13 of the best webinar platforms that will captivate your audience

What can webinar software platforms do for your business?

Webinar platforms are incredibly powerful tools that allow businesses to conduct live, interactive online events and engage with their audience in real time. Some of the typical features of webinar tools include screen sharing, live chat, Q&A, and audience polls, all of which can be used to communicate with and engage your audience to build rapport and provide valuable information to the audience. 

Beyond real-time engagement with your audience, webinar software and platforms provide functionality for recording and repurposing content, allowing businesses to extend the value of each session past the live event. Recorded webinars can be shared with attendees who were not able to attend the live event, utilized as training resources, or repurposed for marketing campaigns. 

Some webinar platforms offer advanced analytics as well, allowing you to track engagement metrics like how many attendees participated, how many questions were asked, how long viewers watched the session, and where they dropped off. This information can be used to enhance future webinars and refine your marketing and sales strategies. 

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Tips for choosing the right webinar platform

Before we dive into the best webinar software platforms, let’s review some important features to look for and other considerations to think about when choosing a webinar software solution.

• Ease of use. The platform should have an easy-to-navigate interface for both hosts and participants. A user-friendly setup process can save time and reduce technical issues as well. 
• Custom branding options. Choose a webinar solution that enables you to customize the webinars with your logos, colors, and brand style. Customizable registration forms can also be handy, particularly for businesses that need to collect specific information about attendees to assess whether they’re a viable lead.
• Built-in webinar production and management studio. Look for a webinar solution that provides a built-in studio for setting up and managing your webinars. With all your settings and controls in a central dashboard, you can focus on delivering an engaging presentation. 
• High-quality video streaming. Choose a webinar platform that supports high-definition video and clear, reliable audio to provide the best experience for your audience. Some webinar software tools use adaptive bitrate technology, which provides the highest-quality video possible based on the viewer’s network conditions. 
• Tools for editing and repurposing webinar content. By having built-in video editing capabilities and repurpose your webinar content — whether that be for short clips shared on social media, highlight reels, or making webinar recordings available for on-demand viewing after the fact — you can make sure that you get the most bang for your buck out of each webinar you host.
• Webinar presentation templates. Webinar presentation templates help you get started quickly and save time compared to starting from scratch. 
• Integration with third-party apps. Look for a webinar platform that integrates with other tools you’re already using, such as your CRM and other marketing tools. These integrations allow your apps to share data seamlessly, including information about attendees, analytics, and more. 
• Audience engagement tools. Engagement is the key to a successful webinar. Choose a webinar software platform that allows you to run polls, hold Q&A sessions, provide live chat, and other tools that allow your viewers to be active participants. 
• Webinar analytics. Webinar analytics provide valuable insights on viewer behavior, such as total viewers, how long attendees watched and where they dropped off, and engagement in Q&A, polls, chat, and other interactive elements that you can use to continuously refine and improve your webinars over time. 
• AI-powered capabilities. Look for a webinar platform that offers time-saving AI-powered features including automatic transcripts, translation, captions and chaptering, and even the ability to create highlight reels of your best clips in seconds. There are even some webinar platforms that feature automatic script writing and built-in teleprompters to help you stay on task.

Top webinar sites: A side-by-side comparison

Check out the key features of each webinar platform side-by-side in our comparison chart so you can quickly determine what platform offers the pricing and functionality you’re looking for. 

13 of the best webinar platforms online

Vimeo is one of the best webinar platforms available, especially for businesses and creators who are looking for a comprehensive platform that can help you take your video strategy beyond webinars, with content repurposing tools, advanced video editing capabilities, and all the features you need to manage an effective video strategy from end to end. Of course, different users have different requirements, and webinar platforms are not one-size-fits-all. Let’s take a look at 13 of the top webinar platforms — along with their pros and cons — so you can choose the best one for your needs. 

1. Vimeo webinar platform

Vimeo’s webinar platform offers a robust suite of tools for producing, managing, and repurposing webinars and other types of virtual events. With Vimeo, you can create branded webinars, embed a customized webinar player on your website, and even simulcast your sessions to social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, X, and more. When your webinar session is over, Vimeo is just getting started with a plethora of video editing and AI tools that allow you to easily trim and crop your recordings, add text overlays, add graphics, and other elements, create highlight reels, create short clips for social media, re-use segments for online courses or training and onboarding programs, and much more. Vimeo also supports live streaming.

