If you’re a HubSpot user looking to add webinars to your strategic marketing plan, one of the first decisions you need to make is which software platform you’ll use. Two of the more popular options are ReadyTalk and GoToWebinar. At first glance, these two platforms seem to have a lot of common. Both ReadyTalk and GoToWebinar integrate with HubSpot, but which one is better for your marketing strategy?

Or, maybe you’re already subscribed to one of these services and you’re thinking about switching. This post will outline the main differences between these two platforms.

1. Setup 

GoToWebinar has a native integration with HubSpot, which means its integration is simpler than ReadyTalk’s. It’s literally a two-step process: create the webinar in GoToWebinar, then toggle it on in HubSpot.

By contrast, ReadyTalk’s setup requires more time and the extra step of logging in to the ReadyTalk HubSpot App to create the webinar. Then you need to synchronize it with HubSpot. However, there’s a lot more to integrate, which we’ll get into in the next factor.

Winner: GoToWebinar

2. Data synchronized into HubSpot

Both platforms integrate attendee data submitted via the webinar signup form. ReadyTalk also integrates responses to any polling questions posted to attendees during the webinar (one of the webinar best practices we recommend in this post) along with their attendance status and how long they stayed on the webinar. GoToWebinar does not import either of these data points.

Note that neither ReadyTalk NOR GoToWebinar pull the following data into HubSpot:

• Interest rating
• Questions an attendee asked during the webinar
• Post-event survey responses

What it means:

You will not be able to segment contacts by poll responses from GoToWebinar webinars for lead nurturing within HubSpot. Therefore, if you wanted to send emails or serve up Smart Content based on webinar poll responses, it would require extra steps – namely, exporting reports from Excel, combining them and importing them into HubSpot.

If you’re using poll responses to qualify leads, we strongly recommend collecting this marketing information to use for lead nurturing and targeting. If you use SalesForce, keep in mind what information you’d like to integrate from your webinar platform to HubSpot to SalesForce.

Winner: ReadyTalk

3. Replay Hosting

GoToWebinar requires webinar recordings be viewed on its site OR be downloaded and hosted on a third-party platform.

Meanwhile, ReadyTalk offers an embeddable player that can be used on any webpage, such as a HubSpot thank you page.

What it means:

If it can be avoided, we recommend keeping replays on a webpage rather than sending prospects to a different site where you lose the ability to engage them. To do so with GTW, you’ll have to upload webinar recordings to a third party platform and embed it on your replay page. If you choose this route, we recommend purchasing a Wistia account. A Pro package is $99 per month and includes hosting for 10 videos, with additional videos cost 25 cents each per month and the ability to add your own branding. The Free package has a three video limit and requires Wistia branding on the video player.

 Key Wistia features: 

• Analytics include video view count, percent of a video that a viewer watched and the percent of page visitors who clicked a video.
• Heatmap feature shows which parts of a video each individual viewer has watched, re-watched and skipped over. 
• Engagement graphs compile the audience's viewing behavior. 

Key HubSpot-Wistia integration features:

• View a contact’s heatmaps, percent viewed, CTA clicked and overall video engagement.
• Use video engagement data to segment and create smart lists, update lead scores and enroll contacts in workflows.
• Put HubSpot forms directly in Wistia videos. 

Winner: ReadyTalk (Unless you get a Wistia account.)

4. User Experience

GoToWebinar audience members have to download proprietary software before beginning the webinar. Conversely, ReadyTalk uses Java, making it more user-friendly.

What it means:

The need to download and install an .exe might make the user experience less friendly, potentially affecting turnout numbers.

Winner: ReadyTalk

5. Join Webinar Link for Confirmation and Reminder Emails

ReadyTalk and GoToWebinar both create a unique join-webinar URL for each participant. With ReadyTalk, you can include this link within an “add to calendar” function in HubSpot confirmation and reminder emails. The GoToWebinar-HubSpot integration does not have this function.

What it means:

You’ll have to use GoToWebinar’s less attractive, less customizable emails to send confirmation and reminder emails with webinar access links, and the data from these marketing metrics (click-through rate, open rate, etc.) will not exist in HubSpot.

An alternative is to use Zapier to pull the contact’s unique URL from GoToWebinar to HubSpot. It’s relatively easy but adds about 10-20 minutes to the setup process. A basic Zapier account is free.

Winner: ReadyTalk

6. Price

Now we get to the nitty-gritty. By now you’ve probably surmised that ReadyTalk provides a more vigorous, cohesive package, but at what cost?

GoToWebinar: $89/month for 100 attendees (when paid annually). The next tier package is $199/month for 500 attendees.
ReadyTalk: $119/month for 150 attendees (when paid annually). The next tier package is $319/month for 500 attendees. 

Winner: GoToWebinar

Like any other software, webinar platforms are not one-size-fits-all. If you want the most data integrated as possible and host smaller events, we recommend ReadyTalk. Likewise, if your main interest is quick and easy setup and maintenance or larger attendance goals, then you may want to ‘go to’ GoToWebinar.

Austin Lawrence has experience with both platforms. Is there another platform you prefer? Let us know!

Once you’ve picked your platform and you’re ready to start casting, make sure your webinar goes off hitch-free by downloading our B2B webinars best practices guide.