GoToWebinar Reviews

LogMeIn and its GoTo series have an outstanding reputation, so you know you’re going to get reliable video conferences. GoToWebinar allows you to broadcast in high-definition video with a maximum resolution of 1920 x 960p, and the video quality adapts to the viewer’s own connection speed so that they’ll always get a stable stream.

The secret to a great webinar is audience engagement, and GoToWebinar has plenty of features that will help you captivate your audience. Interactive polls and Q&As allow you to get instant feedback from your attendees. You can also give handouts, share screens, play YouTube videos, or put the spotlight on audience members by letting them take over with their microphone or webcam.

All of your webinars are recorded and then emailed to you shortly after the session is completed. This video forms a part of your GoToWebinar video library, and from there you can download, share, and edit all your videos. The editor allows you to trim the videos, and once you’ve finished editing you can publish your webinar to a GoToStage channel for others to watch. There’s no need to worry about keeping your webinars short either, as GoToWebinar offers no limit on the length of your recordings. You also have the option of adding automatic transcripts for your completed webinar which, while they get close, aren’t completely accurate. Fortunately, GoToWebinar lets you go back and edit any mistakes it may have made.

All your settings can be changed from the LogMeIn admin center, where you’re able to set up your handouts and receive payments through Stripe. The admin center is also where you can generate in-depth reports on your webinars that will show you how your audience interacts. These are available to download as either CSV or XLSX files.

Setup

Webinars are easy to set up – just one click of the mouse is all you need to get started when you’re using the desktop app. Of course, you don’t want to be talking to nobody, so invitations can be sent out via email, or simply by sharing the unique webinar code. All webinars have to be started initially via the desktop app, but afterward it’s possible to transfer the presenting duties to someone using the GoToWebinar mobile app.

Of course, not everyone is using the one-click method to start spur-of-the-moment webinars – these can be scheduled too. You have the option of creating recurring sessions at weekly or monthly intervals. Alternatively, you can customize your schedule for whenever you please, and add follow-up sessions at any time. It’s also worth noting that before you decide to schedule a meeting, you can run practice sessions to allow you to polish up your webinar skills first.

Security

Naturally, you want your webinar sessions to be secure, and GoToWebinar is protected by end-to-end SSL and AES-128 encryption. GoToWebinar is reassuringly open about its security, providing a white paper containing all the information you’ll ever need about how it operates. Although GoToWebinar isn’t officially HIPAA-compliant, it follows the same security recommendations to be as close to compliance as possible. However, GoToWebinar is GDPR-compliant, which is great if you’re broadcasting to viewers in Europe.

GoToWebinar utilizes the GoToMeeting desktop app as its base, and from there you have a button to get started with GoToWebinar. When you open the GoToWebinar app, you’ll discover that it’s really the ugly duckling of the family – the user interface isn’t nearly as clear or attractive as GoToMeeting’s. The desktop app is available for macOS and Windows and is the only way to host a webinar – hard luck for Linux users, who can only attend webinars.

There are Android and iOS apps too, and while you can initially set up webinars on your mobile device, you’ll need to use the desktop app to get started before being able to pass the reins back to your mobile device. Still, you’ll have no problems following along and interacting with webinars on your phone.

GoToWebinar offers four different tiers to choose from, beginning with the Lite package, which is the cheapest way to subscribe. Lite costs $59 per month, although this can be reduced to $49 per month by choosing annual billing. As you would expect, the Lite package doesn’t offer the full range of features found in the more expensive packages, with no custom URLs, transcriptions, or video editing, and a maximum of just 100 participants available.

If you want the full range of features, then you’ll have to move up to the Pro package. Costing $199 each month for annual subscribers, Pro grants you all of GoToWebinar’s features and gives you the ability to add up to 500 participants and three GoToStage channel pages. For those who need to host webinars for over a thousand people, the Enterprise package is the one to get. Enterprise users are able to host events for up to 3,000 people with prices starting at $399 per month. Regardless of which subscription you select, you’ll receive one free license of GoToMeeting, a fantastic free add-on.

Payments can be made with all the major credit cards, but corporate accounts are given the option to pay by check or wire transfer. Although GoToWebinar doesn’t offer a money-back guarantee, you have the chance to make sure it’s the right option for you by taking advantage of its 7-day free trial.

When it comes to customer support, the most impressive aspects of GoToWebinar can be found on its website. The GoToWebinar support page hosts a substantial FAQ section which should help you with any issues. There are also are number of guides and resources, with video tutorials to help you learn all the basics. Another helpful resource is the GoToWebinar community. There’s a discussion forum dedicated to GoToWebinar where you can get advice from other members, and a news forum to find out about all the latest updates.

It’s a little trickier to see on the GoToWebinar website where to get in touch with them directly. Since there’s no way to raise a ticket or email for support, the best way is to call GoToWebinar support directly. Alternatively, you can get in touch over social media through the active GoToWebinar Facebook and Twitter pages.

A great way to learn how to use GoToWebinar is to attend one of GoToWebinar’s own webinars. These are 30-minute live recordings with Q&As, and if you need more you can also organize a one-on-one session.