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You may use Zoom for your online meetings, but is it the best solution for hosting webinars?
While Zoom offers many effective features, its webinar functionalities can sometimes be limited. Fortunately, many alternatives are available for producing high-quality webinar events. The question is which Zoom webinar alternative is best for your needs.
You’ve come to the right place! We’re recommending 5 of our favorite Zoom alternatives and explaining what makes them so powerful.
Zoom webinar key features
Using Zoom’s webinar tools, users can access a wide range of valuable features. Zoom webinars allow you to easily share video and audio content while also facilitating viewer engagement and native recording options.
Zoom’s Webinar plan shouldn’t be confused with their Meetings or Events plan, although all can technically be used for webinars.
Let’s take a look at these plans and their key features:
Zoom meetings
In the wake of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Zoom has become a market leader for remote workers. Zoom meetings provide a digital platform for real-time connection alongside other key features, including:
Video and audio conferencing
Zoom meetings support video and audio conferencing. Users can capture clear sound and video, offering a strong alternative to in-person communication. Meetings also offer conferencing and communication tools, including an in-built chat box.
Built-in recording tools
Zoom lets you record high-resolution video and audio content from your meeting in real-time. Recorded Zoom meetings can be saved directly to your device or stored in the Cloud.
Screen-sharing capacity
Along with video and audio, you can share your screen on Zoom. Share your whole screen view or a single tab to help your audience follow along.
Interactive tools
Zoom meeting, webinar and event plans include interactive polls and Q&A options that helps attendees engage directly. You can also use the whiteboard feature with your own annotations.
And if you want to create groups around a task or topic, then Zoom offers you breakout rooms so you can easily split your attendees.
Zoom webinars
You’ll find all the Zoom Meeting plan features here, along with a few extra benefits. This plan caters larger online events where you’ll need more participant controls.
Larger audience
Zoom webinars are for mass communication, offering capacity for up to 10,000 attendees and 100 panelists, depending on your plan. Zoom webinar plans start at $966/year for a maximum of 500 attendees.
Performance reporting
With Zoom webinars, you’ll even have access to post-event performance reports, helping you track success. You can learn from past webinars and enhance your ongoing strategy.
Webinar roles
Unlike Zoom Meetings, not all participants have the same controls and access to features. You’ll be able to assign a host and co-hosts as usual, but you can also assign panelists separately from your attendees.
While the host have full control, the panelists are able to speak and share their screen and video to cover their part of the webinar. Attendees are more observers and can’t turn on their mic or video on their own.
Zoom events
Zoom events are part of a comprehensive virtual event delivery platform. These events can support up to 3,000 attendees with the highest subscription. Zoom events plans start at $2,070 / year for a maximum of 100 participants.
Multi-session tools
With Zoom events, you can access multi-session tools. These allow you to host multiple simultaneous event sessions that amplify your virtual communication impact.
Ticketing features
Zoom events also support ticketing features. These tools make oit easy to control audience sizes and even apply pricing models as needed for your event.
Sponsorships and networking
As a Zoom event subscriber, you’ll have access to a range of sponsorship options and profile-based networking opportunities. These help you maximize return on investment and build your professional community.
AI companion
Zoom is on top of adopting AI into their software. The AI companion is available for events and other paid plans.
It can create meeting summaries, generate descriptions for your event, and generate images for your event emails. You can also use it to help you with messaging, catching up on a meeting and more!
The best choice for webinars
Is Zoom the best choice for high-quality webinars? While Zoom is a popular choice for webinars, it certainly isn’t your only option. Many other webinar platforms exist, offering unique features and additional controls.
Some top Zoom webinar alternatives include valuable extras, from studio-quality recording and editing to AI-powered content creation options.
If you want to choose the right software for your webinar, it’s important to explore a variety of options as thoroughly as possible. This can help you make an informed decision that sets your brand – and event – up for success.
5 best Zoom webinar alternatives for seamless top-quality events
Feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of selecting a good alternative to Zoom webinar software? Here are 5 of our top recommendations to get you started!
Riverside
Price: From $24 / month
Audience limit: Up to 1,000 live viewers
Recording: Yes
Rating: 4.8 out of 5
Riverside is a professional-quality yet beginner-friendly video creation platform! The platform supports a range of webinar features.
You can livestream to multiple platforms simultaneously or host an audience of 1000 people directly on Riverside. Get your audience engaged with live call-ins, where you can interact with them in real-time.
