GoTo Webinar vs Zoom Webinars: a standalone plan or a Zoom add-on
By Jean Luc Poitier, SEO and growth marketing strategist · Livestorm Reviews · Updated October 1, 2026 · Checked November 1, 2026 · Prices from both vendors' own pages; reviews pulled October 1, 2026
Disclosure: this site reviews Livestorm and earns a commission if you sign up for it through our links. We earn nothing from GoTo Webinar or Zoom Webinars; the verdict below is about those two, and Livestorm has its own section further down.
Both charge per host, not per attendee, and both include CRM integrations on every plan. GoTo Webinar is a standalone product with the lower published prices: $708 a year for one organizer and 500 attendees. Zoom Webinars needs a paid Zoom Workplace license as well, so it costs more at the same size, but it goes much bigger: 5,000 attendees online, up to 100,000 through sales, and 30-hour sessions, where GoTo Webinar's interactive sessions stop at 1,000. Reviewers rate Zoom higher, and its recent reviews are far warmer.
Pick GoTo Webinar if one host runs webinars of up to 1,000 people, price matters most, and your company doesn't already pay for Zoom. Pick Zoom Webinars if it does, if you need larger interactive audiences, or if you want the product reviewers rate higher.
GoTo Webinar vs Zoom Webinars at a glance
| Compared on | GoTo Webinar | Zoom Webinars |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Reach: $59 a month billed yearly ($708) or $69 month to month, for 500 attendees and one organizer | Webinars 300: $66.67 a month billed yearly ($800) or $89 monthly, per host, plus Zoom Workplace Pro ($169.90 a year or $16.99 a month) |
| How you pay | Per organizer license, with an attendee cap per session; nothing per attendee | A license per host by attendee capacity, on top of Zoom Workplace Pro; Webinars Plus and Events also sell yearly attendee pools |
| Billing and renewal | Monthly or yearly; renews automatically, with 30 days' notice for set-term contracts; no refunds | Monthly or yearly, plus a one-month plan; renews automatically, with 30 days' notice in its terms; payments non-refundable |
| Free option | 30-day trial with no card (a business email is required) | None for webinars: the free Zoom plan can't host them, and no webinar trial is published |
| Live attendees | 500 on Reach, 1,000 on Elevate; 3,000 on the quote-only Complete plan, in listen-only webcast mode | 300 to 5,000 bought online, view-only by default; up to 100,000 through sales |
| Session length | Not published | Up to 30 hours |
| How people join | Browser on computers (Chrome or Edge for standard sessions); the GoTo app on phones; phone dial-in for standard events | Attendees use the Zoom app or a browser (Zoom recommends the app; mobile browsers are limited); hosts use the Zoom app; dial-in |
| On-demand and automated | Simulive (pre-recorded) events; cloud recordings from Elevate | On-demand recordings on every tier; simulive (pre-recorded) only on Webinars Plus and Events |
| CRM integrations | HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot, Eloqua, and Zoho on every plan, several built by partners; public API | HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, Pardot, and Eloqua on every tier; 300+ apps in its marketplace |
| Hosting and security | SOC 2 Type II, SOC 3, BSI C5, PCI DSS; SAML SSO; EU data residency for webinars not published | SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001:2022, HIPAA BAA; EU data centers optional for live traffic on eligible paid accounts |
| Company | GoTo Group (formerly LogMeIn), Boston; private, owned by Francisco Partners and Elliott Management since 2020 | Zoom Communications (Nasdaq: ZM), San Jose, California; founded in 2011 |
| G2 rating | 4.2 (804 reviews) | 4.5 (412 reviews) |
| Capterra rating | 4.5 (2,073 reviews) | 4.6 (6,053 reviews) |
| Trustpilot (whole company, unprompted) | 1.9 from 220 reviews, covering all of GoTo; not inviting reviews | 1.3 from 1,592 reviews, covering all of Zoom; not inviting reviews |
| Capterra Shortlist, webinar software, 2024 | Listed (88/100), labeled Easy to Use | Listed (72/100) |
| Zapier's 2026 webinar roundup | Not picked | Picked: best for a familiar user experience |
Figures checked against each company's published pages and review-platform listings as of 2026-10-01. “Not published” means the company does not publish that figure.
How GoTo Webinar and Zoom Webinars charge
GoTo Webinar sells one organizer license per host, with nothing else to buy. Reach costs $59 a month billed yearly ($708) or $69 month to month for 500 attendees. Elevate costs $103 a month billed yearly ($1,236) or $129 monthly for 1,000, and adds cloud recording, branding, breakout rooms, and transcripts.
