Whether you’re hosting work meetings, delivering presentations, or holding international workshops, webinar services are an important part of it. We took the best webinar software available in the UK to see which are the most reliable. Our reviewers looked at:
We offer a quick comparison so that you find the most suitable webinar software in the UK.
Best Webinar Software for UK Businesses
1. JetWebinar
JetWebinar is one of the leading webinar software solutions, known for its high capacity and speed. Video can be transferred in as high as 4K! You can stream live or schedule pre-recorded webinars to stream as live. Depending on the plan you choose you can host can have as many hosts and attendees sharing video as required.
• Fast and reliable
• Web-based remote webinar software
• 4K video capabilities
JetWebinar is one of the most versatile webinar software options. It is also one of the few that can, in principle, handle 4K if those logged-in have adequate internet connections. The software is run remotely, and all you have to do is log-in to a web-based dashboard. Likewise, attendees just need a browser and do not need to download anything.
JetWebinar – Features
1. Promotional Tools
JetWebinar has an in-built page editor that lets you easily customize both your webinar page and landing pages. This allows your branding and web presence to remain consistent. It’s suitable for beginners with simple tabs to configure, while experts can go directly into the template code to create an even more unique look.
Once users have registered with their email you can set up automatic email reminders and segment users for better targeting. If people have signed up but fail to watch, you can also easily drop them an on-demand link. Emails are customisable and the type of interface will be familiar to those who already use email marketing tools.
2. Going Live
Thanks to the standout webinar software features, you’ll be able to go live instantly from multiple sources. You can stream directly from you and your other hosts’ webcams or share your screens. This lets you pipe in any kind of pre-recorded video or visual content on the fly. You can also easily engage your attendees via a chatroom to the side of the window.
Alternatively, you can set a pre-recorded presentation to play ‘as-live’ and focus all your energy on secondary engagement while knowing your main webinar has already been perfected. This can be fully automated – you do not even have to be present yourself.
3. On-Demand
The on-demand aspect of JetWebinar goes much further than simply providing you with an archived link or video. Users can choose any day and time to watch an on-demand webinar and get pre-set or pre-recorded chat and engagement at the same time. This is ideal for viewers with scheduling conflicts and for you to add more automation to the process. This means you can focus on other areas of your business or work.
4. Analytics
JetWebinar’s various webinar tools also allow you to delve into your viewing statistics and learn how many people registered. This as well as how many of those watched live, on-demand views, and other valuable information. When combined with data from your landing/registration pages it doesn’t take long to fine-tune your approach for maximum viewership.
Pricing
- 14-day free trial with all features activated. No credit card required.
STANDARD PLANS
- Basic: $8 (approx $6)/mo, for meetings of 25 attendees and with 1GB storage.
- Standard: $47 (approx £34/mo, for webinars with up to 100 attendees and 5 video hosts. Plus, a chatroom.
- Pro: $99 (approx £71.50)/mo, with 250 attendees and as-live videos.
- Business: $157 (approx £113)/mo, with up to 500 attendees and 10 video hosts.
HIGH-CAPACITY PLANS
- Elite 1K: $317 (approx £229)/mo, for 1,000 attendees and 10 video hosts.
- Elite 3K: $879 (approx £635)/mo, for 3,000 attendees.
- Elite 5K: $1,919 (approx £1387)/mo, for 5,000 attendees.
Enterprise users who need an easy webinar solution with more panelists to share their video. Or, overall, more attendee capacity, can contact JetWebinar directly for a quote. All monthly plans receive a 20% discount if you commit and pay for 12 months in advance.
Verdict
What makes JetWebinar one of the best webinar software solutions is that it’s very reliable. There’s no lag and attendees from all over the world have no problem logging in. The only time things seem to go wrong is if users themselves have poor connections. There are also occasionally glitches when recording meetings rather than webinars. Web-based deployment solves any problems you might have with software updates, especially when some users are lagging behind or have different computer setups.
2. WebinarJam
As far as top webinar software goes, WebinarJam is right up there. This powerful platform makes use of cloud hosting and allows for 6 presenters with HD video and up to 5,000 attendees. The software also has cross-platform support, delivering high-quality streams on all devices.
• ‘Always on’ room option
• Enterprise Scalability
• Automatic Recordings
WebinarJam is a cross-platform webinar app that currently serves over 50,000 customers and is considered some of the best webinar software for Mac. The solution provides stable streaming for up to 5,000 webinar attendees and six video hosts at the top-priced plan. It’s great for many industries, including simple conferencing, those selling products and services, or for coaching and workshops.
Unlike similar services this isn’t remote webinar software – you will need to run your account via a desktop computer running macOS or Windows, or a mobile device. Both Android and iOS are supported.
WebinarJam – Features
1. Promotional Tools
More than just a host or web conferencing tool, WebinarJam allows you to schedule events in the future and market them to your audience via customizable registration and landing pages. The point-and-click templates open this up to beginners while still looking professional.
There is also a full email and SMS system to manage your list of attendees and hype them up for the big event. This can be one or a series of reminder emails and drip-fed information.
You can also follow up with attendees after the event automatically based on certain actions. This may include them simply logging in to the webinar or posting a comment in the chat room, depending on what trigger event you choose.
