Crowdcast review: $49 a month for Lite, and no free plan
Crowdcast is the webinar platform built for creators who sell tickets, and it asks you to pay before you can run a real event. Our check of crowdcast.io on 1 October 2026 recorded Lite at $49 a month, Pro at $89 and Business at $195, with a 14-day trial and no free plan.
The short answer
Buy Crowdcast Buy Crowdcast Lite if you run a recurring live series and charge for some of it. Lite was $49 a month, or $34.30 a month billed annually, when we checked crowdcast.io/pricing on 1 October 2026, which is $588 or $411.60 across a year.
Skip it if you need an evergreen funnel that runs without you. Crowdcast has no automated webinar mode, and EverWebinar was $249 a year when we checked its pricing on 13 June 2026, four months ago, for exactly that job.
Where Crowdcast fits
Crowdcast fits the creator whose events are the product. One link carries registration, the live room and the replay, so an audience that found you through a newsletter never has to be taught a workflow. That single-URL habit is the thing regular hosts keep citing, because it removes the step where half an audience loses the joining link between registering and showing up.
The pricing is a flat monthly rate tiered by attendee cap, with no per-attendee charge, which our 1 October 2026 check recorded as Lite $49, Pro $89 and Business $195 a month. That shape suits a predictable audience and punishes nobody for a session that goes unexpectedly well.
Annual billing is a large discount here. The same check recorded $34.30 a month on Lite, $62.30 on Pro and $136.50 on Business when billed annually. On Lite that is $411.60 across a year against $588 at the monthly rate, so prepaying saved $176.40.
Monetisation is native rather than bolted on. Crowdcast sells tickets through Stripe and gates events by Patreon tier, so a paid workshop needs no separate checkout. Stripe's own processing fee of 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction still applies and is not part of the subscription.
There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial, and that is the single biggest difference between Crowdcast and the tools it competes with. You commit before you have run a public event, which is a harder ask than it looks when the entry tier is $49 a month. The trial also limits session length and live attendees, so what you test is the interface rather than the event.
Against the field Crowdcast sits in the middle on price and low on marketing depth. Livestorm charges €2.50 per attendee on Pro and keeps a permanent free plan, verified 1 October 2026. Demio was $63 a month on Starter on the same date with automated webinars on the tier above, and Airmeet was $199 a month on Premium Webinars, also verified 1 October 2026.
The figures here were verified on 1 October 2026 against crowdcast.io/pricing, so they are current rather than stale, and they are the numbers Crowdcast published that day. Overage terms above a plan's attendee cap are not in our snapshot, so confirm them before a launch. The webinar platforms category holds the alternatives.
Crowdcast pricing
Crowdcast charges a flat monthly rate per tier, capped by live attendees, with no per-attendee fee. The figures below come from our check of crowdcast.io/pricing on 1 October 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | $49/mo | $34.30/mo billed annually. The entry tier, lowest attendee cap |
| Pro | $89/mo | $62.30/mo billed annually. Multistreaming to an external platform |
| Business | $195/mo | $136.50/mo billed annually. The largest published attendee cap |
| Trial | $0 for 14 days | All features, time-limited. There is no permanent free plan |
Nothing here is quoted, so your cost is a choice between four tiers. Four things decide which one:
- Live attendee cap, which is the only thing separating the tiers. Lite at $49 a month is the smallest and Business at $195 the largest published ceiling.
- Billing period. Lite was $49 monthly against $34.30 billed annually on our 1 October 2026 check, which is $588 or $411.60 across a year.
- Whether you multistream. Simulcasting to an external platform sits on Pro at $89 a month rather than Lite.
- Whether you charge for entry. Ticketing runs through Stripe, so its 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction comes off the top of ticket revenue regardless of your tier.
- How often you run events. A flat rate rewards a weekly series and is poor value for an occasional one-off, because nothing scales down with usage.
