Honest Guide to Choosing the Best Webinar Software

I used to work for B2B startups before I began the process of creating Livestorm. At every single one of these companies webinars were a recurring topic.

I struggled a long time before going back to the usual suspects because Icould not find the best webinar platform. That is part of the reason why we built Livestorm.

This article will help you choose a great webinar platform that will fit your needs.

What You Will (and Won't) find In This Post

This post will help you define your webinar needs. We will go through every aspect of it, from technical details up to pricing.

You will also be presented with most of the webinar solutions out there. I won’t overload your decision process with irrelevant tools.

Also, you will not find an exhaustive list of softwares. It would not make sense to show you a bunch of links or big comparison table without discussing what really matters: your company.

I’d rather give you some recommendations based on your needs. You can always reach out at gilles@livestorm.co if you need advice.

Finding the Best Webinar Platform

What is a webinar and why are you doing webinars in the first place? You should have clear objectives. Because doing webinar with purpose X can lead to a specific tool perfect for that use case.

Here are some of the most common use cases for webinars:

• Bi-monthly/weekly demo webinars with potential leads
• Inbound webinars in which you talk about your field of expertise alone or with a guest
• Customer training webinars with your recently onboarded customers
• Masterclasses
• Internal formation for new hires or when a new version of a product is about to be launched

Some of those use cases may seem similar but they really aren't They will have repercussions on what tool you should use.

Recurring Demo Webinars & Lead Generation Webinars

For example, if you do weekly webinars, you will need a tool that has a “recurring webinars” feature. And believe me, not every tool has that.

Livestorm has this feature and allows you to create your Webinar Series with distinct sessions. This keeps your events clean and neatly organized.

Also, since demo webinars are usually done for lead generation purposes, you will need a strong lead generation tool belt inside your webinar software. You will probably want to:

• Drill into your audience data and segment the participants.
• Automatically export your attendees to your CRM or a mailing software.
• Enrich your attendees profile with form data and surveys during webinars.

Are your webinar software analytics strong enough? Do they provide marketing integrations with your apps? Can you customise the registration form and send polls?

Content Marketing Webinars

If you want to host live discussions between the host and a guest, then you probably want to go for a real-time webinar software that enables you to invite someone on stage. Livestorm provides such feature for example.

Customer Training Webinars

Customer training webinars might require a strong Q&A feature and provide screen-sharing.

Masterclasses or training webinars are the most specific use cases. Some companies even need quizzes at the end of their webinar-masterclass in order to give certifications to their audience. This is a very specific feature I’ve only encountered in on24.

What Is Really Important To You?

Some people need their webinar software to be super easy to use, like dead-simple. Others want great analytics or maybe a specific integration. In the end, you have to “enjoy” doing webinars with the tool.

This is where you should lay down the 3 or 4 things that are the most specific to your use case.

For example, if you are using BaseCRM and you want your webinar software to push data into BaseCRM then you want to look for a tool that does just that. I don’t recall any webinar software with that integration (it’s coming on Livestorm though), but you can do that through Zapier (if the webinar software has a Zapier integration).

If you usually do your webinar registrations yourself using Hubspot landing pages for example (it’s the case for Mention for example), then you might want to look for a webinar software that has dual integration with Hubspot.

GoToWebinar is a good example of this. Livestorm does it natively from Livestorm to Hubspot only but you have to use Zapier to cover the other way (Hubspot to Livestorm).

If you are looking for a webinar software that provides great customisable landing pages, I believe we are the only ones :)

Technical Requirements

This is a really important part. Because most of webinar problems are technical. If overlooked, tiny details can ruin your webinars.

Never forget to check:

• Your average audience size in the short-term. If you’re Moz you will probably get over 150 live attendees (or even 500). Not every tool can handle that.
• Your connectivity (is the bandwidth fast enough?)
• Your network security (is there a firewall?)
• The most used browsers by your visitors and prospects
• If your potential attendees can download an external software.

Compatibility Issues

If your audience is majority of Safari users or, worst, IE users working in big corporations based in China, the technical requirements will not be the same.

For example, for that last type of attendees, you will not be able to use a webinar software that functions only in a browser. You should go for a download-only kind of webinar software with potentially a remote access via a phone line.

Edit: Since January '17, we support natively all the browser from IE10 to Chrome on Desktop or Mobile. Without any download.

Firewalls

One last thing, firewalls are a webinar arch enemy. They can block any vincoming or outgoing video stream. So make sure your network is safe. Ask your attendees to check as well.

Browser-Based Webinar Software vs. Download-only Webinar Software

Browser based webinar softwares such as Livestorm or Crowdcast use WebRTC as a technology. Which is beyond awesome for many reasons. Real-time live webinars are so much more enjoyable.

But this technology is also very young and edgy. It will prevail soon, but it’s not quite there yet.

Note: Hangout-based webinar softwares such as WebinarJam are not using WebRTC. At least it is not real-time webinars, you will get a 30 sec buffer between “reality” and what people see.

Long story short, if your audience is mostly on IE then avoid WebRTC-based webinars for now…

…Unless they have solved compatibility issues via a browser extension or if they provide a native app!

This is where Livestorm is going to offer a solution for that specific problem. We are going to provide both solutions to cover all use cases.

Edit: Since January '17, we support natively all the browser from IE10 to Chrome on Desktop or Mobile. Without any download.

In the meantime, “Classic” webinar softwares (GoToWebinar, on24, Webex, etc.) and Google Hangout based tools have less compatibility issues.

But then, why shouldn’t I always use download-only webinar softwares like GoToWebinar?

No. Other webinar softwares have other great advantages that you don’t want to overlook.

If you are looking for a simple UX, analytics and data management, or real-time live streaming then avoid GoToWebinar.

A lot of people are complaining about those tools. There are many good reasons for that. Plus, remember, compatibility issues are only temporary.

What About The Price?

That’s a tough question to tackle. Webinar software can be expensive, like really expensive. But if you look at the big picture there is a solution for every budget.

Often, browser based webinar solutions are less expensive. Crowdcast has plans starting at $79, we have plans up to $299 max, WebinarJam who uses Google Hangout has a plan at 400/year.

On the other hand, prices for heavy webinar solutions such as On24, Webex, Adobe Connect, GoToWebinar (GoToWebcasts) or BrightTalk can skyrocket above $1000.

So should you pay $1000 for a webinar software?

I don’t think so.

Unless, as mentioned above, you have very specific needs. Paying $500 a month for On24 because they are the only ones to offer post-webinar certifications? Only do that if it's mandatory.

Now, paying $500 for basic webinar features is just a waste of money. For that money you can get so much more from a different tool.

Recap: Webinar Software Landscape

Do you have any feedback?

If you have any feedback on what’s above please reach out to me at gilles@livestorm.co. I don’t pretend to know by heart every competitor feature or pricing, so if I missed a data point please let me know.

Also, I would be curious to know what are your priorities when you are looking for a webinar software. Use the comment section below to share your experience.