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Webinars · head to head

ON24 vs Totara

ON24 logo

ON24

Webinars

The digital engagement platform

From
$2000/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Totara logo

Totara

LMS

Open source learning, performance and collaboration platform derived from Moodle and sold through partners

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: ON24 the Internet Archive's capture of ON24's homepage on 1 January 2021 named five distinct platform tiers, Webcast Elite, Engagement Hub, Target, Intelligence, and Connect, but pointed visitors to a 'Find your pricing fit' quiz rather than publishing figures.; Totara you cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
  • They diverge on capability: ON24 covers Live webinars, Totara covers Organisational hierarchies.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ON24 and Totara actually diverge.

Attributes where ON24 and Totara differ
AttributeON24Totara
Starting price$2000/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android, Linux
CategoryWebinarsLMS
Founded1998Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 ON24

  • Live webinars
  • Virtual events
  • Engagement hub
  • AI-powered analytics
  • Content hubs
  • Salesforce
  • Marketo
  • Eloqua

Only in Totara

  • Organisational hierarchies
  • Compliance and certification
  • Totara Perform
  • Totara Engage
  • Self-hosting
  • Programs and learning plans

What people use each for

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

ON24

  • Event planningnot Totara
  • Ticket salesnot Totara
  • Attendee managementnot Totara
  • Virtual eventsnot Totara
  • Event marketingnot Totara

Totara

  • Health services and government bodies that must evidence mandatory training by job role across a large hierarchynot ON24
  • Organisations with data residency rules that require the platform to run on their own infrastructurenot ON24
  • Moodle users who need appraisal, competency and compliance features the academic product does not carrynot ON24
  • Buyers who want exit rights over the platform code rather than dependence on a single hosted vendornot ON24

Where each one falls short

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

ON24

  • The Internet Archive's capture of ON24's homepage on 1 January 2021 named five distinct platform tiers, Webcast Elite, Engagement Hub, Target, Intelligence, and Connect, but pointed visitors to a 'Find your pricing fit' quiz rather than publishing figures.

Totara

  • You cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
  • Open source does not mean cheap. Subscription plus partner hosting plus implementation and version upgrade services commonly lands near commercial system cost, and the saving is in control and exit rights rather than in the invoice.
  • The administrative interface carries its Moodle lineage and is dense, so administrator training is a real project cost rather than an afterthought.
  • Major version upgrades are projects, especially where a partner has customised the deployment, and organisations that customise heavily find upgrades slower and dearer over time.
  • The learner facing experience is functional rather than engaging, and organisations wanting a consumer grade learning experience usually front it with something else.

Pricing, plan by plan

ON24

$2000/month
  • Core$2000/month
    • Webinars
    • Engagement tools
    • Basic analytics
  • Professional$4000/month
    • Virtual events
    • Advanced analytics
    • Integrations
  • Enterprise$8000/month
    • Full platform
    • AI insights
    • Dedicated success manager

Totara

On request
  • Totara subscription via partner$undefined/year
    • Sold only through distribution partners
    • Partner sets hosting, implementation and support pricing
    • Source available under the GPL, but subscription required for supported releases

Which should you pick?

Choose ON24 if

  • You need live webinars.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want virtual events.
ON24 review

Choose Totara if

  • You need organisational hierarchies.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
  • You also want compliance and certification.
Totara review

Questions people ask

Is ON24 or Totara better?
Neither clearly leads. ON24 starts at $2000/month and Totara at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ON24 or Totara?
ON24 starts at $2000/month and Totara at On request.
Does ON24 or Totara run on more platforms?
ON24 runs on Web, Ios, Android. Totara runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
What is ON24 best used for?
ON24 is most often used for event planning, ticket sales, attendee management, virtual events. Of those, event planning and ticket sales are not what Totara is typically brought in for.
What can ON24 do that Totara cannot?
ON24 covers Live webinars, Virtual events, Engagement hub, AI-powered analytics. Totara covers Organisational hierarchies, Compliance and certification, Totara Perform, Totara Engage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Totara: Is Totara free because it is open source?

No. The source is available under the GPL, but supported releases require a subscription, and it is sold through partners who add hosting, implementation and support costs.

Totara: How is it different from Moodle?

Moodle is built around courses and academic delivery. Totara adds organisational hierarchies, role based automatic assignment, recurring certification and appraisal, which is what workplace compliance reporting needs.

Totara: Can we host it ourselves?

Yes. Self hosting is a genuine option and is one of the main reasons regulated and public sector buyers choose it over a hosted only competitor.

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