2. Going Live
WebinarJam has many options that can accommodate your time, schedule, or aims of the webinar. You can go live at any time, notifying your existing followers. Schedule an event and build a live webinar. Do either and run a pre-recorded webinar ‘as-live’ and focus your energy in the live chat to create engagement. You can even use an ‘always-on’ room within your business to interact with colleagues or customers.
Added features include polls or offers where you can sell directly to your audience. There’s also a file-sharing tab for ‘handouts’, study materials, or other relevant files.
The one issue we’ve run into with regard to these is that poll results are not saved in any analytics. You can see them if watching a replay and note them down manually.
3. On-Demand and Replays
Doubling as webinar recording software, your sessions are automatically saved. You can utilise the raw video file for your own purposes or stay within the software and allow on-demand viewings or replays. With on-demand, you can then opt to replay what happened in terms of the chatroom, polls, handouts and other interaction, or use it as simple video playback. Similarly, for scheduled replays, you might open a brand-new chat room and interact with people that may have missed things the first time around.
4. Analytics
WebinarJam has a good range of analytics and you can even watch your viewing data in real-time as your webinar presentation takes place. In hindsight, you can also monitor your registration to attendance ratio, average viewing time, the peak times people enter and leave, and various other useful stats. This can help you fine-tune your marketing strategy and webinar approach.
Pricing
All pricing is done on a yearly basis, but you can at least pay $1 (less than £1) for a full 14-day free trial. The following plans are available, all of which come with unlimited webinars per month:
- Basic: $499 (approx £361)/yr for 500 attendees, 2 hosts, and 2 hours duration per webinar.
- Professional: $699 (approx £505)/yr for 2,000 attendees, 4 hosts, 3 hours duration, and an always-on room.
- Enterprise: $999 (approx £722)/yr for 5,000 attendees, 6 hosts, 4 hours duration, and the full control centre.
All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Verdict
WebinarJam is a competent tool that seems to favour marketers. Although it can seem pricey upfront, when you break it down monthly it is within the range of other platforms. Plus, you can always test things out for 14 days for $1. Other than the odd glitch – like a lack of polling data – the system runs smoothly. It is definitely among the best webinar software UK users can access.
3. EverWebinar
If you want to be meticulous in what you broadcast without losing the benefits of appearing live, EverWebinar is the solution for you. Its webinar tools let you take pre-recorded videos of your seminar and schedule them ‘as live’. You also get live or simulated online chat rooms and lots of other great features.
• Great for pre-recorded content
• Detailed analytics
• Clickable offers
EverWebinar was created by the same company as WebinarJam but instead of focusing on live webinars, it is aimed at those that want to pre-record. They can then present them as being live.
EverWebinar – Features
This platform sure has tools worth bragging with.
1. Cross-Platform Support
EverWebinar is now browser-based for both the host and viewer. This means as long as your modern device has a web browser, you can both run and watch a webinar presentation. This applies to Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, etc. Regardless of the device, quality peaks at 1080p and 30fps and can automatically downgrade if any particular viewer has a slow internet connection.
2. As Live
EverWebinar is all about creating the live experience from pre-recorded material. To the viewer, your video will seem live and as long as you promote it as such, they are none the wiser. This allows you to create and edit your content exactly the way you want it without any of the pitfalls of actually being live.
It also means you can spend time in the chatroom feature directly engaging with your viewers as the stream plays. It is particularly useful if you are up selling a product or service, or say, in an educational setting.
Scheduling a webinar, recurring series, or any combinations of dates is very easy via the calendar dashboard. All the tools are there to promote your webinars and get registrations.
If you already have WebinarJam you can easily import a previous live webinar into the EverWebinar systems, since it shares the same server network.
3. Live Chat
The live chat can come in two forms. An open chat where viewers can post and converse amongst themselves and with hosts and admins. Or, as a Q&A format where questions are submitted and it’s up to you whether you answer them. You can also create polls and surveys, share slides and files, upsell offers, and embed further video content for later.
The chatroom itself can also be simulated ‘as live’ rather than actually being live.
Pricing
- $199 (approx £144) billed 3 times a year.
- $499 (approx £361) billed annually.
- $799 (approx £577) for two years.
All plans come with unlimited webinars, easy land page templates, and 24/7 support.
Verdict
EverWebinar is the most advanced option for those that want to solely run pre-recorded webinars and don’t need conference software. While we cannot fault its ability to do this well, other platforms provide this feature in much the same way, alongside the main live platform. In that sense, it might be redundant for a lot of users and overpriced. There are also lots of reports of poor customer support.
4. Demio
Demio is powerful webinar software UK users can join directly from their browser – no downloads needed. It also has a suite of marketing tools to help you pull in your audience and refine your strategy as you move forward. Whether it’s auto-recording in HD or detailed watch and bounce stats, the features are endless.
• Easy web-based platform
• Auto records in MP4
• Excellent analytics and insights
Demio is a wide-ranging webinar software suite that makes it as easy as possible for your audience by offering a no-download, in-browser approach. It has intuitive and professional marketing tools, like registration forms and landing pages. It will stream video content in HD and auto-record for later playback or further distribution. It also has excellent customer support.
