Zoom Webinar vs. Meeting: Which Tool is Best for SMBs?
Zoom Webinar and Zoom Meeting are leading solutions in video conferencing, both hosting billions of webinars and meetings annually. On the surface, both products may seem like they do the same thing, but there are some key differences. With Zoom Webinars, you can deliver polished content to large audiences, while Zoom Meeting is for collaboration and interaction among smaller groups.
Both products are popular with many SMB owners, deciding which tool to use for your business can be challenging when you’re unclear about their offerings.
In this post, we present unbiased information to help you make informed decisions about the software to use to take your business to the next level. Today we’ll discuss the main differences in terms of functionality in this Zoom Webinar vs. Meeting round-up.
Zoom Webinar vs Meeting: Overview
Zoom Webinar and Zoom Meeting tools are part of the Zoom Video Conferences and Communication ecosystem. They allow you to virtually connect and collaborate with your employees, customers, prospects, team members, clients, investors, and business partners. Both are excellent for creating a human experience when meeting in person is difficult.
The platforms offer similar functionality, but both are built with a specific purpose in mind. Zoom Webinar allows hosts and panelists to share their audio, video, and screens to an audience of up to 50,000 attendees —depending on the license. The host can mute and unmute view-only attendees, who can interact with the session through chat, Q&A, and polling questions. Zoom Webinar is ideal for hosting large presentations, events, and public broadcasts.
On the other hand, Zoom Meeting is more (as the name suggests) for meetings and increased interactability. All participants can share audio, video, and their screens and see the meeting attendants. Zoom Meeting is better for smaller gatherings of up to 1,000 participants. Its standout features include group chat, breakout rooms, and a whiteboard, making it perfect for team meetings and collaboration.
While we’ll go into the individual prices a bit more in-depth later, it’s important to note that, unlike Zoom Webinar, Zoom Meeting offers a free plan to accommodate up to 100 simultaneous participants for 40 minutes.
Are Zoom Webinar and Zoom Meeting the Best Video Conferencing Tools Out There?
The main reason for Zoom Webinar and Zoom Meeting’s dominance in video conferencing is they are more robust and easier to use than many of their competitors. For remote meeting solutions, business owners want the same ease as in-person meetings, and Zoom delivers this experience.
Zoom provides high-definition video resolution, works from the most popular browsers, and has several business-supporting features —we’ll cover these later. They offer extensive integrations to make your online collaborations and gatherings run smoothly without needing comprehensive tech skills.
What is Zoom Webinar?
A Zoom Webinar offering is similar to a typical webinar software tool and acts like a virtual auditorium. You can host highly engaging and interactive webinars for large audiences or conferences open to the public. Hosts, attendees, and panelists can join and participate from anywhere in the world from any device. It suits workshops, lectures, large-scale communications, and demand-gen marketing.
Typically, a webinar is presented by one or more panelists. The attendees won’t need to interact with each other and can just watch. The audience interacts through chat, Q&A, and live polls during the session. Hosts control whether attendees can share audio, video, and screens.
Key Features
- Secure, high-quality video technology
- Connects to audiences of up to 50,000 attendees
- Accommodates up to 1,000 interactive video panelists
- Webinar planning and practice functionality
- Webinar branding customization options
- Assign panelists with custom virtual backgrounds to differentiate them
- Audiences can interact and provide feedback through live polls and quizzes and using emoticons
- Post-webinar metrics like audience registration and attendance, audience engagement, and poll responses
- Publish a branded webinar registration page to promote the session and collect leads
- Attendees can join the webinar at any time without distractions
Pricing
The Zoom Webinar license is available for 500+ attendees on an annual or monthly subscription with a single host. The Zoom Sessions and Zoom Events licenses offer more advanced features. All pricing is based on the attendee capacity. Here’s what you can expect to pay for 500 attendees:
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Easy-to-use interface with customizable features
- A well-known product that can encourage attendance
- Accessible from any device
Cons
- No free trial or free version
- Zoom customer services could be better
Reviews
“No need to be tech savvy to use Zoom Webinar!”
“Revolutionizing online events.”
“Best professional platform for remote/online meetings and webinars.”
“Runs faster than other webinar programs.”
What is Zoom Meeting?
Zoom Meeting, rebranded name Zoom One is a meeting conference solution for virtual communications using audio, video, and screen sharing. Its functionality is ideal for highly interactive, small-scale collaboration and group chat. It supports virtual learning, workshops, team meetings, one-to-one conversations, training sessions, introductory calls, and personal gatherings.
