Top 14 Virtual Conference Platforms
As the event world rounds third on a full month of cancellations and postponements many are deciding to move ahead with their event in a virtual arena. Cue the Google searches for “best virtual event software” and reading through endless feature lists and confusing pricing pages.
We broke down the best features, pricing, and support policies for each one. Please sound off in the comments what is most important to you and what platform you are going to use!
- Please note that the following platforms are listed in alphabetical order, this does not represent a rank. The authors of this post are affiliated with Accelevents.
Capterra: No Rating
Support Policy: Online Only
Training: Online Support Chat
Summary: 6Connex was founded in the US in 2009. They have recently widened their offering to handle virtual events like trade shows and conferences. Their robust VR trade show floor allows for customization of booths and a place to showcase products and services that your vendors offer. Your vendors will see this as a great exposure opportunity and will love that they get the same level of interaction without all the pesky setup.
The platform supports multiple languages as well, broadening your reach on both the attendee and vendor front. Plus given that the event is virtual, your reach will be event greater!
Finally, the platform offers a great analytics and metrics dashboard. You can turn your virtual event into a qualified lead farm and market future events to specific segments of your audience to maximize your ROI from each event!
Best For: VR trade show experience
Pricing: Need to contact sales for custom pricing
2. Accelevents
Capterra Rating: 4.8/5
Support Policy: 24/7 live chat, email, and phone support
Training: Demos, walkthroughs, documentation
Summary: Accelevents full conference registration and agenda management platform that was founded in 2014 in the United States. Offering custom branding, social media sharing (and incentivization) Accelevents helps sell and promote your conference more organically. On the virtual front, attendees can register for sessions & keep track of their agenda through their personal dashboard and show up for streams on time.
Through Zapier, Accelevents integrates with thousands of other apps ensuring connection with your CRM or email marketing platform. Plus the platform has direct integrations with Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel and plugins to feature the platform directly on your event site! Measure your events success in real time with robust analytics on your sales and page traffic. Other must haves are lead capturing for your vendors and virtual booths and lobbies for your attendees.
Best for: Virtual and hybrid events with multiple registrations types and speaker sessions.
Pricing: $1 and 2% per registration, no upfront or monthly fees. Contact sales for White Label pricing
3. BigMarker
Capterra rating: 4.8/5
Support Policy: Customer support email, Resource bank
Training: Online resource bank of articles & videos
Summary: BigMarker was founded in the United States in 2010 & has since then grown to be one of the leaders in the virtual event space. Event hosts can organize single or multi-day conferences & summits that attendees can participate in from afar.
The platform has native integrations with many CRM platforms such as MailChimp, Salesforce, HubSpot, & ActiveCampaign, making it easy to export data from your event & build a relationship with attendees. And if you don’t want to wait until the event is over for that relationship building to start, BigMarker makes it easy to host live Q&A’s, chat sessions, & interactive webinars.
BigMarker does not have the capability to create virtual booths for exhibitors or vendors, meaning that another option may be more realistic for a trade show, but the platform does offer lead generation, which can be used for your own organization.
In addition to the platform’s set plans, BigMarker also offers a White Labeled version of the platform, making it easy to create completely branded webinars, videos, & training sessions for your organization.
Best for: Professional Event Hosts, Sales.
Pricing: $79/month — $279/month. Contact Sales for White Label Pricing
4. Brella
Capterra Rating: No rating
Support Policy: Online only
Training: Articles and documentation
Summary: Brella was formed in 2016 in Finland to serve the general event space. They currently offer a centralized virtual platform where attendees can access streams, agendas, and event updates. Users can also easily share information on social media to further promote your conference for you.
From a UI/UX perspective Brella offers a very clean web and mobile app that is sure to keep your attendees happy and informed. Sponsors will also enjoy the ability to put them into the platform for further exposure for them and more revenue opportunities for you.
Brella offers custom branding to give your event a specialized touch, pair that with their premade templates and you will have a perfect event landing page. Plus, you can integrate with your CRMs like Pipedrive and Salesforce to make it easy on your team & view analytics.
Best for: Novice conference planners that need a clean platform to navigate.
Pricing: Need to contact sales
Capterra: No rating
Support Policy: 24/7 call center support
Training: Online training sessions, user guides & videos.
