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Top virtual events platforms: A review and comparison of the best applications

Mar 11, 2023

You've brainstormed some stellar ideas for your conference virtual and even reached out to potential guests to speak during your event. They're showing an curiosity, also your attendees!

What do are your thoughts on the virtual platforms you'd choose to use to host your online gathering?

It's a tough decision? It's true that, regardless of the many options available it isn't easy to know if a program will meet your requirements and delivering a memorable (and non-error-prone) event experience.

There are some tools with friendly customer support team members who can assist you to create your perfect virtual event -- be it a multi-day event as well as a live-streamed training session or webinar. All you need is to locate that precious item.

This guide can assist you in doing just this while I walk you through the best six platforms for virtual occasions. They are all are based on a small selection of these programs and sifting through a myriad of third-party reviews of these platforms.

Now, let's dig into:

In this article

What are the most important things to look for in a virtual meeting platform

Before diving into the most popular websites for virtual events, we must first establish what makes the best event platform online through a look at the top features.

Keep this post in mind so that you are able to reference this checklist of options in deciding on your perfect virtual event platform

Plenty of useful and simple integrations

Integration with CRMs as well as email applications, such as, can be crucial in creating personalized invitations for occasions and turning attendees into faithful customers.

The intuitive user

The user interface is intuitive and allows users to navigate the program, discover the features it has, and get maximum benefits from it. It also means you can get using the program by yourself, with there is no need for outside assistance.

Stream quality

The event's audio and video quality will directly affect attendees' experience, encouraging them to stay till the conclusion. Make sure that the software you pick has HD quality streaming, is free of complaints regarding quality and lets you download the content in superior quality.

A robust analytics system

 Tools for engaging with the audience dynamically

The ability to host polls, games, as well as questions are crucial tools to keep your users engaged and to improve their experience. The platform you choose to use must offer these capabilities in tandem with the ability to create break-out areas to facilitate attendee-to network.

Proactive customer care

Also, be sure the program's support team can be quick and helpful with any questions you may have. A good way to determine the caliber of support provided by their team is to question them regarding the software prior to purchase and also during the free trial. Their response to questions will be a reflection regarding the manner in which they deal with customers and prospects.

A complete listing of the best conferences online:

For each tool, I've listed its primary functions along with which areas the tool is most suitable to use it for, along with the places where it is effective, as well as its pros with regard to what users have to say on sites such as G2 or Gartner.

Let's go.

1. Events

Events is an easy to use online virtual event platform that is suitable for event organizers who have at least some experience in managing digital events.

Speakers you select to address your gathering and guests and your guests aren't required to download additional software to set up or design the event .

Pros

  • Events can assist you in your event creation and promotion process. The platform can be connected with your CRM and marketing software, allowing you to create branded registration forms, create automated invitations to events as well as event confirmations and reminder emails, as well as keep attendees engaged after the occasion.
  • It provides sophisticated data analytics to assist you in developing your event's marketing plan. Once the event has ended It provides you with a thorough analysis of the event and its participants, revealing which people attended and how many they watched and engaged throughout the event.
  • Helps you create a branded user experience. Drag-and-drop your interface in order to include high-quality graphics, lower thirds for the speakers in the intro and custom branding.
  • These tools allow editing and hosting allows you to reuse event-related material. Use it to trim, edit chapters, modify or add more features to your recordings and then share it to various channels to promote your business.

 Cons

  • It's not designed to facilitate meetings within internal settings as Zoom and other meeting software are. Events is better suited for webinars, virtual venues town halls and much more.
  • Events is a relatively brand new online event platform, which means it's not able to claim the same brand name as the established players within the field.

2. Zoom

The most well-known feature is its one-on-one meetings, Zoom lets you host digital events , too. Zoom is great for those who design and run small businesses who wish to generate income through the hosting of online occasions.

Pros

  • There are plenty of ways to engage your attendees and to let them engage with each other as well as with your sponsors.
  • The process of setting up and creating the webinar using Zoom is easy and particularly suitable for those who are already comfortable using the program.

 Cons

  • Average video quality. In the case where HD quality video (1080p) is standard, Zoom offers 720p for the presence of more than two people in an event. It is cost-effective to host online events in HD video.
  • Participating in a virtual meeting that is hosted by Zoom does not provide an easy experience. The best way to ensure that new attendees/users are to arrive 5 minutes early to install and download the application. This for event planners results in poor attendance.
  • Zoom can be expensive for hosting events with a huge number of attendees, which makes it not suitable for scalability of events on the platform.
  • Lack of control options for hosts. Zoom provides no means for hosts to control chat chats in any way, important to bear on your radar for events that are public.

Pricing

Zoom's price is contingent on the number of guests who attend the event. For a rough estimate, the cost for 100 attendees is $990 annually.

 Find out More about Zoom

3. Hopin

Hopin helps event planners around the globe to accommodate the number of guests they'd like. Similar to Zoom it's pricing is contingent on the quantity of attendees and can be expensive to expand on this platform. However, where it is superior to Zoom is the fact that it has the ability to moderate comments.

