What's the difference between Standard, Webcast, and Recorded webinars?
GoTo Webinar offers multiple types of events to suit your needs, each of which offers different join experiences for attendees. Each time you schedule an event, you'll be able to choose which mode you want to use.
The features that are available on your account may vary depending on your subscription plan.
Event types
Standard events (formerly called "Classic" webinars) are fully interactive events that are hosted live by the organizer.
- These events can be set for a specific time and date, or they can be launched "on the fly" using the Webinar Now feature.
- Attendees can join these webinars from any device (desktop software, web browser or a mobile app).
Webcast events are also fully interactive events that are hosted live by the organizer.
Learn more.
- These events must be scheduled ahead of time for a specific time and date.
- Attendees will join instantly using Instant Join, a web browser-based experience that doesn't require any software download.
Recorded events (formerly called "Simulated Live" webinars) are semi-interactive, pre-recorded events that start automatically and run on their own, so organizers do not need to be present to host the event.
Learn more.
- These events can be scheduled to start themselves at a specific time and date, or they can be made as "on demand" webinars that can be watched at any time.
- Organizers can pre-record the event, then select the recording they want to play back in a "simulated live" session.
- Attendees will join instantly using Instant Join, a web browser-based experience that doesn't require any software download.
Compare event features
All webinar types include GoTo Webinar features such as polls, surveys, and handouts!
| Standard | Webcast | Recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Facilitated live by an organizer | Facilitated live by an organizer | Pre-recorded and launched automatically |
| Join from desktop or mobile apps | Join from browser app or mobile apps | Join from browser app or mobile apps |
| Live Q&A | Live Q&A | Q&A sent to organizer after the session |
| Attendees can join from all available audio modes | Attendees can only join via computer audio (VoIP) | Attendees can only join via computer audio (VoIP) |
| Attendees can be unmuted | Attendees cannot be unmuted | Attendees cannot be unmuted |
| Attendees can be promoted to staff | Attendees cannot be promoted to staff | Attendees cannot be promoted to staff |
| No change to max attendees | 3,000 max attendee limit (Plus); 1,000 max attendee limit (Pro) | Registration limit is max attendee capacity |
| Auto-recording is available | Auto-recording is available | Auto-recording not available (as the session itself is a recording) |