Summary: Communique Conferencing was founded in the United States in 2001 & offers a 3D virtual trade show where participants can visit & engage with exhibitor booths as well as take part in live, interactive sessions. Utilize polls, live Q&A sessions, & webinars to give your participants that face-to-face experience that many online events make the mistake of leaving out.
The 3D experience continues with options like virtual theaters for webinars, a networking lounge, & a devoted resource bank for attendees.
They also offer audio & video conferencing services if you’re interested in a smaller scale option that doesn’t sacrifice real interactions. These can be great to help you connect with your audience from a distance without any frills (and keeping costs down). Communique does not offer any CRM or email marketing integrations based on their site.
The variety of packages makes Communique Conferencing a great option for event organizers who may host multiple events each year.
Best for: Large virtual events, networking events, professional & large-scale event planners.
Pricing: Custom for each event
6. Engagez
Capterra Rating: No rating
Support Policy: Online only
Training: Articles and documentation
Summary: Engagez was founded in 2008 in the United States as an online platform to make attending a virtual event easier. Since then, they have continued to do just that, by keeping it simple & user friendly. This platform is best used for single stream events like a product launch or live broadcast.
Engagez offers virtual booths and lobbies for your attendees as well as chat functionality. Features like these help boost engagement for your attendees and make them feel like they are not sitting in their living room but actually at a conference networking.
Unfortunately there do not appear to be any direct integrations listed for this platform on the CRM side but do integrate with many webcasting solutions like WebEx and GoToMeeting, but they do offer analytics and reporting to keep track of your event on their platform.
Best for: Networking events, single stream webinars.
Pricing: $399/month
7. Hopin
Capterra: No Rating
Support Policy: Documentation
Training: Documentation
Summary: Hopin was founded in the UK in 2019 with the initial goal of moving events online to provide a greener experience overall. Now they are helping conferences move online with the COVID outbreak with an easy UI and quick set up times.
Hopin provides virtual meeting rooms where you can connect using YouTube live or host a stream for speakers using their native video stream platform. On the networking site they make it easy for you to set parameters like the maximum time a meeting can last and who can meet who based on ticket types.
Best For: Hybrid events, quick set up
Pricing: $99/user/month, .50c/registrant after the first 100 and 7% of ticket revenue and .50c/registrant
8. Localist
Capterra Rating: 4.4/5
Support Policy: Online, live during business hours only
Training: Articles and documentation, live online demos, webinars
Summary: Localist is a virtual event platform that was founded in the US in 2008. By offering virtual booths and lobbies as well as live text chat, this platform is great for making your attendees feel connected, even when working from home.
On the integrations side, they offer Wordpress, Google Analytics and Drupal to name a few. On top of social media marketing and custom branding this platform can help with engagement and organic registrations. Lead capture is another powerful tool for your vendors to be able to take advantage of, ensuring an easily measurable ROI.
Best for: Events with vendors that can benefit from lead retrieval.
Pricing: Starting at $800/month.
9. Pathable
Capterra: 4.3/5
Support Policy: phone support & online chat, dedicated rep
Training: Webinars & live demos
Summary: Pathable was founded in 2007 in the United States & has grown to be a leader in the event space. On the large scale, the platform provides custom event & conference apps, trade show websites, webinars & video chatting. To break that down, Pathable offers online agendas, private meeting scheduling, gamification, exhibitor listings, lead retrieval and social networking communities, and more.
This platform is a great option for event hosts looking to create a highly immersive experience for their virtual guests- making them almost forget that they’re taking their video meetings from their living room couch.
In addition to its multitude of features, Pathable integrates with many of the most popular CRMs such as Salesforce, Cvent, & Experient. The platform boasts easy set up and a dedicated customer support representative to help make sure that whether this is your first, or thousandth event, things go off without a hitch.
Best For: Large budget events, easy set up
Pricing: Plans begin at $5,500 for a small event or $16,000 for a large event. Additional costs for add-on options
10. RunTheWorld
Capterra: No rating
Support Policy: Live chart, pay-as-you-need phone support
Training: 30 minute call with a support representative, online Help Center articles
Summary: RunTheWorld was founded in the United States in 2019 and although one of the newer platforms on this list, the company has some great features that put them right in the running with long-term players.
