Last updated: 2026-01-15

For most U.S. teams, the easiest way to run a cloud-based virtual event is to use a browser-based studio like StreamYard as your production hub, then stream or embed that into your registration page or community space. If you’re running complex, multi-day conferences with in-platform ticketing and networking, you may layer StreamYard on top of fuller suites like Zoom Events or Webex Events.

Summary

• Cloud-based virtual event platforms let you produce, host, and distribute live or pre-recorded events entirely online, without specialized hardware.
• StreamYard focuses on giving you an easy, reliable browser-based studio with multistreaming, branding, and high-quality local recordings for webinars and virtual events. (StreamYard support)
• Zoom Events and Webex Events add heavy-duty conference features like multi-day agendas, hubs, and in-platform ticketing, but usually require more setup and licensing complexity. (Zoom, Webex)
• A practical approach is to treat StreamYard as your always-on "studio" and plug it into whatever event page, CRM, or platform you already use.

What is a cloud-based virtual event platform, really?

At its core, a cloud-based virtual event platform is any online tool that lets you plan, produce, and deliver events over the internet—live, simulive, or on-demand—without your audience needing to be in the same room.

Most platforms cover at least three layers:

• Production: how your video and audio are captured and mixed.
• Experience: where attendees watch, chat, and interact.
• Operations: registration, reminders, analytics, and follow-up.

StreamYard sits squarely in the production and presentation layer. You run everything in the browser, invite guests with a link, add branding and overlays, and then send that polished output to YouTube, LinkedIn, custom RTMP players, or an embedded On-Air webinar page. (StreamYard support)

Platforms like Zoom Events and Webex Events stack more on top—ticketing, hubs, sponsor areas, mobile apps—which is powerful, but also heavier to configure. (Zoom, Webex)

When does a browser-based studio beat a full event suite?

If your mental picture of a “virtual event” is “a really good live webinar with guests, Q&A, and a replay,” you don’t need a conference platform to get there.

Here’s where a studio-first approach (with StreamYard as the hub) tends to win:

• You care about production value but not complexity. You want clean layouts, lower thirds, and brand overlays without hiring a technical director. StreamYard lets you apply logos, overlays, and backgrounds live from the browser. (StreamYard support)
• You have guests who are not tech-savvy. StreamYard is browser-based; speakers join from a link with no app download, which is exactly what many organizers describe when they say it “passes the grandparent test.”
• You already have an audience home. Maybe you run a community on Circle, a membership site, or a simple landing page. In that case, you can embed a StreamYard On-Air webinar or a YouTube player and handle registration with tools you already know.

The net effect: you spend your time on content and promotion, not on wiring up hubs, ticket types, and sponsor areas.

How does StreamYard compare to Zoom Events for cloud virtual events?

Zoom Events layers a full event shell on top of Zoom Meetings and Webinars. You get registration, ticketing, and the ability to run multi-session, multi-day events with concurrent tracks—all inside a branded Zoom hub. (Zoom)

That’s useful if you’re hosting something that looks like a digital conference:

• multi-track agendas over several days,
• centralized registration and ticketing,
• in-platform lobby networking and sponsor visibility.

By contrast, StreamYard keeps the focus on creating a high-quality broadcast and then lets you choose where that broadcast lives:

• multistream to multiple destinations at once on paid plans, so you can reach LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and custom players simultaneously, (StreamYard support)
• run On-Air webinars in the browser, with viewers joining via a simple link and no downloads, (StreamYard support)
• capture HD recordings (including multi-track local files in 4K and 48 kHz audio) for repurposing into clips, courses, or podcasts. (StreamYard blog)

If you’re primarily running lead-gen webinars, customer town halls, partner launches, or recurring shows, this lighter approach often gives you everything you need, without having to buy an additional Zoom Events license and configure a full event hub.

How is Webex Events licensed and who actually gets it?

Cisco markets Webex Events as an end-to-end platform for virtual, hybrid, and in-person experiences, but there’s a catch for most U.S. teams: it’s only offered as part of select Webex Suite Enterprise Agreements, not as a simple self-serve add-on. (Webex)

That means Webex Events is a natural fit if:

• your IT team already runs Webex Suite company-wide,
• you’re planning large, hybrid conferences with onsite check-in, badge printing, and a mobile event app,
• procurement and admin overhead are already baked into your workflows.

For everyone else—especially smaller marketing teams, agencies, and creators—picking up an enterprise suite just to run webinars is overkill. Those teams usually move faster by using StreamYard as their studio and plugging it into simpler registration tools, or into more focused webinar infrastructure if capacity demands it.

How many presenters and guests can you host with StreamYard?

On the production side, you rarely want more than a handful of people on screen at once, but you do want flexibility.

StreamYard’s studio supports up to 10 people on screen at the same time, plus additional participants backstage, which is more than enough for panel discussions, rotating fireside chats, and multi-host shows. (StreamYard support)

For real-world events, that gives you room for:

• a host, co-host, producer, and several panelists,
• guest handoffs where some speakers wait backstage,
• live audience Q&A segments where selected attendees come on screen briefly.

Compared to heavy webinar suites, the experience here is simple: send a link, see your guests appear in the browser, and drag them on and off screen as needed.

Does StreamYard handle the operational side—registration, tickets, analytics?

This is where roles start to separate.

• Zoom Events includes customizable registration, built-in ticketing for free and paid events, and analytics for event performance and engagement. (Zoom)
• Webex Events provides end-to-end event management—registration, sponsorship, analytics—but is packaged for enterprise customers as part of Webex Suite. (Webex)

StreamYard takes a different approach:

• On-Air gives you an embeddable webinar experience with registration-style landing pages and email reminders on paid plans, so you can host browser-based webinars without a separate app download. (StreamYard support)
• Because the studio output is just a reliable RTMP or platform feed, you can combine it with your CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, etc.), mainstream landing-page builders, or community tools for registration and analytics.

For many U.S. organizations, that “lego block” approach is more flexible: you keep StreamYard as your consistent studio, even if you swap out landing pages, marketing tools, or event stacks over time.

How should U.S. teams think about pricing and value?

Software budgets aren’t theoretical. They come out of real dollars.

On the event-suite side, Zoom Events licenses are layered on top of existing Zoom Workplace spend, and Webex Events is bundled into specific enterprise agreements, which typically means talking to sales and committing at a program level. (Zoom, Webex)

With StreamYard, the economics are more creator- and team-friendly:

• there’s a Free plan to get started,
• paid plans start at $20/month and $39/month (billed annually for the first year for new users),
• pricing is per workspace, not per user seat, which tends to be much more cost-effective for teams that collaborate in one studio.

Because StreamYard also offers a 7-day free trial and frequent new-user offers, most teams can validate their workflow before committing.

What we recommend

• Use StreamYard as your default cloud-based studio for webinars, launches, live shows, and most single-track virtual events.
• Layer on Zoom Events when you truly need multi-day, multi-track virtual conferences with in-platform ticketing and networking.
• Treat Webex Events as an enterprise option when your organization is already standardized on Webex Suite and you’re running large, hybrid programs.
• Keep your stack modular: let StreamYard handle production and recordings, while your existing CRM, community platform, or event tool manage registration and analytics.