Demio – Features
1. Promotional Tools
Before you can host an effective webinar, you need to promote it to your audience and draw others in. Demio provides all you need, with lots of promotional tools. There are registration page templates with thank you options, which you can customize with extra fields. You don’t need web coding experience.
Once someone has opted in, you can then set up automatic email reminders of the pending online webinar to optimize turnout.
We were particularly impressed with the ability to import and manage existing contacts that we may have been engaged within other webinar platforms. Your contacts within Demio can also be exported back out.
2. Going Live
Demio is web-based and hosted outside of your own servers or hosting plan. You control everything from an intuitive web dashboard and can schedule your upcoming webinar with ease. Going live in HD is as simple as clicking a button.
The downside of not self-hosting is there’s an undisclosed bandwidth limitation that means only four remote people can play host at any one time. And, that’s with the most expensive plan. So, this isn’t for big conferences where everyone gets to have a video presence. It’s more for one to four authorities conducting a webinar presentation.
Viewers, however, can easily interact and ask questions via a chat panel. You can also provide polls and ‘handouts’ to keep them engaged and enhance your information presentation.
3. Auto-Recording
Perhaps the best webinar recording software, Demio automatically saves your video to a page where you can continue to share with users. Or, if you are on other platforms you can download the .MP4 file and are free to upload it elsewhere. For example, to your YouTube channel.
4. Analytics
The ability to analyze your audience and use that data to improve your webinars is invaluable. Demio lets you track registrations for a webinar and how many of those actually watch live. Meanwhile, you get to see visualized data about how your users engaged with the content. Did viewers drop off at a certain point? Why might that be? How many took your handouts? What was the poll engagement? Was the chatroom active?
5. Integrations
Demio is essentially ready to go as soon as you sign up and has enough features to work effectively as standalone webinar software. It is, however, further enhanced by easily integrating with your existing tools. This, especially when it comes to email marketing. Some of these include Mail Chimp, AWeber, GetResponse, and ConvertKit.
Pricing
- 14-day free trial with all features activated.
- STARTER: $49 (approx £35)/mo, with a 3-hour limit and 1 host limit.
- GROWTH: $99 (approx £71.50)/mo, with a 5-hour limit and 1 host. Plus, branding and custom fields.
- BUSINESS: $234 (approx £169)/mo, with an 8-hour limit and 4 hosts. Plus, priority support.
Committing to a year upfront knocks 30% off the monthly price equivalent.
Verdict
We found Demio to be easy to use. It quickly became one of our favourite webinar platforms. The web-based approach took away a lot of the hassle found with online meeting software – you have nothing to set up. Plus, when it’s all over you have several easy avenues to continue promoting the content. The 4-person on-screen at once limit was our only real qualm, especially when you don’t even get this until the most expensive plan. This isn’t for large conferences or educational sessions where everyone needs to be visually present. But, for presentations, there aren’t many areas it falters.
5. WebinarNinja
This powerful online webinar platform accepts up to 1,000 live attendees and 11 video-based presenters. With a suite of built-in marketing tools and useful integrations, you can continuously tweak your webinar style and marketing strategy. Optimal results guaranteed!
• Play videos within webinars
• Responsive customer support
• Good email system
WebinarNinja is one of the good all-in-one marketing and webinar platforms. It lets you promote, host, and follow up your broadcast for optimal success. This applies to everyone from marketers to coaches and course sellers and everything in between. Depending on the plan you can have up to 11 hosts and 1,000 live attendees. All aspects are carried out via your web browser so there is no need for you or your viewers to download any software.
WebinarNinja – Features
1. Live and Pre-recorded
WebinarNinja supports both live and pre-recorded ‘automated’ webinars in HD. The latter can be scheduled to play ‘as live’ at a specific time. It can also be embedded as an on-demand video with or without a chatroom. This can be played at any time the viewer wants. That chatroom can also be live or simulated, depending on your goals.
Those in the marketing and sales space will be pleased to know that you can charge for viewing a webinar itself because that may be your product or service. This can be integrated with payment processor Stripe. Meanwhile, you can use the webinar to market your products and services instead.
All webinars are saved and can be reused on-demand, as well as giving you access to the raw file for your own purposes. We loved that we could upload a shorter pre-recorded video that we could then play during a webinar. This and other extra materials can also be shared directly with attendees via the chat room system.
2. Marketing Tools
WebinarNinja has all the marketing tools you need for before and after your sessions. They include easily customisable registration and thank you pages, built-in social sharing tools, and calendar integration. That way, registrants are not only reminded by their calendar but also by any automated or manual emails.
You can also monitor the stats when it comes to registrants, viewings, and their behaviour, and adjust accordingly. Meanwhile, you can use the Facebook ad tracking pixel to gauge the success of marketing your webinar on Facebook.
3. Other Features
This tool also lets you:
- Share slides and study materials
- Share your screen to aid demonstrations
- Post Q&A’s and polls
- Post special offers that can be linked during the webinar
Pricing
You can opt to be billed monthly at a higher overall cost or pay for a year in advance at a 20% discount. Paying yearly works out to the following monthly cost (but remember the billing is actually yearly):
- Starter: $39 (approx £28)/mo for 100 attendees, 3 presenters, 2-hour sessions.
