Increase attendance with these virtual event email templates.
A successful virtual summit helps build stronger connections with your target audience and establish your brand among industry experts and thought leaders.
But planning and running virtual summits while managing busy expert speakers can be stressful. To do it all, you need a powerful virtual summit platform with workflow automations and engagement features.
In this article, we explore the 10 best virtual summit platforms on the market right now—evaluating factors like branding options, engagement analytics, pricing, and ease of use.
Host electrifying virtual summits with Livestorm.
Engage attendees, boost your brand, and make scheduling easy with an all-in-one solution.
Access these 6 email templates to drive attendance to your virtual events.
Use our 10 top recommendations to find the ideal virtual summit platform that fits your organization, event, and goals:
This leading video engagement platform can manage every aspect of your virtual events, including summits, trade shows, and expos. It’s designed to support you from start to finish, with scheduling and marketing integrations, a range of engagement features, and powerful analytics.
Livestorm is ideal if you just want one intuitive, all-in-one solution to handle all events and meetings at your organization. It’s designed for everything from online conferences and virtual workshops to internal meetings and podcast interviews.
Livestorm includes:
You can use Livestorm to meet with colleagues or as a platform for hosting webinars just as quickly as you can organize a virtual summit for 3,000 participants. Livestorm offers multi-language marketing templates, customized meeting rooms, and features that are proven to create engaging online meetings all in one place
Livestorm’s paid plans start at $79 per month, and costs vary depending on numbers of attendees. Large businesses and enterprises can benefit from our Enterprise plan, which incldes custom pricing for large events that last up to 12 hours.
Zoom Events is designed to host more advanced virtual experiences than the original Zoom software. With its advanced networking features and ability to host multiple sessions at once, it’s great for both larger summit groups and hybrid events.
For organizations looking to host virtual events with lots of attendees, Zoom Events is a good option. This event management platform uses a range of networking features to optimize connections for big groups.
Zoom Events starts at $149 per month, which includes Zoom Webinars and Zoom Sessions features. However, all Zoom Events plans require a Zoom Workplace subscription, which starts at an additional $15.99 per month per license.
Microsoft Teams is part of the Microsoft 365 suite of products. This means alongside planning, hosting, and optimizing virtual summits, you can connect with team members through instant messaging and video conferencing. However, it’s important to note that it can only host up to 300 people in one event so wouldn’t be suitable for larger summits.
If you’re running small virtual summits, Microsoft Teams is a good option. You can start to experiment with engagement features such as polls and smaller rooms and practice running the event in the Green Room.
The free version of Teams allows you to host 60-minute meetings with up to 100 participants. Then, you’ll pay between $4 and $12.50 per user per month, depending on which features you’d like to access.
Virtual Summits Software offers a dedicated solution for smaller organizations looking to experiment with virtual summits. With its database of speakers and easy customization options, it’s great if you’re just starting out.
Virtual Summits Software is particularly good at taking the work out of managing speakers through its automated communications. And if you need fewer features for a lower cost, this one’s for you.
Virtual Summits Software offers three packages ranging from $36 per month to $226 per month. The main difference is that the pricier plans include customizable events and emails.
Unlike many other online event apps, vFairs focuses more on creating a virtual environment and an immersive event experience. This means attendees can engage with exhibit halls, auditoriums, and networking rooms in a virtual space like they would in the real world.
If you plan to have a large number of participants attending different sessions, vFairs' virtual environment features can engage them in between events. The interactive interface makes it easy for attendees to network and explore spaces.
But if you want to prioritize engagement during the event, Livestorm is a better option. With Livestorm, you get access to a wider range of in-summit interactive features, which can lead to a successful event.
vFairs offers tailored packages and doesn’t list pricing publicly. You'll need to provide contact details to get a custom quote.
HeySummit is an easy-to-use virtual summit platform with features for planning, running, marketing, and monetizing a virtual event. The only thing to be aware of is that it contains only limited branding options and engagement tools.
If you want to sell tickets and generate revenue through events, HeySummit is a great option. Plus, its marketing templates provide a useful base for brands just getting started with events, and the speaker directory may prove helpful while you try to build up industry contacts.
HeySummit offers four packages, including a free option for up to 250 attendees. Paid plans start at $33 per month, but you'd need to upgrade to the next tier ($66 per month) to remove the HeySummit branding.
Accelevents is a cloud-based virtual event platform that offers advanced analytics with data on audience segments. With this software, you can assign links to campaigns, channels, or team members to monitor the success of your virtual summits in more detail.
Though Accelevents has a bit of a steep learning curve, it’s great for larger marketing teams with more time to dedicate to the tool. Plus, the event data can help your team run a virtual summit that truly engages the audience.