Crowdcast pricing against the other webinar platforms
Crowdcast's $49 a month entry rate is at the cheaper end of the published band. Demio was $63 a month on Starter, verified 1 October 2026, and Airmeet $199 a month on Premium Webinars on the same date. Livestorm prices Pro at €2.50 per attendee, verified 1 October 2026, so a small session costs less there and a large one more. GoTo Webinar was $49 per organizer per month on Lite when we checked on 13 June 2026, four months ago, and that figure is per seat rather than per account.
Crowdcast billing terms worth knowing
The trial, not the price, is the commitment question here.
- Lite
- $49 per month, or $34.30 billed annually. $588 or $411.60 across a year.
- Pro
- $89 per month, or $62.30 billed annually. $1,068 or $747.60 across a year.
- Business
- $195 per month, or $136.50 billed annually. $2,340 or $1,638 across a year.
- Annual saving on Lite
- $176.40 across a year, from $49 against $34.30 a month.
- Free plan
- None. A 14-day trial on paid plans is the only way to test.
- Ticketing
- Stripe, so 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction applies on top.
- Check date
- 1 October 2026, against crowdcast.io/pricing.
Crowdcast is priced for someone running events on a schedule, and the annual rates reward exactly that. If your calendar is thinner than monthly, the flat rate works against you and a per-attendee meter will cost less. Our creator tool cost calculators will total a year of either shape.
What Crowdcast gives up
You give up the chance to test properly before paying. A 14-day trial with session and attendee limits is not a public event, and the step up from it is $49 a month on Lite as recorded on 1 October 2026.
There is no automated or evergreen webinar mode. If the plan is to record one strong session and let it sell for a year, EverWebinar was built for that and was $249 a year on its annual plan when we checked on 13 June 2026, four months ago.
Marketing automation is thin. There is no lead scoring and no native CRM depth, so attendance data reaches your pipeline through Zapier rather than directly, which is work you do rather than a feature you buy.
Overage terms above the attendee cap are not in our pricing snapshot. A session that draws more than your tier allows is exactly when you do not want an unknown charge, so get the current terms from Crowdcast before a launch.
Reliability has been a recurring complaint from hosts, and a live event is the worst place to discover it. Run your trial session at the time of day your audience shows up rather than at a quiet hour, and have a fallback link ready for the first paid event you sell tickets to.
The flat rate does not scale down. A quarter with one event costs the same as a quarter with twelve, so Livestorm at €2.50 per attendee, verified 1 October 2026, is the cheaper shape for an irregular calendar.
Stripe's processing fee comes out of ticket revenue on top of the subscription. At 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction that is small per ticket and not nothing across a paid series, and it belongs in the cost of the event rather than the cost of the tool.
How Crowdcast compares
The four platforms below are the ones weighed against Crowdcast, and the axis is a simple paid live event against marketing machinery. Every price is the vendor's own published rate with the date we checked it, and those dates differ, so read them with that in mind. The wider field sits in the webinar platforms category.
| Tool | Best for | Price | Where it breaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crowdcast | Recurring creator events with tickets at one URL | $49/mo Lite, $195/mo Business (October 2026) | No free plan and no automated webinars |
| Demio | Marketing webinars with conversion tracking | $63/mo Starter (October 2026) | Automated webinars sit above Starter |
| Livestorm | An irregular calendar, priced by turnout | €2.50 per attendee on Pro (October 2026) | A large session costs more than a flat rate would |
| Airmeet | Events where attendees network with each other | $199/mo Premium Webinars (October 2026) | The two larger tiers are quoted, not published |
What to test in the Crowdcast 14-day trial
There is no free plan, so the 14-day trial is the whole evaluation and it is time-limited. Our 1 October 2026 check recorded the trial on paid plans, with Lite at $49 a month after it.
- Confirm the current trial length and its session limits on crowdcast.io/pricing before you start the clock. Ours were recorded on 1 October 2026.
- Run the single-URL flow end to end: registration, live room and replay on one link. That habit is the reason regular hosts stay.
- Sell one ticket to yourself through Stripe and watch the money land, including the 2.9% plus $0.30 that Stripe takes per transaction.