Zoom Webinars needs a paid Zoom Workplace license on the same host, from $169.90 a year or $16.99 a month for Pro. The webinar license itself costs $1,000 a year or $129 a month for 500 attendees and $3,400 a year or $340 a month for 1,000, with a smaller 300-attendee tier at $800 a year. Cloud recording and branding come with every tier. If your company already pays for Zoom Workplace, the webinar license is the only new cost, and the gap with GoTo narrows at 500 seats.
GoTo Webinar vs Zoom Webinars session size, and how attendees join
GoTo Webinar's standard events take up to 1,000 attendees, and anyone past a plan's cap is turned away. Its Complete plan reaches 3,000 only in webcast mode, where attendees can't be unmuted. Zoom sells capacity up to 5,000 online, lists up to 100,000 through sales, and allows sessions of up to 30 hours; its attendees join view-only, and hosts can turn on their cameras and mics.
On a computer, both work in the browser: GoTo Webinar recommends Chrome or Edge, and Zoom shows a browser link by default while recommending its app. On phones, GoTo Webinar's standard events open in the GoTo app, and Zoom says its mobile browser experience has fewer features. Both offer phone dial-in.
GoTo Webinar vs Zoom Webinars reviews, security, and company
Zoom Webinars rates higher on both big platforms: 4.5 against 4.2 on G2 and 4.6 against 4.5 on Capterra. The gap is wider in recent reviews. G2 reviews labeled organic from the 12 months to September 30, 2026 average 4.7 for Zoom (9 reviews) and 2.8 for GoTo Webinar (8 reviews). GoTo Webinar's reviewers most often mention glitches, price, trouble joining, and support. Both Trustpilot pages cover the whole company, and both score poorly there.
Both hold SOC 2 Type 2 reports. GoTo Webinar adds SOC 3, BSI C5, and PCI DSS; Zoom adds ISO 27001:2022 and HIPAA business associate agreements. Zoom is a public company (Nasdaq: ZM) and lets eligible paid accounts in Europe choose EU data centers for live traffic. GoTo is private, owned by Francisco Partners and Elliott Management, and webinars are a secondary product next to its phone and IT support tools.
When neither fits: Livestorm
GoTo Webinar and Zoom Webinars both lean on an app for some attendees and charge per host. If your audience is mostly outside your company and joins from phones, or several people run webinars, Livestorm works differently: everyone joins from a browser on any device, any number of hosts share one account, and automated and on-demand events come with its first paid pack. It is hosted in the EU.
Livestorm has trade-offs too. It charges per attendee from yearly credit packs, from $1,200 for 400 credits, so one busy host pays more than on either. Its sessions stop at 3,000 people, and plans are yearly only, with 90 days' notice to cancel. Compare it with GoTo Webinar and Zoom Webinars in detail.
Try Livestorm freeSources, checked on 2026-10-01: GoTo Webinar pricing and Zoom Webinars pricing, and each product's G2 (GoTo, Zoom) and Capterra (GoTo, Zoom) listings. Recent-review figures come from our own pull of each product's latest G2 reviews on October 1, 2026.
GoTo Webinar vs Zoom Webinars FAQ
Is GoTo Webinar cheaper than Zoom Webinars?+
Yes, at every published tier. GoTo Webinar's Reach plan costs $708 a year for 500 attendees. Zoom charges $1,000 a year for 500, plus a Zoom Workplace Pro license at $169.90. For 1,000 attendees, GoTo Webinar Elevate costs $1,236 a year against Zoom's $3,400 plus Workplace Pro.
Which one handles bigger webinars?+
Zoom Webinars. Zoom sells capacity up to 5,000 attendees online and lists up to 100,000 through sales, with sessions of up to 30 hours. GoTo Webinar caps interactive sessions at 1,000; its 3,000-person Complete plan is quote-only, and attendees in that webcast mode can't be unmuted.
Do attendees need to download an app?+
Not on a computer. GoTo Webinar recommends joining in Chrome or Edge, and Zoom shows a browser link by default, though it recommends its app. On phones, GoTo Webinar's standard events open in the GoTo app, and Zoom says its mobile browser experience has fewer features.
Which has better reviews?+
Zoom Webinars: 4.5 on G2 and 4.6 on Capterra, against 4.2 and 4.5 for GoTo Webinar, and its recent organic G2 reviews are far more positive. GoTo Webinar scored higher on Capterra's 2024 Shortlist, where it was labeled Easy to Use.
Is there an alternative to both?+
Livestorm runs in the browser for hosts and attendees on any device, includes automated events, and lets any number of hosts share one account. It charges per attendee from yearly packs, so one busy host pays more than on either.