GoToWebinar vs HCL Sametime comparison

GoTo and HCLSoftware are both solutions in the Virtual Meetings category. GoTo is ranked #17, while HCLSoftware is ranked #24. GoTo holds a 2.0% mindshare in VM, compared to HCLSoftware ’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of GoTo users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 75% of HCLSoftware users who would recommend it.

GoToWebinar

Read 8 GoToWebinar reviews

1,177 Views
1,142 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

HCL Sametime

Read 5 HCL Sametime reviews

972 Views
836 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

GoToWebinar

HCL Sametime

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

GoToWebinar and HCL Sametime compete in the web conferencing market. GoToWebinar often has the upper hand in pricing and support, while HCL Sametime stands out with its extensive feature set.

Features: GoToWebinar excels with automated emails, analytics integration, and seamless webinar management, making it the choice for straightforward webinar hosting. HCL Sametime offers robust security, persistent chat, and advanced video conferencing, favoring enterprises seeking collaboration capabilities.

Room for Improvement: GoToWebinar could enhance its comprehensive support, deployment versatility, and customization. HCL Sametime may improve on its initial investment requirements, ease of use for smaller organizations, and more seamless integration with non-IBM products.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HCL Sametime provides flexible deployment with tailored enterprise solutions and dedicated support. GoToWebinar offers quick cloud deployment and efficient, though less personalized, customer service, suitable for businesses prioritizing speed.

Pricing and ROI: GoToWebinar offers competitive pricing, attracting cost-conscious businesses with low upfront costs and rapid integration. HCL Sametime, while involving higher initial costs, promises significant ROI through its comprehensive tools and scalability, fitting for companies prioritizing long-term returns.

To learn more, read our detailed GoToWebinar vs. HCL Sametime Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

GoToWebinar vs. HCL Sametime

August 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

GoToWebinar

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

17th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

HCL Sametime

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

24th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of GoToWebinar is 2.0%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HCL Sametime is 1.5%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Meetings Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
GoToWebinar	2.0%
HCL Sametime	1.5%
Other	96.5%

Virtual Meetings

Featured Reviews

RITA Conroy-Martin

Director of Marketing at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees

Video library is a great tool and it enables good customization; feels a little antiquated and rusty

I like that recordings are available immediately, it's a great feature. I also appreciate being able to use the video library as a tool, and the integration of an API with other systems we have. We were able to build our own customer portal and then integrate into GoToWebinar with a seamless interface. People thought they were on our platform, but they were using GoToWebinar. Those are unique features that seemed to be very easy for our development team to integrate. I like that aspect of it. It also provides good visibility if somebody had seen a webinar that was useful. It's very easy to push them out. Registration is an easy process as is customization on the back end. We very rarely had technical issues running the webinars so it's a pretty robust platform overall.

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Bogdan Chechlowski

Kierownik Biura Informatyki at EIB SA

Stable product, communicate very fast and allows to see who's online in the office or work environment

It was used for communication through text messages, primarily Being able to see who was online and communicate very fast was a good feature. The security was quite good. However, when we tried to implement it for email at a high level, we had to use another solution, FortiMail Gateway. I view…

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"We use GoToWebinar to do live pitch webinars and sales webinars, we use it to create all of our courses as well, we do training courses and our business pretty much revolves around using this tool for most of what we do."

"This solution is very reliable. It is easy to switch between audio and microphone when using headphones."

"GoToWebinar polls help me quickly gauge, upfront, the audience’s interest in topics and their current level of knowledge."

"The interface is browser-based and simple, which is an advantage over other solutions."

"I can extract the activity and the attendance reports, along with every single question that was asked during the webinar, which is a feature that we highly value."

"Overall, this is a good product that is simple to use but I would rather use Webex for video conferencing."

"The most valuable feature is scheduling, which is quite simple and you can schedule a regular session with multiple occurrences."

"All of their features are good. They are more or less equivalent to the competition. There's less disturbance, less jitter, the voice is always good even at a low bandwidth."

More GoToWebinar pros

"Audio and video calls provide faster communication than chat."

"This solution saves time and cost in communicating with team members, streamlines tasks in my organization by encouraging us to chat directly with the relevant person, and strengthens professional relationships through increased communication among peers."

"The security was quite good."

"A very good communication and real-time collaboration software, it is simple, fast, reliable, keeps history and the best feature of all is its intelligence."

"I can view the status and availability of colleagues or team members, which makes it easy to approach them when they are available."

Cons

"It's a little pricier than the others."

"GoToWebinar would be improved with the inclusion of support for video endpoints."

"The platform feels old and a little rusty, more could be invested into the look and feel of it."

"The chat window and using polls is easier in Zoom than compared to GoToWebinar. Make it simpler and easier to publish polls on the fly would improve the solution."

"Some of my friends also use GoToWebinar to collect clients for affiliate marketing. In those cases, they found some features were missing with respect to some of the competition. And the worst part is the price."

"The sharing of cameras is limited to meeting organizers."