Accelevents’ entry-level package starts at $5,000. For larger organizations hosting more frequent events, the Business or Enterprise package is better suited.
CrowdComms supports both in-person setup and remote attendee engagement, making it perfect for hybrid events. It’s also geared up for complex agendas, so you can split audiences and host simultaneous sessions at once.
If you’re trying to engage both on-site and remote attendees, CrowdComms could be a good choice. Features such as Q&A and live chat work across both the events app and the live-streaming platform to keep everyone connected.
CrowdComms doesn't have pricing information on its site. Instead, you have to get in touch with the sales team for a tailored quote.
EventsAir offers solutions for virtual, hybrid, and in-person events. With its 3D conference mode, organizers can remote attendees before the summit starts via virtual exhibition halls, video meeting software, and seamless branding.
If you regularly host large hybrid, virtual, and in-person events, EventsAir could be a great option. This platform combines all three event types, helping organizers maximize engagement. Bear in mind though, some users report that the software can be buggy and slow to set up.
EventsAir doesn't have pricing information on its site. Instead, you have to get in touch for a tailored quote.
Airmeet is a powerful virtual and hybrid event platform that makes it easy to collect and analyze advanced engagement data in reports or in real time. You can also manage the entire journey, from planning to following up with emails, inside the platform.
However, it’s important to note that Airmeet isn’t the most intuitive software to set up. Users report a steep learning curve.
Inside Airmeet, you’ll find:
Able to handle over 100,000 attendees, Airmeet is aimed at medium and large organizations running large-scale summits - especially if you want to encourage networking.
Airmeet offers a free package for up to 50 event attendees for 90 minutes, but this doesn’t include branding options. Other packages cost between $500 and $1,500 a month and enterprise companies are given custom quotes.
We’ve assessed each of the virtual summit platforms on our list by looking at the features that boost engagement and branding before, during, and after the event, including:
Ideally, you need to be able to engage your target audience before the event without losing hours sending out emails. The top virtual summit platforms include:
From the design of your registration forms to the appearance of your virtual meeting room, there are a number of opportunities to generate buzz for your organization at a virtual summit. A good platform allows you to create a cohesive experience that keeps your organization top of mind at every stage.
Virtual summits often feel fragmented and dominated by one speaker at a time. Designing an engaging virtual event means creating an immersive experience that mimics an in-person event. The top tools have the best features to encourage interaction.
High-level attendees may primarily attend virtual conferences and events for networking opportunities. The best solutions include breakout rooms and virtual booths where attendees can connect in a more personal environment.
Data is your secret weapon for driving engagement at future events So, you need a tool that can give you insights about attendance, replays, and other key engagement metrics. To curate this list, we looked at the level of data provided by each platform.
A virtual summit solution should be accessible and easy for everyone to navigate. The best virtual summit solutions have a smooth interface for organizers, speakers, and attendees alike.
Access these 6 email templates to drive attendance to your virtual events.
Choosing the right virtual summit platform comes down to weighing up functionality against costs. If you’re running a small-scale event with a few attendees, Microsoft Teams or Virtual Summit Software might be a good fit.
If, on the other hand, you’re looking for a solution that can boost your organization's visibility, engage growing numbers of attendees, and scale with you, look to Livestorm.
This all-in-one platform allows you to schedule reminders, engage participants with an immersive virtual experience, and then analyze success afterward. Plus, you can save time by managing summits alongside internal meetings, webinars, and other video-based events.
Host electrifying virtual summits with Livestorm.
Engage attendees, boost your brand, and make scheduling easy with an all-in-one solution.
A virtual summit is an event in which industry experts come together to discuss a certain topic. And a virtual summit platform is the software that allows this talk to be held. This means it will include a video livestreaming solution and it may also include event marketing features, engagement tools, networking spaces, and analytics.
Choosing which conference platform is right for you means considering the size of the events you want to hold and then weighing up which features will be useful to you. Livestorm is a great option for businesses of all sizes because it’s affordable, user-friendly, and allows you to use attendee engagement and branding features at scale. It also includes scheduling and data analytics tools.
The cost of virtual conference platforms varies depending on the features, number of attendees, and users, and length of meetings. Some platforms offer free basic versions, and others charge over $1,000 dollars per month. The average platform costs between $50 and $100 per month.
Virtual conference platforms give event organizers more control over planning and running their online events and help them to engage speakers while boosting branding. Livestorm, for example, offers scheduling software, customized room branding, and audience engagement features like polls, emoji reactions, and Q and A sessions.
To run a successful virtual summit, you need to:
Livestorm allows you to manage every stage of your virtual summit alongside other events in a centralized platform. Find the best date, engage speakers, and follow up with branded emails all in one place.
When hosting a virtual summit you need to look out for: