Webinars connect users to their audiences in a powerful way. Instantly, users tailor their messages to individual preferences. Holding the audience via the internet is a must to run a business, website, or blog as it allows communicating with the participants effectively. Webinars help users and participants to interact instantly, respond, and conduct a session seamlessly. After webinars, the live Q&A sessions elucidate and personalize the said messages.
The Best 6 Free and Open Source Webinar Software Solutions-converted
The Best 6 Free and Open Source
Webinar
Software Solutions
Webinars connect users to their audiences in a powerful way. Instantly,
users tailor their messages to individual preferences. Holding the
audience via the internet is a must to run a business, website, or blog
as it allows communicating with the participants effectively. Webinars
help users and participants to interact instantly, respond, and conduct a
session seamlessly. After webinars, the live Q&A sessions elucidate and
personalize the said messages.
You can conveniently schedule online meetings or conferences as per your
requirement if your best webinar software is appropriate. If you work
remotely, then it costs a lot to hold recurrent proceedings.
The best way is to make use of free and open source webinar software
that provides you ample opportunity to team up with your colleagues,
host training events virtually, without hefty monthly fees.
Below, you can find the list of the best free and open source webinar
software that can make your online webinars useful.
But before that, let’s have a basic understanding of the Webinar
and Webinar Presentation Software solutions.
What is a Webinar?
An online meeting or presentation in real-time via the internet is known as
a webinar. Across the world, individuals get connected with viewers
through this online event.
Features of Webinars
● Interactive
● Ability to discuss
● Send and receive information
● Multidirectional conference
● Download and watch videos & presentations
● Text chat
● Digital board
● Polls & Surveys
● Desktop sharing
● Recording broadcasts
Webinars are also known as web events, webcasts, web lectures, virtual
events, and online seminars.
The Market for Webinars
The webinar market is enjoying strong annual growth as they are
considered adequate and can produce significant cost savings. The
webinars are engaging as they are personal, live, and interactive. Year
on year the average viewing time for
webinars is increasing as it helps the participants to learn and
understand more quickly.
What is a Webinar
software?
Participants can share audio, documents, and applications with webinar
attendees by making use of one of the best webinar platforms. While
speaking, the presenter can share desktop applications and documents
through software for webinar. It offers video file sharing, live chat for
attendees, screen sharing, support for multiple presenters, option of pre-
recorded video and conference, calendar scheduling, and
invites. You will find live Q&A tools, feedback forms, and polls.
Key Features of Webinar
How to use a webinar software
solution?
In modern business and communication, webinars are powerful tools
that open significant opportunities. The free webinar tools can be used
in education, training, promotion of the business, and discussion.
● Education - The educator does not have to spend time and money
on travel to get in touch with the broader audience of students.
Quietly sitting at home or from anywhere else, the participants can
tune into the webinar.
● Business - Almost all types of companies use webinars to train and
empower their employees. In marketing, webinars are beneficial. If
you showcase the product in an online meeting, then it will draw
more attention as video content is more engaging. It helps in
building brand authority and trust. Moreover, businesses can
improve search engine rankings and can generate more leads.
It works as an educational tool. You can give maximum
visibility to your product by making use of webinars.
● Discussion - You can build long-term personal relationships with
the customers. You can demo your product in real-time and can
answer questions and follow up. It shows that you care a lot.
● Training- You can train the members of the organizations through
web conferencing technology that will allow companies to save
money and time in travel expenses. Furthermore, webinars can
offer a collaborative environment where you can keep everyone on
the same page and engage effortlessly. It
will help you in the presentation of products, software training
courses, meetings, online interviews with multiple people, and
press conferences.
Why are webinars important for every business?
Webinars are valuable for every business as it can deliver tremendous
value. Without selling hard, you can make sales. You can speed up your
sales process and get an
ROI faster.
● It keeps the audience engaged. You can invite guests to your
webinar that helps in leveraging the audience. Attracting affiliates
with a proven-to-convert webinar is easy. From anywhere in the
world, you can communicate with hundreds of people.
● It is powerful as it helps in lead generation, sales, and training. You
can have direct contact with your target group and can reach
them both live and afterward. It saves time and money and helps
in maintaining interaction with your target group.
● The open source webinar applications are convenient to use. They
can help with your promotions and can establish your credibility
without burning your pockets.
● On training and education, webinars have vast applications. It can
create and increase brand awareness that helps in building a
bigger audience and contact list. These cost-effective solutions will
make your business task stress-free and prolific.
How to choose the best Webinar software?
In the market, you will come across different versions of software for
webinar – commercial, free, freemium, cloud, and open source.
● Commercial webinar software - The software or program that is
designed for licensing or sale to end-users. It serves the business
purpose.
● Free webinar software- In the free webinar software, you can
create a free account and can host your webinar.
● Freemium webinar software- The business owners or service
providers allow the user to use the basic features of a service or
product at free of charge but for a limited period.
● Open source- It allows to host virtual training events, work
together with colleagues, and provide learners personalized
support without any hefty monthly fees.
● Cloud-based webinar software – this type of software
provides security, mobility, flexibility, insight, quality control,
sustainability, and cost savings.
The free and open source webinar software provides lots of options
for your business. Let’s discuss regarding the free and open source
webinar software in detail.
The Best 6 Free And Open Source
Webinar Software Comparison Chart
The Best 6 Free And Open Source
Webinar Software
1 BigBlueButton
BigBlueButton is one of the best open source webinar software that
centers on
modularity, utility, and clean design both for the developers and users. It
is hosted at Google Code and encompasses more than fourteen different
open source components. It is flexible and scalable, that you will find it
easy to use.
This free webinar tool is built for higher education. It enables
universities and colleges to deliver a high-quality learning experience
to the students staying in remote areas. You will find it perfect for
virtual learning. It facilitates online video meetings. Enjoy this
efficient conferencing tool for your external clients.
(Source:
BigBlueButton)
Key features:
● Parent/Student Portal
● Real-time sharing of audio, video
● Built into learning Management
systems
● Meet WCAG 2.0 accessibility standards
● Commercial support and hosting
● Existing integrations to seamless
access
● eLearning moderators control the audio
tools
● Ideas from online learners and
collaborators
● Annotation tools
● Integrated whiteboard to zoom in
● Highlight key concepts
● Direct notes on virtual presentation
2 Apache OpenMeetings
Apache OpenMeetings is considered one of the most popular open source
webinar conferencing software tools that are hosted on an own user
server. The number of users can participate in this session as there is no
limit on it. It can handle user load as its scale is dependent on your
servers. This free browser-based software lets you set up a conference on
the web instantly.
For remoting and streaming, it makes use of the API functions of Media
Server. OpenMeetings is a project of Apache that is the old project
website at GoogleCode. The only place that receives updates is the
website at Apache. The version 5.0.0-M1 is released that provides
WebRTC audio/video/screen sharing in the room.
(Source:
OpenMeetings)
Key features:
● Instant messaging
● Document sharing and
editing
● Webcam and recording
support
● Microphone and screen
sharing
● Red5 streaming server
● Multi-Whiteboard and chat
● Server-side technology
● Audio and Video Conferencing
● Meeting recording and screen
sharing
● File explorer
● Moderating System
● User and room management
● Private message center
● Plan meetings with integrated
calendar
● Polls and Votes
● Backup
3 Mikogo
Mikogo is the free webinar software solution that assists you in carrying
out the tremendous online meeting or web conference with its full-
fledged features. While sitting at your desk, you can share any screen
content or application over the
internet. With up to 10 participants, you can take advantage of this
opportunity in real color quality.
This free screen sharing solution is intended to simplify web conferencing
and online meetings. It offers a wide range of interactive tools along with
exclusive features.
Simultaneously 25 people can share the screen content. Both the host and
attendees will see the same screen. It incorporates the award-winning
HTML viewer. Within a
web browser on any computer or mobile device, this HTML viewer
allows participants to join. You will find Mikogo free remote access
software handy for small phone conferences.
(Source:
Mikogo)
Key features:
● Switch Presenter
● Screen sharing
● Remote Control
● Mobile apps
● Cross-Platform
● Voice & Video Conferencing
● Session Scheduler
● Session Recording
● File Transfer & chat
● Profile Manager
● Application Selection & multi-
monitor
4 Yugma
Here comes the leading provider of SaaS web conferencing solutions-
Yugma. Whatever you require, you will find in this free webinar software.
For Mac, Windows, and Linux it includes online meetings and web
collaboration services. This open source webinar conferencing software
is ideal for businesses, online communities, and education as it is easy,
secure, and interactive-to-use.