ProsPros

  • Hopin offers an Event Branding Studio in which you can customize your website to allow registration, and possibly an event space that is virtual.
  • Moderation is a feature that allows multiple speakers to join.
  • The app is mobile-friendly to allow guests speakers and participants can join and engage on their mobiles.

Cons

  • The analytics for events don't provide a thorough analysis.
  • There's not any software to reuse and reuse material of virtual events.
  • There are some users who complain about video and audio performance issues in events held by Hopin. One mentions, "I don't like problems with the performance of events with audio or video. Users who do not have fast internet connections encounter lag issues. This is not the case for other methods."

Pricing

A free option is provided which allows administrators to hold events for two hours with up to 100 guests. To learn more about prices, the plans are locked.

4. GoTo Webinar

GoTo Webinar is best for creators as well as small businesses that are organizing events of a lesser size that can accommodate as many as three hundred participants that is lower than what Hopin as well as Zoom can provide.

It's also a good choice for small-scale business owners who don't have a partner or creators conducting free training sessions due to the fact that GoTo Webinar directly connects with Stripe which allows for payments.

Pros

  • GoTo Webinar offers audience engagement tools, including polls and other questions. Hosts are also able to draw their own designs on the display.
  • Multi-presenter mode in webinars allows up to six organizers to present.

Cons

  • The user interface has been around for a while, so many users say it may be difficult to master GoToWebinar.
  • Some attendees complain about performance issues in the event that the total number of guests exceeds 1,000 participants. A few reviews have complained about audio quality issues as well.
  • Certain features, such as the feature for sharing files slow down certain functions, such as file sharing. Some features can be difficult to locate or are confusing to understand.

Pricing

The trial is free for seven days. The remainder of the trial costs are paid, with the cost starting at $49 for the organizer per month (for hosting 250 participants).

5. Cvent

Cvent can be ideal for business marketing organizations that hold in-person events, such as trade exhibitions because of their check-in facilities.

In contrast to other platforms that host online conferences It's not an option that is popular with users who host virtual conferences.

Pros

  • Cvent provides on-site check-in facilities and a badger software that prints attendees' photos on arrival. Some users logged complaints through third-party review websites about that software wasn't printing the correct images.
  • It lets you connect multiple platforms to connect your technology stacks and improve your workflow.
  • Comes with the standard tools that allow for interaction with the audience as well as offers AI-powered recommendations for networking, as well as 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
  • There are many options to customize brand, gain access to analytics and get live chat

Pricing

Prices will be based on your needs, so it is important to obtain an estimate of how much Cvent costs.

6. On24

On24 is a virtual-event platform great for marketers seeking to host webinars as well as multi-session events.

Pros

  • Proactive customer support team.
  • The software assists with automating a variety of activities. Additionally, it offers integrations that make sure that you have a strong sales and marketing teams work together.

 Cons

  • Some layouts for content are available. These limit the options for designing your event's online login and registration pages.
  • The interface of editors is not user-friendly. which function as code editors and code editor, resulting in a steep learning curve.
  • It's not possible to prepare an online event. It means you'll have compromise on audience participation for the sake of ensuring that your show is smooth as you conduct the event at the speed of light. The user says, "I would love to have the ability to design a storyboard for my live stream, and also have the ability to manage the screen's content, where they appear on the screen and perform the low thirds in the videos and then insert people into the live stream before removing them and so on." 3. is the format.

Pricing

On24's website doesn't provide price information. If you're interested in receiving a quote, you should obtain a quotation.

FAQs

If you are answering questions, don't reply to questions immediately; instead, include the link to a pertinent blog post from your site (as appropriate) in order to get people to click.

How do I choose a virtual event platform?

Analyze your company's needs, like your budget, the dimensions of the event you'd like to stage, as well as how many virtual events would like to host. Select a virtual events platform which is not only compatible with your budget but is also easy to use, with in-depth analytics as well as tools to engage the crowd with high-quality streaming along with a wide range of connections options.

How can I create a virtual experience that is more interesting?

What are the top talked-about virtual event platforms available at the moment?

Event, Hopin, Zoom, and GoToWebinar are some of the most well-known platforms that you could explore for events. Each has positives and negatives. Choose based on the budget you have set and the specific requirements of the event.

Which virtual event platform will be the most effective for your needs?

The best virtual event platform can be the one able to meet the needs of your company in the best way. This includes:

  • The number of attendees you can expect
  • Use the cases (how how much you intend to use virtual events in your marketing and sales, and whether you are offering free training workshops)
  • How much time you've to spend learning how to utilize the most recent tool?
  • The amount that you'll need to scale (you don't want the platform to fall into your budget when you grow)

There are several programs that deliver poor quality streaming using obsolete UX. Others have a steep learning curve, and their cost can be expensive when hosting large crowds.

It's a good thing that this is an area in which Events truly shines. It offers a ton of possibilities for customizing as well as streaming of top-quality and has an easy-to-use interface. Additionally, it plays an important function to reuse the footage of your events that it hosts, helping you maximize the value of your expenditure.

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