5 Zoom Webinars Alternatives for Higher-Quality Events (2025)

Key takeaways:

• Zoom Webinars has limitations: It lacks customization, has security concerns, and is expensive for large events.
• Better webinar platforms offer more features: Look for HD video, branding options, audience engagement tools, and strong security.
• Consider scalability and pricing:The right platform should fit your current needs and grow with your audience without excessive costs.
• Riverside is a top Zoom Webinars alternative: It offers 4K recording, live streaming, AI-powered editing, and audience engagement tools at a competitive price.

Why settle for Zoom when your webinars deserve better?

Look, we get it. You're used to using Zoom for your online meetings, so using it for hosting your webinars makes everything sound simple and familiar.

But let’s be honest: it has more limitations than benefits, and it’s like using your comfy flip-flops to run a marathon. Your audience deserves better.

There are smarter, more powerful solutions out there that go beyond Zoom Webinars basic functionality without compromising on simplicity or speed.

The only question is: which Zoom Webinars alternative is right for you? Keep reading to discover five exceptional alternatives we’ve handpicked for 2025.

What is Zoom Webinars?

Zoom Webinars is a specific plan within the Zoom platform designed for hosting larger online events where you’ll need more participant controls. It is an upgrade from Zoom Meetings that adds several features that help engage attendees directly, like Q&A, polls, and live chat.

Its pricing model starts at $79/month for up to 500 attendees. It has two extension plans, Zoom Sessions and Zoom Events, with additional features like post-conference surveys and an AI Companion to assist you.

Why should you look for alternatives to Zoom Webinars?

Zoom Webinars is undoubtedly functional, and if you’re looking for a straightforward presentation with no frills, it’s a viable choice.

However, if you’re looking for a more dynamic, feature-rich webinar experience that will leave your audience asking for more, it's time to look elsewhere.

Here are a few reasons why there are many better alternatives to Zoom Webinars in 2025:

Security concerns

Over time, Zoom’s history has been riddled with issues about its security and the transparency of its data-sharing policies. While improvements have been made, Zoombombing is an issue that keeps resurfacing. And it goes without saying that you don’t want a professional event to be ruined by an unwanted intruder.

Lack of customization

Zoom’s interface is mostly designed for general use, preferring a one-size-fits-all design rather than a highly customizable one. Branding options, while available, are very basic, and everything looks very Zoom-like no matter what.

High pricing

Saying that Zoom Webinars has a steep pricing structure, especially for small businesses or individuals, is an understatement. Just to put things into perspective, if you want to host events with 500 attendees with all advanced features available, you’ll have to pay $4,990/year.

Not webinar-specific

We all know that Zoom is excellent for casual online meetings. However, webinars are an add-on rather than a primary focus when it comes to hosting virtual events. Because of this, Zoom Webinars feels a bit lackluster when compared to more specialized tools, missing essential features like local recording, UHD quality, or built-in editing.

Limited features

While Zoom Webinars has all the basic features you can expect from a virtual conferencing platform, they’re all quite limited in scope. Polls, Q&A, and chat all look very vanilla, with few options for engaging your audience fully. Also, recording quality depends on bandwidth, leading to choppy videos and grainy audio when someone’s connection is slow.

Minimal options for editing

A webinar isn’t over when the webinar is over. Content can be repurposed and edited to perfection to convert it to tutorials, evergreen or on-demand webinars, and even social posts. Forget about all that with Zoom Webinars. Recording files are compressed, leaving little room for polishing during post-production, and the built-in editor is as basic as it gets.

Things to look for when choosing the right webinar software

Before we start checking the best Zoom Webinar alternatives one by one, let’s list the must-have features you should look for:

