Best Virtual Event Platforms in 2026: 9 Tools Compared

Zoom Events suits organizers who want the lowest attendee friction. Most guests already know how to join a Zoom session, which cuts support questions, and the platform handles multi-session agendas, ticketing tiers, email automation, and session analytics. Events plans start at $149 per month on monthly billing, or $124.17 on annual billing, for 500 attendees, with webinars from $89 per month on monthly billing.

The cost rises with capacity, which makes Zoom Events expensive for testing a small idea. Branding is also more limited than on a dedicated venue platform. For a large conference where reliability and familiarity matter most, Zoom Events is the safest pick.

RingCentral Events is the current home of the former Hopin events product, and it offers the closest thing to a physical conference online. Attendees move between a reception, main stage, networking area, and expo hall, while organizers get a production studio for multi-speaker sessions. Events Pro starts at $99 per organizer per month on annual billing, or $119 monthly, with unlimited webinars, virtual events, and registrations.

Per-organizer pricing means a larger events team pays more, and onsite, hybrid, and single sign-on features need Pro+ at $199 per organizer per month on annual billing. Setup also takes longer than on a simple webinar tool. For a conference that needs a venue feel rather than a single video stream, RingCentral Events is the strongest option here.

Livestorm is the best all-round starting point for webinars and interactive online events. The free plan covers small sessions, while Pro pricing from $3 per attendee adds larger capacity, automation, and analytics. Multi-session registration, polls, Q and A, and CRM integrations suit marketing teams that run regular webinars as well as occasional summits.

Attendee-based pricing means a large free event can still cost a meaningful amount, and the most advanced enterprise features sit on higher tiers. For a team that runs many webinars and wants one platform for both small and mid-size events, Livestorm is a flexible choice.

vFairs suits trade shows, career fairs, and expos where the venue itself is part of the experience. Its 3D environments, virtual booths, and networking areas recreate the feel of walking a show floor, which suits sponsors who want visible booths rather than a logo on a webinar page. Pricing is quote-led, with capacity starting around 1,000 attendees and scaling from there.

That quote-led model means budgeting takes a sales conversation, and building a custom venue takes more time than launching a webinar. For a large expo or fair, the immersive format justifies the effort. For a simple webinar, a cheaper tool will be faster.

Airmeet is built around networking, with social lounges and tables where attendees can join small group conversations rather than only watching a stage. That design suits community conferences, workshops, and multi-track events where connections matter as much as content. Webinar plans start from $199 per month, and a limited free plan covers small workshops.

Larger conferences move to quote-led event pricing, so a big summit needs a sales conversation. Airmeet is also less suited to a simple one-speaker webinar, where Livestorm or Zoom Webinars are cheaper. For a networking-first event, Airmeet stands out.

ON24 targets enterprise marketing teams that run webinars as a pipeline channel. Its analytics, engagement scoring, and content hubs help a team prove which sessions generated qualified leads, and integrations with marketing automation platforms keep that data in the CRM. Pricing is quote-led, with published comparisons putting entry costs well above webinar-only tools.

That depth comes with cost and complexity that small teams do not need. ON24 suits a B2B marketing team running a regular webinar program with revenue targets. A community organizer or small business will find Livestorm or Airmeet simpler and cheaper.

BigMarker handles large hybrid conventions and industry events that mix in-person and virtual audiences. It supports live, automated, and on-demand sessions at scale, with registration, ticketing, and analytics in one platform. Pricing is custom, so organizers should request a quote based on attendee count and session volume.

The platform is heavier to set up than Livestorm or Zoom Events, and small events will not use its full capacity. For a large convention where scale and hybrid support matter most, BigMarker is a credible enterprise pick.

Whova is best known as an attendee app for hybrid and in-person conferences, with agenda building, networking, exhibitor listings, and live polls in one mobile experience. It suits conferences that have an in-person core and a virtual audience alongside, since attendees in both groups use the same app to plan their day.

Pricing is quote-led, and a purely virtual webinar does not need Whova's full in-person toolkit. For a hybrid conference where the attendee app shapes the experience, Whova is a strong choice, and it pairs well with a video platform for the live sessions themselves.

We include Hopin only to prevent a costly mistake. Hopin as a standalone events brand no longer sells separately, and its events product became RingCentral Events, listed above. Old Hopin pricing pages and reviews still appear in search results, but they do not reflect a current purchase path.

If a vendor or article recommends Hopin in 2026, treat it as a recommendation for RingCentral Events and price it from the RingCentral Events page. That distinction matters, because a quote based on old Hopin plans will not match the current product.