Pros

• Host live online events, pre-recorded webinars, or hybrid webinars
• High-quality, reliable streaming (up to 4K and 8K) with adaptive bitrate technology
• Webinar presentation templates
• Tools for repurposing your webinar content
• AI video script writer 
• Built-in teleprompter
• Automatic highlight reels 
• Seamless integrations with your CRM, marketing platforms, and other apps
• Audience engagement tools like polls and Q&A 
• Advanced editing tools
• Embeddable, customizable player
• Comprehensive analytics dashboard
• Video library to organize and re-use your webinars 
• Screen sharing and recording 
• Simulcast to social media platforms

Cons

• Storage limits (based on plan)
• Some features may only be available on higher-tier plans
• Video upload limits (based on plan) 

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2. Zoom webinar platform 

Zoom is a versatile platform designed for online meetings and webinars. It’s a scalable solution that allows you to feature multiple speakers or presenters and reach a large number of attendees — up to 1 million view-only attendees, depending on your plan. Like Vimeo, Zoom offers a number of audience engagement tools, such as live chat, surveys, and a whiteboard, and you can also hold multi-track and multi-day events for up to 5 days. 

Pros 

• Customizable registration page and emails 
• Can have an audience up to 1 million view-only attendees (based on plan)
• Webinar analytics
• Simulcast to up to 3 different services
• Automatically generated summaries, highlights, and next steps
• AI-powered chat summaries
• Automatically generated descriptions, speaker bios, and lobby announcements
• Screen sharing and recording
• Video library 

Cons

• Limited video editing capabilities 
• No built-in marketing and distribution capabilities
• Some features are only available on higher-tier plans
• Maximum video quality is 1080p (no 4K or 8K)

3. Microsoft Teams platform

Microsoft Teams is a comprehensive platform designed for team collaboration. It’s used by businesses for all types of communication, from VOIP to 1:1 and group chats and 1:many presentations like webinars. While it has a lot of things going for it, the platform focuses on meetings and 1:1 interactions, and that’s clear when you dig into its features. It has no video editing capabilities and limited options for sharing videos externally — they’re not embeddable on external websites, for instance. Microsoft Teams does offer audience engagement tools and AI capabilities such as live translation and automatic transcripts and summaries with actionable next steps. 

Pros

• Automatic closed captions and summaries 
• Up to 20 external presenters, unlimited presenters from your organization
• Analytics dashboard
• Video library 
• Town halls can be up to 30 hours long (4-hour limit for webinars) 
• Automatic transcription and summaries with suggested action items
• Automatic captions and chapters 
• Live translation
• Up to 1,000 attendees 

Cons

• Limited capabilities for external video sharing (no support for embedding on external sites)
• Maximum video quality is 720p for live events, 1080p for 1:1 and meetings
• No script writer or teleprompter 
• Most AI features require a separate software license for Copilot 
• No video editing capabilities 

4. Webex platform

Webex is a robust platform for hosting large-scale webinars and other types of virtual events. It offers tools for monetizing your webinars, including the ability to create multiple types of tickets, set different pricing tiers, and offer discount codes and group discounts. The ability to create a customized event app and build a virtual community helps businesses engage attendees before and after webinars, as well. On the downside, it offers limited video editing options, and it uses a proprietary video format (.wrf) that makes it trickier to export videos for editing or distributing with other tools. Additionally, Vimeo integrates with Webex, so you can automatically upload your Webex recordings to Vimeo, saving you the hassle of converting video file formats.

Pros

• Up to 100,000 attendees
• Simulcasting to social media platforms
• Real-time translation in 100+ languages
• Screen recording and sharing
• Supports multi-track events
• Supports multiple ticket types, prices, discount codes, and group discounts
• Virtual communities to boost engagement pre- and post-webinar
• Real-time analytics 
• Customizable event apps
• Stage and content management
• Audience engagement tools like Q&A, emoji reactions, and chat 

Cons

•  Limited video editing options 
• Webex Events is only available with select Enterprise plans
• Proprietary Webex video format 

5. Cvent webinar platform

Similar to Webex, Cvent specializes in large-scale webinars and corporate events with features such as attendee networking, virtual booths, backstage collaboration, and the ability to create communities for further attendee engagement. However, customization options are somewhat limited. With limited documentation and support resources, users may need to figure things out on their own.   

Pros 

• Up to 1,000 attendees on Pro plan, up to 5,000 on Premium plan 
• Webinars can last up to 24 hours
• Create Attendee Hubs to build communities 
• AI Writing Assistant aids in generating descriptions, emails, comments, and content for event websites and mobile event apps
• Automatically generates session summaries
• Audience engagement tools like live chat, reactions, Q&A, polls, upvoting, and surveys
• AI-powered networking recommendations
• AI can connect attendees with appointments, discussion groups, gamification, and more 
• Incorporate your branding
• Multiple speaker and content layouts  
• Analytics 
• Virtual booths
• Integrations with third-party tools like CRMs 
• On-demand content library 

Cons

• Limited documentation and support resources
• Limited customization options
• Must request a quote for pricing 

6. On24 webinar platform

On24 is a webinar and virtual events platform with a heavy emphasis on engagement and lead nurturing. It has more than 20 conversion and engagement tools, from live chat and polling to breakout sessions, networking lounges, exhibit halls and sponsor areas, and personalized audience content hubs. On24 also has AI-powered copywriting tools that can automatically generate ebooks, blogs, and other types of content for repurposing your webinar content. 

