Can a webinar be pre-recorded? Yes: simulive, automated and evergreen

Can a webinar be pre-recorded? Yes, in three formats

Yes. A webinar can be pre-recorded, and the three formats are called simulive, automated and evergreen. EasyWebinar defines a simulive webinar as a pre-recorded presentation that plays at a scheduled time while attendees interact in real time through chat, Q&A, polls and offers. Its FAQ calls an automated webinar pre-recorded, running on a schedule with polls, calls to action and follow-up automation. Its evergreen page says the recording runs repeatedly, on a schedule or on demand.

EasyWebinar runs simulive, automated and evergreen webinars from its Growth plan, and on its simulive sessions only the presentation is recorded while real people answer questions. EasyWebinar vs Zoom Webinars sets that against Zoom's route.

Simulive: a recording at a set time with live chat

A simulive session starts by itself at the scheduled time. Your team answers the chat and nobody has to present, per EasyWebinar's simulive page. The help center describes two ways to take questions: default Q&A sends each question to the email address in your webinar settings, and live chat lets you join as a moderator and talk with attendees in real time.

The schedule can be a single day or every day, and the help center advises keeping it simple. The recording can be a session you ran live on EasyWebinar, which is recorded automatically, or an MP4 uploaded from Zoom or any other tool.

Automated and evergreen: a recording on a schedule

Evergreen sessions run again and again with no presenter. EasyWebinar's evergreen page lists sessions in each attendee's local time zone, just-in-time starts every 15 to 60 minutes, where a visitor joins the next session, and instant replay, which gives a new registrant the replay at once. Simulive runs at set times that attendees join together; evergreen follows the attendee's clock.

The help center says you can enter a running automated session and talk with attendees. The build steps are in how to create an evergreen webinar; best evergreen webinar software lists more tools.

Which tools and plans can play a recording

Launch has no automated, simulive or evergreen webinars, so a recording needs EasyWebinar Growth or above. EverWebinar is WebinarJam's companion product for automated webinars. Every price in the table was read on October 23, 2026, and names its billing basis.

Zoom lists pre-recorded sessions on Webinars Plus and Events, not on its standard Webinars tier, and its cards require a separate Zoom Workplace Pro plan.

Pick EasyWebinar for simulive and evergreen in one account, Zoom Webinars Plus if your team already runs on Zoom, and EverWebinar for automated sessions only. EasyWebinar's pricing page includes a 7-day full-access trial with every plan and no upfront subscription charge. A valid card is required. The plan you select starts after the trial unless you cancel before the trial ends.

Telling attendees the session is recorded

Say plainly that the session is a recording. EverWebinar's pricing page says you do not need to pretend you are presenting live. EasyWebinar's help center documents simulated chat, pre-written messages shown during an automated webinar as if they were happening live, so label the session and keep customer results out of scripted chat.

The FTC's rules cover testimonials. 16 CFR 255.2(b) says an endorsement will likely be read as typical of what consumers will generally achieve, and 16 CFR 465.2(a) bars a business from writing or selling a testimonial that materially misrepresents, for example, that the writer used the product (eCFR, content as of October 21, 2026). This is not legal advice.