Last updated: 2026-01-12

For most teams in the United States, start with StreamYard On‑Air if you want an on‑demand webinar platform that’s browser‑based, easy to run live, and instantly watchable as a replay. If you have very niche needs like deep marketing automation, built‑in ticketing, or six‑figure, one‑off mega events, there are other tools worth considering alongside StreamYard.

Summary

• StreamYard On‑Air combines live webinars, on‑demand replays, and multistreaming in a browser studio that needs no installs for you or your attendees. (StreamYard)
• You can gate access with registration, capture leads, send automated reminder and replay emails, and export registrant data for your CRM.
• Demio, Crowdcast, and Zoom all support on‑demand experiences, but they optimize for narrower use cases like automated funnels, multi‑session events, or very large one‑off webinars.
• Unless you specifically need built‑in payments or million‑attendee scale, StreamYard typically offers the simplest path from “idea” to “on‑demand webinar that’s ready to share.”

What is an on‑demand webinar platform in 2026?

An on‑demand webinar platform lets you host a live or pre‑recorded session, capture registrations, and then keep that session available as a replay people can watch any time.

For US‑based marketers, course creators, and customer success teams, the must‑have checklist usually looks like this:

• High‑quality, reliable audio and video
• Easy joining for attendees (ideally in the browser)
• Automatic recording and simple on‑demand replay
• Custom branding and the ability to embed on your own site
• Interaction tools like chat and, ideally, polls/Q&A

At StreamYard, On‑Air is built exactly for that list: a browser‑based watch page with optional registration, automatic recording, and a simple “available on‑demand” toggle so your webinar keeps working for you long after you go live. (StreamYard)

How does StreamYard On‑Air handle on‑demand webinars?

Think of StreamYard On‑Air as a webinar room that seamlessly turns into a replay page.

On paid plans with On‑Air enabled, you can:

• Host in the browser: No installs or accounts needed for you or your viewers; they join from a hosted watch page or an embed on your own site. (StreamYard)
• Collect registrations: Turn on registration, customize the form fields, and capture names and emails. You can later export this list as a CSV and feed it into your CRM or email tool.
• Automate emails: Send confirmation and reminders (e.g., 24 hours and 1 hour before), then automatically email the recording link when on‑demand is enabled.
• Toggle on‑demand replay: Flip the “available on‑demand” setting so attendees can watch the recording after the event; you can disable this later if you want to retire the content. (StreamYard Support)
• Keep a private master recording: Even if you turn off on‑demand for attendees, your recording stays in your StreamYard library for repurposing.

In practice, a typical workflow might look like this:

1. You schedule an On‑Air webinar, enable registration, and turn on “available on‑demand.”
2. You go live from the production studio, using overlays, lower thirds, and screen share to walk through your material.
3. Within minutes after you end the session, registrants get an email with the replay link, and your watch page becomes an on‑demand webinar.

You can also upload a pre‑recorded video and stream it “as if live,” which is ideal if you want the polish of edited content but still want real‑time chat during the premiere. (StreamYard Support)

How does StreamYard compare to other on‑demand webinar options?

When you look at on‑demand webinar tools, most of them cluster around a few primary use cases.

Demio

Demio is oriented toward marketing funnels and automated webinars. Its Automated Events feature lets registrants watch an on‑demand session immediately after registering, and those sessions do not have an expiration date by default. (Demio Help) This is helpful if you rely heavily on evergreen, always‑available webinars.

Trade‑off: Demio’s on‑demand mode is tied to Automated Events, and you’ll typically wire its analytics into a broader funnel strategy. For teams that just want to record a live workshop and share the replay, that extra structure can feel like overhead.

Crowdcast

Crowdcast focuses on interactive live events and multi‑session experiences. After you run a live webinar, the replay appears at the same event URL, and hosts decide how long replays remain available. (Crowdcast Docs) That single‑link experience is useful when you want one URL for registration, live, and replay.

Trade‑off: Crowdcast pricing includes monthly hour and attendee quotas, plus overage fees for extra live attendees, which means you need to keep an eye on usage.

Zoom

Zoom supports on‑demand webinars too. With the right webinar license and automatic cloud recording enabled, Zoom can take a registered webinar, record it, and make the session available afterward for on‑demand viewing. (Zoom Help) Zoom also sells single‑use packages for very large events that can handle tens of thousands up to 1,000,000 attendees.