- Test a multistream if that matters, remembering it sits on Pro at $89 a month rather than Lite.
- Ask Crowdcast what happens when you exceed your attendee cap, since our snapshot does not record the overage terms.
- Count your events per quarter. A flat $49 a month is good value weekly and poor value quarterly.
- Price the alternatives on your calendar shape. Livestorm at €2.50 per attendee, verified 1 October 2026, bills by turnout, and our cost calculators will total a year either way.
Crowdcast questions buyers ask
How much does Crowdcast cost per month?
Our check of crowdcast.io/pricing on 1 October 2026 recorded Lite at $49 a month, Pro at $89 a month and Business at $195 a month, with annual rates of $34.30, $62.30 and $136.50 a month respectively. On Lite that is $588 across a year monthly against $411.60 billed annually. Every tier is a flat rate capped by live attendees, with no per-attendee billing. The terms for exceeding your attendee cap are not in our snapshot, so confirm them with Crowdcast.
Does Crowdcast have a free plan or free trial?
Crowdcast does not have a permanent free plan. It offers a 14-day free trial that includes all features but limits sessions to 60 minutes and 10 live attendees. This is enough to test the platform's interface and workflow, but not enough to run a realistic public event. If you need a free webinar tool, Livestorm's free plan (unlimited webinars, 10 attendees, 20-minute sessions) is the closest alternative.
Who is Crowdcast best for?
Crowdcast is best for creators, educators, and community builders who host recurring live events and want a frictionless audience experience. It shines for paid workshops, live Q&As, interview series, and community events where attendee interaction matters. It is less suited for marketing teams that need lead scoring, automated follow-up sequences, or evergreen webinar funnels.
Crowdcast vs Livestorm: which is better?
Livestorm has a free plan, stronger marketing automation, a public API for custom integrations, and supports up to 3,000 attendees on higher tiers. Choose Crowdcast if you sell tickets to live events and want simplicity. Choose Livestorm if you need marketing analytics, larger scale, or a free starting point.
Can I charge for events on Crowdcast?
Yes. Crowdcast integrates directly with Stripe for paid event ticketing. You set a price during event setup, attendees pay at registration, and funds go to your Stripe account. You can also gate events by Patreon membership tier. This makes Crowdcast one of the easiest webinar platforms for monetizing live events without needing a separate ticketing or checkout tool.
Does Crowdcast require attendees to download software?
No. Crowdcast is completely browser-based for both hosts and attendees. Viewers click the event link and join directly in their web browser: no app download, no account creation, no plugin installation. This is one of Crowdcast's biggest advantages over platforms like Zoom or WebinarJam that require desktop software. There is also a mobile app available for iOS and Android, but it is optional.
What integrations does Crowdcast support?
Crowdcast integrates natively with Stripe (paid events), Patreon (membership-gated events), and connects to 750+ apps via Zapier for CRM updates, email automation, and other workflows. It does not have a public API for custom third-party integrations. If you need deep CRM or marketing platform connections, you will rely on Zapier as the middleman.
Can I multistream from Crowdcast to YouTube and Facebook?
Pro lets you simulcast to 1 external platform (YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitch, or any RTMP destination). Your interactive Crowdcast session (Q&A, polls, chat) continues running alongside the external streams.
Is Crowdcast worth the money?
Crowdcast is worth it if you host live events regularly (weekly or biweekly), monetize them through ticket sales, and value a clean browser-based experience for your audience. It is not worth it if you only host occasional webinars, need automated evergreen funnels, or require advanced marketing features: in those cases, Livestorm's free plan or Demio's marketing tools are better value.
Can I cancel Crowdcast anytime?
Yes. Crowdcast subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. Monthly plans end at the next billing date with no further charges. Annual plans are paid upfront and run until the end of the billing period, and there are no partial refunds for cancelling mid-year. Our 1 October 2026 pricing check does not record any nonprofit or education discount, so ask Crowdcast directly if you think you qualify for one.