• HD video and audio quality: Low-quality audio and video is a major deal-breaker for your audience. Choose software that delivers crisp visuals and clean, professional-grade audio.
• Ease of use: A user-friendly interface makes planning, scheduling, and hosting webinars simple and stress-free. More importantly, it will be accessible even for less tech-savvy attendees and guests.
• Robust security features: Your audience trusts you to protect their data and privacy. Do not compromise on features like password protection, waiting rooms, and end-to-end encryption that will ensure a safe and secure experience for all participants.
• Custom branding: A bland, generic-looking webinar is easily forgettable. Look for platforms that offer customizable templates, branded landing pages, and in-platform branding to make your company’s identity pop.
• Engagement and interactive tools: Your attendees’ attention will wane if you don’t engage them during the webinar. Interactive features like polls, Q&A, live chat, and breakout rooms will stimulate audience participation and keep your session lively.
• Scalability and pricing: Initially, your webinars may only attract a few dozen participants. But will your chosen platform handle large-scale sessions with hundreds or even thousands of attendees as you grow? More importantly, will the pricing remain affordable at that point?
• Collaboration features: Tools like screen sharing, whiteboards, and file sharing add a lot of value to webinars involving teamwork or presentations. Pay attention to details like screen share resolution, compatibility with presentation software, maximum size of shareable files, etc.
• Reporting and analytics: Access to detailed analytics and reporting is essential to understand your audience’s needs and behaviors better and tailor your marketing efforts.
• Editing and post-production: A solid built-in video editor can help you polish your content to perfection, repurpose it for other channels, and streamline post-production.

5 Best Zoom Webinar Alternatives for 2025

Feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of selecting a good alternative to Zoom webinar software? Here are five of our top recommendations to help you get started!

Riverside

Price: Starting at $24 per month

Audience limit: Up to 10,000 live viewers

Recording: Yes

Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Handling the technicalities of a webinar takes some work. Riverside is like that BFF you call in when you need a helping hand. It comes in, simplifies what was supposed to be hard, and lets you reap the benefits of a successful webinar.

Make your webinar a accessible to everyone by livestreaming to multiple platforms as you host an intimate gathering of just 10,000 of your “closest friends.” 

Ever heard about local recording? No? Well, let’s just say that you can enjoy watching yourself and your guests in 4K HD video for the whole show, regardless of anyone’s connection speed. 

Fire up your audience with engaging lower thirds, presentations, and screen captures, then spice everything up with audio and video from the online media board. And with live call-ins, your audience isn't just watching, they're part of the show.

And don’t let all the leftovers go to waste when the party's over. Editing and repurposing has never been so easy. Every element—video, audio, slides, screen shares—gets its own separate track. 

An AI editor will make everything look (and sound) professional with just a few clicks, and you can edit your video as easily as editing a text. 

AI-powered features allow you to generate short clips from the highlights of your webinar so you can show them off on all your social channels. Because, you know, if your webinar didn’t make it to Instagram and YouTube, it's like it never happened at all.

“Riverside is far better than Zoom for recording interviews.” - Seth Godin, author, entrepreneur and marketing leader.

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 script to easily stay 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 right 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 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, on Zoom, you’ll look like you're broadcasting through a steamy shower door as soon as your connection weakens.
• Riverside is all about easy content repurposing, Zoom gives you few options for editing without exporting to a third-party editor.
• Aren’t you tired of editing that low-quality, single-track file you can export with Zoom? Enter Riverside’s multi-track recording and built-in, text-based editor.
• Last but not least, Zoom is much more expensive.

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Demio

Price: From $45 to $785 per month (paid yearly)

Audience limit: From 50 to 3,000, depending on plan

Recording: Yes

Rating: 4.6 out of 5

Demio is software designed to make webinar hosting as simple as possible. It’s totally focused on providing a smooth user experience. The platform boasts that it can spike your conversion rates by keeping your audience’s attention glued to the screen. While this mostly depends on how engaging your webinar is, Demio’s minimalistic and user-friendly interface certainly does help avoid distractions and hiccups.

With Demio, hosts can easily monitor attendee engagement and their event’s return on investment. The platform even supports several automation features for recurring events and automatic and on-demand webinars.

While Demio offers a very streamlined experience, customization options are lackluster.

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 can be run on most browsers with no downloads required, while Zoom Webinars typically requires participants to install the app for full functionality.
• Demio offers detailed analytics reports for webinar events, while Zoom’s webinar reporting metrics are generally less comprehensive.
• Demio provides higher average engagement and conversion rates than Zoom’s webinar platform.

GoTo Webinar

Price: From $49 to $399 per month (paid yearly)

Audience limit: From 250 to 3,000, depending on plan

Recording: Yes

Rating: 4.2 out of 5

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GoTo Webinar is a webinar hosting platform that is part of a larger business and collaboration software ecosystem that includes GoTo Meeting, GoTo Training, GoTo Connect, GoTo Resolve, and many more.

