Webinars allow you to share your expertise at scale, helping you connect directly with new customers and deeply engage with existing ones. But there's more to webinars than just the content—you also need to invite and manage attendees, run the online event, facilitate real-time engagement, and measure success. 

That's where webinar software comes in. The best webinar platforms help you streamline and automate all the logistics related to running a webinar so you can focus on sharing your knowledge with your audience—whether you're leading a demo for potential customers, running a paid workshop, or sharing best practices to generate leads.

I've been updating this list for several years now. To help you manage your webinars more effectively, I re-tested all the top webinar tools and narrowed it down to the eight best.

The best webinar software in 2024

• Demio for a no-frills webinar experience

• BigMarker for built-in webinar automation

• Crowdcast for streaming to multiple services simultaneously

• eWebinar for automated, pre-recorded webinars

• Zoom for a familiar user experience

• Livestorm for a simple app to manage multiple webinars

• Sessions for AI features

• Vimeo for professional features

What makes great webinar software?

Marketers look for different things in a webinar platform. Some only need a simple tool to live stream a presentation. Some want various tools and features that allow them to interact with their audience, while others want the ability to record their webinar once, then release the recording as a separate event.

The wishlist for a webinar app varies quite a bit. What doesn't vary is the need for:

• Simple and quick webinar registration

• Opportunities to interact and engage with attendees

• The ability to host both live and recorded webinars

• The ability to track key webinar metrics (such as attendance and engagement)

I spent almost a week researching more than 40 webinar tools and testing about two dozen options. For the most part, I only considered apps that were primarily focused on webinars and excluded ones that offered webinar features as part of a much larger marketing suite.

To review, I signed up for each app, evaluated the user interface, scheduled both live and on-demand webinars, experimented with various engagement features (like polls and product offers) during the webinar, and created reports to analyze the webinar's success. I hosted the webinar, but I also used a separate login to "attend" the webinar. I logged my notes in a spreadsheet for comparison, and if I ran into any issues, I read the help docs, watched tutorials, or contacted support.

One last thing: If you're looking for a solution that does webinars and then some, an enterprise virtual event tool like Adobe Connect, BlueJeans, Webex, or ON24 may be a better option. And for a more robust events platform that helps you make seriously engaging and interactive webinars, Brandlive is worth a look. I wasn't able to fully test it within the timeframe of writing this article, but the app offers robust, accessible tools to help you create well-designed, dynamic videos, and the audience interaction features are extensive.

With that, here are my picks for the eight best webinar hosting apps.

The best webinar software at a glance

The best webinar software for a no-frills webinar experience

Demio (Web)

Demio pros:

• Simple user experience

• Extensive audience engagement features

Demio cons:

• Less customizable than some

If you want to spend more time focusing on your audience and content than learning how to run webinars on platforms with a lot of complex features, Demio offers a no-frills yet intuitive interface. 

Demio lets you create a live, scheduled webinar; a series of scheduled sessions; or an on-demand, pre-recorded webinar. It takes less than two minutes to create a live, scheduled webinar—you simply add the title of the webinar and then select the date and time.

Of course, there are additional features to help you customize your webinar if you want. You can update the registration page with your branding; build a custom thank-you page; create polls, handouts, or calls-to-action; and set automated email notifications 24 hours, one hour, and 15 minutes before the webinar starts. 

When it's time for the webinar to begin, the hosting experience is just as simple. Unlike some webinar apps that have a cluttered presenter screen, Demio's webinar experience is clean and minimal. There's a toolbar on the bottom where you can control your microphone and camera, and another bar on the right to manage chats, polls, and handouts. 

You can do more with Demio when you connect it to your favorite apps through Zapier. Automatically register customers for your webinar, put registrants into your marketing campaign, and more. These pre-made workflows are examples to get you started.

Demio pricing: From $42/month (billed annually) for the Starter plan with 50 attendees per webinar.

