If you want to attract highly engaged leads, interact with your audience, get real-time feedback, and benefit from exciting guest speakers, the live webinar format is for you.
In a blind test by the Business2Community team, it was found that a live webinar not only has 2.3 times the number of registrants than an on-demand video, but that participation in the live webinar also has that of the on-demand video. Videos by 23%.
The live accompanists were also more … well … attentive. Attendees saw an average of 80% of the live webinar content, while the on-demand version captured 35%.
To take full advantage of these benefits, you need to choose the best live webinar software. Read on to discover our favorite candidates for a live webinar platform broken down by category for easy research. Oh, and when you’ve found the right webinar platform, check out our ultimate guide to creating compelling webinars.
The best live webinar software
Best webinar software for marketers
1. WebinarNinja
Optimizing the customer journey is crucial and WebinarNinja knows it. The WebinarNinja team focused their tool development on making it easy to track and adjust based on a prospect’s position in the funnel. We love how this platform:
- Integrated with CRMs like Salesforce and Hubspot so you can easily track your leads.
- Provides a tagged landing page option that can be used to charge for events. This is a great option for hosting online conferences or other high quality content alongside regular webinar programming.
- Offers more targeted, customized tracking with a Facebook ad tracking pixel for webinar attendees.
2. WorkCast
WorkCast is the webinar platform that calls itself “Made for Marketers”. It is easy to use and offers a variety of useful functions. Whether you’re hosting live or on-demand webinars, creating evergreen content, or a combination of all three, WorkCast gives you:
- Integrations with all major CRMs including HubSpot so you can track and automatically track your leads.
- No downloads or plugins required to host, attend, or present webinars.
- The option for simulative webinars with recorded video combined with a live Q&A session or presentation. All the benefits of audience intervention without the hassle of hosting a live webinar.
Best webinar software for small business
3rd WebinarGeek
An easy-to-use platform that offers live, on-demand and hybrid webinar capabilities. Its smart marketing capabilities allow you to attract viewers and convert them into customers on the same platform. Well priced for small businesses, WebinarGeek has a number of great tools including:
- No downloads are required for your audience, making it easy for non-tech participants to participate.
- Create your own webinar channel to host all of your on-demand and future webinars in one place.
- Highly rated customer support (9.8 / 10 on G2) to help you set up and deliver seamless webinars.
4th WebinarJam
Combining a simple user interface with comprehensive tools, WebinarJam is an easy favorite for small businesses looking to host live webinars on the go. We love your:
- Customizable templates like waiting room graphics and emails for a branded experience.
- The ability to add up to six co-moderators makes it easy to create a collaborative and high quality presentation. You can even insert recorded videos for additional presentation options.
- Trifecta of engagement tools: a virtual whiteboard, poll options and a participant chat.
- Automatic recording feature that makes it easy to track registrants who missed the live recording.
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Best webinar tools for training and lessons
5. ClickMeeting
ClickMeeting offers webinars and video conferencing in one tool. Easily schedule meetings or webinars and scale your webinar program with ClickMeeting’s 5000 attendee capacity.
ClickMeeting is particularly useful for conducting training and presentations in the classroom because:
- Customizable waiting rooms with agenda layouts, file delivery and presenter information.
- Full suite of webinar tools including additional rooms, whiteboards and polls.
- With the ClickMeeting mobile apps, you can attend and host webinars on the go.
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6th Adobe Connect
Adobe Connect is ideal for guided training courses and seminars where you need to set the stage for your audience. Your teaching materials enable students to work together effectively. You can also:
- Create breakout sessions, whiteboards, and teaching aids so you can get your message across effectively.
- Set up several “topic chats” to keep the discussions up to date.
- Read your audience’s digital body language with advanced analytics to improve your delivery.
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Best free webinar software
7. Zooming
While many of us have used Zoom for meetings, it’s also a great choice for webinars.
With so many people familiar with Zoom, both hosts and attendees find it easy to use. If you’re on a tight budget, you can use Zoom’s video conferencing platform for small, free webinars (up to 100 participants).
Some of the benefits of zoom are:
- Instead of focusing on slides, focus on the presenter’s video for a more human interaction.
- Use of virtual backgrounds, studio effects and suppression of background noise.
- Dedicated support for live events including monitoring and moderation.
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8th. Freeconferencecall.com
Freeconferencecall.com is one of the few completely free webinar platforms and still a powerful solution. It’s completely browser-based (meaning you or your guests won’t get any downloads) and:
- Provides one-click recording so you never miss saving your webinar.
- Has screen and file sharing capabilities so you can effectively share your presentation materials.
- Enables the accommodation of up to 1000 guests.
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Best live webinar software
9. On24
On24 is the enterprise platform that offers everything, as stated in their positive reviews of G2: “We had a variety of requirements for such a service – internal training, external publications, panel forums, expert-led seminars and more. We felt like ON24 ticked every box. “
On24 specializes in live broadcasts and has a number of functions designed to increase customer loyalty for your video presentations. We love your:
- Enterprise-level streaming quality. They are designed for large events that need to be broadcast smoothly.
- Engagement analytics that can be integrated with your business intelligence platforms for better target group segmentation.
- Engagement hub that stores past webinars for an “always-on” experience.
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10. GoToWebinar
A top notch option that makes hosting a live webinar feel positive. Armed with the biggest hits in live webinar management like engagement tools, auto-recording, and great integrations, GoToWebinar can:
- 24/7 customer service that is essential in times of live webinar panic.
- Source tracking to identify the most effective filing strategies.
- Really excellent analytics to help you iterate and improve.
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11. Webinar.net
This is an easy-to-use webinar platform that looks great. Webinar.net may be one of the newest platforms out there, but they start off strong with a 4.8 out of 5 star rating for G2.
Your customers love them because:
- They are browser-based so no downloads are required for presenters or attendees.
- You can upload a background template and choose your colors and fonts to match your webinar with your company’s branding.
- Broadcasts can be started in less than 60 seconds with its five-step wizard.
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The best webinar platforms in 2021
There are so many different webinar platforms out there. Choosing the right one for your needs depends on your budget and goals. 