A Guide to Free Webinar Software and Tools

If you are starting a business or are venturing into organizing webinars, you probably should try a free product first before investing in professional webinar software and tools. Bear in mind that free services and tools come with some limitations. In webinars, the limitation is usually the number of attendees you can have in a meeting. All of the webinar providers listed here are either free or have a free plan or trial period, which allows you to evaluate each of them before you buy.

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JoinMe

This sleek and simple tool has a feature that is useful for webinars—screen sharing. It also offers the possibility of file sharing and access using mobile phones running iOS and Android. The free version of JoinMe is limited to three meeting participants. The company offers several paid plans with extended features if you decide it is the right plan for you.

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Mikogo

Mikogo has three plans, one of which is free. However, the free plan accommodates only one user and one participant per session. The company offers a 14-day free trial of its paid Professional service, which accommodates 25 attendees per webinar. Mikogo's Premier Business Account is available for a custom number of users in your company to organize webinars and a custom number of participants.

Participants connect via web browser or mobile app. Its free screen-sharing capability is the star of the service.

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OpenMeetings

Apache OpenMeetings is free open-source software that allows you to set up conference calls using either voice or video. There is no limitation on the usage or the number of persons participating in a meeting. It offers the possibility to share your desktop, share documents on a whiteboard, and record the meetings. It requires you to download and install a small package on your server before using the service.

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Ekiga

In a webinar, your computer is your audience — Fuse / Corbis / GettyImages

Ekiga is an open-source Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) softphone app that includes the functionalities of a voice softphone, video conferencing tool, and instant messaging tool. It is available for Windows and Linux and is completely free and simple to use. Although it does not come with a ton of features, it offers user-friendliness and seamless Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) communication for Windows and Linux users.

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GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is no newcomer in the webinar arena. This business stalwart connects with anyone on any device. The service is feature-rich and includes everything you could want: screen-sharing, HD video conferencing, recording, mobile apps, keyboard and mouse sharing, and 1-click meetings.

GoToMeeting isn't a free webinar service, but it offers a free 14-day trial period with no credit card required for up to 50 attendees, which should be long enough for your evaluation.

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Zoom

Whether your webinar is for online meetings, training, technical support, or marketing events, Zoom can meet your needs. The service provides cross-platform messaging and file sharing for up to 500 video participants and 10,000 viewers with the company's several paid plans.

Zoom offers a free plan for up to 100 participants. The free plan has many of the features of the paid plans, including video conferencing, web conferencing, group collaboration features, and security. However, the free plan limits webinars to 40 minutes. Still, this is enough to give you a good feel for the service's capabilities.