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Great branding and customization capabilities, but behind the curve on video events
Updated December 06, 2023

Great branding and customization capabilities, but behind the curve on video events

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 4 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with ON24

We use ON24 to produce sponsored webinars in cooperation with our advertising partners. To a lesser extent, we also use it for editorial webinars.
  • Being able to customize the branding of the webinar console is unsurpassed
  • Reporting is stronger than most webinar platforms, although a bit buggy in spots. Their legacy reporting interface was a lot more user-friendly than their current interface. You can still access legacy reports, and that's how we pull all of our data.
  • Event setup is easy once you get the hang of it, although a bit limited in spots.
  • Slides-and-audio webinars work flawlessly, but ON24 is still trying to catch up to other vendors when it comes to video. The interface is buggy, connection issues occur with 10-15% of our presenters (even when they're using the ON24-recommended web browser and configuration), and there is no native support for backgrounds like you find in Zoom and other platforms.
  • The new Elite Studio interface took a step forward in some areas, but a step backward in others. They took away the ability for presenters to mark audience questions as high, medium, or low. Other aspects of the UI are just broken—like sometimes the Q&A pane disappears completely for presenters. Months after reporting the bugs, they still exist. ON24 has provided workarounds for some issues but hasn't fixed many of these underlying bugs.
  • For video events, there's no way to spotlight individual speakers. If you have a presenter who doesn't need to be on camera for the entire event, they appear as an ugly black block for most of the event, with no way for the producer to get rid of it. The voice recognition is not great, which often leads to an awkward 3-5 seconds where one presenter is on screen but another one is speaking.
  • There's a learning curve for new presenters. Doing rehearsals with the software in advance is a must, and explaining all of the controls in a live 30-minute walk-through is necessary. It's not as intuitive as a platform like Zoom or GoToWebinar. There are lots of things that need to be explained to new presenters.
  • Being able to brand the attendees' webinar console provides great value to our sponsors.
Track registration and attendance
Other
We've seen a large increase in the number of sponsors who want to do webcam-based webinars, rather than the standard slides-and-audio events. ON24 provides a decent platform for webcam-based events, but the stability and features of the video itself still lag behind other vendors such as Zoom.
It's a pretty scalable platform.
ON24 blows away Zoom and GoToWebinar when it comes to customization and branding. Plus, ON24's overall event management is more flexible than these other platforms. The recording features of ON24 are a big plus. However, Zoom and GoToWebinar have a more solid interface for webcam videos.

Do you think ON24 delivers good value for the price?

No

Are you happy with ON24's feature set?

Yes

Did ON24 live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of ON24 go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy ON24 again?

No

I have been using ON24 for nearly two decades, and the software has evolved dramatically over time. Whenever a new major release has come out, it's always been two steps forward and two steps back. They improve certain aspects of the platform but make others harder to use or less flexible. ON24 is great for a company with a dedicated event manager who can own the entire process—setting up events, running rehearsals, and providing guidance to new presenters. But for an organization where you don't have this level of resources, I could see ON24 being too difficult to manage. Also: Deep pockets are a must because ON24 charges by the event (unlike other platforms such as Zoom and GoToWebinar that are subscription-based). ON24 charges extra for connecting other systems to their API, and there are lots of other "extras" that make the cost add up quickly.

ON24 Feature Ratings

Virtual Event ()
Not Rated
6.0
Audience polling
8
Q&A
4
10.0
Branding options
10
Integration to Marketing Automation
Not Rated
8.5
Participant roles & permissions
8
Confidential attendee list
9
8.8
Calendar integration
9
Record meetings / events
9
Slideshows
9
Event registration
8
Mobile Capabilities ()
Not Rated

ON24 and Communications During a Pandemic

The platform is mostly intuitive, although there's definitely a learning curve. Certain features and functions are well-hidden or not placed in easy-to-find spots. Webcam events are more difficult than slides-and-audio only events.
  • Lead generation
  • Other

Using ON24

3 - Webinar department
3 - Event production
  • Producing sponsored webinars for our clients
  • Producing an occasional editorial webinar by our subject matter experts
The cost is very high compared to other solutions. Although ON24 is the Cadillac of webinars, the high cost per event makes other platforms seem more attractive -- especially as other vendors close the gap with features and functions.

Evaluating ON24 and Competitors

  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Product Reputation
  • Prior Experience with the Product
I had used ON24 at a previous company
Evaluation was done several years ago.

ON24 Support

Simple questions and problems are dealt with quickly. Bigger, more systemic problems don't get solved.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
Yes - We've reported several bugs and usability flaws over the years. Most have been ignored, but some have been addressed (not sure if it was specifically because of our report, or if other customers were reporting the same issue)

Using ON24

Great for audience members. Good for slides-and-audio events. Less good for webcam events.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Convenient
Feel confident using
Slow to learn
Lots to learn
  • Registration page setup
  • Email reminder setup
  • Pre-recording a video event
  • Troubleshooting connection issues with webcams
  • Reporting should be easier than it is. The dashboard is poorly designed, and downloaded files always need to be renamed because they're saved with the wrong extension.