- Pro: $79 (approx £57)/mo for 300 attendees, 5 presenters, and 4-hour sessions. Plus, Facebook ad integration and webinar series/ prolonged ‘summits’.
- Plus: $129 (approx £93)/mo for 500 attendees, 7 presenters, 6-hour sessions.
- Power: $199 (approx £144)/mo for 1,000 attendees, 11 presenters, 8-hour sessions.
All presenters can go live on webcam in HD or share their screen or pre-recorded videos. Attendee limitations are only during live broadcasts. There are no limits on the number of people who can watch on-demand later, regardless of which plan you choose.
Verdict
With 24/7 live chat support and a robust and reliable platform, there isn’t much bad to say about a service like WebinarNinja. It’s user-friendly, with an intuitive dashboard and live admin panel, as well as professional templates for your pages. It is all web-based system also takes away the hassle of downloading and configuring webinar software for both you and your viewers.
6. GoToWebinar
GoToWebinar is a solid solution for those that want everything under one roof. And we do mean everything – from pre and post-webinar marketing, to endless options to engage with audiences. A lot of aspects can also be automated for more efficiency and customization of pages is easy for beginners.
• Reliable and consistent
• Good capacity
• Real-time data
GoToWebinar grew out of a more traditional in-house conferencing platform to become a competitor among the best webinar software. It’s ideal for businesses and professionals to deliver webinars internally or to their audiences via audio and video. The software works on both PC and Mac and there’s a 7-day no credit card required a trial to test the platform.
GoToWebinar grew out of a more traditional in-house conferencing platform to become a competitor among the best webinar software. It’s ideal for businesses and professionals to deliver webinars internally or to their audiences via audio and video. The software works on both PC and Mac and there’s a 7-day no credit card required a trial to test the platform.
GoToWebinar – Features
1. Marketing
From the user’s perspective, everything looks professional and you can easily insert your branding into customisable registration, landing, and webinar pages. You can send invites and email reminders allowing for efficient promotion.
During a webinar, you can see real-time stats about how engaged your audience is and use polls and surveys to keep them from losing interest. Then after the fact you can look at your attendee reports, how many registrants actually attended, and even the sources they were funnelled through.
Over time this helps you tweak and refine your strategy so that your webinars become more successful.
2. Live and On-Demand
Everything is cloud-hosted, so you do not have to worry about setting up webinar software on your server. The software is ready to go right away. Your attendees can reliably view your webinars on Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone/iPad, and other web-based devices in HD or a quality that suits their connection speed. Dedicated apps are also available if users prefer.
While GoToWebinar started as a VoIP and phone conferencing platform, which it still accomplishes very well. You can also turn on your webcam and do your webinar via video. You can allow a limited number of other users to video chat while other attendees log in to watch. There’s also inbuilt video editing and video sharing, along with pools, Q&As, and handouts.
Pricing
Paying annually gives you a 22% saving. The following plans are available:
- Starter: £69.99/mo (billed annually), for 100 participants, regular Voice over IP (VoIP) and phone conferencing, marketing, engagement, and analytics tools.
- Pro: £159/mo (billed annually), for 500 participants, with added video conferencing and webinars.
- Plus: £319/mo (billed annually), all of the above for 3,000 participants.
Verdict
Overall, we found GoToWebinar to be one of the more stable and consistent solutions. It is, however, also a bit behind the times in terms of actual video webinar technology and features. It is more suited to an internal or B2B office environment, than a large worldwide video event. That said it is swiftly catching up and the higher plan can accommodate 3,000 video attendees and six hosts.
7. Livestorm
Livestorm is the most generous free webinar platform, giving you an indefinite 20-minute limit per session and up to 10 attendees. This makes it ideal for small business meetings! The premium plans can reach up to 1,000 attendees who can watch in HD from their browser on any device.
• Generous free option
• Unlimited moderators
• Integrate other streaming platforms
Livestorm is a very user-friendly UK webinar software that can be set up within just a few clicks and has all the needed marketing tools in-built. If you’ve been looking for webinar software for free, there is no direct software to install as it is browser-based. If you want to test a live demo you can do so free of charge without having to commit your credit card.
Livestorm – Features
1. Live and On-Demand
Under any plan you can host:
- unlimited HD (1080p) webinars live
- ‘as-live’ from existing video
- on-demand from existing video
- saved webinars you’ve run previously
The calendar feature also lets you set up recurring and different sporadic series.
During a webinar hosts can simply conference via a webcam (phone or computer), share their screen, or even both. Pre-recorded videos also aren’t just for whole webinars, you can play one during a live stream or share the file directly to users to watch in their own time. If you’re searching for webinar recording software with audio, you’re in luck, as all webinars themselves are recorded in full as well.
iFrame mode lets you embed videos from elsewhere during the webinar as well. I.e. a YouTube clip to play alongside your main window.
Interacting with your audience is perfectly segmented, with tabs for regular chat, questions, and polls. You can also invite guests to become presenters. For example, if they want to ask a question on screen.
