/month
• Professional: $229/month
• Enterprise: $379/month

Webinar Geek: dynamic webinar platform

Webinar Geek is a great browser-based solution for creating dynamic webinars. It lets you integrate with a ton of apps and comes with several marketing tools to drive brand awareness and impact.

Although it takes a long time to implement bulk changes to your webinars’ settings, and brand customization can cause the platform to lag, it’s a reliable and simple tool that helps businesses run effective webinars.

Webinar Geek pros:

• Custom registration pages
• Channels to promote your webinar
• Live, automated, on-demand webinar options
• Browser-based solution
• Live chat, polls, and surveys
• Webinar recording
• Event analytics and reporting
• Role-based room access
• Software, CRM, and social media integrations

Webinar Geek cons:

• Limited editing of registration pages and emails
• Needs more intuitive customization of branding materials
• Not easy to add a new addition to an existing webinar

Webinar Geek is best for:

• Small businesses looking for a cost-effective solution to hosting webinars that prioritize contract and commitment flexibility (with Webinar Geek, you can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel your plan at any time)

Webinar Geek pricing:

• Starter: $20/month billed monthly
• Premium: $51/month billed annually
• Advanced: request custom quote

Webex

This powerful video conferencing solution was designed by Cisco and acts as a collaborative workspace that combines messaging, conferencing, and document sharing. You can host as many as 3,000 attendees and up to 40,000 streamers, making it a strong contender for reaching more people with your webinar.

Though it’s not specifically designed for webinar hosting, it’s a secure tool that lets you connect with your audience in multiple ways.

Webex sros

• Live chat
• Video and audio broadcasting
• Browser-based solution
• Wide range of presenter settings like: live preview, switch presenter, notifications blocker, and remote control
• Webinar recording
• Screen sharing
• Webinar scheduling features

Webex cons

• Occasional connection and call quality issues
• Primarily designed for virtual meetings

Webex is best for

• Companies that don’t prioritize webinar-specific functionality but are looking for a cost-effective virtual conferencing platform that doubles up as a webinar vendor

Webex pricing

• Starts free
• Options to upgrade:
  • Meet Plan: $13.50/user/month
  • Meet + Call Plan: $20/user/month

Level up your webinars with Livestorm

Sticking to the best practices for your webinar not only involves organizing and running an engaging webinar – but also choosing the best software to meet your webinar marketing needs and supercharge your brand.

You can use our guide to help you make the right decision for your specific webinar and business goals. Or, go straight for Livestorm and make the most of its

1. Powerful video engagement engine to host flawless webinars
2. Variety of engagement features to drive attendee participation at scale
3. Easy-to-customize and embed registration forms for streamlined lead capture and a better turnout.

Frequently asked questions about the best webinar platforms

Which free webinar software is the best?

The best webinar software is the software that meets your specific webinar hosting and business needs. Our top pick for hosting engaging webinars is Livestorm. With its ease of use and variety of engagement features, running a successful, impactful webinar has never been easier.

Can you host a webinar for free?

You can host a webinar for free depending on your platform of choice and the amount of desired attendees. Livestorm lets you host free webinars with up to 30 live attendees, so you can market your brand and generate leads no matter your budget.

Can I use Zoom webinar for free?

No, Zoom Events and Webinars doesn’t include free plans for webinar hosting. Pricing plans are based on desired attendee count and include options to purchase plans annually at reduced rates. Pricing includes:

• 500 attendees: $79/month/license billed monthly
• 1,000 attendees: $340/month/license billed monthly
• 3,000 attendees: $990/month/license billed monthly
• 5,000 attendees: $2480/month/license billed monthly
• 10,000 attendees: $6490/month/license billed monthly

Can you use Google Meet for webinars?

Yes, you can use Google Meet as a webinar vendor. However, since it’s not specifically designed to organize and run webinars, it lacks some of the key engagement features needed to really drive impact. Instead, we suggest an end-to-end webinar software like Livestorm that has all the features and functionality you need to power up your marketing efforts.

Is Zoom good for webinars?

Zoom Events and Webinars is a great tool for hosting webinars. However, if you’re looking for a more affordable solution that’s easier to set up and administer, we recommend Livestorm.