GoTo Webinar vs Zoom Webinars
We give GoTo Webinar a 2.4 GPA and Zoom Webinars a 2.2, out of 4.0. GoTo Webinar grades higher on the free plan. Zoom Webinars grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
GoTo Webinar
Long-running webinar platform for trainings, town halls and marketing
Zoom Webinars
Zoom's own webinar product, licensed per host by audience size
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAGoTo WebinarFair | 2.2GPAZoom WebinarsFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CReach is $62 a month per organizer billed annually, for up to 500 participants. For a monthly 100-person webinar that's mid-category: cheaper than Zoom Webinars' entry license, dearer than WebinarJam's Starter. Cloud recordings need Elevate at $103. | CThe entry license is $83.33 a month billed annually ($1,000 a year, or $129 by the month), and it's for 500 attendees, so a 100-person webinar still pays for 500. That's dearer than GoTo Webinar's entry plan and about double WebinarJam's Starter, though not out of line for this category. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 30-day free trial with no credit card, which is long for this category. | FNothing free. There's no free plan or free trial on the webinar page, and the free Zoom Workplace plan covers meetings only. |
| Features | CRegistration pages, reminder emails, Practice Mode, polls, Q&A, handouts, captions and reports on every plan. The gaps: Simulive, cloud recordings, breakout rooms and branding need Elevate, and paid events and certificates are Complete only. | CA deep live product: branded registration, polls, Q&A, breakout rooms, AI captions in more than 20 languages, streaming to YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook, and audiences up to 100,000. The gap: simulive sessions and the backstage need Webinars Plus at $290.83. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record. Attendees join from a browser, but hosts install the GoTo app and set up registration, reminders and practice runs. | BNo rating of its own on record. It's a license added to a Zoom account, so hosts work in an app many already run and attendees join the way they join any Zoom call. Registration and polls are set up inside Zoom. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, with HubSpot, Marketo, Salesforce, Pardot, Prezi, Interprefy and Intellum connections. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, plus Salesforce, streaming to YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook, and separate tracks for Premiere, Final Cut and DaVinci. On iOS you join as an attendee or panelist only. |
| Best for | company trainings and town halls | big webinars for teams already on Zoom |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: GoTo Webinar and Zoom Webinars. How we grade
Price against what you get
GoTo Webinar starts at $62 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zoom Webinars starts at $83.33 a month for each person and scores 3.0.
Zoom Webinars scores higher, and starts $21.33 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other webinar and live streaming tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than GoTo Webinar for less, and none scores higher than Zoom Webinars for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- GoTo Webinar starts at $62 per organizer / month, billed annually. Zoom Webinars starts at $83.33 per user / month, billed annually ($129 billed monthly).
- Only Zoom Webinars lists a Linux app.
- GoTo Webinar also covers transcription.
- Zoom Webinars also covers multistreaming.
At a glance
| GoTo Webinar | Zoom Webinars | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $62 per organizer / month, billed annually | $83.33 per user / month, billed annually ($129 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | GoTo | Zoom Communications, Inc. |
| Price read from | goto.com | zoom.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
GoTo Webinar
- Companies running recurring trainings and town halls
- Schools and universities giving staff their own webinar licenses
- Marketing teams that sync registrants to HubSpot, Marketo or Pardot
Zoom Webinars
- Companies already on Zoom that need larger, more controlled events
- Marketing teams running webinars for hundreds to thousands of people
- Training sessions that issue certificates to people who complete them
- Hybrid and multi-session events on the Events plan
Worth knowing
GoTo Webinar
- Reach caps webinars at 500 participants with one organizer; Simulive, cloud recordings, breakout rooms and branding need Elevate.
- Paid events, certificates, source tracking and streaming to unlimited attendees are only in Complete, which is priced through sales.
- Prices are per organizer seat, so each person who runs webinars needs a seat of their own.
- Hosts use the GoTo app on Mac or Windows or the iOS and Android apps; attendees can join from a browser.
Zoom Webinars
- Each license is priced by audience size; the 500-attendee tier is the entry point and 1,000 attendees costs $3,400 a year ($340 billed monthly).
- Pre-recorded simulive sessions, the backstage and production layouts need Webinars Plus; tickets, lobbies and networking need Events.
- There is no free plan or free trial on the webinar page; the free Zoom Workplace plan covers meetings only.
- The iOS app joins webinars as a view-only attendee or a panelist.
Key features
GoTo Webinar
- Registration and reminders
- Branded registration pages with custom questions, plus customizable invitations, confirmations and reminder emails sent automatically.
- Practice Mode
- Organizers and panelists can join early to test audio, video, screen sharing and slides without attendees seeing or hearing them.
- Engagement tools
- Polls and live Q&A on every plan, plus handouts, closed captioning and VoIP or phone audio; breakout rooms are added on Elevate.
- Simulive
- Broadcasts a pre-recorded webinar at a scheduled time while the host takes questions live. It starts with the Elevate plan.
- Recordings and AI summaries
- Elevate adds cloud recordings, transcripts and AI summaries, and recordings can be shared, embedded and gathered on channel pages.
- Paid events and certificates
- The Complete plan accepts payments for paid events and certified training, issues certificates and tracks which source each registration came from.
Zoom Webinars
- Large audiences
- Webinars scale from the 500-attendee entry license to 100,000 attendees, with one-time, recurring and multi-session formats on the same platform.
- Audience engagement
- Branded registration pages and emails, polls, Q&A, chat, reactions, breakout rooms, and AI captions in more than 20 languages.
- Simulive and backstage
- On Webinars Plus and Events, a pre-recorded webinar can run as if live with a host joining for Q&A, while speakers wait in a private backstage.
- Production Studio
- Custom layouts, scenes and pre-loaded videos, plus separate audio and video tracks for each participant to edit in Premiere, Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve.
- Streaming to social platforms
- A webinar can be broadcast at the same time to YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook over RTMP while it is run from Zoom.
- On-demand hubs and analytics
- Recordings go into branded video hubs with AI chapters and highlights, with engagement dashboards and CRM connections to track who attended.
Plans
GoTo Webinar
Reach$62
per organizer / month for up to 500 participants, billed annually
1 organizer seat, reporting and analytics, automated reminders and follow-ups, polls and live Q&A, and hosting from the mobile app.
Elevate$103
per organizer / month for up to 1,000 participants, billed annually
Everything in Reach plus custom branding and URLs, cloud recordings, AI summaries and transcripts, Simulive events and breakout rooms.
CompleteCustom
Up to 3,000 participants and custom organizer seats, live streaming to unlimited attendees, paid events, certificates and a GoTo Meeting license.
Zoom Webinars
Webinars$83.33
per user / month for 500 attendees, billed annually ($129 monthly)
$1,000 a year. Rises with audience: $3,400 a year for 1,000 attendees. Chat, reactions, polls, Q&A, custom backgrounds, AI chapters and reports.
Webinars Plus$290.83
per user / month for 500 attendees, billed annually ($349 monthly)
$3,490 a year. Adds pre-recorded sessions run as live, a private backstage, pro layouts and scenes, AI event pages and richer analytics.
Events$415.83
per user / month for 500 attendees, billed annually ($499 monthly)
$4,990 a year. Adds multi-session virtual events with several stages, ticket types, a lobby, sponsor booths, networking and hybrid features.
Ways to pay less
GoTo Webinar
No public discounts listed.
Zoom Webinars
- Annual discount
Lower price with annual billing
Webinars is $1,000 a year against $129 billed monthly; Webinars Plus $3,490 a year against $349 monthly; Events $4,990 a year against $499 monthly.
