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Webinars are a great way to share knowledge, launch products, and grow your audience—but pro webinar software can cost a fortune.
The good news? There are plenty of free webinar platforms that get the job done. We tested the best and asked experts for tips on making the most of them.
Here are the top free webinar platforms for 2025.
The best free webinar platforms for 2025
What to consider when choosing free webinar platforms over paid platforms? Expert Insights
Picking a free webinar platform over a paid one doesn’t have to mean making sacrifices.
What matters is making sure these trade-offs won’t affect your bottom line. Let’s take a look at the key factors to consider when weighing free vs. paid options.
What features can you realistically get for free?
You can only get the basics without pulling out your credit card, so set your expectations right. Screen sharing, chat features, and simple polls are easy to find, but very few free plans will include advanced features like analytics, automatic transcriptions, or post-production editing tools.
Number of attendees
Most free webinar platforms cap attendance at 100 or fewer, sometimes allowing as few as a dozen attendees. Depending on the size or scope of your webinar, this restriction can be a serious hassle.
Webinar recording
Recording webinars can get your content in front of those who can’t attend live. It’s a must if you want to share it on your website or social media.
Yet, this is missing from most free webinar platforms. If you don’t want your content to disappear forever (along with all its marketing potential!) make sure you have a recording solution. Third-party software can be an option to consider here too.
Maximum recording time
Before committing to a platform, check its per-presentation time restrictions. Not sure how long you'll need? Rehearse your presentation with a timer, then add buffer time for technical issues and audience interaction.
Recording resolution
Virtually every free webinar platform out there will restrict your video recording quality to 720p or even just 480p. Learn the audio and video quality of the platforms you’re looking at and consider what that will mean for the final result.
8 Best free webinar software
Whether you’re under budget constraints or just testing the waters with a quick and simple webinar, these are the best platforms you can (and should) check out.
Riverside
Best for: High-quality recording, editing, and streaming in one platform.
Riverside makes it ridiculously easy to record a webinar. Record, stream, edit, and repurpose – all under one roof. Yes, even with the free plan.
Host live webinars with up to 10 participants and up to 1,000 attendees. Stream them to most major social media platforms (custom RTMP included). Even better, all webinars are recorded locally on your device, so you won’t risk looking pixelated every time your WiFi takes a nap.
Time limits? Forget about that. You can take all the time you need recording your webinar.
When your webinar is over, Riverside’s text-based editor makes post-production feel like editing a doc. And its AI-assisted tools will help you add captions and automatically remove background noise. You can even use the Magic Clips tool to instantly create short, shareable clips you can use to promote your webinar.
Key features:
- Up to 10 participants and 1,000 audience members per webinar.
- Local recording so your video quality doesn’t depend on your internet connection.
- Multi-streaming to major social media platforms right from your studio.
- Text-based editor where you can edit your recording as easily as editing text.
- Screen and presentation sharing features.
- Magic Clips creator to repurpose your webinar into multiple social media videos.
Free plan limitations:
- Video quality capped at 720p.
- Audio quality capped at 44.1 kHz.
- Riverside watermark on all your content.
Maximize Your Live Streams with Riverside: New Tools & Features!
Microsoft Teams Live Events
Best for: Corporate webinars and internal business events.
Technically, Microsoft Teams Live Events is not free; it requires a Microsoft 365 subscription. However, if you run a small business or work in a corporation, you may already be using at least one Microsoft 365 Business Standard plan.
If that’s the case, you may want to think about using Teams Live Events as your go-to webinar platform. Easy integration with other Microsoft tools - such as OneDrive, SharePoint, and Outlook - comes with the territory here, making file sharing, scheduling, and collaboration so much smoother.
With up to 1,000 attendees and 8 hours of recording available, Teams Live Events is adequate for most corporate needs.
Key features:
- Easy integration with Microsoft 365 apps like SharePoint and OneDrive for file sharing.
- Host events with up to 1,000 attendees.
- Event reporting for post-event analysis (attendance and engagement metrics).
- Engagement features like Q&A, moderated discussions, and live polls.
- Enterprise-level security features like multi-factor authentication, encryption, and compliance with industry standards.
Free plan limitations:
- Still requires a Microsoft 365 Business Standard subscription, so it’s not exactly free.
