What is an efficient webinar software for your next event? Is it Big Marker or Remo?  Another question on your mind might be, what webinar software is the best one to use? This question worries both new and existing webinar hosts in a bid to optimize their next online event. There is a plethora of webinar software, but it's difficult to decipher which is the best one to use. In this post, we will be reviewing two webinar software tools: Remo and Big Marker. But before we move on, let’s take a brief look at exactly what we mean when we say webinar.

What is a Webinar?

A webinar is an online workshop consisting of a host (the teacher) and the audience (e.g. students). Generally, the purpose of a webinar is to promote a business or sell a product or service. The process goes somewhat like this:

• You sign up for a webinar,
• Receive reminder emails,
• You then download webinar software (if required)
• You attend the webinar
• Receive feedback form
• And/or receive follow up emails from the host.

When in search of the best webinar software, here are a few points to consider:

• Cost

Subject to the number of webinar attendees the cost of your webinar software will vary. In general, the more attendees you expect, the higher the price you pay. Remember even if you have 100 attendees signed up there is no guarantee of all 100 attendees joining a live session.

• Ease of use

Webinar software must be easy to use, both for you the host and your attendees. If the learning curve for your attendees is too high, you can expect a high drop off rate.

• Downloadable software

Do your attendees need to download software to join the webinar? Chances are your attendees are too busy to pay attention to your instructions. Think about the attendee experience and how you can simplify this as much as possible.

• Features

What are the must-have features you need to pull off a successful webinar?

• Integration

Is the webinar software easy to integrate with other tools? Does it support your current tech stack?

•  Customer support

imagine having technical issues in the middle of your webinar. This soon becomes a nightmare situation all webinar hosts want to avoid. It is worth checking whether customer support is available during your live event or better still, 24/7.These are some of the most important features webinar hosts look at when comparing webinar software. Both Remo and Big Marker offer a mix of the above features. Now we will be reviewing each, in turn, to help you understand which is the best webinar software for your next event.

Remo Conference Plan

It shouldn't take hours to set up your next webinar, summit or other kinds of online events. In fact, Remo gets you up and running in 15 seconds or less. There is no clunky software involved. No downloads or installations. Your attendees can join your event directly from their browser.

With the Remo Conference Plan you can create:

• Online conferences
• Online webinars
• Online summits
• Online workshops
• Online networking and more!

There are four different plans under Remo Conference. The first one we will look at is the Standard Plan.

Standard Plan

Ideal for small businesses, new creators and professional networking groups. Use cases include webinars, workshops, online community building, and online networking.This plan starts at $50 a month and gives you the option to host up to 25 attendees. This includes:

• Countdown timer,
• General announcements,
• Broadcasting,
• Virtual business card (connect on Linkedin and book meetings)
• Youtube live integration
• And standard support.

Premium Plan

Perfect for small to medium businesses, online communities, professional networking groups, and experienced creators. This plan grows with your business with premium support. Use cases for webinars, workshops, test mini online summits, online community building, and online networking.You can host up to 50 attendees on the Premium Plan at $100 a month. You also get access to the features mentioned in the Standard Plan and:

• 50 attendee limit
• Custom event branding
• Premium support.

Professional Plan Great for medium to large businesses, online communities, professional networking groups, and growth-stage creators. This plan grows with your business with a premium level of support. Use cases include webinars, workshops, online summits, online community building, and online networking. The Professional Plan gives you all the features of the Premium Plan and Premium support. The attendee limit is also lifted to a maximum of 100 attendees and is expected to increase to 1000 in the future.

‍Per Event This plan is preferred by both enterprise and growth-stage creators who host one-off online summits. Use cases, in general, are online summits, corporate webinars and workshops. The Per Event package $6 per attendee. In this Plan, you can host more than 100 attendees per day. This also includes all the features mentioned in the Premium plan as well as Premium support.

‍Free Features One of the metrics online event hosts use to measure the success of their event is engagement. Traditional webinar software limits attendee engagement to a chat box during a live event. Remo on the other hand, not only offers the chatbox feature, but a lot more. In fact, more features than any other webinar software platform. What are these features? Read on to find out more.
Online Networking Connect with peers, colleagues and friends at a table as if you were sitting in a cafe or bar. But instead, you are joining from the comfort of your own home or office. You have the option to switch tables whenever you want.

Speed Networking The concept of speed networking relates to meeting as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time. In general it's an offline experience, something that can only be done in person. That is until we developed a feature allowing you to add a speed networking timer. Similar to a real-life experience of networking but offline.

Virtual Business CardDo you find networking difficult to navigate? Are you tired of reading the introvert's guide to networking? You no longer need to hide. We make it easy for you to get started with networking.All you need to do is update your profile by:- Connecting your Linkedin- Adding a booking link

Chatbox Isn't it frustrating when wanting to private message another webinar attendee? But the webinar software only allows for group chat. It's time to change that.At Remo, you can have 3 types of chats.1. Group chat for all attendees2. Table chat for your group3. 1:1 chat with only one person.

YouTube Live IntegrationGo live with your events with an in-built YouTube Live integration, directly from your browser. Save on time and go live faster.