Share presentation slides and capture them in high quality. All video, audio, slides, and screenshares are recorded on separate tracks for more editing flexibility. You can record up to 4K video, so if you want to repurpose your webinar, it’ll be in top-notch resolution.
After recording try our AI tools for quick and simple touching up. Our editor works with text-based editing and has a color-coded timeline for easy trimming and mixing. Customize your layout, add captions, and any text or media.
Finish off by grabbing AI-generated clips of key moments from your webinar. And, get key takeaways, summaries and SEO-relevant keywords with our AI summary generator.
Key features:
- Studio quality: Up to 4K video resolution and 48kHz sound quality.
- Live streaming and multi-streaming: Stream to YouTube, Twitter, or any custom RTMP.
- Live audience call-ins: Invite your audience to talk to you in real-time.
- Teleprompter: Upload and follow your own script so you can easily keep on track.
- Presentation recorder: Share your slides and capture them in high-quality.
- Local recording: Record directly on each person’s device instead of relying on your internet connection.
- AI show notes: Get your recordings’ key takeaways, summary and description straight after recording.
- Separate tracks: Download separate audio, video and screen shares for up to 8 call-in participants.
- AI transcriptions: Highly accurate automatic transcriptions available in over 100 languages.
- AI editor: Edit your video in less time with our text-based video editing, an intuitive timeline, and AI streamlining tools.
- Magic Clips AI: Turn your webinar’s highlights into short, shareable clips, all at the tap of a button.
Riverside vs Zoom
- Riverside delivers studio-quality local recording, whereas Zoom may be prone to pixelation or cackling audio, relying on cloud-based recording.
- Riverside offers built-in editing functionality with seamless AI tools, while Zoom requires users to find an external editing program.
- Riverside is for live streaming and easy content repurposing, where Zoom tends to favor live broadcast viewers.
Demio
Price: From $184 to $734 / month
Audience limit: From 150 to 3,000, depending on plan
Recording: Yes
Rating: 4.6 out of 5
Demio is made for webinar hosting, providing a variety of impactful features and controls. The platform boasts high conversion rates of up to 60% and offers performance tracking tools.
With Demio, hosts can easily monitor attendee engagement and their event’s return on investment. The platform even supports a range of marketing integrations!
Key features:
- Strong engagement features, including interactive chats and mentions
- Detailed webinar analytics to help monitor performance and impact
- Highly customizable account settings to suit each brand’s unique needs
- Automatic, no-fuss recording of every webinar session
Demio vs Zoom
Demio offers a range of advantages compared to Zoom. These include:
- Demio is designed specifically for webinar delivery, while Zoom covers a broader spectrum of content formats.
- Demio offers detailed analytics reports for webinar events, while Zoom’s webinar reporting metrics are typically less comprehensive.
- Demio provides higher average rates of engagement and conversion than Zoom’s webinar platform.
GoToWebinar
Price: From $64 to $519 / month
Audience limit: From 250 to 3,000, depending on plan
Recording: Yes
Rating: 4.2 out of 5
GoToWebinar is a comprehensive webinar hosting platform with a diverse suite of features.
Users can easily integrate with popular customer relationship management systems and access software tools from a range of devices.
GoToWebinar offers effective tools for interactive webinars, including direct conversational functionalities and polling options. Hosts can easily collaborate with other virtual organizers to deliver a seamless online experience.
Key features:
- Crisp, clear video and audio recording tools on offer
- Multi-presenter options for up to 6 organizers
- Intuitive engagement tools, including polls, chats, screen-shares, and more
- Comprehensive attendee resorts available after the event
GoToWebinar vs Zoom
GoToWebinar is a great Zoom alternative. Key differences include:
- GoToWebinar supports multiple hosts with minimal risk of disruptions, whereas Zoom is more limited in its ability to include more than one event host.
- GoToWebinar allows for seamless CRM integrations, while Zoom is incompatible with many of these software programs.
- GoToWebinar includes functionality for pre-recorded webinars, whereas Zoom is only suitable for live broadcasting and post-recordings.
Adobe Connect
Price: From $190 to $390 / year
Audience limit: From 100 to 300, depending on plan
Recording: Yes
Rating: 4 out of 5
Adobe Connect is a highly professional webinar hosting option allowing users to deliver content, drive interaction, and measure engagement in meaningful ways. The platform supports fully customizable virtual event controls, from branding content to connecting directly with participants. With Adobe Connect, users can manage all webinar components in one convenient location.
