Zoom, Meetings vs Webinars
Zoom, Meetings vs Webinars
This article describes some of the similarities and differences between Zoom Meetings and Webinars.
Meetings and webinars share some of the same features, but there are important differences you should be aware of. Meetings are best for events requiring collaboration between ALL participants. Webinars are best for events requiring a small number of people to present information to the attendees. In this case, the attendees generally do not interact with one another and the events are open to a wider public audience.
For more information on when to use a Zoom meeting or a webinar please visit: When to use Meetings vs Webinars at Zoom | Blog.
Feature
Meetings
Webinars
Best for
Group collaboration, known participants
Public events, large events, unknown attendees
Format
Collaboration among participants and host
One (or few) to many, no attendee interaction with other attendees
Cost
- Included in campus license
- Additional licensing cost for Large Meetings*
Dependent upon additional licensing purchase*
Participant/attendee maximum
- 300 with campus license
- Up to 1000 with additional license purchase*
Up to 10,000 but requires additional licensing*
Roles
Audio
- Participant can mute/unmute own audio
- Host can mute/request to unmute participants
- Host can set all to enter muted
- Host or panelist can mute/unmute own audio
- Host can mute/unmute attendees
- Attendees not allowed to mute/unmute self without explicit permission from host or co-host
Closed Captioning
Available
Available
Video
Can be allowed for all
Only allowed for host/co-host and panelists
Screen sharing
Available
Available
Participant list
Participants can see list of other participants
Only host/co-host and panelists can see attendee list
Chat
Can be setup to allow participants to chat with other participants, hosts/co-hosts, or no one
Can be setup to allow attendees to chat with other attendees, hosts/co-hosts, panelists, or no one
Nonverbal feedback
Available
Only raise hand available
Q & A
Not available
Available
File transfer
Available
Not available
Annotations
Available
Available
Polling
Available
Available
Recording
Available
Available
Livestream
Available
Available
Whiteboard
Available
Available
Breakout rooms
Available
Not available
Waiting room
Available
Not available
Registration
Available
Available
Practice session
Not available
Available
For more information on these and other comparisons, please visit: Zoom Support
*Additional Licensing Information:
Reminder: Webinar functionality does not come standard with your campus license. Webinar licenses are an additional charge. Webinar license options are based on participant capacity: 100, 500, 1000, 3000, 5000, and 10,000 participants.You may contact Edifecs IT if you have additional questions about licensing purchases.
Meetings for up to 24 hours and with up to 300 participants can be hosted by anyone with a Edifecs Zoom Pro license. In contrast, Basic users are limited to HOSTING meetings (minimum 3 users) at 40 minutes and up to 100 participants. For more information about logging in properly to use your Edifecs Zoom license, please see this different KB. Large Meeting license options are based on participant capacity: 500 and 1000 participants and request for these needs to be configured by IT only. Please log a case and also email Manish.saini@edifecs.com for further information.