Pros

• Incorporate your branding 
• Comprehensive analytics
• Customizable landing pages and form builders
• Sharing and distribution tools
• Multi-session webinars
• Breakout sessions
• Attendee networking
• Exhibit halls and sponsor areas
• Green room for presenters to rehearse
• CRM integrations
• Generative AI tools for copywriting 
• Automatically generate ebooks, blogs, and other content 

Cons

• Does not support simulcasting to social media platforms
• Costly for larger audiences
• Complex onboarding flow 

7. GoToWebinar platform

GoToWebinar is one of the most widely known webinar platforms and offers features such as a video library, webinar templates, audience engagement tools, engagement analytics, and the ability to host multi-day, multi-session events. However, the attendee limits are relatively low, with a maximum of 3,000 attendees even on Enterprise plans, and it lacks the advanced video editing tools that webinar platforms like Vimeo offer.   

Pros

• Screen sharing and recording
• Join or present from desktop, phone, or tablet
• Polls, Q&A, live chat, surveys, and handouts
• Webinar analytics
• Pre-recorded live events
• Video library 
• Customizable registration forms and emails 

Cons

• Low attendee limits 
• Breakout rooms available only for live events hosted via the GoTo app
• Limited video editing tools
• Simulcasting available only via RTMP connections 

8. Airmeet webinar platform

Like On24 and Hopin, Airmeet is a webinar platform that focuses on personalized attendee engagement. It offers advanced networking features, such as speed networking with matchmaking criteria, virtual tables for group discussions, and 1:1 meetings. Users can create branded event experiences with customizable landing pages, reception banners, stage backdrops, sponsor booth designs, and more. It has some AI-powered capabilities for generating titles and descriptions, and while it does offer some editing capabilities, they’re limited in comparison to webinar platforms like Vimeo. 

Pros

• Scalable for hosting larger events
• Robust attendee engagement tools
• Speed networking with matchmaking criteria and virtual tables
• Comprehensive event analytics
• Customizable stage layouts
• Intuitive event dashboard  

Cons

• Limited editing capabilities
• Video quality limited to 720p or 1080p (no 4K or 8K)
• Costly 

9. Kaltura webinar platform

Kaltura is a webinar platform designed for educators, with features like a dedicated virtual classroom with digital whiteboards and group chats. Like Vimeo, Kaltura offers a variety of tools for video content management, collaboration, and analytics. It does support live streaming, although it doesn’t have a built-in recording studio with an AI-powered script generator and teleprompter. Its AI capabilities include live Q&A, AI session moderation, live or scheduled polls, reactions and timed confetti, and live translation, among others.

Pros

• Supports live streaming
• Supports video up to 4K HD, as well as 360 and custom resolutions
• Video privacy settings 
• Integrations with third-party tools
• Dedicated virtual classroom
• Live translation

Cons

• No AI-powered script writer or teleprompter
• Custom integrations require a large investment and technical work
• 1,000 attendee limit on Business plan
• Costly 

10. Goldcast webinar platform 

Like Vimeo, Goldcast is a webinar and virtual event platform that offers tools for repurposing your webinar content. You can host live, pre-recorded, or hybrid events, and Goldcast also provides some video editing features such as video overlays, virtual backgrounds, and a drag-and-drop video editor.  

Pros

• Tools for repurposing your webinar content
• Live, pre-recorded, or hybrid webinars 
• Drag-and-drop video editor
• Up to 50 concurrent speakers
• Breakout rooms
• 1:1 and group chat
• Polls and Q&A 
• Video chat
• Unlimited webinar duration
• Screen recording 
• Simulcast to social media sites 
• Automatic calendar blocks and email reminders
• Language translation and subtitles

Cons

• Stream quality up to 1080p (no 4K or 8K)
• Some features not available in Starter plan 
• Yearly limits on video processing hours
• Events limited to 90 minutes on Starter and Pro plans

11. Wistia webinar platform

Wistia is a webinar platform that offers detailed analytics, a customizable video player, and tools for lead generation. While you can have unlimited panelists, inputs are limited to 4 streams during your webinars. There are also low attendee limits, and your webinar duration is limited to 2 hours. 

