The Top 14 Virtual Conference Platforms

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Accelevents

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Over the past few years, we’ve seen it all — virtual events, hybrid events, and in-person events. In the ever-changing world of event planning, it is imperative that event organizers include a virtual event management platform in their tech stack. If we've learned anything, it's that virtual conferences and events are here to stay!

Choosing the best virtual conference platform can be overwhelming with so many software options out there! To make your decision easier, we outlined the best features, pricing, and support policies for the top virtual conference platforms.

*Please note that the following online conference platforms are listed in alphabetical order and do not represent a rank. The authors of this post are affiliated with Accelevents.

1. 6Connex

attendees at a virtual event experience exploring keynotes and an onboarding video

Customer Support

  • Online chat

Pricing

  • Contact sales for custom pricing

Training

  • Customer 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 even 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

Capterra Rating: No rating

2. Accelevents

video conferencing screen with attendees connecting in real time, displaying a more user-friendly design than Hopin

Customer Support

  • 24/7 Live chat
  • 24/7 Phone
  • Email

Pricing

  • Four different pricing packages are offered: Professional, Business, Enterprise, and White Label. Visit the pricing page for more information.

Training

Summary: Accelevents was founded in 2014 in the United States. The platform combines enterprise-grade capabilities with ease of use to streamline the event planning process.

Trusted by 12,500 organizations worldwide, this all-in-one virtual conferencing solution brings even the most complex event strategies to life with 24/7 support, advanced data security, and a wide range of features.

With Accelevents, you can:

  • Create a branded event website. 
  • Configure powerful registration and ticketing workflows.
  • Build an agenda that automatically integrates speakers and sessions.
  • Offer various payment methods, including credit cards and invoicing.
  • Check in attendees.
  • Set up keynote sessions, breakout sessions, virtual roundtables, and more.
  • Broadcast live event content via the Accelevents Broadcast Studio or a preferred A/V provider.
  • Manage exhibitors and sponsors at scale, including onboarding and exhibit hall management.
  • Help exhibitors capture leads.
  • Amplify audience engagement with AI-driven networking, gamification and more.
  • Set up event polls, live Q&A sessions, and surveys.
  • Run event analytics.

The Accelevents virtual event platform supports conferences, trade shows, career fairs, workshops, training seminars, networking sessions, summits, expos and more.

Accelevents' native integrations with leading CRMs like SalesForce, HubSpot, and Marketo facilitate the data flow within your tech ecosystem - in real time.

For even more flexibility, event planners can integrate the platform with thousands of apps using Zapier, create custom integrations with the Accelevents API, or use web hooks.

Request a Demo

Best for: Virtual and hybrid events with multiple registration workflows and speaker sessions.  Easy customizations and scalable pricing.

Capterra Rating: 4.8/5

3. BigMarker

screen showing a live event with interactive features such as Q&A

Customer Support

  • Resource Bank
  • Designated Support Email

Pricing

  • Plans range from $79/month - $279/month
  • Contact sales for White Label pricing

Training

  • Video demos
  • Help center articles

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

Capterra Rating: 4.8/5

4. Brella

Keynote at a physical event with audience engagement by virtual participants

Customer Support

  • Live online chat
  • Resource bank & how-to guides
  • Dedicated support for enterprise clients
  • 1:1 training sessions

Pricing

  • Contact sales for pricing

Training

  • Documentation
  • Help center articles

"Brella is your new virtual event venue. Attendees can network and video chat 1:1, watch livestreams, interact with sponsors and much more, all within the app. Organizers can host & manage their entire event within Brella and set up takes minutes. Sponsors have virtual booths and live chat, and our AI-powered matchmaking algorithm makes it easy to find new digital sales opportunities. Suitable for all virtual and hybrid events."

-Jon from Brella

Summary: Brella began in 2016 to provide a better way to network at events. They have expanded their offering and now offer a centralized virtual platform where attendees can access streams, agendas, and event updates.

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 also offers facilitated matchmaking with their AI-powered algorithm, and 1:1 video conference rooms. This solves the struggle of finding relevant people at events. Sponsors can also use matchmaking to filter and discover leads from the attendee list.

Best for: Virtual and hybrid events, networking events, conferences

Capterra Rating: 4/5

5. Communique Conferencing

an online conference lobby with a whiteboard, access to the registration page, a leaderboard and a request follow-up area

Customer Support

  • 24/7 call center

Pricing

  • Contact sales for pricing
  • Custom for each event based on its needs

Training

  • Online training sessions
  • User guides
  • Video how-to's

Summary: Communique Conferencing was founded in the United States in 2001 & has hosted over 614,000 virtual events. Communique offers an incredibly customizable 3D virtual conference platform where participants can visit & engage with exhibitor booths as well as take part in live, interactive sessions. Utilize polls, live Q&A sessions, webinars and other attendee engagement features 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.

