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Best virtual events platforms: Review and comparison of the top-rated software

Mar 11, 2023

Did you think of many great ideas for your online event -or even contacted potential attendees who may be interested in speaking during your event. They're showing an enthusiasm which is reflected in your attendees!

However, let's see what do you think about the various virtual platforms you'd like for hosting your virtual gathering?

A difficult decision? The truth is that despite the variety offered and the numerous alternatives available, it's straightforward to tell the software's capability of fulfilling all your expectations and delivering a memorable (and free of errors) an experience for your occasion.

However, there are platforms with friendly assistance teams who can aid you with hosting your dream virtual event, whether it's something that runs for multiple days or a live-streamed online training course or webinar. The only thing you have to do is find this treasure.

This guide will guide you through the process while I go through the six best platforms for virtual events. These cons and pros are based on a small selection of these applications as well as a lot of third-party reviews about these platforms.

Let's dive deep:

In this article

What are the key features to be looking for when you visit an online conference platform

Before we dive into the top ways to hold virtual events, we'll first identify what makes a good event hosting tool through a review of the essential attributes.

Bookmark this article so that you are able to refer to this list of features in deciding on your perfect virtual event software:

A plethora of helpful and simple Integrations

Integrations with CRMs as well as emails software like email software, as an example it is crucial for sending customized invitations for events and changing guests to customers who remain committed.

Intelligent UX

The user-friendly interface makes it easy to navigate the program and explore the features and drive the most benefit from it. This also allows you to set up the system and get it functioning all on your own -- no outside help required.

Stream quality

The audio and video quality directly affects your guests' experience and inspire them to stick around till the end. It is essential to ensure that the software you pick includes HD top-quality streaming and no issues with performance and also allows users to download their content at a high quality.

 Analytics reliable and robust

Tools for engaging audiences dynamically

The ability to host polls, games, and questions are essential methods of engaging your audience and for improving their experience. Your platform should provide these features in addition to the capacity to provide breakout areas to encourage attendees-to-attendee networking.

Proactive customer support

Be sure that the support department of your software can be quick and helpful with questions you might have. One way to evaluate the support quality provided by the support team is to ask them questions regarding the software prior to buying it, as well as during the trial period. The way they answer your questions can speak volumes about the way they handle the customers and their prospective customers.

Six of the best online platforms for organizing events (based on extensive review and user reviews)

Now for a an overview of the most popular conference on the web:

Every tool has been discussed with respect to the main functions, who is the best candidate for it, what areas the tool wins, and its disadvantages based on information its users have written on other websites like G2 and Gartner.

Let's go.

1. Events

Events is an easy-to-use web-based event platform that is ideal for event planners with any degree of familiarity with planning online occasions.

Your guests, speakers and attendees do not need to download any extra software for setting up the event, or even organize an event .

Pros

  • Events can assist you in organizing and promotion of your event. Integrate the platform with your CRM or marketing email software to design personalized registration forms. You can also create automated invitations to events along with email reminders for events and confirmation emails, and engage attendees after the occasion.
  • It provides sophisticated data that will assist you in improving the marketing strategies for your event. After the event is over, it gives you detailed event- and viewer-level analytics that show who attended the event, and how many they watched and engaged throughout the duration of the occasion.
  • It allows you to create an experience that is unique to you. Drag-and-drop the interface for full-screen photos, parts of the lower thirds that make up the intro speaker along with custom branding.
  • It gives you the video editing and hosting toolkit for repurposing event video media. Utilize it to edit, cut chapters, edit or even enhance the quality of your recorded video and then upload it to different channels to promote your business.

Cons

  • Not designed for internal meetings like Zoom or similar software used for meeting are. Events is better suited to virtual meetings, webinars town halls, and so on.
  • Events is relatively new virtual event platform so it's not as well-known and has the same name recognition that the more established companies in this space.

2. Zoom

A popular platform for one-on-one meetings, Zoom lets you host digital events as well. It's ideal for people who design and run small businesses who wish to profit from digital events.

Pros

  • Gives you plenty of tools to get attendees engaged and let them connect with one another along with your partners.
  • The process of creating and organizing an online web-based webinar with Zoom is simple and especially beneficial for those who have experience with this tool.

 Cons

  • Average video quality. Where HD videos are clear (1080p) is standard, Zoom offers 720p for the presence of two or more people at a conference. There is a cost to hold events online in HD video.
  • Participating in a virtual meeting hosted with Zoom isn't always easy. For new attendees, it's advised to be five minutes prior to downloading and install the software. Event organizers will find this will result in low attendance.
  • Zoom can be expensive for hosting events with large numbers of participants, which renders it unsuitable for scaling events with the technology.
  • Lack of control options for hosts. Zoom provides no means for hosts to moderate chat conversations at their discretion -- something that you'll need to be mindful of when hosting events for the public.

Pricing

Zoom's pricing depends on the number of guests who attend your event. For a rough estimate price for 100 people, a 100-person event start at $990 per year.

Find out more about Zoom

3. Hopin

Hopin lets event planners all over the world to arrange as many participants as they want. Similar to Zoom the pricing of Hopin is contingent on the amount of attendees and it can be hard to scale up with this platform. But where it wins over Zoom is its capability to offer comment moderator features.

