We all know how webinars have become more and more popular, especially since 2020, leading to a rapid rise in webinar platforms. Running your business from home and making money is vital for today’s society. But which platform should you choose from the hundreds out there? We compiled a list of the five best webinar platforms accommodating 1000 attendees (or more, in some cases).
There are many webinar platforms that support 1000 attendees, but not all of them are ideal for all users and scenarios. The best webinar platforms for 1000 attendees that cover a wide range of uses are:
- Zoom Webinars
- Livestorm
- GoTo Webinar
- Airmeet
- WebinarGeek
Many webinar platforms claim to support 1000 or more attendees, but not all of them handle it with the grace you expect from such robust software. Some get laggy and suffer bandwidth issues as you approach the 1000 mark. Security is another primary concern, so we will look at the best possible scalability and security features to determine the best webinar platforms for that many attendees.
1. Zoom Webinars: Rated For 1000 Attendees Or More
Zoom has become synonymous with online meetings, but not everyone knows that it has a separate platform explicitly designed for webinars, with scalability that will accommodate thousands of attendees.
One reason why Zoom Webinars made it to this list is that it has a familiar interface. Very few people can still say they’ve never used Zoom, so people know the name and are often quite familiar with it. The primary difference is that Zoom Webinars does not allow attendees to speak or present, and webinar presenters can only receive feedback from attendees through the built-in chat functionality.
Some users are concerned about security after the multiple breaches of the last few years, some of which caused plenty of concerns. But premium Zoom accounts (which you require to host a webinar) have much higher security than free accounts. Zoom placed a significant emphasis on improving its safety because of the breaches.
Zoom Webinars’ Pricing
Pricing is quite steep. You need a professional Zoom license, then purchase the webinar platform as an add-in, which costs more than $3,000 per annum to host 1000 webinar attendees. However, you don’t need a separate app to make Zoom Webinars work. If you have the Zoom desktop app installed, you already have everything you need.
2. Livestorm: Fresh And Business-Focused Webinar Platform
Livestorm is a platform that was tailor-made for webinars and events. The free and pro tiers don’t support 1000 attendees, but a Business license will allow you to have up to 3000 people attending your webinars with a maximum duration of 4 hours. There’s also an Enterprise tier with up to 3000 attendees, but then your webinars can run for up to 12 hours.
A significant advantage of Livestorm over some other platforms is that you don’t have to install client software. The presenter and attendees can access the webinar using any standard web browser, even Internet Explorer, on any operating system of their choice.
Livestorm has a few issues, though. For example, some attendees report audio problems, while presenters sometimes struggle with PowerPoint compatibility. The interface is also less intuitive than that of Zoom, making it more difficult for people to understand and find their way around the platform.
Livestorm’s Pricing
Livestorm isn’t cheap. Though the company isn’t very upfront about the pricing for its Business and Enterprise tiers, requiring you to get a quote from the sales department, it can get quite expensive. There’s also no once-off webinar option, so you must take out a subscription and cancel it afterward if you’re only scheduling a single once-off webinar.
However, Livestorm is known for its robust security features, and the support team consistently works to improve the system’s stability. It has improved in leaps and bounds over the last few years and integrates well with other platforms, like LinkedIn and some CRM systems, making it worth the cost in many use cases.
3. GoTo Webinar: Established, Polished, And Popular
Anyone who regularly attends webinars will have seen GoTo’s links. It’s one of the most well-known webinar platforms and one of the oldest since it launched in July 2004. Its age makes GoTo Webinar one of the market’s most stable and well-polished offerings.
GoTo Webinar has four plans. We are interested in the Pro tier, which allows up to 1000 webinar attendees. This plan also gives you unlimited cloud storage, automated email reminders, up to ten channel pages to share and promote your webinars, and the ability to charge for attendance straight from the app.
Because it is so well-polished, most of its security issues have been solved over the nearly two decades since it’s gone live. It is easy to use and provides a simple web- or app-based interface. Anyone who wants a proven webinar platform for 1000 attendees that simply works will love GoTo Webinar.
GoTo Webinar’s Pricing
GoTo can also be a bit on the expensive side, with pricing from approximately $250 per month. However, paying monthly instead of annually makes it easier for many people to afford, and GoTo often runs promotions and special deals with considerable discounts. It also charges a license for each presenter rather than on a per-attendee basis.
4. Airmeet: Webinars Scalable To 1000 Or More Attendees
Airmeet is a less well-known platform, mainly because it’s still relatively new. It launched in 2019 but has already grown a considerable following over the few years it’s been active.
Airmeet is a bit different from other platforms in a few ways. There are four tiers, with the lowest being free, though it only allows up to 50 attendees. The Enterprise plan is ideal for our purposes since it allows 1500 attendees. But here’s where things get interesting: even the smaller paid plans are scalable.
The lowest premium plan, called “Starter,” allows up to 200 attendees per webinar, but it is scalable to 1000 at an additional fee per extra attendee. The Starter plan also gives you three organizer licenses and an unlimited session duration, which makes it great if you will occasionally present webinars with 1000 attendees.
Airmeet’s Pricing
There are two downsides, though. The first is the steep price of $500 per month for the Starter plan, billed at $6,000 per annum. It is high compared to any of the other options on this list. The platform is also challenging to configure, and the company doesn’t offer much back-end support, which could lead to even more costs.
However, since Airmeet’s primary focus is enterprise, it makes sense that the higher plans will become more affordable as you expand. Teams of that size should also have the technical expertise required to make it work.
5. WebinarGeek: Affordable And Simple Webinars
WebinarGeek is an excellent option for those who want to host regular webinars for up to 1000 attendees without spending a fortune.
On the Premium tier, which supports 1000 attendees, you can have four presenters and four moderators online. The webinars can go for up to eight hours per session and are all streamed in HD+ quality. There’s really nothing that an average webinar presenter needs that WebinarGeek cannot offer. The platform is very intuitive, and the support is excellent.
A common complaint is that WebinarGeek doesn’t integrate very well with other platforms. HubSpot integration, for example, can be buggy and difficult to configure, though the company is constantly working on ways to resolve these issues.
WebinarGeek’s Pricing
At just over $80 per month (billed annually), it’s hard to beat WebinarGeek’s value offering. It offers a free trial, so you can see if it meets your needs before you buy. At this price, anyone who wants to present webinars for 1000 attendees and doesn’t need much in the way of CRM integrations can do far worse than giving WebinarGeek a try.
Conclusion
Only you know what you need from a webinar platform. We’ve identified the five best options if you want to host webinars for 1000 attendees and shared the pros and cons of each. Depending on your budget and technical know-how, you can now choose the webinar platform that’s perfect for you.
