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The best virtual event platforms: A look and comparison of the best applications

Mar 10, 2023

You've brainstormed some stellar concepts for your virtual conference and you've even made contact with potential participants to become a part of your event. They're showing interest, so do your stakeholders!

What do do you think of the online venue you'll choose to host your online gathering?

A difficult decision? In reality, despite the many options available, it could be difficult to determine if a software can meet all your expectations while offering attendees the most memorable (and free of errors) an experience at your occasion.

There are, however, platforms with helpful support team staff members that can help you to host your dream virtual gathering, whether it a multi-day affair or an interactive workshop to train your employees or even a webinar. The only thing you have to do is to find the perfect gem.

This guide will assist you in doing just that , by reviewing the best six options for virtual events. All of them have been tested by the testing of a small portion of these software and sifting through a myriad of reviews from third parties regarding these software platforms.

Now, let's dig into:

In this article

What are the key things to look out for on the virtual conference platform?

Before we dive into the top platforms for hosting events online, let's highlight what makes a good event platform online by examining the most important features.

Bookmark this page so that you are able to refer back to this list of features to help you choose your ideal virtual event software:

An abundance of useful and simple integrations

Integrations with CRMs and with your email software, for instance. they is essential for sending invitations to events that are personalized making participants loyal clients.

 The Intelligent User

A user-friendly interface allows users to use the program, explore its features, and reap the most benefit from it. It also lets you install the program and get it functioning by yourself without any assistance from outside required.

Stream quality

Your event's audio or video quality will directly affect the experience of attendees, causing participants to stick around until conclusion. Make sure that the software you choose has HD streaming at a high quality and that it has no complaints about performance and allows you to download your content at a high quality.

 An efficient analysis system

 Interactive tools to engage with the audience

The ability to host polls, games, and inquiries are crucial to engaging with your viewers as well as improving the experience for them. Your platform will need to provide these functions in conjunction with creating break-out rooms to encourage the networking of attendees.

Proactive customer service

Also, be sure the software's service team is prompt and responsive to any concerns that you may have. A good way to determine the quality of support offered by the team is to contact them about the program prior to purchasing it as well as throughout the trial. What they do to answer questions will tell you a lot regarding the manner in which they interact with their prospects and customers.

6 best virtual platform for events (based on thorough reviews and customer testimonials)

For a full an overview of the most popular conference on the web:

With every tool, I've discussed the main functions and who is the best user, the areas where the tool wins, and its cons according to what customers are saying on sites like G2 and Gartner.

Let's go.

1. Events

Events is an easy to use online event platform that is ideal for event organizers who have the capacity to manage managing online event.

Your guests, you, and event attendees do not need to download any additional software to set up your eventor to even design your event .

Pros

  • Events will assist you with the planning and promotion process. The platform can be connected to your CRM and marketing emails software, to build customized registration forms and emails invitations for events that automate email reminders for events and confirmations, as well as keeping attendees interested after the celebration.
  • It provides sophisticated data analytics to help you improve the marketing strategy for your event. Once the event wraps will provide you with specific evaluation of the event and its viewers which reveal who was there and the duration they stayed and how they engaged throughout the event.
  • It helps you design a brand-name visual experience. Use the drag-and-drop function to create full-screen graphic and lower thirds of your intro speaker, and custom branding.
  • Provides tools to edit your videos, and hosting for repurposing event videos. You can trim, edit chapters, add chapters and improve your video recordings and upload to various marketing channels.

 Cons

  • The software isn't designed for meetings in the internal space like Zoom or similar programs for meetings are. Events is better for webcasts, virtual venues town halls, and so on.
  • Events is a modern and cutting-edge virtual experience platform for events, consequently, it's not able have the same fame as the established players in the space.

2. Zoom

Best-known for hosting on-one-on meeting, Zoom lets you host online meetings too. It's ideal for creatives or entrepreneurs from small companies who wish to earn profits through online events.

ProsPros

  • Gives you plenty of tools to get attendees engaged and allow them to interact with your sponsors and interact with sponsors.
  • The procedure of setting up the webinar and creating it using Zoom is simple and is especially suitable for users who already have a good working knowledge of the software.

 Cons

  • Average video quality. When HD videos are used (1080p) is the norm, Zoom offers 720p for the presence of more than two participants in the same event. You'll need to pay more to hold virtual events with HD video.
  • Participating in a virtual meeting hosted with Zoom isn't easy. For those who are new to Zoom is to show up five minutes prior to the event time to start downloading and installing the app. The event organizers will notice that this results in a poor user experience.
  • Zoom can be expensive for hosting conferences with a large number of attendees, which makes it difficult to manage the event scalability on this platform.
  • There aren't any control options that hosts can use. Zoom does not allow hosts to control chat conversation on the fly and this is something that you should be aware of for open events.

Pricing

Pricing for Zoom is based on the number of attendees who will attend your event. To give you a rough estimate, the cost for 100-person events begins at $900 per year.