- Video quality capped at 720p.
- Meetings are limited to 8 hours per session.
- Limited or no ability to broadcast to social media or other external platforms.
- No branding or customization options.
Read: How to Use Microsoft Teams
Google Meet
Best for: Simple, no-cost webinars for small teams.
In the world of free webinar platforms, Google Meet is the equivalent of Zoom Webinars in the paid space: you sacrifice quality for simplicity.
Everybody knows how to set up a meeting on Google Meet. It’s integration with Google Workspace, Google Calendar, and Gmail makes everything frictionless.
While simplicity is usually a good thing, here it's taken a bit too far. Google Meet is built for meetings, and while you can host events with up to 100 participants, it lacks the features of dedicated webinar platforms. No engagement tools, no editing, no high-quality recording - just what you need for casual meetings and small-scale webinars, but nothing more.
Key features:
- Seamless integration with Google Calendar, Gmail, and Google Drive.
- Supports screen sharing for presentations.
- Real-time live captions powered by Google's speech recognition technology.
- Standard security features such as encryption and two-factor authentication.
- Simple, browser-based interface with no software installation needed.
Free plan limitations:
- Video quality capped at 720p.
- No more than 100 participants.
- Meeting length is capped at 60 minutes for groups larger than two participants.
- No meeting recordings or cloud storage for recordings.
- Lacks any advanced engagement features like breakout rooms or polls.
BigBlueButton (Demo version)
Best for: Educators, online learning, and open-source enthusiasts.
BigBlueButton is an open-source virtual classroom software primarily designed for open learning. But, you can use the demo version for small-scale webinars with no more than 25 users per session.
Its main focus is real-time collaboration and virtual education. In the free version, you can use engagement tools like breakout rooms, whiteboards, screen sharing, and shared notes.
One big downside is that because it’s an open-source platform, there’s no direct customer service available. If you run into a technical issue, you’ll have to rely on the community for support.
Key features:
- Open source platform that you can deploy on your own servers.
- Lots of interactive tools like breakout rooms, whiteboards, live chat, polls, and shared notes.
- Supports screen sharing and uploading PowerPoint/PDF presentations.
- Easy integration with learning management systems (LMS) like Moodle.
- Highly customizable UI that supports white labeling and brand personalization.
Free plan limitations:
- Video quality capped at 720p.
- Meeting length is capped at 60 minutes.
- No more than 25 users per session.
- No live call-ins, and attendees’ webcams are only visible to the host.
- Recorded sessions cannot be downloaded and are available on the cloud for a maximum of 7 days.
Jitsi Meet
Best for: Privacy-focused, open-source webinars.
Jitsi Meet is a simple and lean video conferencing platform you can use to host webinars. Unlike other software in this list, it is fully free and 100% open source – no strings attached.
If privacy and transparency are your top priorities, Jitsi Meet is a good choice. You don’t need to register to host or join a webinar: just create a room, share a link, and everyone can hop in. Plus, Jitsi guarantees that your personal data is protected with end-to-end encryption, and is never collected by Jitsi Meet.
As a free webinar platform, Jitsi meet is flexible, lightweight and easy to use. But it is a bit lackluster compared to its corporate alternatives. Many advanced functions require third-party software, which makes things complex for less tech-savvy users. Also, performance can degrade very quickly in larger events or when Jitsi’s servers are busy.
Key features:
- No registration, no download required to host or join a session.
- Full end-to-end encryption for secure communications.
- Direct YouTube live streaming available.
- Includes live chat and real-time participant feedback.
- Open source and highly customizable deployment.
- Improved HD audio with Opus software.
Free plan limitations:
- Video quality is capped at 720p.
- Performance may degrade in longer sessions, sessions with more than 50-100 participants, or when Jitsi’s public servers are busy.
- No native cloud recording features (requires external plug-ins or third-party software).
- Lacks features like event registration, attendee analytics, branded experiences, or post-event reporting.
- Hosting on a private server requires significant technical knowledge.
- Basic scheduling features (no calendar integration).
Zoho Meeting (free plan)
Best for: Basic video conferencing and small-scale webinars.
