GoToWebinar review: user perspectives and insights

Webinars have become essential for marketers and businesses looking to engage with their audience and promote their brands. With so many webinar platforms available, it can be tricky to identify the right solution for your needs.

One of the most popular webinar services is GoToWebinar. But does it live up to the hype? Find out in this in-depth GoToWebinar review based on real user experiences and feedback.

GoToWebinar explained

GoToWebinar is a webinar hosting platform created by GoTo (previously LogMeIn). It offers all the core features needed to host and run webinars seamlessly. This includes registration management, presenter controls, polling, Q&A, and detailed analytics.

GoToWebinar aims to provide an intuitive interface to make it easy for anyone to host engaging webinars. It can support audiences of up to 1,000 attendees. Its user-friendly interface and robust features have become popular among many organizations.

Some key facts to get yourself acquainted:

• • Launched in 2006, it’s an established player.
  • Offers automated webinar production, not just live hosting.
  • Integrates with marketing and sales tools through Zapier.

User satisfaction and experiences

Overall, most users seem reasonably satisfied with GoToWebinar. It receives an average of 4 out of 5 stars on review sites.

Positive feedback focuses on the user-friendly interface and reliability of the platform. Users mention it as being easy to quickly create and manage webinars.

Negative feedback revolves around pricing, technical issues, and the lack of advanced features that are available on competing platforms. Some users felt it was overpriced for what it offered.

On G2, GoToWebinar has a score of 4.2 out of 5 based on 780+ reviews. Capterra gives it a 4.5 out of 5. Most reviews highlight the intuitive dashboard and ease of use.

Platform features and capabilities

GoToWebinar offers a robust suite of features to provide an end-to-end webinar hosting experience. The platform aims to make it easy for users to host professional, engaging webinars while providing detailed analytics and opportunities for customization. Key capabilities span registration and attendee management, presenter controls, webinar production, analytics, and integrations.

Here are some of GoToWebinar’s core features:

Registration and attendee management

• • Custom registration forms
  • Automatic reminders and follow-up emails
  • Track registration sources
  • Capacity limits and waiting lists
  • Attendance reporting

Presenter controls

• • Screen sharing
  • Upload presentations
  • Annotate and highlight slides
  • Mouse highlighting
  • Webcam video
  • Polls and surveys
  • Q&A and hand-raising

Webinar production

• • Branding with logos, colors, and themes
  • Rehearsals and practice sessions
  • Green room for presenters
  • Seamless switching between presenters

Analytics

• • Registration and attendance reporting
  • Poll, survey, and Q&A reporting
  • Lead scoring and source tracking
  • Customizable metrics and dashboards

Integrations

• • Zapier
  • Salesforce
  • MailChimp
  • HubSpot

What users like about GoToWebinar

GoToWebinar receives praise for providing a reliable and user-friendly webinar service. Users highlight the seamless audio/video capabilities and easy integration with other tools as strengths. GoToWebinar’s support teams also earn kudos for their prompt and helpful assistance.

Here are some of the most commonly mentioned positives in GoToWebinar reviews:

• • Smooth webinar delivery and performance
  • Easy-to-use dashboard and launch process
  • Automated notifications and reminders
  • Reliable screen sharing and solid audio/video quality
  • In-session tools like polls, Q&A, and hand-raising
  • Intuitive presenter interface
  • Simple registration setup
  • Quality audio options

What users don’t like about GoToWebinar

While reviewers point to the core competencies of the platform, some areas like more advanced features, improved connectivity, and upgraded support are cited as opportunities for improvement.

Common complaints and negatives mentioned include:

• • Steep pricing model
  • Lack of breakout room functionality
  • Technical issues with mobile apps and integrations
  • Limited customization options for branding
  • Unreliable customer support responsiveness
  • Audio quality issues for some users
  • Lack of post-webinar segmentation
  • Limit of 6 presenters

Overall, GoToWebinar delivers on core webinar functionality but shows room for growth around customization, scaling, and support compared to competitors. Polishing these aspects could help it better fulfil advanced user needs.

Top 3 alternatives to GoToWebinar

For those looking for additional options, here are 3 top alternatives to consider. Good things come to those who wait, so we will round up the top 3 with the number one best alternative in the next section.

Zoom

• • Offers breakout rooms for smaller groups.
  • Support for up to 100 video panelists.
  • Apps available across devices.
  • Advanced security features.

WebEx

• • Integrates well with other Cisco offerings.
  • Support for up to 3,000 attendees in some plans.
  • Annotation tools for co-editing.
  • Automated transcription.

Meet Kaltura – your #1 webinar platform

At Kaltura, we provide an industry-leading webinar experience that goes beyond traditional platforms. With personalized engagement tools, seamless video, and powerful analytics, Kaltura offers a uniquely interactive webinar environment.

Engaging experience

Kaltura drives audience engagement with interactive videos, live polls, Q&A, quizzes, and more. Giving attendees an engaging experience becomes a breeze with Kaltura’s AI assistant which monitors attendee participation and suggests ways to boost engagement in real time. It also generates session descriptions and agendas for you and even repurposes content quickly.

Seamless production process

Produce polished, studio-quality events with Kaltura’s automated webinar capabilities for branding, scheduling, and follow-ups.

Actionable analytics

Get actionable data and intelligence to maximize your webinar ROI. Track engagement, conversions, revenue, and more.

Flexible integration

Easily integrate interactive webinars across your tech stack including LMS, marketing automation, CRM, and other systems.

We make it simple to deliver exceptional, branded webinars that captivate audiences. Plus, our platform integrates easily with your other tools and channels.

Kaltura vs. GoToWebinar

Successful webinar experiences

GoToWebinar enables marketers to host basic webinars with features like screen sharing, polls, and Q&A. However, it lacks more advanced engagement tools. Kaltura offers interactive webinars driving higher attendance and participation with features like real-time annotations, call to actions, participant webcams, and automatic recording/transcription. Kaltura also seamlessly integrates webinars into your marketing, sales, and software stack for a branded experience.

User-friendly interface

GoToWebinar provides an easy-to-use interface to quickly schedule and host webinars. But Kaltura goes further with a robust, customizable platform centralizing advanced video tools. Kaltura simplifies managing the entire video lifecycle. Admins can customize branding, experiences, and access control settings. The platform offers tailored access for different user roles. Overall, Kaltura enables much richer webinar and video capabilities.

User support and assistance

GoToWebinar provides email and chat customer support during business hours. Kaltura offers 24/7 access to training resources, documentation, phone support, live chat, and self-help. Kaltura’s expertise helps you fully leverage the platform’s capabilities.

Go with Kaltura

While GoToWebinar offers a range of features, Kaltura stands out with its unique offerings tailored to businesses’ needs. With its emphasis on interactive video experiences, Kaltura provides a platform that is not only user-friendly but also packed with features that enhance engagement and collaboration. Whether you’re hosting a webinar, virtual event, or online meeting, Kaltura ensures a seamless and memorable experience for your audience.

Experience the future of webinars with Kaltura. Start your 30-day free trial today!