Key Features
- Connects up to 1,000 participants
- Group video conferencing
- Breakout rooms for collaboration with smaller groups
- Unlimited meetings on the free plan
- Conversational AIs software
- Digital whiteboard
- Virtual background
- Password protected meetings
- In-meeting live polling and real-time results
Pricing
Zoom Meeting offers five tiers, including a free plan. Here’s what you can expect to pay monthly or annually if you subscribe to a paid plan.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- The Zoom app is not required to join a meeting
- Consistent high meeting quality regardless of meeting size
- It can be used to make calls to landlines and mobile phones
Cons:
- It uses a lot of CPU and memory to run, so it will lag if used on an older device
- Limited features on the free plan
- Fewer integrations than some competitors
Reviews
This is what some business owners said about Zoom Meeting:
“A great solution, worth every penny!”
“Good app for short calls.”
“Versatile and reliable conference app for seamless collaboration.”
“Recording quality could be improved.”
Key Differences Between Zoom Webinar and Meeting
|
|
Zoom Webinar |
Zoom Meeting |
|
Description |
Zoom Webinar is like a virtual auditorium. It’s ideal for public events or large audiences where interaction between attendees isn’t required. |
Zoom Meetings are for interactive sessions, where lots of attendee interaction is required among a smaller audience. |
|
Participants |
|
|
|
Capacity |
Depending on the license, it connects between 500-50,000 participants. |
The free license accommodates up to 100 participants. Or, depending on the plan and large meeting add-on, up to 1,000. |
|
Participants list visibility |
The participants list is visible to hosts and panelists. |
The participant list is visible to hosts and panelists. |
|
Connection |
Free and paid subscriptions are available. |
Connect to meetings using the Zoom Meetings app or web app. |
|
Compatibility |
|
|
|
Supported browsers |
Supported browsers include:
|
Supported browsers include:
|
|
Cost |
Zoom Webinar is a paid add-on available for paid subscriptions. |
|
|
Free trial |
No |
Yes |
|
Main Features Comparison (license dependent)
| ||
|
|
Zoom Webinar |
Zoom Meeting |
|
Audio sharing |
|
|
|
Video sharing |
The hosts and panelists can share videos. |
All participants can share videos. |
|
Screen sharing |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Whiteboarding |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Language interpretation |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Polls |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Surveys |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Registration |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Practice session |
Yes |
N/A |
|
Branding |
Webinar branding functionality to design the look and feel of sessions, and how panelists are displayed. |
N/A |
|
Password protected session |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Breakout rooms |
Yes |
N/A |
|
Waiting room |
N/A |
Yes |
|
Virtual backgrounds |
Webinar content is displayed as a virtual background. |
Yes |
|
International dial-in numbers |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Session recording |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Closed captioning |
Yes |
Yes |
|
File transfer |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Q&A |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Reactions |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Chat |
The host can select who panelists and attendees can chat with. |
In-meeting Zoom chat allows participants to send messages to each other in the meeting or privately. |
|
Event Reporting |
Yes |
N/A |
|
Livestream |
|
|
|
Email reminders |
Email reminders are available when registration is enabled |
N/A |
|
PayPal Integration |
Yes |
N/A |
|
End-to-End HIPAA compliant encryption |
Yes |
Yes |
Zoom Webinar vs. Meeting: Final Thoughts
Zoom Webinar and Zoom Meeting are the best for virtual communications and meetings. They help businesses to be more productive in business growth activities like meetings and conferences by removing geographic restrictions. In a nutshell, the main differences between the two are the audience size and level of participation. The right tool for your business will depend on your unique business needs.
Zoom Webinar could be suitable if you want a presentation tool for large audiences. And for product-promoting keynote-type presentations and business marketing sessions, where a webinar experience including panelists and co-hosts is required.
On the other hand, Zoom Meeting is perfect for streamlined collaborations and communication among your teams. And for sessions where you need lots of involvement from your attendees, like training sessions, workshops, and team meetings. In addition, it can help enhance your customer service by using chat and video to talk to customers. Alternatively, since Zoom Webinar is an add-on, if you subscribe to a paid version of Zoom Meeting and include the Zoom Webinar add-on you can use both!
At Findstack, we strive to present comprehensive and easy-to-read software reviews and advice to help you narrow down software considerations and make a confident choice. Choose Findstack for expert advice about your next software purchase.
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