Is Cvent or Riverside better?

Neither clearly leads. Cvent starts at $10000/month and Riverside at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Cvent or Riverside?

Riverside has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $10000/month for Cvent and Free for Riverside.

Does Cvent or Riverside run on more platforms?

Cvent runs on Web, Mobile. Riverside runs on Web, Ios, Android, Desktop.

Can I use Riverside for free?

Yes. Riverside has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Cvent starts at $10000/month.

What is Cvent best used for?

Cvent is most often used for event planning, ticket sales, attendee management, virtual events. Of those, event planning and ticket sales are not what Riverside is typically brought in for.

What can Cvent do that Riverside cannot?

Cvent covers Event registration, Venue sourcing, Attendee management, Mobile event app. Riverside covers Local recording, 4K video capture, Separate audio tracks, AI transcription. Both handle Web support, Ios support.

Webinars · head to head

Cvent vs Riverside

Cvent

Webinars

Event technology for every event

From: $10000/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Riverside

Webinars

Studio-quality remote podcast and video recording

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Riverside has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Cvent high cost prohibitive for small organizations and nonprofits; Riverside the free plan gives a single one off 2 hours of recording rather than a monthly allowance
They diverge on capability: Cvent covers Event registration, Riverside covers Local recording.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cvent and Riverside actually diverge.

Attributes where Cvent and Riverside differ
Attribute	Cvent	Riverside
Starting price	$10000/month	Free
Pricing model	Unknown	subscription
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web, Mobile	Web, Ios, Android, Desktop
Founded	1999	2020

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Webinars).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Cvent

Event registration
Venue sourcing
Attendee management
Mobile event app
Event marketing
Salesforce
Marketo
Microsoft Dynamics

Only in Riverside

Local recording
4K video capture
Separate audio tracks
AI transcription
Magic Editor
Live streaming
Zoom
YouTube

Both cover

Web support
Ios support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Cvent

Event planningnot Riverside
Ticket salesnot Riverside
Attendee managementnot Riverside
Virtual eventsnot Riverside
Event marketingnot Riverside

Riverside

Recording remote podcast and video interviews in local quality per participantnot Cvent
Producing multi track recordings for editing after the sessionnot Cvent

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Cvent

High cost prohibitive for small organizations and nonprofits
Complex modular pricing makes budgeting difficult

Riverside

The free plan gives a single one off 2 hours of recording rather than a monthly allowance
Free exports are capped at 720p, so remote recording quality is the paid feature
Separate track recording is metered monthly, at 5 hours on Pro and 15 on Grow
Downloadable separate tracks are metered on a different allowance again, at 15, 20 and 25 hours
Removing all time limits requires the Webinar plan at $79 a month or a custom Business contract

Pricing, plan by plan

Cvent

$10000/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Cvent review.

Riverside

Free

FreeFree
- 2 hours of multi-track recordings (one-time)
- Up to 720p video quality
- 44.1 kHz audio quality
Pro$29/month
- 5 hours per month of multi-track recordings
- Up to 4K video quality
- 48kHz audio quality
Grow$39/month
- 15 hours per month of multi-track recordings
- Everything in Pro plus
- Social media scheduling
Webinar$99/month
- Everything in Grow plus
- Webinar hosting (up to 100 registrants)
- Pre-record & stream as live

Which should you pick?

Choose Cvent if

You need event registration.
You work on Web, Mobile.
You also want venue sourcing.

Cvent review

Choose Riverside if

You need local recording.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Ios, Android, Desktop.
You also want 4k video capture.

Riverside review

Questions people ask

Is Cvent or Riverside better?: Neither clearly leads. Cvent starts at $10000/month and Riverside at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cvent or Riverside?: Riverside has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $10000/month for Cvent and Free for Riverside.
Does Cvent or Riverside run on more platforms?: Cvent runs on Web, Mobile. Riverside runs on Web, Ios, Android, Desktop.
Can I use Riverside for free?: Yes. Riverside has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Cvent starts at $10000/month.
What is Cvent best used for?: Cvent is most often used for event planning, ticket sales, attendee management, virtual events. Of those, event planning and ticket sales are not what Riverside is typically brought in for.
What can Cvent do that Riverside cannot?: Cvent covers Event registration, Venue sourcing, Attendee management, Mobile event app. Riverside covers Local recording, 4K video capture, Separate audio tracks, AI transcription. Both handle Web support, Ios support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cvent: Does Cvent offer a free trial or demo?

Cvent does not list pricing on its website but offers customized demos and evaluations. No free trial is publicly available.

Source

Riverside: How much does Riverside Pro cost?

Riverside Pro costs $29/month (monthly) or $24/month when paid annually ($288/year). It includes 5 hours of multi-track recordings per month, 4K video, 48kHz audio, no watermark, teleprompter, 1 studio, and podcast hosting.

Source

Cvent: What modules are available?

Core modules include Registration, Attendee Hub, OnArrival, event app, badge printing, and real-time reporting. Additional modules can be added based on event needs.

Source

Riverside: What are the recording hour limits for Riverside plans?

Free plan: 2 hours total. Pro: 5 hours/month. Grow: 15 hours/month. Webinar: 15 hours/month. Business: unlimited. Download limits range from 15-25 hours depending on plan, except Business which is unlimited.

Source

Cvent: Does it support virtual and hybrid events?

Yes. Cvent Event Management supports in-person, virtual, and hybrid events with integrated registration, attendee engagement, and reporting across all formats.

Source

Riverside: How many studios are included in each Riverside plan?

Free: 0 studios. Pro: 1 studio. Grow: 2 studios. Webinar: 3 studios. Business: unlimited studios.

Source

Cvent: How much does it cost?

Cvent pricing starts at $10,000 per month and scales to $100,000+ for enterprise deployments, with costs based on selected modules and event volume. Exact pricing requires a sales consultation.

Source

Riverside: Does Riverside offer webinar hosting?

Yes, webinar hosting is available starting at the Webinar plan ($99/month or $79/month annually). It supports up to 100 registrants, with the Business plan supporting up to 10,000 registrants.

Source

Cvent vs Riverside

Cvent

Riverside

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Cvent

Only in Riverside

Both cover

What people use each for

Cvent

Riverside

Where each one falls short

Cvent

Riverside

Pricing, plan by plan

Cvent

Riverside

Which should you pick?

Choose Cvent if

Choose Riverside if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Cvent

More on Riverside

Keep looking

Other head to heads