Zoho Meeting is a browser-based video conferencing and webinar platform primarily for businesses. It’s relatively basic compared to some competitors. But Zoho’s straightforward, no-frills interface delivers all its essential features without overwhelming users.
Most of its appeal comes from its integration with Zoho’s ecosystem. Small teams and businesses already using Zoho’s productivity tools will find it easy to add Zoho Meetings to their workflows. The free plan is sufficient for 60-minute webinars with up to 100 attendees, and it includes several collaborative features like screen-sharing, file-sharing, and live chat.
Key features:
- Seamless integration with Zoho productivity tools.
- Screen sharing and file sharing allowed.
- End-to-end SSL/128-bit AES encryption.
- Browser-based meetings with no software installation needed.
- Basic moderator controls including participant management.
Free plan limitations:
- Video quality capped at 720p.
- Meeting length is capped at 60 minutes.
- No more than 100 users per session.
- No recording capabilities.
- Limited to web conferencing only (no app and no dial-in options).
- No advanced scheduling features (basic email notifications only).
- No custom branding options available.
WebinarJam (free trial option)
Best for: Short-term, marketing-focused webinars.
WebinarJam doesn’t have a free plan. But they do offer a trial version that allows you to test all the features of the platform for 14 days for just $1.
You can run large-scale, interactive webinars and access WebinarJam’s analytics and sales automation features - no limits whatsoever.
If you’re looking for a short-term marketing strategy that includes webinars, WebinarJam can be the perfect candidate. Just talk with the support team before the trial expires, or you might automatically be charged the monthly fee (which can be as high as $500)!
Key features:
- Up to 6 hosts and 5,000 attendees per session.
- Public and private live chat, Q&A, and surveys.
- Complete suite of marketing features/ including CTAs and product offers.
- Automated and pre-recorded webinars with simulated live engagement.
- Integration with major email marketing platforms.
- Lives streaming to Facebook and YouTube.
- Option to use pop-ups to encourage your audience to purchase your product during your webinar.
Free plan limitations:
- Maximum video quality is 720p, even for paid plans.
- Limited to 14 days for $1.
- Requires credit card information for trial activation, and you must contact their support team to cancel the subscription.
- Cannot export attendee data or recordings after trial ends without upgrading.
Read: 10 Best Free & Paid WebinarJam Alternatives
MyOwnConference
Best for: Branded multicam webinars.
MyOwnConference offers a life-long free tier that sits somewhere between a traditional video conferencing tool and a full webinar platform. The free version can work well for small group webinar training sessions or educational presentations.
What really makes MyOwnConference stand out are its branded options, and the ability to record your webinars with up to 3 webcams. You can customize registration forms, and even choose a foreground color, logo, and banner. Plus you get access to a lot of features like screen sharing, polls, whiteboard, and webinar analytics.
Watch out for the very strict limits, though. At just 20 mins and no more than 20 attendees, you won’t be hosting large-scale webinars here.
Key features:
- Branding options and customizable registration forms.
- Screen sharing and basic presentation tools.
- Multiple presenter roles and multicam support with up to 3 webcams.
- Live chat, polls, whiteboard, and surveys.
- Option to record webinars.
- Webinar analytics with attendee geographical location report.
Free plan limitations:
- Video quality capped at 720p.
- Meeting length is capped at 20 minutes.
- No more than 20 users per session.
- Storage limited to 1GB.
- Only 20 webinars and 1 automated webinar total on this plan.
- Can’t stream to social media.
FAQs on free webinar platforms and software
Still need information? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions.
Can you host a webinar for free?
Yes! Many platforms like Riverside, Vowel, or MyOwnConference offer free plans with basic webinar features, though they often come with limitations like attendee caps, branding restrictions, or limited recording options. Others, like WebinarJam, offer a free trial that lets you test premium features for a limited time.
How do I record a webinar on my computer for free?
You can use open source webinar platforms like BigBlueButton or Jitsi Meet, free meeting tools like Google Meet, or take advantage of the free plans of other software like Riverside or Vowel.
What are the limitations of free webinar software?
Free webinar software usually comes with restrictions like limited attendee numbers, lower video quality, time caps on sessions, and a general lack of features. Some also restrict recording, storage, and branding options, or impose a watermark on your content.
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