The variety of packages makes Communique Conferencing a great option for event organizers who may host multiple events each year.

Communique’s experienced Customer Success Squad, led by a dedicated event manager, will help support you every step of the way from planning to executing flawless virtual events.

Best for: Large virtual events, networking events, professional & large-scale event planners

Capterra Rating: 4.7/5

6. Engagez

virtual screen sharing details of upcoming speaker sessions with attendees

Customer Support

  • Online only

Pricing

  • $399/month

Training

  • Online articles
  • Documentation

"Ideal for online sales, marketing, corporate communication, and recruiting events and professional educational destinations. Designed to encourage attendee engagement through video calls, chats, polls, notifications, surveys, Q&A, and games"

-Michael from Engagez

Summary: Engagez was founded in 2008 in the United States as a software 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.

Capterra Rating: 4.7/5

7. expertshare

session list displaying sponsorship details and engagement tools such as live voting and chat options

Customer Support

  • 24/7 online chat
  • Email support

Pricing

  • Contact sales for pricing

Training

  • Videos

Summary: From concept to inception, expertshare was born because of the need for an all-in-one solution for virtual event and e-learning challenges. expertshare was developed by Swiss event industry professionals who combined their experience, technical skills and an acute understanding of what clients need to create a successful event. They strive to provide the most innovative, agile, and forward thinking platform and services in the events industry. 

expertshare’s focus is to provide a completely integrated system that provides all of the features businesses and attendees expect to ensure the success of a virtual event, E-learning and conference. 

expertshare believes that in creating unique and immersive experiences, they can outperform traditional events and create hybrid events. These events will engage participants and offer valuable insights that drive your key decision making process with unmatched accuracy. They are here to make your event unforgettable and ultimately, successful. 

Best for: Combining E-learning with virtual events, data architecture for regulated enterprises, 3D modeling integration, fully dynamic code

Capterra Rating: No rating

8. Pathable

screen for virtual meeting participants watching immersive event from home

Customer Support

  • Live chat
  • Phone support
  • Dedicated rep assigned to each event

Pricing

  • Plans begin at $5,500 for a small event or $16,000 for a large event
  • Additional costs for add-on options

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 setup 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 setup

Capterra Rating: 4.3/5

9. RunTheWorld

attendees in breakout room having a conversation

Customer Support

  • Live chat
  • Pay as you need phone support

Pricing

  • For paid events, 25% of your total ticket revenue
  • For free events, there is a cost per attendee.

Training

  • Knowledge base
  • 30-minute training call with customer support

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 its site.

Best for: Networking events, interactive events, new event hosts

Capterra Rating: 4.4/5

10. SpotMe

screen displaying post-event polls and surveys

Customer Support

  • 24/7 live chat

Pricing

  • Plans begin at $4,800/year

Training

  • Knowledge base
  • Video demos
  • Live demos

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 a robust in-platform analytics page.

The platform offers full service & enterprise-level plans, allowing you to customize your usage & support to your organization’s needs.

Best for: Fostering interactions between your attendees

Capterra Rating: 4.4/5

11. vFairs

chatroom example for a virtual conference or career fair

Customer Support

  • 24/7 live chat

Pricing

  • Pricing available upon request

Training

  • Video demos
  • Live demos

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

Capterra Rating: 4.7/5

12. Virtual Summits Software

onboarding video guide for all event types

Customer Support

  • Online chat

Pricing

  • Plans range from $97/month - $297/month

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

Capterra Rating: No rating

13. Whova

example of how the best virtual event platforms are accessible on desktops and mobile devices

Customer Support

  • Account manager & support team
  • Phone & chat
  • Email support

Pricing

  • Pricing available upon request

Training

  • Account manager 1:1 onboard training
  • Demo
  • Videos

Summary: Whova virtual conference software helps make online events highly interactive and productive. The tool directly integrates with live streaming and video hosting tools such as Zoom, Google Hangout, YouTube, Vimeo, etc. It also provides live Q&A, attendee networking, a discussion board, meeting matches, a virtual exhibitor hall, and even virtual meet-ups.

Whova has received both the Best Event App award and the People's Choice Award from the Event Technology Awards for its leading attendee engagement and networking technology since 2014.

Best for: Networking events, conferences, and expos

Capterra Rating: 4.8/5

14. WorkCast

event marketing visual for WorkCast software

Customer Support

  • Designated support phone lines during business hours

Pricing

  • Plans begin at $7,500

Training

  • Live demos
  • 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

Capterra Rating: 4.5/5

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