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

The Webex platform can be accessed via a browser and through a mobile app. This is also the case for Microsoft Teams.

Webex customers can promote their webinars with customizable emails, registration forms, and registration pages. These don't have built-in social sharing buttons. Microsoft Teams users also benefit from landing pages. While customizable, these still have a prominent Microsoft branding.

Some of Webex's best activation features are chat boxes, emoji reactions, and polls. However, the lack of a question upvote tool may prevent hosts from knowing which questions should be answered first. Microsoft Teams offers a wide suite of engagement tools, such as a chat function for guests, but hosts have no private chat, which makes managing a webinar more difficult.

Finally, Webex offers a robust analytics tool, but it is not built into the product, meaning that report data must be exported elsewhere. None of Microsoft Teams plans have SAML SSO.

Many native integrations are available for Webex, including Salesforce, Facebook Workplace, and Google Workspace. Microsoft Teams can also be easily integrated with tools like Trello, Mural, and Salesforce, although many integrations will cost users an additional fee.

Those with more unique needs may enjoy Webex’s REST API, which enables communication with RESTful web services, and therefore supports the creation of custom applications. Microsoft Teams provides an API, as well, which can be used to automate team lifecycles, manage multiple channels, and more.

Webex also allows developers to create custom widgets and plugins for the product via a public SDK. Microsoft Teams users can access a JavaScript SDK, which they can use to enhance the in-room Teams experience.

All of Webex’s available apps and integrations can be viewed in its well-organized App Hub. Microsoft Teams also has a useful integration marketplace, as well as a developer hub called the Dev Center designed to support innovation.

Cisco's Webex and Microsoft Teams both offer a free plan. Webex's free plan option, Basic, supports meetings with up to 100 attendees. Microsoft Teams' free plan (which is simply called "Microsoft Teams") supports up to three participants.

The most affordable plan option for Webex is the Business option. This plan gives users premium meeting and calling capabilities for $25 per month. The most similar Microsoft Teams plan is its 365 Business Basic option, which bundles meeting and calling with four Microsoft products for $5 a month. The four products are Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Exchange.

Neither Webex nor Microsoft Teams offer a "medium" tier product in-between its more affordable business plans and large enterprise plans.

Webex's enterprise plan, designed for large businesses, can be custom-assembled from various features. The price is unlisted. Microsoft Team's enterprise plan, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, bundles over 10 Microsoft products, including Teams, for $12.50 per month.