The best webinar software for built-in webinar automation

BigMarker (Web, iOS, Android)

BigMarker pros:

• Great options for automation

• A handful of unique engagement features

BigMarker cons:

• You need to request a quote for pricing (historically more expensive)

Small, manual tasks—like managing the waiting room, pressing "play" to start the webinar, posting in the chat, and ending the webinar—add up and can cause extra stress for webinar organizers. You can offload this work with BigMarker: it's automated webinar software that offers built-in automation.

In the Automation tab, you'll see a timeline of activities you can customize and trigger for your webinar. You can automatically open the waiting room and have it disappear when the content begins. You can draft messages and polls ahead of time and have them post to the chat at a pre-set time. Or, schedule downloadable handouts, giveaways, and pop-up calls-to-action to push attendees to the next step. 

In addition to automation features, BigMarker has a number of unique capabilities that I didn't see in other webinar apps. For example, you can set a pop-up inside the webinar that attendees must click to show that they're paying attention or conduct a lucky draw inside the webinar to award prizes.

You can automate BigMarker even further with BigMarker's Zapier integrations, which will help you connect it to all the other apps in your stack. Here are a few examples.

BigMarker pricing: Historically, BigMarker was a bit more expensive than the other apps on this list, but now you'll need to request a quote from the BigMarker team.

The best webinar software for streaming to multiple services simultaneously

Crowdcast (Web)

Crowdcast pros:

• Livestream to multiple services at once

• Extensive event analytics

• Option to create paid webinars

Crowdcast cons:

• Limited feature set

There's one feature Crowdcast has that other webinar hosting platforms don't offer, and that's the ability to simultaneously broadcast on multiple platforms. There's built-in support for streaming to Facebook Live and YouTube, and you can also stream to any service that supports RTMP, including Twitch and LinkedIn Live. This is ideal if you have followers on all of those platforms—you can meet everyone where they are, instead of trying to pull them to another service.

The actual webinar features are somewhat sparse. There's chat and support for polls, Q&A, and hand raising, like most apps offer. You can also add clickable buttons for links, which is perfect if you have a call-to-action, like a product to sell or an event you want viewers to register for. You can set up any of these features before the webinar or on the fly during the webinar itself.

Crowdcast also offers in-depth reporting with analytics on everything from basic attendees and traffic to detailed conversion rates, funnels, referrals, UTM tracking, and more.

Sparse as the webinar features are, in one way, Crowdcast is more powerful than other webinar tools—if you're willing to put the work in. Users who want a truly custom setup can use RTMP Studio to connect to live streaming software like OBS, Wirecast, or Ecamm Live, instead of the included webinar features. These advanced tools, while not easy to set up, allow for all kinds of advanced configurations: custom on-screen graphics, support for quickly cycling through multiple cameras, and more. It's about as close to a professional broadcast as you can get.

You can also connect Crowdcast to Zapier, which will let you do things like automatically add event attendees to your mailing lists.

Crowdcast pricing: From $34/month (billed annually) for the Lite plan with support for up to 100 attendees and ten hours of streaming per month.

The best webinar software for automated pre-recorded webinars

eWebinar (Web)

eWebinar pros:

• Easy to add automated interactions

• 12 templates to choose from

• In-depth webinar analytics

eWebinar cons:

• Costs scale quickly

• No support for live webinars

Almost all the best webinar tools featured in this roundup offer the ability to schedule pre-recorded webinars, but eWebinar takes this to the next level. eWebinar focuses solely on automating pre-recorded webinars on a schedule, complete with real-time interactions and live chat to deliver an engaging experience.

Upload any video, webinar, presentation, or training, import from Zoom, or paste a link to your video if it's hosted on YouTube, Vimeo, S3, and other supported providers. Then, set the webinar's schedule. Select a start and end date, the days of the week your webinar will run and the time, and any blackout dates (like country holidays) you don't want the webinar to play. You can also allow "just-in-time sessions," where attendees can register and join the webinar in as little as five minutes.