"In comparison, I don't feel that GoToWebinar has the range of customization and it feels quite antiquated in comparison to Teams."

"The technical support is quite bad."

"The webinar should be integrated into Sametime for a larger number of participants."

"It seems that the software might in the future, support the software telephony exchange but at the current time, it is not doing that and because of that one key feature of real-time communication is missing from it."

"It lacks some features compared to modern solutions. For example, it doesn't allow sending screenshots or other files."

"Sametime hangs sometimes and therefore needs to get restarted."

"The interface is too colorful and looks like Windows XP."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a monthly subscription and the price is quite expensive if you're not paying annually."

"This is a free solution."

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

15%

Outsourcing Company

12%

Government

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	2

No data available

Comparisons

Webex vs GoToWebinar

Compared 18% of the time

Zoom Workplace Business vs GoToWebinar

Compared 14% of the time

ReadyTalk vs GoToWebinar

Compared 9% of the time

PGi GlobalMeet vs GoToWebinar

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Teams vs GoToWebinar

Compared 8% of the time

More GoToWebinar Competitors

Skype for Business vs HCL Sametime

Compared 21% of the time

Webex vs HCL Sametime

Compared 16% of the time

TeamViewer vs HCL Sametime

Compared 12% of the time

Vidyo vs HCL Sametime

Compared 9% of the time

GoToMeeting vs HCL Sametime

Compared 9% of the time

More HCL Sametime Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

GoToWebinar

August 2026

Download GoToWebinar product report

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

August 2026

Download HCL Sametime product report

Also Known As

No data available

Lotus Sametime, IBM Lotus Sametime

Overview

GoToWebinar is a web conferencing tool that supports scheduling, recording, audience engagement, and reporting for webinars and training sessions.

Designed for hosting online meetings, GoToWebinar facilitates educational and training seminars with features like screen sharing and polls. It is recognized for its API integration and reliable performance, handling large audiences with ease. Users benefit from immediate access to recordings and simple registration processes, although some users find customization options limited and support lacking.

What are the key features of GoToWebinar?

Easy Scheduling: Offers recurring sessions and immediate availability of recordings.
Audience Engagement: Utilizes polls and quizzes to enhance interaction.
API Integration: Provides seamless connection to other tools.
Reliable Performance: Maintains clear audio even on low bandwidth.
Activity Reports: Extractable reports for analysis.
Browser-based Interface: Ensures a smooth experience with large audiences.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating GoToWebinar?

Enhanced Interaction: Features like drawing and polls boost engagement.
Efficient Communication: Supports both internal and external meetings.
Adaptability: Quickly adjusts to increased online activity.
User-friendly Environment: Customization and easy presenter switching.

In specific industries, GoToWebinar is widely used for hosting educational webinars and technical training sessions. Organizations integrate this tool for client and customer interactions, making it a preferred choice for companies adapting to remote operational needs during global shifts in digital communication.

GoTo

HCL Sametime offers streamlined team communication and collaboration tools essential for businesses looking to enhance productivity and connectivity in real-time environments.

HCL Sametime is crafted to facilitate instant messaging, video conferencing, and team collaboration, making it integral for businesses that depend on seamless internal and external communication. With its robust architecture, it supports multiple platforms and ensures a secure, scalable communication experience.

What features make HCL Sametime valuable?

Instant Messaging: Enables immediate text communication across the organization.
Video Conferencing: Facilitates real-time video meetings to boost collaboration.
Presence Awareness: Shows user availability to streamline communication efforts.
File Sharing: Allows easy exchange of documents and multimedia during meetings.
Cross-Platform Compatibility: Ensures accessibility on mobile, desktop, and web applications.

What benefits should users consider in reviews for HCL Sametime?

Cost Efficiency: Reviews highlight competitive pricing and reduced travel expenses.
Improved Collaboration: Enhances team cooperation through integrated communication tools.
Security: Offers encrypted communication ensuring data protection.
Scalability: Adapts to organizational growth with flexible deployment options.
Time Savings: Streamlines meeting setups and reduces email dependency.

HCL Sametime has broad application across industries such as healthcare, finance, and education, where reliable and secure communications are critical. Financial institutions leverage secure messaging for confidential discussions, while educational bodies use video conferencing for remote learning and collaboration.

HCLSoftware

Sample Customers

Avigilon Corporation, Bitdefender, British Library's Business & IP Centre, Business Wire, Clarity, Colt, Conversion Rate Experts, Cornerstone Home Lending Inc., DemandGen, DPR Construction

Connect2Cloud, Superior Group, Daifuku Co. Ltd., Seaward, The City of Fort Worth, Christian Brothers Services, Berlitz, Deutsche Notes User Group, Danske Fysioterapeuter, Slumberland, La Vacanza, Rheinmetall AG

Buyer's Guide

GoToWebinar vs. HCL Sametime

August 2026

Free Report: GoToWebinar vs. HCL Sametime

Find out what your peers are saying about GoToWebinar vs. HCL Sametime and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.

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