Pros

• Embedded lead capture and CTAs
• Unlimited panelists (4 stream input limit during events)
• Dual-stream recording
• Ad-free video player
• Lead generation tools 

Cons

• Limited video storage
• Simulcasting limited to 5 locations 
• Low attendee limits
• Limited webinar duration 

12. Hubilo webinar platform

Hubilo focuses heavily on lead generation, with tools like a landing page builder and the ability to gate your content with lead-gen forms. You can also host pre-recorded live events, and Hubilo provides tools for automatically creating various assets for repurposing your webinar content, such as e-books, blogs, surveys and feedback forms, and infographics. These assets are housed in a “Snackable Content Hub” immediately after your webinar. On the downside, you need an Enterprise plan to host multi-day, multi-session events and to create breakout rooms during your webinars.   

Pros

• AI-powered creation of 40+ assets to repurpose your webinar content
• Snackable Content Hub to continue generating leads post-webinar
• Polls and Q&A
• Live chat and reactions
• Conversion prompts for lead generation
• In-event meeting scheduler (Webinar Multiply plan required)
• Video library (Webinar Multiply plan required) 
• Webinar analytics 

Cons

• Features limited on lower-tier plans
• 3-hour webinar duration limit
• Broadcasting up to 1080p (no 4K or 8K)
• Cannot embed a live video player on your website

13. RingCentral Events (formerly Hopin)

Hopin, acquired by RingCentral, was a webinar and virtual event platform that emphasizes attendee engagement. Now known as RingCentral Events, their key features aim to create a similar experience to in-person events, such as a reception area, break-out sessions, a networking area, and an expo similar to the virtual booths offered by other platforms. It also allows users to plan and manage virtual, in-person, and hybrid events. However, pricing is scaled based on the number of attendees, so it can be quite costly for small businesses that want to reach a larger audience. 

Pros

• Plan virtual, hybrid, and on-site events 
• Up to 100,000 attendees
• Reception area with event summary, speaker bios, event schedule, and sponsor information 
• Custom branding 
• Multi-session events 
• Attendee networking with random matching
• Expo area for vendors
• Audience engagement tools like live chat and Q&A 
• Integration with third-party apps 
• Event reporting and analytics 

Cons

• Scaled pricing based on attendees, can be costly for large audiences  
• No tools for repurposing webinars 
• Login and registration can be complex  

Webinar software FAQ:

How do I host a webinar? 

To host a webinar, choose a reliable platform (like Vimeo, Zoom, or Webex), plan your content and presentation, schedule the event, send invitations to your target audience, and ensure you have a stable internet connection. On the day of the webinar, manage attendees, engage them with interactive features like Q&A, and record the session for future reference.

How many attendees is good for a webinar?

The ideal number of attendees varies depending on your goals. For an interactive session, 100-500 attendees can allow for meaningful engagement. For larger events, consider focusing more on content delivery, as it may be harder to manage audience interaction.

Is a two-hour webinar too long?  

A two-hour webinar is on the longer side, but it can work if the content is engaging, well-structured, and includes breaks. Consider splitting long sessions into shorter segments or including interactive elements to keep attendees engaged.

How do I host a webinar for free? 

Some webinar platforms offer limited free plans that allow you to host a webinar for free. However, the attendee limit is typically quite low, and access to features will likely be limited as well. 

How much does it cost to host a webinar? 

The cost of hosting a webinar can range from free to several hundred dollars, depending on the platform and features you need. Paid plans typically offer advanced features like larger attendee limits, better interactivity tools, and custom branding. Prices can start around $5 to $50 per month or more for basic paid services. That said, some webinar platforms offer a free tier with basic functionality, which may be suitable for some users. 

Conclusion: Which platform for webinars is best for you?

When choosing the ideal webinar platform, Vimeo stands out as a top choice for businesses and creators aiming for high-quality video production, advanced engagement features, and comprehensive post-webinar content repurposing. Unlike many competitors, Vimeo's seamless integration of AI-powered tools for video editing, such as automatic highlight reels, transcriptions, and scriptwriting, sets it apart in delivering a professional, polished experience.

In addition to these advanced features, Vimeo supports 4K and 8K streaming with adaptive bitrate technology, ensuring a superior viewing experience even for large, global audiences. The ability to host live, pre-recorded, and hybrid webinars, combined with customizable branding options and integration with CRM systems, enhances its flexibility for businesses looking to engage deeply with their audience. 

Moreover, Vimeo's robust analytics dashboard provides valuable insights into viewer behavior, which helps businesses refine future webinars and enhance their marketing strategies. If your goal is to host high-quality webinars and leverage them as part of a larger content strategy, Vimeo offers an unmatched combination of features for content creation, management, and audience engagement. 

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