I wrote an article a while back on a free alternative to Webex and GotoMeeting. I talked about a pretty cool and effective site for holding web meetings called MeetingBurner.
Since I wrote the article, there have been changes to the pricing structure at MeetingBurner, so I wanted to see whether it's still the best option.
I found a few interesting results.
Meeting Burner has now gone to a Freemium model
The folks over at MeetingBurner have moved from a completely free setup to a Freemium model. That means there's still a level of free service (15 people Edit: Reduced to 10), but if you want more there's now a fee associated with it.
Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.
~ Dr. Seuss
Why did they start charging?
The reason for charging once they came out of Beta is pretty straight forward. If MeetingBurner didn't start asking for money, they'd be out of business.
Free forever is a tough model, unless you advertise like crazy and data mine every shred of info your clients give you like Google does.
It's also really expensive to host and transfer large amounts of audio and especially video.
I get it.
The only thing we can count on is Death, Taxes, and Expensive web meetings.
~ Kevin Achtzener
So this leads us to a big question…
Is MeetingBurner still #1?
Is the new pricing model a deal breaker?
Not necessarily.
Sorry for the wishy-washy answer, but although you can't cram 50 people into a web meeting for free anymore, the “new” free option still allows 15 people.
For a lot of small businesses, a web meeting with 15 lines will still do the job. It also lets you test the system out for free, so if you're part of a larger organization, you can play around before showing it off to your boss.
Tip: A freemium model means you can open an account at home and use it to practice if you have a big presentation coming up.
I think MeetingBurner is still a good option for small meetings. The pricing is reasonable too if you eventually need more space, so it's worth checking out.
What about new alternatives?
If you're interested in what else is out there I have some good news for you.
My Monday (July 2, 2012) post will be on 3 technologies you can use to host web meetings.
I'll let you know about it if you're signed up to receive updates, or you bookmark this page and check back.
I know the post is a year old, but I thought I would point out MeetingBurnder Free option only allows 10 people now, instead of 15.
Thanks for letting my know Brian. I’ll update the post. Cheers!
My primary issue with MeetingBurner is that you cannot do 2-way video conferencing on any of their accounts. The presenter can stream from their webcam, but the presenter cannot see any of the attendees. That makes it a tough sell to a small virtual team that wants to be able to see everyone, not just the presenter.