Online events known as webinars are a powerful tool for B2B marketing. Did you know that roughly 20-40% of those who attend are considered qualified leads and there’s a 2-5% chance they’ll become customers? While effective, planning a successful webinar can take weeks and be quite a challenging task to execute. Although webinar hosting platforms can help streamline the process, the sheer number of options available can feel overwhelming, especially for busy marketing professionals.

To simplify this process, we’ve put together a detailed guide of the top webinar platforms for marketers in 2020. This article will delve into the advantages and disadvantages of leading webinar software used by marketers to create engaging and high-quality online events. Here’s a sneak peek at what we’ll be covering:

1. GoToWebinar
2. BlueJeans Events
3. On24
4. Demio
5. WebinarNinja
6. EasyWebinar
7. WebinarJam
8. ClickMeeting
9. Zoom
10. Zoho Meeting
11. BigMarker
12. Livestorm Before we dive into the specifics of each platform, let’s outline some key features to consider when choosing the right webinar platform for your needs.

What Defines an Exceptional Webinar Platform?

Businesses leverage webinar software platforms for promotion, hosting, and production support, utilizing webinars as a marketing tool to engage and convert prospects. To make your content a success, it’s vital to consider the additional features that are essential. Understanding your specific requirements will enable you to identify which functionalities are universally offered and which ones are unique to certain platforms, ultimately guiding you towards the perfect webinar platform for your business. Most webinar service platforms share these common features:

• High-fidelity audio and visual experience
• Customizable webinar room with branding options
• Attendee management tools
• Screen sharing capabilities
• Interactive elements like Q&A sessions, polls, and chat rooms
• Marketing features (e.g., branded communication materials)
• Analytics and reporting dashboards Beyond these common features, most platforms differentiate themselves with unique functionalities. Keep your essential webinar requirements in mind as you explore the options below.

The Top 12 Webinar Platforms of 2020

Whether you’re a webinar expert or just starting out, delivering the best possible webinar presentation to your audience is crucial. Let’s explore some of the leading webinar platforms to help you identify the perfect fit for your audience and marketing goals.

Top Choice: GoToWebinar

Image source Every year, GoToWebinar facilitates over 2.7 million webinar series for a clientele of 50,000. Advantages: This platform makes it easy to produce a large volume of webinars using replicable templates and their Simulated Live feature, which allows marketers to schedule webinar recordings for different time zones. Additionally, it offers marketing support through GoToStage, a dedicated space for promoting your online event and generating leads. Disadvantages: GoToWebinar requires attendees to install software to access the content. Furthermore, attendee engagement opportunities are limited to polls and surveys, lacking unique features found in other platforms. Pricing: A GoToWebinar subscription costs between $59 and $499 per month, depending on the desired number of participants and channel pages. The Pro subscription, priced at $249 per month, offers the best value with support for up to 500 participants and access to pre-recorded webinar functionality.

Second Best: BlueJeans Events

Image source BlueJeans empowers businesses to create interactive webinars and webcasts for customers and prospects through its dedicated webinar tool, BlueJeans Events. Advantages: BlueJeans Events enables large-scale free webinar events with up to 150 presenters using different cameras. It integrates seamlessly with popular software like Marketo, Facebook Live, and Salesforce, and allows users to embed HTML code for hosting webinars directly on their websites. Disadvantages: BlueJeans started as an online meeting software, so it lacks some functionalities specific to dedicated webinar platforms, such as landing page personalization, advanced analytics, and unique attendee engagement features. Pricing: The platform uses a pay-per-webinar model, costing $499 per online event with up to 500 attendees. Enterprise plans with custom pricing are also available.

