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Webinars · head to head

Microsoft Teams Live Events vs Sessions

Microsoft Teams Live Events logo

Microsoft Teams Live Events

Webinars

Enterprise live event and webinar platform by Microsoft

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
S

Sessions

Communication

Meetings and webinars with a prepared agenda, interactive blocks and a recorded outcome

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Microsoft Teams Live Events teams live events retired on June 30, 2026, and only events scheduled before that date remain supported through February 28, 2027; Sessions it will not replace Microsoft Teams or Google Meet for everyday internal calls, so most buyers end up paying for two conferencing tools and asking staff to know which one to open.
  • They diverge on capability: Microsoft Teams Live Events covers Live Q&A, Sessions covers Agenda blocks.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Microsoft Teams Live Events and Sessions actually diverge.

Attributes where Microsoft Teams Live Events and Sessions differ
AttributeMicrosoft Teams Live EventsSessions
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer user per month
PlatformsWindows, Mac, IOS, Android, WebWeb
CategoryWebinarsCommunication
Founded1975Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Microsoft Teams Live Events

  • Live Q&A
  • Attendee engagement
  • RTMP support
  • Recording
  • Microsoft 365 integration
  • Microsoft 365
  • Azure
  • SharePoint

Only in Sessions

  • Agenda blocks
  • Embedded apps
  • Webinars and registration
  • Recording and transcript
  • Resource library
  • Breakout rooms
  • Scheduling links
  • Browser-based

What people use each for

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

Microsoft Teams Live Events

  • One to many broadcast of company town halls to large internal audiencesnot Sessions
  • Streaming an externally produced RTMP feed from a hardware encoder to Teams viewersnot Sessions

Sessions

  • A sales team running the same product demo dozens of times a month that wants the agenda, the deck, the poll and the follow-up questions to be one reusable object rather than rebuilt each time.not Microsoft Teams Live Events
  • A trainer delivering a recurring workshop where breakouts, exercises and materials need to run in a fixed order without the host juggling tabs live.not Microsoft Teams Live Events
  • A customer success team running onboarding sessions that must produce a consistent record of what was covered and what the customer asked.not Microsoft Teams Live Events
  • A small company running public webinars that needs registration, reminders, attendance data and a recording without buying a separate webinar platform alongside its meeting tool.not Microsoft Teams Live Events

Where each one falls short

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

Microsoft Teams Live Events

  • Teams live events retired on June 30, 2026, and only events scheduled before that date remain supported through February 28, 2027
  • Microsoft directs users to the separate unified Teams events experience instead
  • Organizers must use the Teams web client to schedule a live event; scheduling is not available in the desktop client
  • Users cannot schedule meetings or live events when offline or running with limited bandwidth
  • Keeping internal broadcast traffic off the corporate network requires an eCDN, either Microsoft's own or a certified partner such as Hive, Kollective or Ramp

Sessions

  • It will not replace Microsoft Teams or Google Meet for everyday internal calls, so most buyers end up paying for two conferencing tools and asking staff to know which one to open.
  • The vendor is small and European, competing directly against Zoom and Microsoft, so any team standardising a customer-facing process on it should keep an exit plan and export recordings regularly.
  • The preparation model that makes it good is also overhead; a meeting nobody had time to structure runs no better in Sessions than anywhere else, and teams that will not prepare get no benefit from the licence.
  • Lifetime deals sold through AppSumo mean a segment of the user base pays nothing recurring, which shapes support priorities and has previously produced friction when plan terms changed.
  • It is browser-only, which keeps participation frictionless but leaves it more exposed to browser and network conditions than a native client, and there is no desktop application to fall back on when a call misbehaves.

Pricing, plan by plan

Microsoft Teams Live Events

Free
  • Microsoft Teams FreeFree
    • Up to 300 participants
    • Live events
  • Microsoft 365 Business Basic$6/month
    • Enhanced live events
    • 10000 attendees
  • Microsoft 365 Business Standard$12.5/month
    • Advanced features
    • Unlimited events

Sessions

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Meetings with agenda blocks
    • Limited participants and storage
    • Basic recording
  • Solo$undefined/month
    • For a single host
    • Longer meetings and higher attendee limits
    • Registration pages
  • Business$undefined/month
    • Multiple hosts and shared resource library
    • Higher attendee limits
    • Branding and custom registration
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Unlimited participants
    • Custom integrations
    • White labelling

Which should you pick?

Choose Microsoft Teams Live Events if

  • You need live q&a.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Mac, IOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want attendee engagement.
Microsoft Teams Live Events review

Choose Sessions if

  • You need agenda blocks.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want embedded apps.
Sessions review

Questions people ask

Is Microsoft Teams Live Events or Sessions better?
Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Teams Live Events starts at Free and Sessions at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Microsoft Teams Live Events or Sessions?
Microsoft Teams Live Events starts at Free and Sessions at Free.
Does Microsoft Teams Live Events or Sessions run on more platforms?
Microsoft Teams Live Events runs on Windows, Mac, IOS, Android, Web. Sessions runs on Web.
Can I use Microsoft Teams Live Events for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Microsoft Teams Live Events best used for?
Microsoft Teams Live Events is most often used for one to many broadcast of company town halls to large internal audiences, streaming an externally produced rtmp feed from a hardware encoder to teams viewers. Of those, one to many broadcast of company town halls to large internal audiences and streaming an externally produced rtmp feed from a hardware encoder to teams viewers are not what Sessions is typically brought in for.
What can Microsoft Teams Live Events do that Sessions cannot?
Microsoft Teams Live Events covers Live Q&A, Attendee engagement, RTMP support, Recording. Sessions covers Agenda blocks, Embedded apps, Webinars and registration, Recording and transcript.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Sessions: Is Sessions still operating?

Yes. It is an active Bucharest-based company with a New York presence, founded in 2020, still shipping product in 2026.

Sessions: Does it replace Zoom?

For structured external calls, demos, workshops and webinars, yes. For everyday internal meetings most teams keep Teams or Meet alongside it.

Sessions: Is there a free plan?

Yes, with limits on participants, meeting length and storage. Paid plans are published on the vendor site and billed annually.

Sessions: Who funded it?

Roughly 9 million euros in total, about half from the founder personally, with EarlyBird, LAUNCHub and Stride making up the rest.

Sessions: Can participants join without installing anything?

Yes, it runs in the browser with no client install for attendees.

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