Due to its very nature, pre-recorded and on-demand webinars lack interaction, but eWebinar allows you to engage with attendees in real time—without committing to hosting the webinar. Attendees will be automatically greeted with a custom welcome message in the chat. When they respond, you'll get a notification so you can continue the chat, live. If you're not around or busy, they'll get a custom away message, and you can respond via email later. 

You'll also have the ability to add interactions wherever you want in your webinar. The interface is impressive—it looks like video editing software, where you'll see a timeline on the bottom of your video that you can drag and then drop interactions, like pre-populated questions, polls, downloads, tips, and offers, at any time.

You can do more with eWebinar when you connect it to your favorite apps through Zapier. Automatically add webinar registrants to your CRM, automatically register people for your webinar after they make a purchase, and more.

eWebinar pricing: $84/month (billed annually) for the Level 1 plan, which allows you to publish one webinar, with 3,000 registrants per month and unlimited team members; $169/month for the Level 2 plan for up to 5 published webinars and 6,000 monthly registrants.

Best webinar software for a familiar user experience

Zoom (Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android)

Zoom pros:

• Familiar look and feel

• Templated events

Zoom cons:

• Attendees need to download the Zoom app

• Basic analytics

Zoom is best known as a video conferencing tool, but the same reliable, powerful, and intuitive interface used to run meetings also makes it ideal for webinars, especially those that are video-heavy or feature multiple panelists. 

Zoom allows you to feature up to 1,000 panelists and host up to 50,000 attendees. Customize your presentation style to match your content with a mix of video, screen sharing, and streaming video of your presenters. You can show two views side-by-side: for example, keep presenter video up while running a demonstration on a shared screen. Presenters can also view audience questions in a pop-up window, so you can run highly interactive, panel-style webinars with very little friction. 

Zoom also allows streaming to Facebook, Workplace from Meta, YouTube, and Twitch. On Facebook, you can give your webinar a custom name, and choose whether you want to live stream it from your personal account or from a page or group where you have admin privileges. Select your options, and Zoom will take care of the rest, broadcasting your webinar on Facebook, with the content only delayed 20-25 seconds from your original webinar.

The feature works similarly on YouTube. Assuming your YouTube account is enabled for live streaming, just name your video, choose your desired privacy setting, and you're set. Zoom will notify you that you're live in the left corner of your webinar screen, where you can toggle, view, or share your live stream on either Facebook or YouTube.

To make things even easier, you can automatically register attendees for your Zoom webinar, put registrants into your marketing campaign, and more by connecting Zoom to Zapier.

Zoom pricing: From $690/year/license for up to 500 attendees and unlimited webinars. (You'll also need a paid Zoom One subscription, which starts at $15.99/user/month.)

Best simple webinar software for running multiple webinars

Livestorm (Web)

Livestorm pros:

• Simple, focused calendar view

• Quick event creation flow

• Pre-built email campaigns

Livestorm cons:

• Not as visually customizable as some

If you're running marketing webinars on a regular basis, you need a webinar tool that helps you focus on the content, while keeping track of your broader webinar schedule. After all my testing, I'd say Livestorm is the best option for this use case.

The app offers a simple interface and workflow, but it doesn't skimp on features. You'll find a fully customizable registration form that you can send via email, share via link, or embed right on your website. Each new event you create comes with a pre-built, automated email flow you can edit or send as is. And you can automate event start and end times, video plays, and redirects.

Within the webinar, you can add the free Custom Design app to add your brand colors and logo, change the background image, and more—or stick with the clean and minimal default Livestorm player. Send a custom call-to-action any time during the event, and break down performance with in-depth event analytics, along with a handful of cumulative reports.

The calendar—found in the left-hand menu—is one of my favorite Livestorm features. It may sound simple, but when you're running multiple webinars each week, having a clean and up-to-date view of your schedule is crucial. You can even one-click to create a new event during one of your open times right from the calendar view.

You can also connect Livestorm with the other apps in your stack via Zapier. With the Livestorm and Zapier integration, you can automate new registrant notifications, changes to your CRM data, and more.