2. Marketing Tools
Reaching and understanding your audience is made simple with embeddable registration and promotion templates, which you can put within your own site. There are also pre-set email templates for reminders and other marketing techniques.
Their visualised analytics data is also very helpful. This lets you see who watched, how they watched, where they came from, registrant to attendance ratio, and much more. Thanks to the integrations – everything from Mail Chimp to Facebook – you can also clearly track the source of an attendee to see how successful your marketing strategy has been.
Pricing
Paying a year upfront works out at a 10% discount when viewing it as a monthly cost. Yearly plans broken down monthly include:
- Starter: FREE, for up to 4 hosts, 20-minute limit, up to 10 attendees.
- Premium: €89/mo, for up to 12 hosts, 4-hour sessions, and 100 attendees.
+ €178 for 250 attendees or €268 for 1,000 attendees.
Enterprise users can contact Livestorm directly for a custom package and quote.
Verdict
Livestorm is one of the top webinar software solutions, with lots of features and managing HD dependent on each individual user. The browser-based platform and template system make it a pick-up-and-go for beginners. The generous free offer can be quite easily used indefinitely for small businesses for quick in-house meetings.
8. ClickMeeting
Whether it’s simple office-based meetings, videoconferencing, lecturing, or a large international webinar, ClickMeeting has a reliable online webinar plan for all. With 4 HD camera hosts and up to 1,000 attendees, this is definitely one of the best options.
• Unlimited webinars per month
• Long 30-day trial
• Lots of engagement features
Despite the name, ClickMeeting is a fully functional webinar solution. It’s not just for standard meetings. You can test things out for free for 30 days without a credit card and then decide whether to move on to a premium plan. Depending on which you choose, they can accommodate up to 1,000 attendees and up to four simultaneous cameras/hosts during webinars. No software is needed as it’s 100% web-based.
ClickMeeting – Features
1. Live and On-Demand
Like all of the leading webinar software UK customers can use, there’s a combination of live and on-demand style webinar formats. Your typical live webinar is easily scheduled in advance from your web dashboard and involves the host(s) delivering a webcam-style presentation. This also comes with your custom branding and plenty of additional features. For example, screen sharing, a whiteboard, a chat room with polls and surveys, Q&As, and even a toll-free number for attendees to dial in and ask questions. You can create a full-blown interactive multi-media event with call-ins and multicast to YouTube and Facebook Live integrated.
On-Demand webinars can come after a live version for those that missed it, or you can share one never having gone live at all. You can also use a pre-recorded webinar and stream it at a certain time as if it were live and engage viewers in the instant messaging chat room.
Everything shared in any webinar is stored in a handy section of the admin panel for backup or future use.
2. Marketing Tools
ClickMeeting has a wealth of statistics to help you perfect your webinar approach, including real-time live, post-live, and on-demand viewing numbers and viewer habits. Reports also pull data about the devices used, locations, poll stats, attendee to registrant ratios, and overall performance.
Pricing
The webinar software cost is based on the number of attendees you have and whether you want the full range of automation features. Billing is yearly but broken down as a monthly cost. Here’s how the plans stack up:
- 30-Day Free Trial: Up to 25 attendees, 1 video host, 500MB file storage.
- LIVE: £20 to £195/mo for 100 to 1,000 attendees, 1 host/3 presenters, 25 camera angles, 1GB file storage.
- Automated: £30 to £229/mo for 100 to 1,000 attendees, 1 host/3 presenters, 2GB file storage, all marketing tools and integrations.
Enterprise users that require more resources and features can contact ClickMeeting directly for a quote.
Verdict
As far as video conference software goes, ClickMeeting has all the promotional tools and features to keep people engaged during webinars. Their automated follow-ups continue that engagement after the fact. Although it can get pricey if you need a high capacity, there’s not much difference price-wise compared to other leading Webinar software in the UK.
9. EasyWebinar
Aimed at product and web service sellers, these webinar providers have a good max live attendee limit of 2,000. You can run multi-camera setups for a single host, giving it a professional studio vibe. It also has reliable HD, whether via screen share or a simple webcam.
• Youtube & Facebook Integration
• Multi-camera setups
• Great courses and support
EasyWebinar is a versatile webinar solution though it is tailored more to those selling products and services or offering coaching over the web. Its robust features, however, easily transfer over to regular business conferencing, education, customer services, and digital events. With a max live attendee limit of 2,000 and the ability to stream live multi-camera setups for a single host location or multiple ones from different locations, it has serious potential.
EasyWebinar – Features
1. Live and On-Demand
Webinars can be live or automated with pre-recorded content. Up to four presenters on video can stream out in HD and users get the most appropriate quality for their connection speed, with little to no lag. There’s a real-time chatroom, also. At any time, you can also make an attendee a host with video. E.g. if you were running a Q&A.
If you have something to show viewers, from a web article to a video, you can simply use the HD screen sharing function and continue to talk over it if you require.
One of our favourite features was ‘EasyCast’. It lets you simultaneously go live to other streaming platforms in the UK – think YouTube and Facebook Live – to reach a wider audience.
Live webinars can be recorded and archived for future use. This can involve downloading the raw file and uploading it somewhere else. You can also run it as an ‘automated’ or on-demand webinar for later.
