Which virtual event platform is best? 

We took a look at the best 100 virtual event platforms so you don’t have to! Finding a high quality platform for online meetings and events that suits your exact needs is often the causation of a lot of stress and headaches for event planners. 

We’ve cut down your searching process by listing some of the best virtual conference platforms on the market in 2021. However, when looking, it’s important that you take the following key features of each platform into account:

• Price: What is your price range? You can find some free virtual event platforms that will meet your requirements. However, it is unlikely that they will contain a full library of features that you’d find on a paid service. 
• Engagement features: Which platforms offer virtual event engagement features?
• Sponsorship features: Many platforms for online meetings offer sponsorship features. Larger organisations may require this feature, so consider this as something you may need.
• Networking features: Which virtual event software offers networking features?

Virtual event platforms are intended to provide administrators with a multitude of ways to engage with attendees, including waiting rooms, polls, Q&As, live chat, and more. With this in mind, we have chosen the following as the best way to bring presenters to a virtual stage, and allow users to remain in the audience.

Crowdcomms

Price: Bespoke

Crowdcomms offers you support in the form of a bespoke app for your event. This app is flexible and can give you as many options and features as you desire. From live streaming, to registration, gamification, and fundraising, Crowdcomms can do so much to make the transition to virtual events much easier. The main benefit of using Crowdcomms is that the app is totally customisable to your needs and requirements, with the option of custom branding. Because of all the features that it offers, prices can range on the more expensive side, however, you should discuss with one of their reps to find a solution that works for you. We fully recommend their service as a suitable place to host your virtual event.

Hopin

Price: From $99/mo

Hopin offers a fully-featured virtual event experience, with help from an incredible selection of features. This all-in-one event platform provides ticketing and registration, limitless event rooms, an expo hall, chat, networking and more. On Hopin, you can customise your audience’s registration flow exactly how you want. You have total control, which justifies the larger price tag. What’s more, Hopin allows up to 100,000 users depending on which package you opt for. The downside is definitely the cost of this platform. In order to access more features, you will need to fork out $799 per month in order to access everything you need. Costs can even go above this if you need a more bespoke service. This is why it’s important that you keep budget in mind when it comes to picking a virtual event platform.

Big Marker

Price: $79/mo-$299/mo

Big Marker is often considered one of the best online conference platforms in 2021, and not without reason. This platform allows for webinar production, summits and virtual conferences, from small sessions all the way to large conferences of up to 1000 people. Attendees can interact with each other through chat features as well as interact with speakers through polls and Q&A features. Facebook and YouTube integration is available, so content can be live streamed to your other platforms. This makes Big Marker a great way to get your content on multiple platforms across the web.  Finally, Big Marker is a browser app, meaning that no downloads are necessary and it takes no time at all to set up. This is something that sets it apart from other platforms on the market.

Join.me

Price: £21+

Join.me allows for up to 250 participants, recorded streams as well as cloud storage all for a reasonable price, making it one of the best virtual meeting platforms on our list. This platform offers a straightforward setup as well as a clean interface, making it easy to access everything you need.  The downside is that while 250 participants may suit your needs, the fact of the matter is that it will not be sufficient for large-scale conferences. Additionally, the lite plan is limited to 5 participants, meaning you need to purchase the full version if you want more than 5 people in your event.

Microsoft Teams

Price: Free if you have Office 365

Microsoft Teams has been created by the industry giant, Microsoft, in order to compete with other virtual event platforms on the market. Their solution is very popular amongst businesses and has the benefit of being free for Microsoft Outlook users. This is a really powerful tool if you’re already using Microsoft 365 as it can be integrated with your calendar and your saved files.  As expected from Microsoft, the platform runs smoothly with good video and voice quality, making Microsoft Teams one of our favourite virtual platforms for events. The main drawback of Teams is that it is an expensive option if you’re not already using Office 365. It is designed to be an all in one platform, so it won’t be beneficial to use Microsoft teams as your events platform if you’re not using Outlook already.

Intrado

Price: Discuss with their reps

Intrado is an amazing, fully-customisable platform where organisations can host huge events. Intrado is a monster of a virtual event platform, and offers a tonne of features, such as unlimited attendees, real time reporting, on-demand playback, multilingual features, and assets that can be customised to your brand. 

This powerful platform has been used by over 80% of fortune 500 companies, which just proves its excellence. 

Google Meet

Price: Free (paid options from $8/mo)

Google Meets is an insanely popular tool for online events, and for good reason. This free to use platform is totally user friendly and perfect for first time users. This platform can offer you a clean, easy to use interface that can be integrated with all of your google apps, such as Gmail and Google Calendar. It is easy to send an invitation straight to your recipient’s Gmail inbox.

It also allows you to present your screen or browser tab at the click of a button. The easy to use features that Google Meet offers, makes it difficult not to include this in our list of best virtual event platforms.

The downside is that if you opt for the free plan, there is a maximum of 100 users per meeting, with a limitation of 1hr before the meeting will end. On the other hand, if you choose their paid service, you can reach a maximum of 250 users per event. Meaning, there are multiple options for this easy to use and affordable service.

Choosing the right virtual event platform is definitely not an easy task, so hopefully our article gave you a push in the right direction.

Need help setting up your virtual event? Kinura have been helping businesses and brands deliver live streams, virtual events, webinars and social media live streams since 2007. Once you’ve chosen your platform, we can help you prepare, produce professional graphics, provide expert technicians and a camera crew, as well as ensure that the video quality and sound is up to scratch. Work with us and you can rest assured that your upcoming virtual event is successful, without technical issues.