How to Run a Webinar Without Expensive Software

Dedicated webinar platforms can run anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a year once you add registration pages, attendee limits, and recording storage. For most small businesses running a handful of webinars a year, that’s overkill.

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You can put on a genuinely professional webinar using tools you already have access to or that are free to sign up for: a video call platform, a free registration form, and (if you want it public and recorded) a free streaming setup. Here’s how to put the pieces together.

Quick Answer

For a small, private webinar, use the free tier of Google Meet or Zoom for the live video, a Google Form for registration, and email or a calendar invite for reminders. For a larger, public, or recorded webinar, stream free through YouTube Live using OBS Studio (free, open-source) or StreamYard’s free plan to produce it, and drive signups with a free landing page or form.

Step-by-Step: Setting Up a Free Webinar

Pick your format first. If your audience is small (under 100 people) and you want a simple, private, interactive session, a video call platform is enough. Google Meet’s free plan allows up to 100 participants, with group calls (three or more people) capped at 60 minutes per session before you need to restart the link. Zoom’s free Basic plan also allows up to 100 participants but caps meetings at 40 minutes. Both are fine for a single presenter with live Q&A — just plan your content to fit inside the time limit, or be ready to send a fresh link if the call cuts off.

If you want the webinar public, recorded automatically, and open to more than 100 viewers, stream it instead of video-calling it. Create a YouTube channel if you don’t have one, set a stream to ‘Unlisted’ if you only want people with the link to find it, and use free streaming software like OBS Studio to broadcast your screen, slides, and camera. OBS is free and open-source with no watermark and no time limit. If you’d rather skip installing software, StreamYard’s free plan lets you produce a browser-based stream with up to six on-screen guests and send it live to YouTube — it does add a StreamYard watermark and caps monthly recording time, but it’s a fast way to get a polished-looking stream running.

Set up registration with a free tool. A Google Form (or similar free form builder) works well: collect name and email, then use the confirmation message or a follow-up email to send the join link. If you’re streaming on YouTube, you can share the video link directly; if you’re using Google Meet or Zoom, share the meeting link only with registrants to avoid uninvited guests.

Send reminders and test your setup beforehand. Email registrants the day before and again an hour before the session. At least a day ahead, do a full dry run: check your microphone and camera, test screen sharing, and if you’re streaming, confirm your upload speed can handle live video without dropping frames. A wired internet connection is far more reliable than Wi-Fi for anything you’re streaming live.

Run the session with a plan. Open a few minutes early to greet early arrivals, keep slides or notes visible so you’re not just talking to a blank screen, and build in time for questions. If you’re on Zoom or Google Meet, use the built-in chat or hand-raise feature to manage questions without interrupting your flow.

Free vs. Paid: When to Upgrade

Free tools cover most first-time or occasional webinars well. You’ll want to consider paid webinar software once you regularly need things free tools don’t offer well: built-in registration pages with automated reminder sequences, attendee analytics (who watched how long), breakout rooms at scale, or webinars that reliably run past the free time limits without interruption.

A practical middle step before paying for a dedicated webinar platform is combining free tools more deliberately — for example, pairing Zoom or Google Meet’s paid tier (still cheaper than most webinar-specific platforms) with a free registration and email tool. Only move to a full webinar platform once you can point to a specific limitation that’s actually costing you registrations or follow-up conversions.

Tips and Common Mistakes

Don’t skip the dry run. The most common webinar failures are audio issues, screen-share mix-ups, or a slow connection — all things a 10-minute test catches ahead of time.

Have a backup plan for the time limit. If you’re on Zoom’s free 40-minute cap or Google Meet’s 60-minute cap, know in advance whether you’ll wrap up on time or send a fresh link to continue.

Record it if you can. Even on free plans, recording (or using OBS/YouTube’s automatic recording) lets you repurpose the session as on-demand content and follow up with registrants who couldn’t attend live.

Mute notifications and close unrelated tabs before you start — a stray notification sound or popup during a screen share undercuts an otherwise professional session.

If you’re presenting to more than a handful of people, ask a colleague to help — one person presents, the other monitors chat and technical issues so nothing gets missed.

Explore more: more small business tech guides.

free webinar hosting FAQs

Can I really run a professional-looking webinar for free?

Yes. A free Google Meet or Zoom call handles the live video, a free Google Form handles registration, and free tools like OBS Studio or StreamYard handle streaming and recording if you want it public. The main tradeoffs are time limits, participant caps on video-call platforms, and a watermark on some free streaming tools.

What’s the best free option if I expect more than 100 attendees?

Stream instead of video-calling. Set up a YouTube Live stream (free, no attendee cap) and produce it with OBS Studio or StreamYard’s free plan rather than trying to fit everyone into a Zoom or Google Meet call.

How do I handle Q&A without paid webinar software?

On Zoom or Google Meet, use the built-in chat and hand-raise features. On a YouTube Live stream, monitor YouTube’s live chat and read questions aloud, or ask viewers to submit questions ahead of time through your registration form.