This is great for those that are busy, want to perfect their content before it goes ‘live’, or want to spend more time engaging users directly in the chat. You can also repurpose old webinars to be more relevant or re-broadcast webinars that are not that time-sensitive. The webchat can be live alongside rebroadcast or you can replay the same chatroom. The latter does, however, mean new viewers cannot get the same engagement as the original time around.
2. Marketing Tools
Easy webinar has a bunch of great marketing tools that the beginner can pick up. The best of these is the powerful email system with professional templates, though the variety is limited. You can send out reminders before the event and follow-ups after it. You can also segment your recipients based on when they registered and other parameters.
Pricing
The equivalent monthly cost is cheaper if you pay annually. The following plans are available:
- Standard: $59 (approx £42.50)/mo for 100 live attendees and EasyCast support.
- Pro: $90 (approx £65)/mo for 500 live attendees, plus chat support and custom fields on your registration pages.
- Enterprise: $349 (approx £252)/mo for 2,000 attendees, plus a free ‘mastery course’ and a dedicated account rep for better support.
Verdict
Ultimately, EasyWebinar really does make it easy to create live and ‘as-live’ webinars. It has plenty of tools to keep users engaged during the event, and a good email system for before and after email marketing. It’s a web-based platform that works well on modern devices. Our only qualm is that it could do with a wider range of templates to customise compared to some of the competition. However, it is still among the best webinar software.
10. Zoom
Everybody has heard of Zoom but what you might not know is that it also has dedicated webinar features. This includes marketing solutions and PayPal integration, bringing its powerful video capabilities to the often-limited webinar space. So, whether you need webinar software for education or business, Zoom is still a top choice.
• Up to 100 video panellists
• Hand raising feature
• Transcripts with recordings
Zoom has grown into an international juggernaut with a little help from the COVID pandemic. But how does it fair as a webinar solution? The short answer is very well. It is the go-to webinar software for teachers and many other professionals.
1. Zoom – Features
Zoom has a lot of different functions but this cross-platform app that works seamlessly across mobile devices and computers is also perfect for webinars. You can share your HD screen or webcam with up to 100 participants by default. They can also join in by webcam, just mic, or just the chatroom. As host, you can decide how to limit this – i.e. only having you and another host visible on webcam. However, this is one of Zoom’s main strengths. A lot more people can get involved in an audio and visual way, rather than just being attendees. You can also conduct polls, surveys, and utilise a ‘raise hand’ feature.
2. Webinar Extras
Since webinars are a bit different from conference software, lectures, or a chat room with friends, they’ve also created extra features to help market your event. You can build a customised and professional-looking registration page and have participants opted-in ready. Then you can easily promote the event via the social media share buttons or by email.
The stream itself can be watermarked with your brand logo. The platform even has a post-stream landing page to thank attendees and provide any further information and relevant links.
Other useful webinar features include:
- Paid registration for coaching or other services.
- Analytics to gauge attendance and marketing success.
- Whiteboarding
- PayPal integration
- Consult with a zoom expert beforehand.
Pricing
Zoom has diverse webinar pricing plans:
- £320/year license: 100 video panelists, 49 viewable on screen, and 100 attendees overall.
- £1,120/year: 500 attendees.
- £2,720/year: 1,000 attendees.
- £7,920/year: 3,000 attendees.
- £19,920/year: 5,000, attendees.
- £51,920/year: 10,000, attendees.
Verdict
Many people are already familiar with Zoho in a non-webinar context. Thanks to their added features for webinars, it found its place in our list. It lacks some options – on-demand and replays – but it’s still a good one.
11. BigMarker
With clients like MacDonald’s and Panasonic, browser-based BigMarker obviously has something special to offer! It starts with a 7-day free trial and if you continue you can get excellent automated marketing tools and live or on-demand webinars with up to 1,000 viewers.
• Powerful marketing tools
• Stream alongside YoutTube/Facebook
• Custom enterprise options
This modern, browser-based webinar solution is great for enterprise customers (MacDonald’s and Panasonic have used bespoke solutions). However, it is also suitable for small and medium businesses and institutions as well. The no-credit card 7-day free trial ensures you know what you’re getting into. It’s one of the best automated webinar software solutions out there.
BigMarker – Features
BigMarker goes a step beyond your typical webinar software thanks to powerful marketing tools and versatile integrations. Before you even get to an event you can create embeddable landing pages with interactive videos that include special offers, polls, and other data mining methods. A video itself could be your webinar registration method!
You can also run a whole series of video courses or a one-day multi-webinar summit entirely on autopilot. This thanks to sophisticated scheduling tools and simple but powerful page customisation.
Any webinar can become a multi-platform experience. You can stream from your custom page and out to all of your other channels – from Facebook to YouTube.
Webinars themselves also have all the features you need and expect. Chat rooms, Q&As, polls & surveys, file sharing, and screen sharing. Plus, if you don’t feel like going genuinely live, you can ‘simulate’ the experience for your registrants with a pre-recorded video. That way you can fine-tune the pre and post-webinar marketing and engage more efficiently on chat while the webinar plays.
Pricing
Savings are made by paying annually, but the comparative monthly costs are as follows:
- Starter: $79 (approx £57)/mo for 1 host, 100 attendees.
