Zoom vs Microsoft Teams: which is best for webinars?

Compare Zoom and Microsoft Teams on features, integrations and pricing. Every claim is checked against each vendor's website, pricing and help pages, plus G2 and Capterra reviews.

Key Takeaways

Zoom is a video platform with dedicated webinar and events products for external audiences, while Microsoft Teams is the Microsoft 365 hub that runs webinars and town halls for internal teams.

Zoom Webinars reaches up to 50,000 attendees per session, priced by attendee tier on top of a Zoom Workplace license. Teams events allow up to 3,000 attendees with chat, polls and Q&A, and since April 1, 2026 its advanced webinar features come with Teams Enterprise at no extra cost.

  • Choose Zoom if you run frequent external webinars or large virtual events that scale to tens of thousands of attendees.
  • Choose Microsoft Teams if most of your events are internal and you already pay for Microsoft 365.

Zoom vs Microsoft Teams at a glance

Where each platform is strong, and where it falls short.

Zoom

Teams already on Zoom

  • Zoom Events adds a lobby, ticketing and networking

  • Polls, Q&A, reactions and registration for broadcasts

  • Attendee-tier pricing, cheaper on annual billing

  • Costs climb with each attendee tier

  • CRM links via App Marketplace, not native marketing workflows

  • Custom webinar branding reserved for higher tiers

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft 365 meetings

  • Advanced webinar features in Teams Enterprise since April 2026

  • Direct links to Outlook, PowerPoint Live and Dynamics 365

  • Custom event emails, waitlists and registration approvals

  • No standalone webinar product, runs inside Teams

  • Advanced branding and meeting protection need Teams Premium

  • Per-user Microsoft 365 pricing, less value on other stacks

Zoom vs Microsoft Teams: Features Deep Dive

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Webinar software comparison: Zoom vs Microsoft Teams

Zoom vs Microsoft Teams: key differences

The short answer: Zoom sells large events as dedicated products for external audiences, while Microsoft Teams runs events inside its collaboration suite.

  • Capacity and reporting: Zoom Webinars reaches up to 50,000 attendees per session, with webinar analytics geared to lead-focused events. Teams supports 1,000 fully interactive attendees, 3,000 with chat, polls and Q&A, and 10,000 view-only, reaching 100,000 only with a paid Attendee Capacity Pack, and offers attendance reports, event insights and eCDN analytics (as of September 2026).
  • CRM and productivity apps: Zoom links to common calendars, CRM and marketing tools through its App Marketplace, which suits non-Microsoft stacks. Teams connects directly to Dynamics 365, Outlook, PowerPoint Live, SharePoint and OneDrive, so event data stays inside Microsoft 365.

Why it matters: Zoom scales cleanly to tens of thousands of attendees, while Teams needs an add-on to go past 10,000. Neither is built primarily as a marketing-webinar engine, so buyers who need native CRM workflows often evaluate a specialized webinar platform as well.

Zoom vs Microsoft Teams: pricing

The short answer: Zoom charges by attendee tier on top of a Workplace license, while Microsoft Teams is priced per user inside Microsoft 365.

Which is cheaper for you: On eligible Microsoft 365 E-tier licenses, Teams events add no extra cost until you need the Attendee Capacity Pack.

Prices as of September 2026. Livestorm is shown as an alternative that charges only for the attendees who join (see Livestorm pricing).

PricingZoomMicrosoft TeamsLivestorm
What you pay forAudience capacity, plus a Zoom Workplace Pro licenseMicrosoft 365 user licenses; Teams Premium adds advanced brandingAttendees who actually join
Entry priceZoom Webinars: $66.67/month billed annually ($89 monthly)Webinars from Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $14 per user/month, paid yearly$3.00 per attendee (400-credit annual pack)
Larger audiencesCapacity tiers from 300 to 50,000 attendees; Zoom Events from $124.17/month billed annuallyBusiness Premium at $22 per user/month; town halls up to 10,000 viewers, more with the paid Attendee Capacity PackLower price per attendee on bigger packs, up to 3,000 live attendees per event, custom Enterprise plan
No-shows and team membersYou pay for the full capacity tier, whoever shows upAttendees are free; you pay for every licensed userNot counted

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Zoom and Microsoft Teams?

Zoom is a video platform with dedicated webinar and events products that scale to large external audiences. Microsoft Teams is a collaboration hub inside Microsoft 365 that runs webinars and town halls per user, and is strongest for internal events.

How much do Zoom and Microsoft Teams cost?

Zoom Webinars and Events are attendee-tier add-ons on a Zoom Workplace license, while Teams webinars are included in eligible Microsoft 365 E-tier licenses priced per user. Prices change often, so confirm current figures with each vendor (as of September 2026).

Did Microsoft change Teams webinar licensing in 2026?

Yes. On April 1, 2026, advanced webinar and town hall features moved from Teams Premium into Teams Enterprise, while Premium still covers advanced meeting protection, branding and personalization.

Do I need a Zoom Workplace license to run Zoom Webinars?

Yes. Zoom Webinars and Zoom Events are paid add-ons that require a Zoom Workplace base license, while Teams webinars run under your Microsoft 365 licenses.

What is a good alternative to Zoom and Microsoft Teams for marketing webinars?

Livestorm is browser-based, hosts up to 3,000 live attendees and costs $3.00 per attendee on its entry pack (as of September 2026), with native HubSpot sync on Pro and Salesforce on Enterprise.

Why teams choose Livestorm

Run your marketing webinars from one all-in-one platform

Plan, promote, host and analyze your webinars in one place. Build branded registration pages, send automated reminder and follow-up emails, and engage attendees with polls, Q&A and live CTAs, with no extra tools.

After the event, attendance and engagement data flow to your CRM, and AI Studio turns replays into short clips for your social channels.

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Run webinars right in your browser

Livestorm runs straight from the browser on any desktop or mobile device, so your audience can join from anywhere without downloading or installing anything.

Removing that extra step helps attendance: on Livestorm, 47.7% of registrants show up live on average (2026 Webinar Benchmark Report, 33,786 webinars analyzed).

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Get more from every webinar with AI

Connect Livestorm to Claude with its verified connector, or to any AI agent that supports MCP, to create events, register attendees and analyze engagement in plain language.

Add-ons take it further: AI Studio turns every replay into short clips, and live translations show real-time AI subtitles in your attendees' language.

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