Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes a recommendation. How this works.
As of October 2026, Livestorm Pro charges per attendee: $1,200 a year buys 400 attendee credits ($3.00 each), falling to $2.40 per credit at 4,000 credits, while Zoom Webinars charges per license by audience size, from $800 a year for 300 attendees plus the Zoom Workplace Pro license it requires ($169.90 a year). At list price Zoom costs less in every scenario computed below unless several hosts need new Zoom licenses; Livestorm’s documented edges are browser-only joining, unlimited free team members, and on-demand events and automation on every plan.
To compare both with other webinar platforms on price, audience size and CRM, see our Webinar Platform Index.
In this guide
Livestorm vs Zoom side by side
| Livestorm | Zoom Webinars | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing unit | 1 credit per unique attendee per session, live, replay or on demand; yearly packs | License by attendee capacity, assigned to a user who also needs Zoom Workplace Pro |
| Entry price | Pro: $1,200 a year for 400 credits | $800 a year or $89 a month for 300 attendees, plus Workplace Pro ($169.90 a year or $16.99 a month) |
| Monthly billing | No | Yes, plus a one-month plan |
| Larger sizes, per year | 1,000 credits $2,900; 2,500 $6,500; 4,000 $9,600; 5,000 $12,000 | 500 attendees $1,000; 1,000 $3,400; 3,000 $9,900; 5,000 $24,900 |
| Live audience | 3,000 per event (Pro and Enterprise) | Set by license tier: 300 to 5,000 online, larger through sales |
| Session length | 4 hours on Pro, 12 on Enterprise | 30 hours |
| Hosts and speakers | Unlimited team members at no charge; 25 people on screen | Up to 1,000 video panelists, who don’t count toward capacity |
| How attendees join | Browser only; no app | Desktop or mobile app, or a browser link that admins can turn off |
| Pre-recorded sessions | Automation and on-demand events on all plans | On-demand recordings on Webinars; simulive needs Webinars Plus ($990 a year and up) |
| Native CRM | HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo marked Enterprise only on the pricing page (help center says HubSpot works on all plans) | HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, Pardot, Eloqua on every plan |
| Free option | Free plan: 30 credits a year, 30-minute sessions | No free webinar plan or trial on the pricing page |
| Refunds | None if you cancel after the renewal date | Processed charges non-refundable under Zoom’s terms |
Prices are in US dollars from Livestorm’s pricing page (US-dollar view) and Zoom’s webinar pricing page. Zoom’s exclude taxes and fees; Livestorm’s page doesn’t say.
How each one bills
Livestorm sells Pro as a yearly pack of attendee credits. Under its billing rules, a credit is spent when a person joins a session, live, on replay or on demand. Watching live and then that session’s replay uses 1 credit; attending 2 sessions uses 2. No-shows and team members use none. Unused credits don’t roll over, though an upgrade carries them forward. When a Pro pack runs out, new attendees can’t join until you upgrade. There are no monthly plans.
Zoom sells Webinars licenses by attendee capacity, and every plan card on its pricing page carries the line “Zoom Workplace Pro Required.” Its getting-started guide lists the host requirement as “a Licensed user with the Webinar Add-on,” and licenses are assigned to users. Workplace Pro costs $16.99 per user a month, or $14.16 a month billed yearly. Registrations for free events are unlimited, but joins stop at the plan size. Teammates can start a webinar as alternative hosts if they hold a paid license on the same account; the session keeps the scheduling host’s capacity. Pay-per-attendee licenses exist only for Webinars Plus and Events, at unpublished prices.
What it costs at realistic sizes
Livestorm’s bill depends on unique attendees across every session, replay viewers included; Zoom’s depends on peak live attendance. The Zoom figures assume one webinar license and one new Workplace Pro license; Livestorm’s are its calculator’s per-credit rate times the pack size.
| Program | Livestorm credits needed | Livestorm Pro, per year | Zoom Webinars + Workplace Pro, per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 webinar a month, 30 attendees each | 360 (400 pack) | $1,200 | $969.90 (300 tier) |
| 1 a month, 80 attendees each | 960 (1,000 pack) | $2,900 | $969.90 (300 tier) |
| 2 a month, 100 attendees each | 2,400 (2,500 pack) | $6,500 | $969.90 (300 tier) |
| 2 a month, 200 each, live peaks up to 450 | 4,800 (5,000 pack) | $12,000 | $1,169.90 (500 tier) |
If your hosts already have Zoom Workplace Pro or higher, take $169.90 off each Zoom figure. Paying Zoom monthly instead raises the 300 tier to $1,068 a year, plus $203.88 for Workplace Pro.
The gap closes when many people host and none has a paid Zoom license. Six presenters sharing 400 attendees a year cost $1,200 on Livestorm, because team members are free. On Zoom, using the alternative-host setup above, one $800 webinar license plus six Workplace Pro licenses at $169.90 comes to $1,819.40. Full plan tables are in our Livestorm pricing guide and Zoom Webinars pricing guide.
Browser vs app joining
Livestorm runs only in the browser; its technical requirements say there is no app because everything works in desktop and mobile browsers. Current Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Edge and Safari stream in real time; older browsers and some mobile devices run about 15 seconds behind. Presenters need a computer to share a screen.
Zoom attendees don’t need a Zoom account, according to its pricing FAQ. They can join in the desktop or mobile app, or through a “Join from your browser” link that appears after they click the join link. The link is on by default, but admins can turn it off, it disappears when the host enables end-to-end encryption, and mobile browsers get limited functionality. For audiences on locked-down corporate laptops, both work without an install, but Zoom’s browser path depends on an admin setting.
Registration and branding
Livestorm Pro includes registration pages with custom fields, a registration limit, an embeddable registration widget, a public events page, branding for registration pages, emails and the event room, unlimited reminder and follow-up emails (templates, text or custom HTML) and UTM capture.