A Close Third: On24

Image source On24 is a platform that specializes in delivering engaging, data-rich, and interactive experiences through live, recorded, or hybrid webinars. Personalization is a key aspect of this particular tool. Advantages: On24 excels in its ability to create captivating webinar experiences with features like quizzes, polls, surveys, group chats, embedded Twitter feeds, and more. Disadvantages: On24 lacks built-in promotional marketing tools for driving registrations. Additionally, personalizing your webinar requires time and effort, making it unsuitable for users seeking a quick and simple setup process. Pricing: On24 provides customized pricing based on your specific needs, available upon request from a sales representative.

Fourth Place: Demio

Image source Demio is a budget-friendly webinar platform designed to provide a seamless experience for attendees. Advantages: Demio eliminates the need for attendees to download software, making it easily accessible. Its simple and intuitive interface supports various event types, including live events, event series, hybrid events, automated events, and recorded webinars. Disadvantages: Demio’s limited integration options are a significant drawback. While it offers a Zapier integration, only a handful of formal integrations for popular software platforms are available. Pricing: Demio’s pricing ranges from $49 to $239 per month, depending on the webinar size. The $239 per month plan allows for up to 500 attendees per webinar.

Fifth Place: WebinarNinja

Image source WebinarNinja prides itself on being the user-friendly webinar solution that customers have been seeking. Notable B2B companies like AppSumo, Baremetrics, and Podia rely on this marketing tool. Advantages: WebinarNinja’s key strength lies in its simplicity. This all-in-one webinar system can generate custom landing pages, attendee messaging, and a webinar template in under ten seconds. Additionally, it allows you to upload presentations directly and embed YouTube videos for a more engaging webinar experience. Disadvantages: WebinarNinja only offers forms for live webinars, excluding recurring events, and these forms have limited customization options. Adding extra fields to the registration form has proven difficult for some customers. Pricing: WebinarNinja subscriptions range from $49 to $249 per month, accommodating up to 1,000 attendees. The popular Pro plan, priced at $95 per month, allows up to 300 attendees per webinar.

Sixth Place: EasyWebinar

Image source EasyWebinar combines comprehensive marketing capabilities with unique interactive features to ensure effective lead generation for your business. Advantages: This platform boasts engagement tracking tools that monitor audience interaction with the presented content. Additionally, its EasyCast feature enables automatic connections to YouTube and Facebook Live. Disadvantages: The wide range of functions and features offered by EasyWebinar can initially be overwhelming for new users. Moreover, the platform lacks the ability to directly edit recorded webinars. Pricing: EasyWebinar plans range from $78 to $499 per month, supporting up to 2,000 live attendees. Their most popular option, the Pro plan at $129 per month, allows for unlimited webinars with up to 500 attendees each.

Seventh Place: WebinarJam

Image source WebinarJam is a cloud-based webinar marketing software designed for businesses anticipating a large audience. Advantages: The platform offers high-definition streaming compatible with most devices, promotional SMS reminders, and a unique Replica Replay function. This feature recreates the live webinar experience for recordings by replicating all conversations as they happened. Disadvantages: WebinarJam only allows for six simultaneous presenters and has a slightly more complex setup process than some competitors. Pricing: Geared towards larger audiences, WebinarJam plans range from $499 to $999 per month, accommodating up to 5,000 live attendees.

Eighth Place: ClickMeeting

Image source ClickMeeting is a versatile webinar software ideal for product demos, marketing presentations, online courses, meetings, and large online events. Advantages: ClickMeeting provides moderators with tools for seamless conversation control, including listen-only and discussion modes, as well as whiteboard functionality. Its dedicated webinar app facilitates easy access for attendees across various devices. Disadvantages: Some users have reported persistent technical issues and poor export quality. It’s recommended to leverage their free trial to thoroughly test the platform and its features. Pricing: ClickMeeting offers a cost-effective solution, starting from $25 to $45 per month for both live and automated webinars. Custom quotes are available for larger packages and events.

