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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Certain Event Automation Software

    Score10 out of 10
    N/ACertain is a leading provider of enterprise Event Automation software to Fortune 1000 companies. The vendor’s value proposition is that Certain gives users everything they need to plan events, engage attendees, and achieve sales and marketing results. The vendor says their software helps data-driven marketers and event professionals capture and integrate rich buying signals and attendee insights into omni-channel marketing campaigns to improve sales and marketing results and deliver credible…

    $9,990

    per year

    ON24

    Score7.5 out of 10
    N/AON24 is an intelligent engagement platform, that enables customers to continuously engage audiences with AI-powered, hyper-personalized webinar, virtual event and content experiences.N/A

    Xola

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AXola, headquartered in San Francisco, provides cloud-based software designed to make it simple for businesses to manage reservations in real time from any channel—bookings made in-person, over the phone, through their company website, on Xola’s vendor mobile app, with local resellers, and online travel agents that are integrated with Xola.N/A
    Pricing
    Certain Event Automation SoftwareON24Xola
    Editions & Modules
    Be Certain Essential
    $9,990
    per year
    Be Certain Pro
    $19,999
    per year
    Be Certain Enterprise
    Contact
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Certain Event Automation SoftwareON24Xola
    Free Trial
    NoNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Certain Event Automation SoftwareON24Xola
    Considered Multiple Products
    Certain, Inc.
    Chose Certain Event Automation Software
    Sympla or Eventbrite are great for smaller events that don't require a lot of information from your audience or extensive communication from your event owner. They are better suited for those events, since they are easy and quick to set up.
    Certain comes in for your tradeshows …
    Incentivized
    Cvent
    Chose ON24
    ON24 reports are more robust, the console is more professional looking with customizable features as well as the registration pages.
    Incentivized
    Xola, Inc
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Would buy again
    137 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    102 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    143 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    95%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    88 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    94 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Certain Event Automation SoftwareON24Xola
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Certain Event Automation Software and ON24 and Xola
    Feature
    Certain Event Automation Software
    -
    Ratings
    ON24
    9.7
    1 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Xola
    -
    Ratings
    Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Application00 Ratings9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Meetings / Events
    Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of Certain Event Automation Software and ON24 and Xola
    Feature
    Certain Event Automation Software
    -
    Ratings
    ON24
    8.3
    413 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Xola
    -
    Ratings
    Calendar integration00 Ratings8.1356 Ratings00 Ratings
    Meeting initiation00 Ratings10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with social media00 Ratings10.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Record meetings / events00 Ratings7.1395 Ratings00 Ratings
    Slideshows00 Ratings7.2392 Ratings00 Ratings
    Event registration00 Ratings7.4389 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Events Collaboration
    Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of Certain Event Automation Software and ON24 and Xola
    Feature
    Certain Event Automation Software
    -
    Ratings
    ON24
    8.3
    416 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Xola
    -
    Ratings
    Live chat00 Ratings10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Audience polling00 Ratings6.8377 Ratings00 Ratings
    Q&A00 Ratings8.1413 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Events Security
    Comparison of Online Events Security features of Certain Event Automation Software and ON24 and Xola
    Feature
    Certain Event Automation Software
    -
    Ratings
    ON24
    9.0
    384 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Xola
    -
    Ratings
    User authentication00 Ratings10.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Participant roles & permissions00 Ratings8.9374 Ratings00 Ratings
    Confidential attendee list00 Ratings8.0357 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Events Marketing
    Comparison of Online Events Marketing features of Certain Event Automation Software and ON24 and Xola
    Feature
    Certain Event Automation Software
    -
    Ratings
    ON24
    8.0
    390 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Xola
    -
    Ratings
    Branding options00 Ratings8.5382 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration to Marketing Automation00 Ratings7.9335 Ratings00 Ratings
    Attendee list export00 Ratings7.638 Ratings00 Ratings
    Virtual Event
    Comparison of Virtual Event features of Certain Event Automation Software and ON24 and Xola
    Feature
    Certain Event Automation Software
    -
    Ratings
    ON24
    8.8
    42 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Xola
    -
    Ratings
    Registration, RSVP, and ticketing00 Ratings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Email marketing00 Ratings6.538 Ratings00 Ratings
    Livestreaming00 Ratings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Audience engagement00 Ratings8.042 Ratings00 Ratings
    Event recording00 Ratings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Virtual booths00 Ratings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Networking00 Ratings9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Event analytics00 Ratings7.342 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Certain Event Automation SoftwareON24Xola
    Small Businesses
    Whova
    Score9.6 out of 10
    Whova
    Score9.6 out of 10
    Square Appointments
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Splash
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Splash
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Chili Piper
