Wondering which virtual event tool to choose? In this post, we share our 2020 Adobe Connect review to help you make an informed decision.
We’ll start with our verdict. Adobe Connect has a no-frills interface. It has enough simple interactivity and sharing options to keep most basic users and attendees satisfied.
So, if you are hosting virtual webinars and meetings, our Adobe Connect review rates this is a good option.
If you are looking for a more tailored experience, we found for this review that Adobe Connect will fall far short of your business needs.
Why? Because Adobe Connect lacks more advanced features, uses dated interactivity, and as a result doesn’t serve as a longer term option. The lack of accessible Adobe Connect analytics also makes this option a difficult investment.
What types of events is Adobe Connect suited to?
Based on our Adobe Connect review, the platform is strongest as a virtual classroom.
Adobe Connect’s light interactivity and content sharing works well in webinars and virtual meetings. It allows speakers and moderators to quickly turn a traditional classroom setting into a virtual lesson for a global audience.
Our Adobe Connect review: features
Changing layout
While the options are very limited, with Adobe Connect you can quickly build and change several different layouts.
Adobe Connect allows you to easily move through them during a presentation. This is in contrast to a product like OBS, where building layers and layouts can be time-consuming.
Easy virtual
Our Adobe Connect review found that the tool easily allows you to gather a group of people and broadcast a basic live stream. Adobe Connect also lets you share on-demand documents, chat, and launch basic polling.
Flexible usage
There is no easy distinction between using the Adobe Connect browser interface or the app interface. There is no clear need or advantage with the Adobe Connect download.
The ability to use the Adobe Connect browser interface makes this option ideal for most applications.
Adobe Connect does require Flash Player plugin. This may be a barrier for many users.
Environment
In this Adobe Connect review, we tested both the web and desktop versions.
The Adobe Connect free download of their software is simple. The user’s experience is geared towards a browser interface. This may limit accessibility for users trying to engage with the content on a mobile device.
With Adobe Connect browser window or download, the webinars loaded robustly regardless of the operating system. This may be appealing to audiences accessing it on personal laptops or home computers.
For building the webinars or meetings, iOS users may struggle. The environment for setting up and configuring everything is not intuitive or user-friendly. Linking items together is not self-explanatory, nor as simple as building the layouts.
Support
Adobe Connect has a limited number of support articles in its Help option. The content it does provide is useful for some basic issues. However, for more complex issues, you need to go through a series of chatbot options before you can get support.
If you are building things in advance, then this support should be adequate. If you need a quick response, then you might be in trouble. If you need a lot of rapid live support, you should look to other solutions.
Overall Adobe Connect review
For setting up your meeting or webinar, Adobe Connect’s simplicity is its strength. The limited features are easy to use for moderators, speakers, and users.
For event app builders, the backend is much more complex. Finding how to create and link items is challenging without a lot of support. Not being able to add anything more than a simple background graphic to the meeting space may also be an issue. The requirement for both builders and users to download Adobe Flash may also be a problem.
Once you get past the backend configurations, Adobe Connect will largely meet your basic needs. But if you are looking to create a graphically rich and immersive user experience, then you will need to look for a different solution.
Adobe Connect pricing may also be an issue for smaller organizations.
What do other Adobe Connect reviews tell us?
Adobe Connect received a 4.1 out of 5 rating (552 reviews), from G2 in virtual classrooms and webinar software.
Here are the highest rated Adobe Connect features:
- Screen sharing – Virtual classroom
- File sharing – virtual classroom
- Session recording – virtual classroom
Here are the lowest rated Adobe Connect features:
- Technical support – virtual classroom
- Survey tools – virtual classroom
- Text chat – virtual classroom
Adobe Connect alternatives
According to G2, here are the main Adobe Connect competitors (all scores from G2):
- Zoom (4.5 out of 5)
- Cisco Webex Meetings (4.2 out of 5)
- Zoho Meeting (4.5 out of 5)
- Blackboard Collaborate (3.9 out of 5)
- Skype (4.3 out of 5)
Disclaimer: This review is provided by SpotMe. While we are a marketing event management software vendor, our reviews aim to help buyers make better informed decisions by providing honest feedback about the product being reviewed. SpotMe’s reviews are not used to deliberately promote or disparage any software vendor’ products and to the best of our knowledge the information contained herein is recent, relevant and objective.