The platform boasts an incredibly simple interface & set-up, making it easy for anyone to run their own event. In addition to being able to create speakers & sessions, hosts can set up fun interactive events like virtual happy hours and intimate fireside chats with speakers.
Hosts can also browse and reach out to their attendees, making them feel welcome and engaged, even from afar!
The platform does not have any listed integrations on their site.
Best For: Networking events, interactive events, new event hosts
Pricing: For paid events, 25% of your total ticket revenue. For free events, there is a cost per attendee.
11. SpotMe
Capterra Rating: no rating
Support Policy: 24/7 Live Chat
Training: Live & video demos, Online Articles
Summary: SpotMe was founded in 2010 in Switzerland, & focuses on improving engagement at both in-person and online events. The platform offers guest interaction through engagement apps like live video & text chat, Q&A sessions, & polls/surveys, all easily branded through the use of pre-made templates. Guests can exchange virtual business cards to connect not just with speakers & session leaders but fellow attendees, adding to the “in-person” feel if your event is completely virtual.
Allow your attendees to check out vendors from virtual booths & give those same vendors lead generation capabilities. The platform boasts its own CMS but also integrates with Salesforce, Cvent, & Veeva. You can also easily view data from robust in-platform analytics page.
The platform offers full service & enterprise level plans, allowing you to to customize your usage & support to your organization’s needs.
Best For: Fostering interactions between your attendees.
Pricing: begins at $4,800/year
12. vFairs
Capterra Rating: 4.8/5
Support Policy: 24/7 live online chat
Training: Video & live online training sessions
Summary: If you’re looking to host virtual trade shows & conferences, vFairs is a great option. Founded in 2010 in Canada, vFairs allows attendees to visit 3D booths & interact with exhibitors via chat & video for an “in person” experience, all from the comfort of their own home. With technology that enables people to network, access content & listen to speakers from anywhere, you have all the great aspects of a conference, fair, or trade show, without having to rent a venue.
To further enhance the “in-person” aspects, the platform offers interactive tools such as audio/video/text chat, polls, webinars, & videos to drive conversation among attendees, exhibitors, & presenters. Currently, vFairs does not list any integrations on their site.
One of the more unique features that vFairs offers is that attendees can create “wishlists” for products from booths that they’ve visited. This makes it easy for vendors to create buyer personas & target marketing campaigns after the event concludes.
When setting up your event, a dedicated event manager from vFairs will help support you every step of the way. You can fully customize your event’s landing page, registration form & branding, making it completely your own.
Best for: Professional event hosts, Large scale conferences, trade shows & fairs
Pricing: Available upon request
Capterra Rating: No rating
Support Policy: Online Support Chat
Training: Online training guides
Summary: Everything you need to run a virtual summit! Virtual Summits gives you the ability to set up an agenda for your summit & allows attendees to register for & attend virtual sessions from their own computer. Add & manage speakers, & sponsors, making it easy for your attendees to review information & learn about who is driving your event forward.
Your sponsors will enjoy an offering of different tiers on both a landing page and membership site to increase their exposure to the segments attendees they want to reach most.
Virtual Summits also allows you to set different membership levels for your summit, so your VIPs can access certain perks & benefits that are not available to general attendees. You can even add bonuses or giveaways to certain registration levels to entice potential attendees to upgrade their membership!
Unfortunately, they do not offer any listed integrations.
Best for: First-time event hosts.
Pricing: $97/month — $297/month
14. WorkCast
Capterra Rating: 4.5/5
Support Policy: Live during business hours
Training: Live & video demos, Online Articles
Summary: WorkCast is a UK based company founded in 2008, having done events as large as 50,000 attendees. In the way of a virtual event, WorkCast provides everything that attendees and organizers need like virtual booths and lobbies, live chat, and on demand webinars.
Like some of the other platforms listed on this page, WorkCast offers custom branding for your event as well as social media promotion, along with robust reporting and analytics this platform is what you need to both increase and measure your engagement and reach.
WorkCast has integrations with popular CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot as well as automated marketing tool Marketo.
Best for: Networking events, easy data transfer, professional event hosts
Pricing: Starting at $7,500
Originally published at https://www.accelevents.com on April 6, 2020.