Trade‑off: Zoom’s strength is scale and deep enterprise integrations, but that comes with added licensing complexity and cost. For a typical marketing webinar or course launch, most teams don’t need that level of infrastructure.

Where StreamYard usually wins

For most US‑based businesses running live webinars that turn into on‑demand content, StreamYard tends to be the easiest starting point because:

• The same browser studio you might already use for live streaming also powers your webinars and replays.
• Attendees watch in the browser, with no Zoom‑style client downloads.
• You can multistream to social platforms while still collecting registrations on your own hosted watch page.

In other words, you get a production‑first workflow that naturally extends into an on‑demand library, without committing to a heavyweight events suite.

How easy is it to run and rewatch webinars with StreamYard?

Ease of use is where many teams feel the biggest difference.

With StreamYard:

• Setup is straightforward: You schedule the session, add basic details and branding, and the system automatically creates both a studio and a watch page.
• Recording is automatic: On paid plans, your live webinars are automatically recorded, so you never have to remember to hit a separate “record” button. (StreamYard Support)
• Viewers just click a link: They join from common browsers without installing software or creating extra accounts.
• You control where it lives: Use the hosted watch page, embed the webinar and chat on your own site, or both.

For many creators, the alternative is stitching together multiple tools—one for production, one for registration, one for replays. At that point, debugging the stack can eat more time than recording the webinar.

What about interaction, branding, and audience engagement?

Most on‑demand webinar leads are won or lost on the live experience. That’s why production and engagement matter as much as the replay.

On StreamYard, you can:

• Use branded overlays, logos, and backgrounds so your webinar matches your visual identity.
• Run live chat around the event window—before, during, and after—so people can warm up early and keep talking when you wrap.
• Pull viewer comments on‑screen to make the experience feel more like a show than a slide dump.
• Pair your webinar with focused Q&A or polls using third‑party interaction tools like Slido or Mentimeter if you want advanced features like voting, word clouds, or breakout‑style engagement.

A native polling feature is coming soon in StreamYard’s webinar workflow, but even today, most teams find that chat + on‑screen comments, combined with an external polling app when needed, hits the right balance between engagement and simplicity.

How do pricing and value stack up?

Pricing details move fast, but a few patterns are clear across major platforms.

• StreamYard’s On‑Air webinar functionality is included on paid plans starting from specific tiers, and On‑Air plans start at around $49/month with per‑event viewer caps. (StreamYard)
• Demio’s Starter plan is listed at about $63/month paid monthly for 50 attendees, with higher tiers and room sizes up to 3,000 attendees. (Demio Pricing)
• Zoom’s webinar pricing is more opaque, with licenses and single‑use packages that can climb significantly as you approach tens of thousands or more attendees. (Zoom Webinars)

For most marketing, sales, and education use cases under roughly 10,000 viewers, StreamYard’s combination of viewer caps, multistreaming, and browser‑based delivery tends to offer strong value without locking you into per‑attendee overages or complex multi‑product bundles.

When would you pick something other than StreamYard?

There are a few clear edge cases where another platform might be worth pairing with or considering alongside StreamYard:

• Deep, built‑in marketing automation: If you need granular, in‑tool attribution and evergreen sequences driven entirely from webinar analytics, Demio’s Automated Events and on‑demand settings may complement your stack. (Demio Help)
• Built‑in ticketing and transaction fees: Crowdcast includes Stripe‑based ticketing with per‑transaction platform fees; StreamYard expects you to use external tools like Eventbrite or a course platform if you want to charge for webinars. (Crowdcast Pricing)
• Ultra‑large one‑off events: If your primary requirement is a single flagship webinar with tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of attendees, Zoom’s single‑use webinar licenses are designed for that scenario. (Zoom Blog)

Even in those cases, many teams still use StreamYard as the production studio and route the video into other event or ticketing platforms, keeping the familiar, creator‑friendly workflow while meeting specialized needs.

What we recommend

• Start with StreamYard On‑Air if you want a simple, browser‑based way to run live webinars that automatically become on‑demand content.
• Use registration, automated emails, and the on‑demand toggle to turn every live session into an evergreen asset.
• Layer in specialized tools—marketing automation, ticketing, advanced audience interaction—only when your workflow clearly demands it.
• Revisit higher‑cost, high‑scale options like Zoom’s single‑use webinars only if your events routinely push beyond what a streamlined, 10,000‑viewer‑or‑less webinar workflow can handle.