ON24 vs BigMarker (2026): Which Fits Automated Webinars?

Last updated 2026-10-04 · By the BrightStage AI team

Quick answer: ON24 and BigMarker are both built for B2B marketing teams running webinars at scale. ON24 leans toward lead-generation analytics and engagement scoring; BigMarker adds heavy customization and dedicated automated or evergreen replay modes. Neither is designed so an AI writes, presents, and sells an entire event with nobody present — that is the specific job BrightStage AI Events is built for.

What ON24 Is Built For

ON24 is widely known as a B2B marketing webinar platform, built around lead capture, engagement scoring, and integration with marketing automation and CRM systems like Marketo or Eloqua. Its strength is turning webinar activity into data that sales and marketing teams can act on: who attended, what they clicked, how engaged they were.

ON24 also offers simulive-style formats, where a pre-recorded video plays on a schedule while a real host or team monitors chat and answers questions live. That reduces some of the pressure of a fully live event, but a person is still expected to be present watching the chat. For current feature details and pricing, check ON24's current site.

What BigMarker Is Built For

BigMarker is known for deep customization — white-label branding, embeddable webinar rooms, and support for large virtual summits and conferences alongside standard webinars. It is a flexible platform that many event and marketing teams use when they want the webinar experience to look and feel like their own product.

BigMarker is one of the few established platforms that explicitly markets automated and evergreen webinar modes, where a recorded session plays back on a recurring schedule as if it were live. That puts it closer to "runs without a host" than most webinar tools on this list. Whether its automated mode includes an AI that writes the presentation or answers questions live is a detail that changes often — check BigMarker's current features before assuming.

How Does ON24 Compare to BigMarker for Automated Webinars?

Both platforms share the same core audience: B2B marketing teams running demand-generation webinars, often at volume, often tied to a funnel. Where they differ is in posture toward "automated" delivery.

ON24's simulive format is designed to look live, but the expectation is still that a host or team is watching chat in real time. BigMarker's automated and evergreen modes go a step further by explicitly supporting unattended, scheduled playback. Neither platform is built around an AI that generates the sales script, builds the slides, and performs the presentation itself — that is a different category of product, which is where tools like BrightStage AI Events fit.

ON24 vs BigMarker vs BrightStage AI Events

Does ON24 Run Webinars Without a Host?

ON24's core design assumes a presenter or team is involved, even in its simulive format where the video is pre-recorded but chat is monitored live. This makes sense for its audience: large B2B marketing teams who want detailed engagement data to feed into sales workflows, and who generally have staff available to watch chat during each session.

ON24 is not built around an AI that writes the presentation and delivers it on its own. If the goal is a webinar that truly requires nobody present — not even someone watching chat — ON24's model assumes a different starting point.

Does BigMarker's Automated Mode Replace a Host?

BigMarker's automated and evergreen modes come closer to unattended delivery than most comparable platforms, since the video can run on a schedule without a live presenter. This is a genuine strength if the goal is to stop running the same live session over and over.

What BigMarker's automated mode does not claim to do, based on its public positioning, is generate the sales presentation itself or run a live-feeling AI conversation with each attendee in the room. It plays back a recording; it does not write or perform one. For specifics on how its automated features currently work, check BigMarker's current site.

When Does Neither ON24 Nor BigMarker Fit?

Both platforms are strong for what they're built for: ON24 for data-driven B2B lead generation, BigMarker for customizable and automated-capable webinar delivery at scale. Neither is built around a single idea — that an AI can write the sales presentation, perform it with a chosen avatar and voice, and run the entire event start to finish with no host present, live or recorded by a human at all.

That is the specific gap BrightStage AI Events fills. An AI writes the script and slides, turns it into a video with an AI presenter, and the event runs on a schedule or on demand, around the clock. In the room, an AI answers attendee questions in chat in real time, polls appear, and offer buttons show up at the moments the host set in advance. The room plays like a live event — attendees can't skip ahead — and a replay is saved as an Encore.

If the event needs someone available to run or monitor it, ON24 or BigMarker are reasonable starting points. If the event needs to run completely on its own, with an AI doing the writing, presenting, and selling, see an AI-run event to understand how that works in practice. The AI Events guide covers the broader category if this is a new idea.

Customer examples BrightStage AI shares publicly include Sportscard Official, which moved from selling $1 cards on eBay to $800 cards on its own site, ReAction TM, which ran more than 20 autonomous events with zero ad spend, and The Legacy Partners, which sells homes using private digital tours hosted in BrightStage AI.

For related comparisons, see GoToWebinar vs BigMarker, Demio vs BigMarker, and how to turn a live webinar recording into an AI-run evergreen event.

Key takeaways

• ON24 is built for B2B marketing teams who want deep lead-generation data and engagement scoring; it assumes a host or team is present, even in simulive mode.
• BigMarker is built for customizable, often white-label webinars and virtual events, with automated and evergreen modes that come closer to unattended delivery than most comparable platforms.
• Neither platform is built around an AI that writes the sales presentation, performs it with a chosen avatar and voice, and runs the whole event with nobody present.
• BrightStage AI Events is built specifically for that job: AI-written script and slides, an AI presenter, real-time AI chat, timed offers, and an Encore replay, all running on a schedule or on demand.
• If a team needs detailed lead-scoring analytics or heavy white-label customization today, ON24 or BigMarker may be the better near-term fit — check each vendor's current site for specifics.
• If the goal is an event that requires no host at any point, BrightStage AI Events is the more direct tool for that specific outcome.