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.
Enterprise event management for in-person, virtual and hybrid events
Video hosting, webinars and lead capture for marketing teams
| Pricing | Paid | Freemium · $99 |
| Starting price | Not published | $99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Enterprise, Agencies | Small businesses, Enterprise, Creators |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web |
| Country | US · 1999 | US · 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.