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Webex Events (formerly Socio)
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Webex Events (formerly Socio)
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Doodle
    Score8.5 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Certain Event Automation SoftwareON24Xola
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    6.8
    (461 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.9
    (44 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (28 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (210 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.7
    (8 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.9
    (33 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    3.7
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.5
    (12 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (6 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.6
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.4
    (231 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.6
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Certain Event Automation SoftwareON24Xola
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Certain, Inc.
    Certain is very well suited for any type of event or tradeshow that require specific fields from registrants and an automated email sequence to keep them engaged. It's less appropriate for one-off events, since setting up those pages can be quite complex if you're used to the types of Eventbrite/Sympla. If you don't really build event pages regularly, I'd recommend a software that's more simple, which should address what you need.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cvent
    I find that ON24 caters for all types of organisations, having it allows for more choice/options. The experience around virtual events if fantastic and the ON24 team is constantly improving the platform. If you want to run a virtual events programme where you want to generate leads and track engagement, then ON24 is the platform for you
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xola, Inc
    Xola is suited for small, medium, and large businesses that handle internet bookings, direct telephone bookings, and concierge/affiliate bookings. It tracks scheduling, payments, affiliate billing, can message customers through SMS or email, can hold notes on clients as any good CRM should, can be automated to do many features through the integration of apps.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Certain, Inc.
    • Easy to use and create
    • Easy to pull reports once event has been sent to attendees
    • Great way to gather a lot of information
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cvent
    • Registration pages are easy to build and look clean
    • Console (audience view) offers many tools to use for presentations and to engage the audience
    • Reporting and analytics are robust and provide detailed reports that help us process attendees in our marketing database
    • Support team and responsive and helpful
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xola, Inc
    • CRM data base.
    • Automated texts and emails for reviews.
    • Tracks billing.
    • Keeps schedule.
    • Tracks guides and their availability to be scheduled.
    • Quickly adjusts seating and pricing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Certain, Inc.
    • Dashboards: It's quite important for leadership to get a visual of what their event registrants look like (with graphs, for example). Now, Certain does not present a feature to create dashboards, so we have to export their reports and create our dashboards ourselves.
    • UX when setting up an event: Now this can be quite complex, as it's not as easy to use or intuitive. Many different tabs with many different sub-items can present a confusing experience for newcomers when building an event.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cvent
    • There was a recent update within the past year where the UX designer or developer thought it would be best to wide all titles from the audience view until they placed their mouse on top of the window. That was the worst mistake, as we have a moderator script where we tell the audience what each of the tool bars are and they can’t grasp what the tool is without putting their mouse there. From an accessibility standpoint point, it’s back to 1999 when there was no laws about accessibility.
    • Number one above is a major pain point.
    • ON24 needs to do a better job of introducing features and soliciting feedback from their customers vs making a high impactful change like #1 described above.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xola, Inc
    • Integrating the Viator / Trip Advisor API so that the encrypted customer emails can show up in Xola and the client may be emailed from inside Xola. Viator says that other platforms allow this but Xola is still lagging on this one.
    • Some minor tweaks allow the integrated tipping app to append a more customized message.
    • Really trying hard to find something else to say because Xola does everything really well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Certain, Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Cvent
    ON24 is everything we expected and everything we needed. It's simple to use, extremely customizable, and scales very easily. The integration to our CRM makes ON24 major lead generator for our sales team from our established webinars series. We can automate lead delivery to our sales team as well. If anything, we will look to expand our partnership in the future.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xola, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Certain, Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Cvent
    97% of our attendees say it is the best trainings they have every attended. But they other 3% have a horrible experience (while watching the event live) interesting fact. On24 uses two different encoders for live vs OnDemand. I have never had issues with the On-Demand experience. My only complaints come during live events
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xola, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    Certain, Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Cvent
    ON24 is always available when I have a question about a new feature, if I'm having issues during a live webinar, or if I'm having issues with a webinar on the backend. Our client support specialist, Heather Haines, has always been incredibly consistent with getting me the answers I need when I need them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xola, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Certain, Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Cvent