- Elite: $159 (approx £115)/mo for 2 hosts, 500 attendees.
- Premier: $299 (approx £216)/mo for 3 hosts, 1,000 attendees.
Enterprises can also contact BigMarker for a quote if they require anything up to 10,000 attendees.
Verdict
The BigMarker tries to do a lot and succeeds for the most part. It’s also highly praised for its hands-on and responsive customer support. If you need help, you’ll get it from experts that know the system inside out.
One downside to be aware of – it simply works better in Chrome. Anyone using browsers like Firefox or Safari could run into sound and other issues. However, it is still up there with the best webinar platforms.
12. GetResponse
Long-time internet marketing service GetResponse now also provides webinar software so you can engage customers directly. Sell the webinar itself, upsell offers during the stream, or simply add value to your other services – whatever your needs, this tool can help.
• Free for some customers
• Powerful marketing tools
• Field questions from chatroom
GetResponse started life as a marketing and email service that has since grown to include webinars as part of its packages. Because of this it’s focused primarily on marketers and those selling something, rather than say, teachers. Furthermore, the Webinar feature is a paid add-on for existing GetResponse customers.
GetResponse – Features
GetReponse’s webinar features are scaled back compared to a lot of software out there. But when you factor in their advanced marketing tools that already exist, it makes sense for a singular user or a team of marketers to gravitate towards it.
You get a webinar room that you can open at any time, though you’re most likely going to schedule a time and hype it up via your email list. Once live, you can:
- stream in audio and video
- utilise a whiteboard
- share files from your desktop
- answer questions from the chat
It’s designed in a host/attendee format, so you cannot have a large conference of people all engaging in video. Instead, you will need to rely on the chat to engage with your audience and to let them interact with each other.
Depending on your plan, you can host between 100 and 500 attendees. If you sign up to GetResponse itself, 10 attendees are included in the general 30-day free trial.
Pricing
- Basic Addon: $40 (approx £29)/mo for 100 attendees or $99 (approx £71.50)/mo for 500 attendees.
If you have already paid for either the Plus or Professional GetResponse service, webinar tools are included automatically for 100 and 300 attendees respectively. The discrepancy in total attendees between packages has yet to be addressed by the company.
Verdict
GetResponse webinars are not quite as advanced as other options on our list but they are still competent and get the job done. If you’re on a budget we’d pick this first only if you are an existing GetResponse customer. Otherwise, there are more powerful and versatile webinar solutions out there.
13. AdobeConnect
AdobeConnect is a reliable suite from a trusted developer. It offers not just webinar software in the UK but traditional conferencing, lecturing, and teamwork sessions. It has brilliant templates for educators specifically.
• Lots of customizations
• Simultaneous video feeds
• Templates for educators
If you’ve been hunting for webinar software for PC, one of the few software downloads in our list is AdobeConnect. It encompasses webinars, meetings, screen sharing, remote training, and other functions. As video conferencing software it is one of the best out there, but it can also overwhelm newcomers with its many options.
AdobeConnect – Features
When it comes to Webinars, Adobe Connect can accomplish most of the same things the current crop of web-based solutions offers:
- screen sharing
- file sharing
- seamlessly playing videos
- whiteboarding
- running a chat room
It’s important to note that this is software and more of an internal/institutional solution. By that we mean there’s no embedding a player on a website, email marketing system, or templates. Things like on-demand are difficult to run. First, as a host, you need to decide to record in the first place. Then if you do, the link is private unless you dig in the settings to find it. Then it’s only shareable with those you are connected with. Nothing is set up to be easily shared with the world and is, therefore, more appropriate for educators and private sessions, than for bung-ho marketers.
It also looks like software because everyone connected is using the software. The host has to drag various windows around the screen, such as the chatbox, video feeds, and other features. Yes, that means it’s ‘customisable’ but it also means it looks like a program, not a modern webinar.
Nonetheless, it can accommodate up to four video hosts and 1,000 participants, which is a competitive capacity.
Pricing
- Adobe Connect Meetings: £40/mo for 25 participants.
- Adobe Connect Webinars:
- £104/mo for 100 participants
- £375/mo for 500 participants
- £464/mo for 1,000 participants
- Adobe Connect Learning: £295/mo for 200 participants with virtual classroom features and lesson templates.
Verdict
Adobe Connect is reliable and powerful. It can most certainly accommodate a webinar, with particular favour towards education and internal business meetings. It is not an ideal solution for marketers, however, or anyone that is easily overwhelmed by the vast amount of settings.
What Is Webinar Software and How Does It Work?
Webinar software is an outgrowth of teleconferencing by phone or intranet and internet conferencing via the likes of Skype, which includes video. Its purpose is to allow for more users to participate and to offer more features.
In some ways, it is similar to UK streaming platforms. It’s much more interactive, however. You’ll be able to manage meetings, conferences, presentations, workshops, or seminars, like more formal events. Webinars are also useful among marketers and those selling products or the events as products themselves.
This all comes with scheduling, extra promotional tools like email reminders, and engagement features like chat rooms, polls, media handouts, and screen sharing.