Ninth Place: Zoom

Image source Zoom transitioned from a popular video conferencing tool to a platform offering both live and on-demand virtual events. Advantages: Zoom’s familiarity and widespread use are major advantages. In 2020 alone, it reported over 200 million daily meeting participants. This platform excels in hosting large events with 100 to 10,000 view-only attendees and offers a unique virtual hand-raising feature for controlled audience engagement. Disadvantages: Primarily known for video conferencing, Zoom offers limited customization compared to dedicated webinar platforms, lacking features like whiteboards, embedded videos, and polls. Pricing: Zoom’s pricing ranges from $50 to $90 per month, supporting up to 1,000 meeting participants with one host. Enterprise plans are available for businesses looking to scale their webinar programs.

Tenth Place: Zoho Meeting

Image source Zoho Meeting is a webinar software extending the capabilities of the popular CRM, enabling businesses to connect with employees through training, meetings, and onboarding, as well as engage customers and prospects through webinars. Advantages: Zoho Meeting offers unique features like custom embeddable registration links and the ability to access and share recordings without registration. However, its seamless compatibility with the Zoho CRM is its most compelling feature. Disadvantages: Zoho Meeting’s starter plans offer basic features and reporting, requiring higher-tier subscriptions for advanced functionalities. Additionally, the absence of a desktop app may be a drawback for some users. Pricing: Zoho Meeting plans range from $19 to $79 per month, accommodating up to 250 attendees.

Eleventh Place: BigMarker

Image source BigMarker is a browser-based software utilized by major corporations like Google, Nielsen, McDonald’s, and Panasonic for hosting webinars, videos, and online summits. Advantages: BigMarker offers customizable branded video forms with interactive elements like polls, surveys, and offers that appear alongside the presentation. Users can seamlessly stream to Facebook and YouTube Live using multiple cameras simultaneously. Disadvantages: Scaling BigMarker can be expensive. Additionally, navigating the platform might not be intuitive for all attendees, depending on the webinar’s setup. Maintaining a balance between simplicity and engaging interactive elements is crucial to avoid overwhelming the audience. Pricing: BigMarker’s plans range from $79 to $299 per month, supporting up to 1,000 attendees. Enterprise plans with custom pricing are available upon request.

Twelfth Place: Livestorm

Image source Livestorm markets itself as a video communication tool for producing high-quality webinars that effectively engage prospects. Its quick and easy setup makes it ideal for time-sensitive projects. Advantages: This platform automates the creation of registration pages, reminders, and basic webinar infrastructure, simplifying the process from conception to execution. With nearly 30 integrations and trigger automations for playing videos or advancing slides after a specific duration, Livestorm offers both convenience and control. Disadvantages: Livestorm’s main drawback lies in the limited number of participants allowed in some of its lower-tier plans. Pricing: A free trial is available for exploring the platform’s features. The $99 per month plan allows up to 100 simultaneous participants per webinar.

Choosing the Right Webinar Platform for Your Needs

As with any software selection, the ideal webinar platform aligns with your specific objectives, budget, and overall strategy.

Best Options for Entrepreneurs

For those just starting out with webinars, consider budget-friendly options like Livestorm, BigMarker, or ClickMeeting.

Best Options for Startups

For businesses planning regular webinars, consider platforms designed for scalable webinar production like Demio, WebinarNinja, or EasyWebinar. If you’re already using the Zoho CRM, exploring their Zoho Meeting software might be a good option for maintaining a centralized system.

Best Options for Customization and Personalization

If your webinar marketing strategy prioritizes customization and personalization, On24 is worth exploring.

Best Options for Enterprise Companies

For larger-scale webinars, consider WebinarJam, GoToWebinar, or video conferencing software like Zoom or BlueJeans Events.

Take These Top Webinar Platforms for a Test Drive

When executed effectively and supported by the right software, webinar marketing can be a highly valuable channel for showcasing your industry expertise, expanding your audience, and attracting new customers. By carefully evaluating the pros, cons, and pricing of the webinar platforms discussed above, you can identify the perfect fit for your business needs and deliver successful, engaging webinars that resonate with your target audience.