Key features:
- Rich customization templates available for effective and recognizable branding
- Reporting tools providing insights on attendance, engagement, and conversions
- Easy workflows and CRM integrations for end-to-end campaign management
- User-friendly polls, breakouts, and topic chats, alongside a live-tracking engagement dashboard
Adobe Connect vs Zoom
Adobe Connect is a great choice if you want to explore options beyond Zoom. Here are a few of the main differences.
- Adobe Connect focuses centrally on engagement with associated features, while Zoom tends to focus more on content delivery.
- Adobe Connect includes easy integrations for full campaign management, whereas Zoom webinars may require external planning tools.
- Adobe Connect benefits from extra security features within the Adobe Suite, while these features are not available with Zoom.
Webex Webinars
Price: From $68.75 to $4,950 / month
Audience limit: From 1,000 to 10,000, depending on plan
Recording: Yes
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Webex Webinars is a webinar-tailored content delivery platform. Users can access a variety of scalable webinar tools, including custom branding options and even pre-event rehearsal functions. Hosts can place themselves on-screen alongside presentation slides, and attendees can use interactive polls, Q&As, chats, reactions, and more. Webex Webinars even allow for breakout sessions that facilitate small group discussions and networking.
Key features:
- Simultaneous screen-share and video-recording options available
- Real-time live broadcast translations available in over 100 languages
- Customizable themes and templates to support impactful branding
- Simple, intuitive host controls, including behind-the-scenes settings
Webex Webinars vs Zoom
Tailored for webinar delivery, Webex can offer a range of advantages over Zoom. For instance:
- Webex Webinars provide real-time translations for greater accessibility, while Zoom live captions are restricted to same-language attendees.
- Webex Webinars allow for complete customization, whereas Zoom webinars use Zoom’s own branding features.
- Webex Webinars support comprehensive direction and content management before, during, and after your event, while Zoom’s scope for these tasks is more limited.
How to choose the best Zoom alternatives for webinars
When searching for the best Zoom alternative, it’s important to do your research and make an informed decision. Consider these factors!
No of attendees
First, consider how many people you expect to register and attend your webinar event. This can heavily influence the platform you choose. While some webinar platforms can support up to 10,000 live audience members, others are more limited. You’ll need to select a software solution accommodating everyone wanting to attend your event.
Type of content
Next, consider your content and the goals you have in mind.
How do you want to communicate your ideas?
Some webinar platforms include polls, screen-sharing, and other communication tools. Others may focus on different features. When you know what you want to say, you can decide which features are most important to you.
Extra features
Similarly, you may need to plan for additional features.
Some webinar software offer automatic recording, while others do not. Platforms may integrate with popular CRMs or include participation tools and engagement reports. Other platforms allow for breakout sessions or networking features.
There’s no single answer as to which features are the best. What matters is which features will work for you.
Do you plan to host additional webinars?
Finally, before you choose a software platform for your first webinar, it can be helpful to consider whether you’d like to host more webinar events in the future. While your decision doesn’t have to be set in stone just yet, some semblance of a plan can inform your investment. If you’re hosting a one-off webinar event, you may want to choose a more cost-effective solution, even if it means compromising features. If you plan to host webinars regularly, it could be worthwhile to invest in higher-quality software.
FAQs on Zoom webinar alternatives
Still unsure about Zoom webinar alternatives? Here are our answers to a few frequently asked questions!
Is there a free version of Zoom webinar?
Zoom meetings offer a free plan suitable for a maximum of 100 participants. However, Zoom’s webinar-specific offering requires a paid subscription, varying in price based on the features and capacity you need. While you can get started with a free Zoom meeting, your access to webinar features may be limited, and you’ll have to stay within a maximum length of 45 minutes.
Who is Zoom's biggest competitor?
Zoom has a range of competitors across its different functionalities and tools, including for webinar content. For example recording and capturing webinars, Riverside is an affordable, high-quality competitive alternative to Zoom’s suite of tools and features.
Does Google have an alternative to Zoom?
Google Meet is a popular alternative to Zoom for meetings. The Google Meet platform does allow for large events that may suit webinar production. However, the application does not currently provide a webinar-specific offering.
Final thoughts
Webinars can make a big impact for your brand and the way you connect with consumers.
If you’re looking for the perfect Zoom alternative to kickstart your webinar strategy, you’ve found it. Check out Riverside’s webinar software tools today!
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