You can typically save webinars for future use and on-demand viewing. You can also usually have multiple hosts/presenters/panellists and a scalable capacity for attendees. These viewers may or may not be able to participate with their webcam or phone camera. Webinar software pricing will often reflect capacity limitations.
As a growing industry, webinar software startups are popping up all the time. The trend favours web-based remote solutions as opposed to traditional computer software.
What Are the Benefits of Using Webinar Software?
There are many benefits of using webinar software:
1. Customer Engagement
If you are a marketer or in any way sell products or services, there’s no better way to engage with your audience on a personal level than through a webinar. Not only can you upsell, provide more information, or simply add value, but you can also establish trust. This is done via polls, answering questions and allowing chat room interactions. Webinar tools are, in effect, just another form of communication software.
2. Establish Authority
If you are a confident speaker that knows their subject, demonstrating this through a webinar can set you apart from the competition. Viewers will come to see you as an authority on a subject and are more likely to return.
3. Remote Contact
Whether it’s webinar software for nonprofits or corporate giants, the result is the same. You can reach a remote workforce, run online classes, or hold a virtual event. A webinar makes it all much easier. This has become especially appreciated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
4. Cheaper than a venue
Seminars are the realm of talks and lectures. At one time if you wanted to be some kind of talker or host a panel to an audience you would need to spend money on a venue. A webinar is much more cost-effective.
Some businesses can also cut out the office entirely and run remote workforces through a combination of online methods, including webinars.
What To Consider When Buying Webinar Software
Not all webinar providers are the same. Before making your final choice, you should always consider the following:
5. Price
The leading webinar software UK users can purchase, typically bases price on features and capacity. I.e. the number of people you expect will attend the webinar. This is because of underlying bandwidth costs involved with streaming video. There is only one free webinar service on our list – Livestorm. It limits you to just 10 attendees.
Finding good webinar software cheap is difficult and you will rarely find a webinar software pay per use model. Instead, you’ll typically pay a yearly fee or choose to be billed monthly at a slightly higher overall price.
6. Internal or External?
Is your webinar going to be private or part of an internal group, like a workforce or organization? Or are you trying to reach an external audience and are thinking of using webinars to do that? If it’s the former, actual software like AdobeConnect or Zoom is more useful. You want a solution with a strong marketing toolset like Demio, if you’re trying to expand your audience.
7. Hosting and Panels
There are some differences between software for meetings and software for hosting a session with authority or panel with attendees. Of course, certain options overlap but you need to be sure what the purpose of your webinar is going to be.
Are you a single host, will there be several hosts, or do you want to engage equally with a larger number of people?
Most of our webinar software reviews focus on solutions that allow for at least a handful of hosts. Some, however, may not allow the audience to fully engage with their mic and webcam, like Zoom for example.
8. On-Demand and ‘As Live’ Content
While webinar and webcasting software is an easy way to conduct a live talk, presentation, or seminar online, there are benefits for not doing it live as well. In fact, you may prefer not being live, simply because you don’t want to flub your words. For that, you need webinar software for on-demand.
The best webinar software in 2022 has to offer allows you to use pre-recorded (and edited) video and present it as if it was live. You can still engage in real-time in other ways, such as in a text-based chatroom. This may actually give you more opportunity to engage with attendees, answer questions, and forward extra information.
Many webinar tools also automatically record live sessions for replaying later ‘on-demand’.
9. Interactivity
If engaging with your audience beyond talking at them is important to you then you’ll need a solution that allows for a chatroom and discussion at the very least. Other common features to look out for are Q&As, polls, file sharing, and the ability to bring an attendee on the webcast itself via webcam.
Ease of Use
It doesn’t matter if you’ve found the most feature-rich and powerful webinar software UK users can buy if it’s difficult to use. Consider your own skill set and do some reading first to make sure it’s intuitive and has a well-developed interface.
Wrap-Up
Whether you’re looking for the best small business webinar software or webinar software for schools, our list has something for everyone. If you ever find yourself needing to give a talk, workshop or something similar online, we’ve got your back.
Which is your platform of choice?
FAQs
Is Zoom good for webinars?
Yes, Zoom consistently gets a high webinar software rating. Although it is most often compared to Skype, it is much more suitable for webinars than the former and we consider it one of the best options out there when it comes to panelist capacity. It is used widely in educational and corporate settings and has dedicated webinar pricing plans. Like all good webinar options, it supports branding, promotion, and analytics.
What is the best free webinar platform?
If you do not need much capacity, there are several free webinar tools that can help you reach your audience. As per our webinar software ranking, the best we found was Livestorm, which allows 10 attendees to a webinar and four people in a private meeting.
What can I use for a webinar?
There are many options out there for hosting a Webinar. Our list is the best place to start in terms of software and remote software services available in the UK. You will need a webcam or a pre-recorded video, and microphone to properly host a webinar. Depending on the software you can use features like:
Virtual whiteboards
That’s without mentioning the other marketing tools that help you set up registration pages and keep in contact with potential attendees via email. This and their other services make this some of best webinar software in the UK.
Muninder Adavelli is a core team member and Digital Growth Strategist at Techjury. With a strong background in marketing and a deep understanding of technology's role in digital marketing, he brings immense value to the TechJury team.