It is a simple and fast tool with advanced scheduling features, automated email workflows, and event management capabilities. Users can easily integrate with popular customer relationship management systems and create templates to ease the creation of event series and on-demand webinars.

GoToWebinar offers effective tools for interactive webinars, including direct conversational functionalities and polling options. Hosts can easily collaborate with other presenters and panelists to deliver a seamless online experience.

Key features:

• Crisp, clear video and audio recording tools.
• Multi-presenter options for up to 6 organizers.
• Intuitive engagement tools, including polls, chats, screen-shares, and more.
• Comprehensive attendee reports are available after the event.

GoToWebinar vs Zoom

• 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 seamless CRM integrations, while Zoom is incompatible with many software programs.
• GoToWebinar includes functionality for pre-recorded webinars, whereas Zoom is only suitable for live broadcasting and post-recordings.
• GoTo Webinar has stronger automated email workflows built into the platform, while Zoom Webinars typically requires third-party email marketing tools for similar functionality.

Adobe Connect

Price: From $190 to $390 per year per host.

Audience limit: From 100 to 300, depending on plan. Upgrade to 1,500 attendees at a $4,900 per year per host price tag.

Recording: Yes

Rating: 4 out of 5

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Adobe Connect is a highly professional webinar hosting option that allows users to deliver content, drive interaction, and measure engagement with Adobe’s trademark precision. 

The platform supports fully customizable virtual event controls, from branding content to connecting directly with participants. You can save templates of persistent rooms for easily repeatable content, and persistent rooms where you can reuse quizzes and polls with different audiences.

Adobe Connect also integrates with other products from the Adobe Suite, such as Adobe Marketo Engage and Adobe Learning Manager, to enhance your training sessions and marketing efforts.

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 offers highly customizable persistent meeting rooms that can be designed and saved as templates, while Zoom Webinars provides more standardized layouts with limited customization options.
• 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, which are unavailable with Zoom.
• Adobe Connect is built more for interactive virtual classrooms and complex training environments, while Zoom Webinars is optimized for straightforward webinar broadcasting and presentations.

Webex Webinars

Price: From $56.25 per month up to $3,950 per month (paid yearly)

Audience limit: From 1,000 to 10,000, depending on plan

Recording: Yes

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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Cisco's Webex Webinars is a webinar content delivery platform tailored for enterprise-level needs. It comes equipped with some handy options to improve the quality of your events. For example, you can enhance the audio of a live recording with AI-powered background noise removal and voice enhancement or provide the audience with real-time translation and transcription in more than 100 languages.

Webex Webinars specializes in scalability, supporting up to tens of thousands of participants. It features a polished, professional interface that makes it ideal for corporate webinars and seminars, and enterprise-grade security features built into its core platform. It even allows 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.
• Advanced Q&A moderation tools with threaded discussions and private moderator chats.
• Simple, intuitive host controls, including behind-the-scenes settings.

Webex Webinars vs Zoom

• 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.

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 offers 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 can be very limited, and your event's maximum duration is just 40 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, in recording and capturing webinars, Riverside is an affordable, high-quality, competitive alternative to Zoom’s suite of tools and features beyond just the webinar upgrade.

Does Google have an alternative to Zoom?

Google Meet is a popular alternative to Zoom for meetings. The Google Meet platform allows for large events to be used for webinar production (somehow). However, the application does not currently provide a webinar-specific offering, so don’t expect much in this regard.

What is the Microsoft equivalent of Zoom?

Teams is Microsoft‘s communication and collaboration platform, similar to Zoom. It includes video conferencing, chat, file sharing, and integration with other Microsoft 365 apps for sharing presentations like Word, Excel, and SharePoint. Teams can also host webinars since it has many capabilities suited for event management, such as hosting up to 1,000 attendees, advanced registration features, moderated Q&As, and so on.

Are free webinars worth it?

If the output quality is sufficiently high, free webinars are absolutely worth your time. They can be used to share your knowledge, pose yourself or your company as an industry expert, and introduce your product to new customers. Since the entry barrier is so low and they require no commitment from the attendee’s side, they can attract a wider audience than paid ones

Can the host see you in a Zoom webinar?

Unlike in a Zoom meeting, only hosts and panelists can be seen during a webinar on Zoom. However, The host can allow attendees to speak during the event by unmuting them, but their videos cannot be turned on.