You’ve brainstormed some stellar ideas for your virtual conference — even reached out to potential guests to speak at your event. And they’re showing interest, as are your stakeholders!
But hang on, what about the virtual event platform you’d use to host your online gathering?
Tough call? Truth be told: despite the variety out there, it can be challenging to trust a tool for meeting all your requirements while offering attendees a remarkable (and error-free) event experience.
Thankfully though, there are tools with friendly customer support teams that can help you host your dream virtual event — be it a multi-day conference, a live training workshop, or a webinar. You only need to find that gem.
In this guide, we’ll help you do just that as I dive into the six best platforms for virtual events. These pros and cons rare based on testing a handful of these software and sifting through tons of third-party reviews of these platforms.
With that, let’s dig in:
In this article
What to look for in a virtual conference platform
Before we dive into the best platforms for virtual events, let’s first highlight what makes a good tool for hosting online events by reviewing must-have features.
Make sure you bookmark this piece so you can refer to this list of features when selecting your ideal virtual event platform:
Plenty of useful, built-in integrations
Integrations with your CRM or marketing automation platforms, for example, are crucial for sending personalized email invites, syncing registrants into the event, and sending back detailed attendee level analytics on your most engaged customers.
Easy to use
A user-friendly interface makes it simple for you to navigate the software, explore features, and drive the most value for your events program. An intuitive interface also means you can get the platform up and running yourself — no need to spend additional time and money from outside help.
Stream quality
Your event’s stream quality directly impacts the attendee viewing experience as well as your reputation as an event host. Make sure the software you choose offers HD quality streaming at various latency options, has no performance complaints, and also lets you download the content in high-quality.
Robust analytics
Make sure the virtual event platform offers you in-depth data on who attended, how long they watched for, how and when they engaged with your content and with the audience etc. This data will help you host more engaging virtual events as well as convert attendees into customers based on those who engaged the most.
Dynamic audience engagement tools
Hosting polls, quizzes, and Q&As are all essential tools for interacting with your audience and improving their experience. The platform you select should offer these tools alongside letting you create breakout rooms for promoting attendee-to-attendee networking. The ability to add lower thirds and create customizable layouts that allow you to present dynamic content (videos, images, incorporate speakers are great ways to make your event even more engaging.
Proactive customer support
Lastly, ensure the software’s support team is quick and helpful in answering questions you have. One way to gauge the software team’s helpfulness is to question them about the tool pre-purchase and during the free trial (if there is one). The way the team answers your queries will speak volumes about the way they treat their prospects and customers.
6 best virtual event platforms (based on in-depth reviews and user testimonials)
Now for a list of the top online conference platforms:
For each of the tools below, we’ve shared who it’s best for, where the tool wins, and any additional insights based on third-party sites like G2 and Gartner.
Let’s go.
1. Vimeo Events
Vimeo Events is an easy-to-use, browser-based virtual event platform suitable for event marketers with any level of familiarity with hosting virtual events.
We give you the tools to host events with confidence. You, your guest speakers, moderators, and event attendees don’t need to download any additional software to set up, create, and join an event with Vimeo. In addition, we offer the highest quality and most reliable stream through adaptive streaming, back up streams, stream health monitoring, a proprietary high-latency protocol, and more.
What’s more, it’s suitable for hosting all types of virtual events — from company-wide townhalls to interactive webinars, live broadcasts, product demos, workshops, and more. In fact, we were named a leader by G2 in our webinar capabilities that we only launched just over a year ago. You can use Vimeo Events to host virtual events and stream them in real time, or you can craft all aspects of your event ahead of time and simulate a live event. Finally, you can embed as well as simulcast your event across multiple platforms and channels to maximize your reach.
Pros
- Vimeo Events helps promote your event and drive leads through an automated workflow and interactive video ads that link to your registration form. Connect the platform with your CRM and email marketing software to sync registrants, create branded registration forms, send automated event invites, event confirmation and reminder emails, and nurture engaged attendees post the event.
- Offers advanced analytics to drive leads and improve your event marketing strategy. Once the event wraps, Vimeo gives you detailed event- and viewer-level analytics that tell you who attended, how much they watched, and how they engaged throughout the event. Share these results with your content or social teams to influence new content and promote the most engaging moments of your event.
- Helps you create a branded and engaging viewing experience. Use the drag-and-drop interface to add full-screen graphics, lower thirds to intro speakers, and custom branding.
- Use Vimeo’s broader capabilities to trim, edit, add chapters, and polish your virtual event recording and share with different marketing channels.
- Offer flexibility on going live with an event or building your event in advance and simulating a live event without even being there to start it.
- Offers rich audience interactivity tools such as polls, Q&A, and moderated chat. Provides video editing and hosting toolkit to repurpose and organize event content.
Cons
- Vimeo Events is typically better suited for medium to large scale webinars, virtual venues, and town halls, as opposed to very small team meetings that plug into calendars or workspace tools.
2. Zoom
Best-known for hosting on-one-on meetings, Zoom lets you host digital events as well. It’s best for creators and small business marketers who want to monetize virtual events.
Pros
- Zoom plays a vital role in pre-event prep work. For instance, you can use it to create branded event registration pages and a customized viewing frame.
- Gives you plenty of tools to engage attendees and let them interact with each other and your sponsors.
- Setting up and creating a webinar in Zoom is easy — especially for those already familiar with the tool.
Cons
- Average video quality. Where HD video quality (1080p) is standard, Zoom offers 720p for two or more attendees at a conference. You’ll need to pay more for hosting virtual events in HD video.
- Zoom is costly for hosting conferences with a large audience, rendering it unsuitable for scaling events with this platform.