    Sometimes (it may be my computer) i cant login to ON24. I create a new PW and then i still cant get in. I clear cache/try new browser etc. and nothing works. I come back in a few hours and its like the problem never existed, its the strangest thing. Outside of that everything works pretty seamless. We've ran into a few bumps with Marketo talking to ON24 and passing reg through but have that figured out now. Not being able to be on a VPN when connecting to webcam on the presenter side does cause issues for our government speakers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xola, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Certain, Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Cvent
    ON24 support is really good with the 24/5 support chat line, where someone actually responds within 30 seconds. The customers success team is also really good and our rep is very helpful with all our questions. Whenever we have more technical questions, she will bring on a IT designer or a tech specialist on our calls for additional comments and help.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xola, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    In-Person Training
    Certain, Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Cvent
    Great communication and clarity
    Read full review
    Xola, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Certain, Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Cvent
    On24 has amazing ON-Demand trainings that you can use at anytime and they walk you through step by step on different topics/ they are always updating and innovating and putting out new trainings. I would highly reccomend the trainings and reading the documents they have created. They also do live webinars on a rolling basis that are filled with so much knowledge and Information
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xola, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Certain, Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Cvent
    We had a few training's, which were broken up, and focused on specific areas of how to use the platform. Mostly though, a lot of it is just dedicating your time to learning and exploring what the possibilities are for enhancing your webinars
    Read full review
    Xola, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Certain, Inc.
    My company selected Certain and continues to use Certain because it is quick, easy, and efficient. We create up to 20 registration links a year and Certain allows us to create templates to copy and create annual event links very fast. I also love that there is someone there to speak to if I ever need assistance
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cvent
    From what I've seen, ON24 is built specifically to meet the needs of event marketing (or marketing generally), versus the other platforms which are more about simply providing a mechanism to hold virtual meetings. The integration with sales and marketing systems is really valuable. I don't know about pricing differences, but if the competitors were comparable, I would still select ON24.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xola, Inc
    Xola has many similar features but in the end, the friendly fast 24/7 free always on and always ready to help customer support blows everyone else away. Many times I have found Xola to be able to expedite a customer issue or confusion with software integration or support for their software in a way that saves $$$ because my reservationists can resolve the issue or their confusion and quickly get back to work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Certain, Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Cvent
    The ON24 platform is straightforward to use and train clients on, which is a huge plus. Clients appreciate its features and simplicity. Internally, we receive valuable analytical data from webinar events, enabling the organization to make data-driven decisions. This helps us optimize strategies and drive success for B2B businesses effectively.
    Read full review
    Xola, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Certain, Inc.
    • Certain helps to deliver a great customer experience, since it facilitates automatic email delivery and your company can keep them connected well before or well after an event.
    • Certain presents a wide variety of reports, which perfectly addresses any request for visibility coming from your organization.
    • Certain's configuration settings are quite complex, so our newcomers are not comfortable using the software at first.
    • In case you need a more visual representation of your audience, Certain, unfortunately, does not generate dashboards.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cvent
    • We get a lot of MQLs from our webinars. The integration with SFDC is a game changer over platforms that don't offer that integration.
    • The addition of emojis and chat to our event consoles has greatly increased our engagement.
    • We love marketing the fact that on-demand viewers can still submit questions and we'll answer them by email. Who else can say that?
    • We would like to be able to make changes to all console elements after events have taken place. Sometimes stuff just needs to be updated.
    • As we improve our audience segmentation, we are looking forward to the segment customization options that are now available on the console.
    • The webinars ON24 sponsors provide us with some great ideas for improving our overall strategic marketing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xola, Inc
    • Increased ROI because of increased efficiencies.
    • Increased ROI because helpful and quick 24/7 support via phone or chat when new hires forget their training.
    • Increased ROI because billing can be cross checked.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    ON24 Screenshots

    Screenshot of Red Whale creates webinar series, Deep Dives, to engage General Practitioners.Screenshot of SAP Concur takes its customer activation workshops virtual with ON24.Screenshot of Atheanhealth broadcasts an authentic conversation with industry thought leaders to its audience.Screenshot of SAS creates webinar series, Analytics in 20, to education product best practices in short amount of time.Screenshot of NVIDIA creates always-on content library filled with webinars with ON24 Engagement Hub, segmented by different languages and geo-locations.Screenshot of ADP, using ON24 Target, creates personalized landing pages to encourage and accelerate ADP benefit enrollment.  This resource page has on-demand webinars, help articles and ways to immediately enroll.