Learn More About Zoom

3. Hopin

Hopin permits event planners across the globe to arrange the number of attendees they want. Like Zoom it's pricing is contingent on the number of participants which can make it costly to expand with this system. One place where it is able to beat Zoom is by offering the ability to moderate comments.

Pros

  • Hopin has an event branding studio in which you can personalize your event registration page and virtual location for your occasion.
  • The sound is moderated and permits multiple speakers to be connected.
  • It comes with a mobile application so guest speakers and attendees are able to connect and interact via their phones.

Cons

  • Event analytics aren't in-depth.
  • There is no software for repurposing and reusing material from virtual event.
  • A few users have expressed their displeasure about video and audio performances issues in events organized by Hopin. One person wrote, "I don't like issues with performance that can arise with either video or audio. If you don't have a good internet connection have problems in lag. This [doesn't] happen with different methods."

Pricing

The free plan is offered that allows an administrator to hold two-hour long parties that can accommodate up to 100 people. To learn more about pricing, plan options are gated.

4. GoTo Webinar

GoTo Webinar can be the best choice for startups and smaller organizations that organize events with a lower capacity that can reach three hundred people this is smaller than the options that Hopin and Zoom are able to provide.

It's also an excellent option for solo business owners or creators hosting paid-for training sessions due to the fact that GoTo Webinar directly connects with Stripe and allows you to receive payments.

Pros

  • GoTo Webinar offers audience engagement tools , such as polls and questions and answers. Hosts can also draw onto the screen.
  • Multi-presenter webinars allows at minimum six presenters the ability to present.

Cons

  • The interface for users is older, and some users say that it takes several hours to understand how to utilize GoToWebinar.
  • People complain about issues with performance because the number of guests rises higher than 1,000. Reviews have been written about issues with audio quality, too.
  • Certain options like the file sharing option can be slower. Certain features are difficult to locate or difficult to utilize.

Pricing

The trial period is 7 days that's available. All the rest is cost-effective, with costs starting at just $49 per host for the month (for hosting 250 participants).

5. Cvent

Cvent could be perfect for businesses hosting in-person events like trade events due to the check-in functionality.

As opposed to other platforms for virtual conferences, it's not an option that is popular with users to host online events.

ProsPros

  • Cvent allows for check-in on-site along with a badger software that prints attendees pictures when they arrive. Users have reported complaints on third-party review sites saying Cvent printed images that were not correct.
  • It lets you integrate multiple platforms to connect your technology stack and streamline your workflow.
  • It comes with traditional tools for engagement with the audience, along with AI-powered recommendations for networking, as well as the ability to play games.

 Cons

  • User interface is outdated.
  • 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 branding for your business Get the benefit of analytics and immediate chat

Pricing

Prices are customized to the specific requirements of your business So you should find out what Cvent will cost you.

6. On24

On24 is a virtual-event platform for businesses who wish to hold sessions or webinars.

Pros

  • A proactive customer service team.
  • This tool can simplify many procedures. Plus, offers integrations to bring together your marketing and sales teams.

Cons

  • There are some content layouts available are available and limit your options in modifying your events online. Login and registration pages.
  • The user interface isn't user-friendly. Neither is it is a code editor for code, which adds the steep learning curve.
  • There's no way of creating an online event. This means that you'll have to make a the decision between participation by audience and ensuring that it runs smoothly when your hosting with the rate of light. One user writes, "I would love to to create a storyboard for my webcast and manage the presentation on the screen. their faces appear in the media tile, do lower thirds over their videos, and then place them in the live stream, then take them from the screen and the list goes on." 8

Pricing

On24's site On24 isn't able to provide any prices. Interested folks will need to inquire for a quote.

FAQs

In answering questions do not answer questions immediately; instead, include an appropriate link to an article on your site (as appropriate) in order to increase your click-through rate.

What should I consider when choosing the best virtual event platform?

Review your business needs which includes your budget, the is the size of the event you'd like to host, and how many virtual events you would want to organize. Choose a platform for virtual events that is not just a good fit with your budget but is also simple to use, offers detailed analytics, participation tools and top-quality streaming, as well in a wide range of possibilities for connectivity.

What can I do to enhance my event online? interactive?

What are the top virtual event platforms out there at the moment?

Event, Hopin, Zoom as well as GoToWebinar are just a few of the most well-known event platforms that you may explore. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Decide based on your budget and the specific requirements of your event.

Which virtual event platform is best for you?

The ideal virtual events platform you can choose is one that is able to fulfill the needs of your organization in the best way. This includes:

  • The size of your attendee
  • Use examples (how will you utilize virtual events to enhance your marketing and sales, and whether you provide paid workshops)
  • What's the time it takes to learn to use a completely new gadget?
  • What is the amount you're planning to increase your business (you don't want the platform to disappear from your budget when you expand)

There are some software options that offer poor-quality streaming with outdated UX. Some have a lengthy training curve and pricing could be prohibitive for large-scale events.

Luckily, this is the area that Events really shines. It offers a lot of options, high-quality streaming, as well as a user-friendly interface. Additionally, it plays an important function in the reuse of footage from your events organized, allowing users to receive the best return on your investment.

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