- Lack of control options for hosts. Zoom offers no way for hosts to moderate chat comments on the fly — something you need to be mindful of in case of public events.
Pricing
Zoom’s pricing depends on the number of attendees joining your event. To give you a rough idea, pricing for a 100-people event starts at $990 per year.
Read more about Zoom
3. Hopin
Hopin lets event marketers across the board host as many people as they want. Like Zoom, its pricing depends on the number of attendees, which can make it costly to scale up with this platform. But where it wins over Zoom is in offering comment moderator capabilities.
Pros
- Hopin offers a branding studio so you can customize your event registration page and virtual event venue.
- Provides moderation capabilities and makes it easy for multiple speakers to join.
- Comes with a mobile app so guest speakers and attendees can join and engage from their mobile devices.
Cons
- There are no tools to repurpose and reuse content from your virtual events.
- A handful of users complain about audio and video performance issues in events hosted by Hopin. One user even notes, “I don’t like performance issues with audio or video. People who don’t have a good internet connection experience some lag problems. This [doesn’t] happen with other alternative solution[s].”
Pricing
There’s a free plan available that lets one admin host 2-hour long events for up to 100 attendees. For more, pricing plans are gated.
4. GoTo Webinar
GoTo Webinar is best for creators and small businesses hosting small events — up to 3,000 attendees, which is less than what Vimeo, Hopin, and Zoom offer.
It’s also a good choice for creators or solo-business owners conducting paid training workshops as GoToWebinar directly connects with Stripe, letting you receive payments.
Pros
- GoTo Webinar offers audience engagement tools including polls and Q&A. Hosts can also draw on the screen.
- Multi-presenter mode for webinars gives up to six organizers the ability to present.
- Easy to set up and implement. Plus, like Vimeo Events, you can automate invites, reminders, and follow-up emails to increase the number of people who join and keep in touch with engaged participants.
Cons
- The user interface is outdated so some users report it takes some time to get the hang of GoToWebinar.
- Users complain of performance issues when the attendee count goes above 1,000 people. There are reviews complaining of audio quality issues, too. This is true of any platform that is a video conferencing platform at its core, as opposed to a large scale event platform.
- Certain features such as file sharing are slow, and some features are hard to find or confusing to use.
- You can’t repurpose or reuse content from your virtual events.
Pricing
There’s a 7-day free trial available. The rest of it is paid with pricing starting at $49 per organizer per month (for hosting 250 participants).
5. Cvent
Cvent is most suitable for enterprise marketers hosting in-person events such as exhibitions and trade shows, thanks to their check-in feature.
In contrast with other online conference platforms, it’s not as applauded among users for hosting virtual events.
Pros
- Cvent offers onsite check-in and badging software that prints attendees’ photos on arrival. Some users logged complaints on third-party review sites saying the tool printing the wrong images.
- Gives you multiple integrations to connect your tech stack and streamline your workflow.
- Comes with the standard audience engagement tools as well as offers AI-powered networking recommendations, and gamification.
Cons
- User interface is outdated and clunky.
- Poor customer support and limited training resources/documentation, which aggravates the steep learning curve, making it challenging to start and get the most value from the platform.
- Few options to customize branding, access analytics, and get real-time chat.
- There are no tools to repurpose and reuse content.
Pricing
Pricing is customized according to your needs, so you need to get a quote for an idea of how much Cvent costs.
6. On24
On24 is a virtual event platform great for marketers looking to host webinars and multi-session events.
Pros
- Extensive analytics on attendees.
- Additional capabilities such as content management hubs and personalized landing pages.
- Offers key integrations to align your sales and marketing teams and drive leads.
Cons
- On24 is by far the most expensive solution, partially because it requires extensive onboarding and services to get clients up and running, few content layouts, which limits your options for customizing your online events’ login and registration pages.
- There are no tools to repurpose and reuse content from your virtual events.
- Poor user interface with the editor being a code editor, adding to the learning curve.
Pricing
On24’s website doesn’t share any pricing. Interested folks will need to get a quote.
FAQs
How do I choose a virtual event platform?
Review your business needs such as your budget, how large an event you want to host, and how many virtual events you want to host. Then choose a virtual event platform that not only fits your budget but is also easy to use, offers in-depth analytics, audience engagement tools, high-quality streaming, and lots of integrations.
How do I make my virtual event more interactive?
Make your virtual events more interactive by encouraging your audience to ask questions, leave their thoughts in the chat box, host polls, and quizzes, and have a Q&A session mid-way or toward the end of the event. To be able to do all of this though, be sure to invest in a virtual event platform that offers dynamic audience engagement tools.
What are the most popular virtual event platforms out there today?
Vimeo Events, Hopin, Zoom, and GoToWebinar are some of the most popular event platforms you can try. Each comes with its pros and cons. Pick based on your budget and specific event requirements.
So which virtual event platform is best for you?
The best virtual events platform for you is one that meets your business needs the most. This includes:
- Your attendee size
- Use case (how much you plan to leverage virtual events for your sales and marketing and whether you offer paid workshops)
- How much time you’ve to learn to use a new tool
- How much you plan to scale (you don’t want the platform to slip out of your budget as you scale)
We’ve shared some software that offer poor-quality streaming with outdated UX. Others have a steep learning curve, and their pricing can become costly for hosting large audiences.
Luckily, this is where Vimeo Events really shines. It offers a ton of customization, high-quality streaming, and an intuitive user interface. It also plays a helpful role in reusing content from the events you host — helping you drive the most ROI from your efforts.
Want to explore more? Try Vimeo Events today.
This article was originally published on March 7, 2023 and updated on April 6, 2023 by the editor.