No Downloads or InstallationsDo you remember the last time you downloaded and installed software? Did this slow your desktop down, did you have trouble navigating, did you just want to give up? We take the pain out of downloading and installing software. Create or join a Remo event live on your browser.

PROS

• Opti-level communication, use the online chat, your video, and mic asynchronously.
• Fast and smooth webinars, easy to use and get started
• No installation or download required.
• Simple and straightforward interface
• See where other attendees are hanging out
• Post announcements during networking
• Add a countdown timer during networking
• Less bandwidth than any other tools in this category
• Slack integration
• Forge a stronger connection with your attendees
• Connect on Linkedin
• Easy to engage your audience

CONS

• No mobile app
• You must use Google Chrome to enjoy the full Remo experience
• No option to record live events without third party recording software (e.g. Loom)
• No option to directly charge for events on Remo (but you can get around this by charging via eventbrite).
• No Zapier integration (yet!).

Big Marker Webinar

While creating a webinar at Big Marker, there are a lot of options. You can create:

• Live Webinars,
• On-Demand Webinar which is an automated but scheduled webinar,
• Automated Webinar on repeat thanks to the power of automation,
• Evergreen Webinars (webinars with no expiry date!)
• Conference rooms and host online meetings whenever you want,
• You can also stream on Facebook or YouTube and pre-schedule a series of webinars.

The Plus Plan

The Plus Plan comes at $79 per month if you want to make an annual billing. In this plan, you can have up to 100 attendees and 1 host. Under The Plus Plan, Big Marker offers you the chance to create a range of different webinars, such as:

• Live Webinars
• On-Demand Webinars
• Recurring Webinars
• Facebook & YouTube Live streaming
• Meeting Space
• 24-7 Webinars
• and Automated Webinars.

One thing to note is the price difference with the monthly plan at $89 and an annual plan from $79 a month.

The Elite Plan

This plan is the recommended plan by Big Marker. The price starts from $199 on a monthly plan of $119 if you register for the annual plan, giving you a saving of $80 a month.The Elite Plan serves up to 500 attendees and 2 hosts with full access to all webinar types.Besides the features mentioned in The Plus Plan, you also get:

• Authorize.net integration
• Stripe integration
• Payment in 135+ currencies
• Option to sell tickets to webinars

The Summit Plan

The biggest difference between the Summit and Elite Plan besides the price is the number of attendees and hosts.The Summit Plan starts from $299 per month with annual billing at $399 a month, saving you up to $100. Well, that’s some saving. Although the features remain the same. Instead of 500 attendees as in The Elite Plan, you can invite up to 1000 attendees. You also get the option to onboard 4 hosts.

White Label Plan

With this plan, you can access the greatest number of features available on Big Marker. The extra features are as follows:

• Enterprise setup and support
• Pricing-check-disable-icon
• Dedicated account manager dedicated support with webinar strategy and execution

• Branded toll-free dial-in
• Domain Masking.

You can host up to 10,000 attendees with this plan.

Which One is Better; Big Marker Webinar Tool or Remo Webinar Tool?

Well, it depends on what your goal is with your webinar as well as your budget. Are you only looking to host webinars? Or, are you looking for webinar software to encourage attendee engagement?Let's take a quick recap of what you can do with both Big Marker and Remo.With Remo, you will find, Remo offers not only the above features but also:

• pop up announcements
• panel discussions
• export online chat and other data
• attendee engagement.

Now if we look at Big Marker, you can:

• host online chats between hosts and attendees
• post a Q&A or poll
• use the raise a hand feature
• invite members to the stage
• share a call to action.

From the above analysis, you will note Big Marker's strengths lie in hosting webinars. Remo, on the other hand, supports the option to host webinars and offer attendee engagement opportunities.
IntegrationsRemo, supports integrations with:

• LinkedIn
• Meeting links
• YouTube Live
• Slack 
• Google Docs
• Hippa compliant video
• and a Phone dial-in option.

Big Marker supports integrations with:

• ActiveCampaign,
• Zapier,
• Mailchimp,
• Instapage,
• Google Analytics, and more.

Let's go back to basics and look at pricing and set up for both Big Marker and Remo.Remo

• Standard Plan is only $50 a month
• Schedule your first webinar in 15 seconds
• Browser-based webinar software
• Host up to 1,000 attendees (feature coming soon).

Big Marker:

• Plus Plan starts from $79 a month
• Can get your first webinar up and running in minutes
• Browser-based webinar software
• Host up to 10,000 attendees.

Earlier we talked about defining your goals before deciding on webinar software. If you are looking to host large scale webinars with limited interaction between attendees and hosts we recommend Big Marker. Since interaction between hosts and attendees is in written form.But, if you are looking to host a webinar and unlimited interaction between attendees we recommend Remo. Building online engagement with powerful free features (on all plans) makes it possible to grow engagement at scale.Not only can attendees engage in written form but also face to face using their mic and camera. The added feature of connecting on Linkedin and Book a Meeting option makes online networking possible just like in real life. But, without the hassle of joining an offline meeting and carrying a business card. Are you ready to host your next webinar with Remo?
Try Remo for FREE.