Crowdcast vs Microsoft Teams: which webinar software is right for you?

Crowdcast, as well as Microsoft Teams, can be easily accessed from a desktop browser and through mobile devices.

Promoting content and reaching audiences is easy with Crowdcast due to its smart link feature, which gives many different promotional documents the same URL. Microsoft Teams, by contrast, does not offer the same range of promotional tools typically found in other webinar solutions. Its primary solution would be its customizable landing pages, which still have strong Microsoft branding.

One of Crowdcast’s best tools is a multi-streaming feature that lets users share one event to multiple channels. Microsoft Teams has a useful chat function that allows guests to communicate. With that said, neither platform has a private chat for event hosts and moderators only.

Lastly, while Crowdcast offers a useful analytics tool, there is no data enrichment for it. Microsoft Teams offers a similar analytics tool, but it is not built into the product, which may frustrate some users.

Some of the most popular integration options available within Crowdcast include Stripe and ConvertKit. Microsoft Teams users, meanwhile, can integrate the platform with tools like Trello and Salesforce, though it should be noted that this will usually cost an additional fee.

Crowdcast offers no API at this time, meaning that developers will not be able to create their own custom integrations for the platform. Microsoft Teams, for its part, offers a Teams API which developers can use to automate team lifecycles, manage multiple channels, deploy apps to teams, and more.

There is no public SDK option available for Crowdcast, either. On the bright side, Microsoft Teams does offer a JavaScript SDK that helps developers create hosted experiences, mainly for its Tabs and Task modules.

Finally, Crowdcast does not have an App Marketplace which displays its plugin and integration options. Microsoft Teams does have an integration marketplace, as well as a developer hub called the Dev Center.

Crowdcast has no free plan option but does offer a convenient free two-week trial. Microsoft Teams offers a free plan which is limited to meetings.

The lowest-priced Crowdcast plan is the Starter plan, which supports as many as 50 participants for $29 per month. Microsoft Teams’ cheapest plan is 365 Business Basic, which costs $5 per month per user and bundles Microsoft Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, and Sharepoint.

Crowdcast currently offers two plans for small businesses, the Lite plan, at $49 per month, and the Pro plan, at $90 per month. Lite supports up to 100 participants, while Pro supports up to 250. Microsoft Teams does not offer a similar product in this tier.

Crowdcast also offers a plan for large enterprises, called Business, for $195 a month. This plan supports up to 1000 live attendees and boasts many other features. Microsoft Teams also has an enterprise solution, the Microsoft 365 Business Standard, which bundles over 10 Microsoft products for $12.50 per user per month.