Zoom: Webinar vs Large Meeting License

Owned by Melissa Medina-Razzaque
Oct 12, 2020
2 min read

Differentiating between a large meeting license versus a webinar license

Comparison guide


Meetings versus webinars

 MeetingWebinar
DescriptionZoom meetings are ideal for hosting more interactive sessions where you’ll want to have lots of audience participation or break your session into smaller groups.Think of webinars like a virtual lecture hall or auditorium. Webinars are ideal for large audiences or events that are open to the public. Typically, webinar attendees do not interact with one another. Though Zoom provides options for you to get more social with your attendees, your average webinar has one or a few people speaking to an audience.

Best used for		Small to large groups (2+ participants) for:
  • Customer-facing meetings
  • Sales meetings
  • Training sessions
Large events and public broadcasts (50+ attendees) such as:
  • Town halls
  • Quarterly updates
  • Educational lectures

Typically used by
  • General employees
  • Training groups
  • Event hosts
  • SVPs and C-Suite
CostFree and Paid subscription options available.Paid Add-on, available to Pro or higher subscriptions.

Feature comparison

FeatureMeetingWebinar
Participant roles

Learn more about Meeting Roles.

Learn more about Webinar Roles.

Audio sharing
  • All 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 panelists can mute/unmute their own audio
  • Attendees join in listen-only mode*
  • The Host can unmute one or more attendees
Video sharingAll participantsHosts and panelists
Screen sharing✔✔
CapacityUp to 100 with free license, up to 1,000 depending on plan and large meeting add-on.Up to 100-10,000 participants, depending on the license.
Participants listVisible to all participantsVisible to host and panelist
Email remindersN/A If registration is enabled
ChatIn-meeting ChatWebinar chat
Meeting reactions✔ N/A
Nonverbal feedback✔Only raise hand
Q&AN/A ✔
File transfer✔ N/A
Whiteboard✔✔
Annotation✔✔
PollingPolling for meetingsPolling for webinars
LivestreamFacebook, YouTube, Workplace by Facebook, Custom Streaming ServiceFacebook, YouTube, Workplace by Facebook, Custom Streaming Service
RegistrationRegistration for meetingsRegistration 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✔✔

You must request this prior to the start of the semester to ensure that you have the correct license associated to your account. The Utexas zoom license is set to allow a maximum of 300 attendees. Please fill out this form if you wish to request either license. https://utexas.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7THb9el5XoLKQGV

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