Pros

  • Hopin has a branding studio where you can personalize your event registration page and even a virtual space for your occasion.
  • Moderation features and makes it easier for many speakers to be connected.
  • Includes a mobile-friendly app to enable guests to use speakers as well as participants to interact and communicate through their mobile devices.

Cons

  • The event analytics don't go into depth.
  • There is no tool that allow you to reuse and repurpose the contents of your virtual event.
  • A few users have expressed their displeasure about video and audio quality issues in events held by Hopin. One participant mentions, "I don't like the performance issues that arise in video or audio. People who don't have an internet connection may experience lag problems. This isn't the case for other alternative solution[s]."

Pricing

The plan for free is provided by an administrator who can organize events lasting 2 hours with up to 100 guests. For more, pricing plans are not available.

4. GoTo Webinar

GoTo Webinar is perfect for those who are creative as well as smaller businesses who host smaller-sized eventsup to 3,000 participants which is less than what services Hopin or Zoom can offer.

This is also a great alternative for small-scale business owners or creators hosting paid-for training sessions since GoTo Webinar directly connects with Stripe which allows for payment.

Pros

  • GoTo Webinar offers audience engagement tools, including polls and other questions. Hosts are also able to draw their own designs on the video screen.
  • Multi-presenter to present webinars provides the organizers up to six the possibility of speaking.

Cons

  • The user interface has been around for a while and some users have stated that it takes some time to get hang of GoToWebinar.
  • People complain about issues with performance in the event that the number of attendees exceeds 1,000. Some reviews complain of audio quality issues as well.
  • Certain options, such as file sharing may be extremely slow. Certain features can be difficult to find or are confusing to find.

Pricing

The trial is free for seven days. The remaining trial costs are paid, with the cost starting at $49 per host per month (for hosting 250 people).

5. Cvent

Cvent can be perfect for marketing companies that host event in person, like trade fairs or exhibitions because of the check-in function.

As opposed to other conference websites, however, this platform isn't well-liked in views of those hosting virtual meetings.

Pros

  • Cvent has onsite check-in facilities and badge printing software which prints guest photos upon the arrival. Users have complained on third-party review sites that Cvent printing images that were not correct.
  • Provides multiple integrations that connect your tech stack and improve the efficiency of your process.
  • It comes with basic tools to engage with the public and provides AI-powered recommendations for networks and gaming.

 Cons

  • The interface for users is old.
  • 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
  • Some options to personalize your brand identity, get data and chat in real-time.

Pricing

Pricing can be customized to meet the needs of your business It is therefore essential to ask for a quotation to get an idea of how much Cvent cost.

6. On24

On24 is a virtual-event platform that is ideal for marketing professionals who want to host webcasts, multi-session or other events.

Pros

  • A proactive customer service team.
  • It helps automate a lot of things. Additionally, it offers integrations to will ensure the efficiency of your sales and marketing teams are.

 Cons

  • There are some templates for your content, but this makes it difficult to tailor your online events' page for registration and login.
  • A poor user interface, which includes editors that act as editor for code, which increases the learning curve.
  • It's impossible to plan your event in advance. This means you'll have to trade off audience engagement in order to ensure that the event is functioning smoothly while you host in the moment. The critic writes, "I would love to create a storyboard to help plan my webcast. I would then be able to decide on the content of the screen and where they appear on the screen, make lower thirds on the video, and then place them within the live stream prior to eliminating them, and so on." ________________ ________________

Pricing

On24's site On24 does not provide costs. People who are interested should inquire for a price.

FAQs

In the FAQs, do not answer the question immediately; instead, include a link to a relevant piece of content from your own website (as necessary) to encourage users to click through.

How do I choose the most effective Virtual Event Platform?

Analyze your company's needs, including your budget, the scale of the event you'd like hold, as well as how many virtual events you'd prefer to host. Select a virtual events platform that does not just meet your financial goals, but also can be used easily and provides deep analytics audience engagement tools, high-quality streaming and various possibilities for connectivity.

What could I do to make an online experience that's more memorable?

What are the top virtual platform for events available today?

Events, Hopin, Zoom, and GoToWebinar are among the most well-known event platforms you can try. Each one has its benefits and drawbacks. Choose based on the budget you have and specific events requirements.

Which virtual event solution will work best for you?

The most effective virtual event platform is able to meet your needs as a business in the best way. That means:

  • Size of the attendee
  • Use cases (how do you plan to make use of virtual events to boost the purpose of sales and marketing and whether you offer free seminars)
  • How much time do you want to learn to operate an entirely fresh device
  • What is the amount you'll have to increase to accommodate your growth (you do not want this platform to be component of your budget as you grow)

We've provided a list of software which provide poor quality streaming using old UX. Other software have a long process of learning, and their costs can be costly in the event of hosting large audiences.

This is where Events truly shines. Events provides a lot of versatility along with high-quality streaming as well as an intuitive user interface. Also, it can play a crucial role in reusing footage from your events which you hold, enabling you to get the highest ROI from your efforts.

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