Best Webinar Recording Software 2026 (Zoom vs WebinarJam vs Riverside)

There are dozens of webinar platforms on the market, and you may have tested a few already. If you have, you've probably realised that not all of them give you studio-quality recordings you can use after the event.

If you're an online coach, course creator or consultant who runs webinars regularly and wants to reuse the footage, this is for you. I compare the best webinar recording software I've used: Zoom, WebinarJam and Riverside. The video was made in partnership with Riverside, which I've used for the past few years.

Key Takeaways

• Most webinar platforms are built for the live experience, and very few give you footage good enough to repurpose afterwards.
• Zoom suits big one-way broadcasts, and WebinarJam suits sales-focused webinars with automation.
• Riverside records each person locally, so it gives the best quality for editing and repurposing after the webinar.

Zoom: The Safe Choice for Large Audiences

Zoom became a household name when COVID hit and teams moved online. It's the safe corporate choice: everyone knows it, IT departments like it, and it's stable. Webinars are just one small part of what it does.

Zoom Webinar Pricing

At the time of recording, the basic account was free, but webinars needed a Pro licence (about $14 a month on the annual plan) plus a webinar add-on, which started at $89 a month for the smallest audience size. If you only run the occasional webinar, add it for the month you're delivering, then take it off.

Zoom Webinar Features and Limits

Zoom's webinar experience is standard but solid: chat, raise hand, reactions, Q&A and polls. It's good for engaging a live audience, and it can handle thousands of attendees.

Where Zoom falls short for me:

• The recording quality isn't high enough for me to repurpose as clips or long-form content.
• It isn't fully cloud-based, so attendees usually need to download the app first.

If you're delivering a one-way message to thousands of people, Zoom could be the right fit. I cover setup in my Zoom webinar tutorial.

WebinarJam: Built for Selling

The main difference from Zoom is that WebinarJam is fully cloud-based, with nothing for attendees to install. It comes from a direct response marketing background, so if selling is your main goal, it could be for you.

WebinarJam Pricing

At the time of recording, paid plans started at $39 a month on the annual plan, but that didn't include automated webinars. For those, you needed the $79 a month plan. Look closely at each plan to see which features you actually need.

WebinarJam Features

• Email and SMS: built-in reminders and follow-ups.
• A/B split testing: test different versions of your registration page.
• Drag-and-drop pages: build your registration page with custom backgrounds.
• One-click evergreen: turn a recorded webinar into an on-demand webinar people can watch whenever they like.

It takes more setup, with landing pages, follow-up email sequences and automations. Because everything is recorded in the cloud, quality depends on your internet connection, and some exports may not be up to scratch. If you want to build a high-ticket sales funnel, it could be the one. If you'd rather keep it in one place, I show the alternative in how to create an evergreen webinar with Kajabi.

Riverside: Best Webinar Recording Quality

Riverside has Pro, Grow and Webinar plans. Pricing sits slightly below Zoom's Pro plus add-on, and the webinar features are broadly similar to WebinarJam's. Check the plans carefully, as you may need to upgrade depending on how many hosts you have.

The key difference is that Riverside records locally on each person's device, then uploads to the cloud afterwards. That means you get the best quality possible, regardless of a wobbly connection.

Setting Up a Webinar in Riverside

With the webinar plan, you'll see Webinars in the left-hand sidebar. Click it to launch a new one. From there you can:

• Live stream: send the webinar to Facebook, YouTube or LinkedIn as well as hosting it on Riverside.
• Share links: copy separate invite links for producers, guests or panellists, and the audience, then send them by email.
• Engage: attendees can ask questions, chat and answer polls, like on Zoom and WebinarJam.

I build one from start to finish in how to create a webinar using just one tool.

Separate Tracks and 4K Downloads

Where Riverside really stands out is post-production. In an interview I recorded with a guest, each of us was recorded separately at the highest quality on our own computers. When you press stop, everything uploads to the cloud, and you can download each person's track, the transcript, or everything at once, in up to 4K.

AI Editing Tools and Magic Clips

• Refine the content: remove pauses, filler words and fluff.
• Sound clearer: Magic Audio and smart mute.
• Look better: smart layouts, AI colour correction, eye contact and video enhancement.
• Text-based editing: if you can edit a Word document, you can edit the video.
• Magic Clips: Riverside's AI cuts short clips for you to review and repurpose.

Because every audio and video track is separate, you can edit each one individually and switch between speaker layouts. That isn't an option with a single online recording from Zoom or WebinarJam. More in the Riverside text editor and my Riverside guide.

Zoom vs WebinarJam vs Riverside: Which to Choose

• Zoom: reliable for sending one message to large audiences.
• WebinarJam: a sales funnel builder for maximising webinar sales.
• Riverside: best for content quality and post-production.

Conclusion

The best webinar recording software depends on what you need. Zoom works for big audiences, and WebinarJam works if selling is everything.

If you want to reuse your webinars as high-quality content, Riverside gets my vote. Its local recording gives you the best quality possible, and it's why I've used it for the past few years.