You can use this software in webinar hosting, training sessions, and
product
demonstrations. It is quite easy and quick to get started with Yugma. Its
scalable technology makes hosting a 500 person attendee conference as
accessible as hosting a 1-to-1 conference. Due to the flexibility and ease
of use, you can effortlessly join and participate in this webinar software.
In your business meetings, you will enjoy both speed and reliability.
(Source:
Yugma)
Key features:
● Chatting
● Skype Integration
● Annotation Tools
● Desktop and Application
Sharing
● Widget customization
● Meeting recording &
playback
5 MConf
MConf is the open source webinar software built on top of
BigBlueButton. It is fully customized. To boost online attendance rates,
you can share documents, communicate with other team members, and
schedule events. Mconf-Live,
Mconf-web, and Mconf-mobile are the components of M-conf.
The Mconf-Live is installed on the Windows platform. The new version of
Mconf-Live
– Mconf-Live 0.3 introduces two new features. One is a network monitor,
and the other is a new kind of participant that visualizes the conference.
The Mconf-web is a web portal where people can work together
asynchronously, plan, and participate in web conferences. The Mconf-
mobile was started as a native Android application by the Mconf mobile
client. It is the old version as a new application was developed that
supports both Android and iOS.
(Source:
MConf)
Key
features
● Mconf-web
● Electronic hand
raising
● Real-time Chat
● Presentation
streaming
● Record & playback
ability
● Guest feature
● Controlled moderator
6 Jitsi
Jitsi is a multi-platform open source video conferencing software. It is
considered one of the best webinar platforms. On all operating
systems, along with Mac and Linux, it runs smoothly. Their site
provides an extensive FAQ that includes many
valuable topics. If anyone is new to the world of online video
conferencing, then this unique benefit will undoubtedly help. On iOS and
Android Jitsi Meet apps, this open source webinar conference software
offers mobile capabilities.
The customized URLs will allow you to transfer files and send professional
webinars and video conferencing invites to your attendees. It holds an
active support community. Its integration includes Google Hangouts,
Microsoft Outlook, and Facebook. If you are looking for a high-quality
broadcasting solution, then this software is apt for any conference or
event firm. It concentrates on video conferencing capabilities and
security features that include echo cancellation,
encrypted passwords/ messages, and noise suppression. The
software is best suitable for larger groups.
(Source: Jitsi
)
Key features
● HD audio with Opus
● Full security encryption
● Desktop sharing
● Integrated chat support
● Media library
● Video relaying
● Mobile access
● Record and share
meeting
● File exploring & sharing
● Moderating system
● User and room
management
● Private instant messaging
● Mobile access
JetWebinar, ClickMeeting, Readytalk, ON24 are some of the
popular webinar conference software solutions that are
available in the market. These days, WebinarNinja is also
gaining more popularity under this category. Have a look at
some of the key benefits of this software.
WebinarNinja
If you are looking for an all-in-one webinar solution, then WebinarNinja will
meet your expectations. In a short time, it helps you to design and
process a webinar. For hosting interactive webinars and online events,
this app is considered a handy tool. It is a powerful webinar for training
and coaching.
You can access the options to customize the various webinar pages with
the help of the integrated editor. The automated email feature facilitates
users to send the registration, reminders, and confirmation instantly
without any hassle.
You can effortlessly create, customize registration pages and email
notifications.
The attendees can run live, automated, series, or hybrid webinars. With
the automatic recording and archiving, you can view statistics, send
follow-up emails, and offer a replay after your webinar.
(Source:
WebinarNinja)
Key Features:
● Video Conferencing
● Audio Calls and chat
● Scheduling
● Screen sharing
● Alerts/Notifications
● Social Media
Promotion
● Live Chat system
● Event Management
● Mobile friendly
● Multi-presenter
Wrapping up
It is essential to choose the best free webinar software as per the
requirement of your business proceedings. By picking the best free online
webinar software, you can generate interest in your product or service. If
your webinar tool is appropriate, then you can hold your audience and
can create a meaningful connection with the
webinar participants.
The list of top-quality open source and free webinar software will save
time and money and allow you to interact with your target group
without any difficulty.
I hope this piece of writing has made you familiar with the basic features
of open source webinar applications. If you have come across any of the
webinar software as mentioned above, then feel free to
share your valuable views and feedback on the same.
If you are looking for other applications for other business sectors, just
browse all software categories and find a perfect solutions compatible
with your needs.
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