Livestorm pricing: Free plan available for up to 30 active contacts per month and limited features; upgrade to the Pro plan for $79/month (billed annually) to get up to 100 active contacts per month, 100 live attendees per event, 4 hours per session, and unlimited team members.

Best AI webinar software for marketers

Sessions (Web)

Sessions pros:

• Top-notch AI features

• Clean, familiar calendar

• Strong audience engagement features

Sessions cons:

• Plans scale quickly

• Limited reporting

Generative AI hasn't fully infiltrated the webinar space yet, but Sessions is one app that's ahead of the game. The app's AI Copilot can generate your agenda, automatically transcribe webinars, and compile session summaries and notes. It's not the flashiest set of AI features, but they're useful and work well to streamline your workflow.

Beyond AI, Sessions handles both live and recorded webinars, and includes tons of ways to engage and interact with your audience, including chat, polls, Q&A, takeaways, notes, reactions, product offers, and an interactive agenda. Any and all of these can be quickly toggled on or off when you create a new webinar or in the moment.

The app's presenter screen isn't terribly customizable, but the default interface is clean and easy to navigate on the fly, with the option to pull your agenda into the left side of the screen.

Unlike most of this list, Sessions isn't strictly a webinar-first tool—the app also handles online meetings, booking, and virtual events. This is most apparent from the lack of reporting. Once a webinar ends, you can click Memory from the left-side menu and select the event to view basic stats like RSVPs, participants, and interactions, like messages, polls, and questions. But that's largely it for analytics.

You can do even more with Sessions when you use Zapier to connect the app with other tools in your stack, automating lead tracking, adding webinar attendees to your email list, and more.

Sessions pricing: Free plan available for one 1-hour session per month with up to 25 participants; upgrade to the Solo plan (from $19/month, billed annually) to host 50 participants per session, custom branding, and access to the AI Copilot feature.

Best webinar software for professional features

Vimeo (Web)

Vimeo pros:

• 10 professional templates

• Robust post-event editing

• In-depth analytics

Vimeo cons:

• High upfront cost to get webinar features

Vimeo isn't just webinar software, but the platform's extensive video editing and post-production features make it a strong contender to serve as yours. In fact, if you're looking for tons of aesthetic control and powerful editing for recordings, I recommend giving Vimeo a try.

To start, you can choose from 10 really well-designed templates and add any of nine different "scenes." The templates make quick work of customizing the look and feel of your event room, while ensuring it gives off a professional vibe.

The registration form is fully customizable—both the aesthetics and fields. And once you're ready, it takes one click in the top-right to "Go live." You can send out in-event polls to attendees or open up a Q&A session from the left-hand menu. You can also view live analytics as you present on real-time watchers, peak viewers, total views, and average time watched.

After the webinar ends, Vimeo offers all the robust editing features you'd expect, including trimming (even text-based editing), stitching videos, adding music, graphics, text, and more—you can even turn any clip into an embeddable GIF. Customize the video player and end screen, add captions, and insert interactive elements like chapters, forms, and cards.

Plus, you can use Vimeo together with Zapier to automatically post recorded webinars to your site, order transcriptions, and more. Here are some examples of how to automate Vimeo, and you can connect it to thousands of other apps with Zapier.

Vimeo pricing: To get webinar features, you'll need the Advanced plan (from $65/month, billed annually), which includes unlimited events with up to 100 attendees, interactive audience features, and event analytics.

How to pick the best webinar software for marketers

The success of your webinar is about creativity and how well you engage your audience before, during, and after the webinar. So as you're browsing these platforms and choosing a tool for your webinar, ask yourself: which webinar app will best help you and your company engage your unique audience?

Related reading:

• The best digital marketing tools

• Jump on the webinar bandwagon: 8 webinar ideas

• How to launch a paid webinar

Originally published in November 2017 by Emily Irish, this article has also had contributions from Justin Pot. The most recent update was in February 2024.