Zoom Webinars registration is optional, with custom questions and automatic or manual approval. Hosts can brand the registration page with colors, a banner, a logo and up to three speaker profiles. Zoom’s comparison table rates the Webinars landing page “Basic” and the Webinars Plus page “Advanced,” and lists PayPal for paid registration on Webinars.
Engagement tools
Livestorm Pro lists chat, polls, Q&A with upvotes, emoji reactions, raise hand, file, media and link sharing, and live captions in beta. PowerPoint embedding and live interpretation through Interprefy are Enterprise only.
Zoom Webinars lists chat, reactions, polls, Q&A and post-webinar surveys, and its feature comparison adds raise hand and resources. Attendees are view-only unless the host unmutes them or promotes them to panelist. See our webinar engagement tactics for formats that use them.
On-demand and pre-recorded sessions
Livestorm offers on-demand events on all plans: turn a replay into an always-open event, or upload your own video with or without a live session. Automation rules, also on all plans, can start a session, play a video, end it and redirect attendees, so a pre-recorded session runs itself. Two limits: recurring events can’t be on demand, and every on-demand viewer spends a credit.
Zoom Webinars handles evergreen replays with on-demand webinars: registration stays open after the session and later registrants get the cloud recording link. It doesn’t work with recurring webinars or surveys. Simulive, which plays a recording at a scheduled time and can switch to a live session afterward, needs a Webinars Plus or Events license plus a Pro, Business, Enterprise or Education account. Webinars Plus costs $99 a month or $990 a year at 100 attendees and $3,490 a year at 500, and annual plans include a Webinars license at the same capacity. See Zoom Events vs Zoom Webinars for the tiers and our on-demand replay funnel playbook for the program.
CRM integrations and analytics
Zoom’s comparison table marks HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, Pardot and Eloqua as included on Webinars, Webinars Plus and Events. Its integrations guide says HubSpot registers attendees, Marketo creates leads and Pardot adds registrants, but describes the Salesforce app as scheduling Zoom meetings, so Salesforce teams should check which app fits.
Livestorm’s pricing page labels HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, Pardot and Microsoft Dynamics “Enterprise plan only.” Its help center disagrees on HubSpot: the HubSpot integration guide says it is available to all Livestorm customers, including the Free plan. Salesforce is Enterprise as a paid add-on, and Marketo requires Enterprise plus at least an Integrations pack. If HubSpot on Pro decides the purchase, get it in writing. Our webinar lead scoring model shows what that data feeds.
For analytics, Livestorm Pro lists attendance rate, conversion rate, contact profiles and data exports; custom analytics and reporting are Enterprise. Zoom Webinars offers reports on registration, attendees, performance, Q&A, polls and surveys, exportable as CSV for the previous year; dashboards, cross-event analytics and engagement scores need Webinars Plus.
Free plans, trials and refunds
- Livestorm free plan. The free plan never expires and allows 30 attendee credits a year, 30-minute sessions and 10 events, with no credit card.
- Livestorm refunds. Livestorm doesn’t refund a cancellation made after the renewal date, and deletes event data 30 days after cancellation takes effect.
- Zoom trial. The webinar pricing page shows no free plan or trial. Zoom does sell a one-month Webinars plan at the monthly price ($89 for 300 attendees).
- Zoom refunds. Canceling stops the next renewal and doesn’t automatically generate a refund, and Zoom’s billing troubleshooting guide says processed charges are non-refundable under its Terms of Service. Cloud recordings stay available for 30 days after a paid subscription ends.
Choose Livestorm or Zoom
Choose Livestorm if
- Many people host and few have paid Zoom licenses: team members are unlimited and free.
- Attendees must join without installing anything: Livestorm is browser-only.
- You want pre-recorded and on-demand sessions without a higher tier: automation and on-demand events are on all plans, while Zoom’s simulive starts at $990 a year for Webinars Plus.
See Livestorm’s current plans.
Choose Zoom if
- Your company already pays for Zoom Workplace Pro or higher: the 500-attendee Webinars license adds $1,000 a year, priced by room size rather than total attendance.
- You need Marketo, Pardot or HubSpot without an Enterprise quote: Zoom’s comparison table includes them on every webinar plan.
- Sessions run longer than 4 hours or need more than 25 people on screen without an Enterprise contract: Zoom lists 30-hour events and up to 1,000 video panelists.
- You’d rather pay monthly: Webinars starts at $89 a month for 300 attendees, and Livestorm bills yearly only.
See Zoom’s current webinar plans. If you’re also weighing Teams or a dedicated platform, read Zoom vs Teams vs webinar platforms.
Frequently asked questions
Is Livestorm cheaper than Zoom for webinars?
Not at list price in the scenarios above: Livestorm Pro starts at $1,200 a year for 400 credits, while Zoom Webinars for 300 attendees plus Workplace Pro is $969.90. Livestorm can cost less when several hosts would each need a new Zoom license.
Can attendees join a Zoom webinar without downloading the app?
Yes, if the account allows it. Zoom’s “Join from your browser” link is on by default, but admins can disable it, and end-to-end encryption hides it. Livestorm has no app, so everyone joins in the browser.
Does Livestorm Pro include the HubSpot integration?
Livestorm’s pages disagree: the pricing page says “Enterprise plan only,” while its HubSpot help guide says all plans, including Free. Salesforce and Marketo are Enterprise only either way.
Do you need a Zoom Workplace license for Zoom Webinars?
Yes. Zoom’s pricing page marks every webinar plan “Zoom Workplace Pro Required.” Workplace Pro adds $16.99 a month or $169.90 a year per user.
Last checked: October 2026. Prices and plans change; check the vendor’s page before you buy.