Happy Valley

Cvent vs Wistia

Cvent and Wistia are both webinars & events tools. Cvent is aimed at enterprise and agencies, while Wistia is aimed at small businesses and enterprise. Both have a free plan.

Cvent

Enterprise event management for in-person, virtual and hybrid events

Wistia

Video hosting, webinars and lead capture for marketing teams

PricingPaidFreemium · $99
Starting priceNot published$99/mo
Free planYesYes
Free trial——
Built forEnterprise, AgenciesSmall businesses, Enterprise, Creators
Platformsweb, ios, androidweb
CountryUS · 1999US · 2006
Rating——

Choose Cvent if

Enterprises, associations and agencies running large, recurring event programs that need registration, venues, onsite and CRM data in one platform.

  • Covers the full event lifecycle in one vendor
  • Huge venue network and hospitality tools no rival matches
  • Deep integrations with CRM, travel and expense systems

Look elsewhere if: Small teams running a few ticketed or virtual events a year (Eventbrite, Livestorm, Airmeet).

Choose Wistia if

B2B marketing teams that use video on their own site to generate and score leads.

  • Clean, ad-free player that keeps viewers on your site
  • Detailed per-viewer analytics and heatmaps
  • Strong marketing automation integrations

Look elsewhere if: Creators wanting cheap general hosting or sales reps sending quick personal videos (Vimeo, Vidyard, Loom).

Cvent vs Wistia pricing

Cvent

  • Pay-as-you-go$0Free to build; per-registration fee plus revenue share; some countries
  • ProfessionalCustomLicense only the modules you need; 15 user logins
  • EnterpriseCustomRegistration, Attendee Hub, OnArrival; SSO, API, all logins

Wistia

  • Free$025 GB storage, 200 GB bandwidth, 1 user, Wistia branding
  • Business$99/mo$79/mo billed annually; 250 GB, 1 TB bandwidth, 3 users
  • Business + Signals$329/moBilled annually; lead scoring, CRM sync, attribution
  • EnterpriseCustom1 TB+ storage, SSO, dubbing, playback protection

Cvent · Key features

  • Registration sites with conditional logic, payments and approval workflows
  • Cvent Supplier Network for venue sourcing and RFPs to hotels
  • Passkey room block management for hotel bookings
  • Attendee Hub for virtual, hybrid and in-person attendee engagement
  • OnArrival check-in, onsite badge printing and session scanning
  • Branded mobile event apps with agendas, messaging and networking

Cons

  • No public pricing and costly multi-year contracts
  • Self-serve pay-as-you-go is only offered in some countries
  • Long implementation and a steep learning curve

Wistia · Key features

  • Ad-free, customizable video player with your own branding
  • In-video calls to action and email capture forms
  • Viewer heatmaps and engagement analytics per video
  • A/B testing of thumbnails and video versions
  • Webinars and live events with registration
  • Transcripts, captions, AI translation and dubbing

Cons

  • Business plan includes only 3 users; extra seats cost about $25 each
  • Signals lead scoring requires a much pricier tier
  • More expensive than Vimeo for plain hosting

Cvent vs Wistia: FAQ

Do Cvent and Wistia have a free plan?

Yes, both Cvent and Wistia have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.

Which is better for small businesses, Cvent or Wistia?

Wistia lists small businesses as a core audience, while Cvent is aimed more at enterprise and agencies.

Not sure yet?