Zoom meetings vs webinars
Find out what the difference between Zoom meetings and Zoom webinars is.
Meetings are designed to be a collaborative event with all participants being able to screen share, turn on their video and audio, and see who else is in attendance.
Webinars are designed so that the host and any designated panellists can share their video, audio and screen. Webinars allow view-only attendees. They have the ability to interact via Q&A, Chat, and answering polling questions. The host can also unmute the attendees.
Main characteristics
Meetings
- Interactive sessions
- Audience participation
- Breaking the session into smaller groups
- Small to large groups (2+ participants) for:
- Meetings
- Training sessions
Based on LSE's license, staff can host up to 30 hours per meeting with up to 500 participants.
Webinars
- Large audiences
- Events that are open to the public
- Attendees do not interact with one another
- Large events and public broadcasts (50+ attendees) such as:
- Town halls
- Educational lectures
Based on LSE's license, staff can host webinars with unilimited minutes for up to 500 view only attendees.
To schedule a webinar, you will need to sign in to Zoom via a browser.
Feature comparison
Feature | Meeting | Webinar |
---|---|---|
Participant roles | - Host and co-host - Participant |
- Host and co-host - Panellist - Attendee |
Audio sharing | - Participants can mute/unmute their own audio - Host can mute/request to unmute participants - The host can set all participants to mute upon entry |
- Only the host and panellists can mute/unmute their own audio - Attendeeds join in listen-only mode - The host can unmute one or more attendees |
Video sharing | All participants | Hosts and panellists |
Screen sharing | ✓ | ✓ |
Capacity | Up to 100 with free license, up to 1,000 depending on plan and large meeting add-on | Ranging between 500-50,000 participants, depending on the license. |
Participants list | Visible to all participants | Visible to host and panellist |
Email reminders | N/A | If registration is enabled |
Chat | In-meeing chat | Webinar chat |
Meeting reactions | ✓ | Only raise hand |
Q & A | N/A | ✓ |
File transfer | ✓ | ✓ |
Whiteboard | ✓ | ✓ |
Annotation | ✓ | ✓ |
Polling | Polling for meetings | Polling for webinars |
Livestream | Facebook, YouTube, Workplace by Facebook, Custom Streaming Service | Facebook, YouTube, Workplace by Facebook, Custom Streaming Serv |
Registration | Registration for meetings | Registration for webinars |
Closed captioning | ✓ | ✓ |
Recording | ✓ | ✓ |
Breakout rooms | ✓ | N/A> |
Practice session | N/A | ✓ |
Waiting room | ✓ | N/A |
Require password to join | ✓ | ✓ |
International dial-in numbers | ✓ | ✓ |
Updated in September 2024 to include changes in the Zoom license for meetings and webinars.