About

Kaltura offers a variety of live, interactive, and broadcast environments designed to fit different event styles.

Use this quick-reference guide to match your specific event goals with the right Kaltura event or session configuration.

Understanding Kaltura's platforms

Platform	What it's typically used for
Kaltura Virtual Events	Large-scale virtual event platform for conferences, summits, expos, and multi-session events
Kaltura Webinars	Webinar-focused experience for presentation-style sessions and audience engagement
Content Hubs	Media repository with collaboration spaces used for ongoing meetings, webinars, channels, and live broadcasts
Kaltura Room	The live meeting and collaboration experience used across Content Hubs, Kaltura Webinars, and Kaltura Virtual Events

Which event type matches your goal?

I want a persistent space where my team can jump in and collaborate whenever they want. 

You need a Channel Room in Content Hubs.

• Best for: Ongoing collaboration, regular drop-in team meetings, or continuous training workshops.
• How it works: Unlike standard scheduled events that expire after a set time, a Channel Room remains permanently attached to a specific media channel. It is always open, completely reusable, and saves your settings for the next time your team drops in.
• Capacity: Up to 100 in Interactive mode (25–30 on stage) or up to 300 in Webinar mode (up to 10 on stage).

For more information, see Create a Kaltura Room within a channel in Content Hubs

I want to host an interactive session where everyone can turn on their cameras and chat.

You need a Kaltura Room in Interactive mode in Content Hubs or an Interactive Session in Kaltura Virtual Events.

• Best for: Team meetings, collaborative brainstorming, workshops, and virtual classrooms.
• How it works: This option provides a traditional, highly collaborative meeting feel. Every attendee joins the room as an active participant with direct access to their camera, microphone, and screen-sharing tools from the moment they enter.
• Capacity: Up to 100 total participants, with 25–30 actively visible on screen at once.

For more information, see:

• Create a Kaltura Room and start a meeting in Content Hubs
• Launch an Interactive Room session and enter the Kaltura Room

I want to run a presentation or town hall where only a few speakers are on screen.

You need a Kaltura Room in Webinar mode in Content Hubs or a Kaltura Webinar.

• Best for: Online seminars, structured company town halls, and executive presentations.
• How it works: This mode keeps your presentation structured and secure. Attendees join automatically as view-only audience members (viewers). Meanwhile, your pre-approved speakers, presenters, and moderators join as participants who can take the live stage with their cameras and microphones.
• Capacity: Up to 300 total participants, with up to 10 presenters on stage.

For more information, see:

• Create a Kaltura Room and start a meeting in Content Hubs
• Create a Kaltura webinar

I want to stream a highly produced broadcast with professional graphics and multiple hosts.

The right option depends on where you're hosting the event. In Content Hubs, you need Live Studio. In Kaltura Virtual Events, you need Webcast Studio.

• Best for: Keynotes, produced panels, and high-production value marketing events.
• How it works:
  • If you are in Content Hubs, use Live Studio. It provides a dedicated virtual production environment to manage hosts and external RTMP streams smoothly.
  • If you are running a multi-session Virtual Event, use Kaltura Webcast Studio. It is designed to ingest a high-quality stream from a professional encoder (like OBS) and reliably broadcast it to a massive audience.
• Capacity: Live Studio supports around 30 presenters and scales large for viewers; Webcast Studio supports up to 1,000 view-only participants.

For more information, see:

• Introduction to Live Studio in Content Hubs
• Kaltura webcast studio for Live webcasts

I want to run a simple webcast with production and storyboard tools.

You need a Kaltura Studio Room for DIY live webcasts in Kaltura Virtual Events.

• Best for: Studio-style live productions managed by a single user or a small team.
• How it works: This room acts as a "producer-lite" environment. It gives you access to built-in storyboard timelines and production tools directly within the interface, allowing you to orchestrate the flow of your live event without needing heavy external broadcasting software.
• Capacity: Typically up to 30 total participants, with up to 25 allowed on screen.

For more information, see Kaltura Studio room for DIY live webcasts

I want to stream a pre-recorded presentation as a live event.

Yes, you want a Pre-recorded Live session in Kaltura Virtual Events.

• Best for: "Simulive" broadcasts, pre-taped keynotes, and time-zone-optimized event replays.
• How it works: You upload a pre-recorded video file and schedule it to broadcast at a specific date and time. To your audience, the video streams exactly like a live broadcast. This removes the stress of live technical management or speaker scheduling during the actual event.
• Capacity: Large-scale, view-only broadcast.

For more information, see Create a Pre-recorded live session

I want to host a virtual event with a huge crowd but only a tiny handful of speakers.

You need a Large-scale Room in Kaltura Virtual Events.

• Best for: Major event keynotes with large virtual audiences.
• How it works: This room type is specifically optimized to prioritize stream stability for very large, view-only audiences. It strictly caps the number of available slots on the live stage to keep performance seamless.
• Capacity: Up to 1,000 view-only participants, with a maximum of 5 presenters on stage.

For more information, contact your Kaltura representative.

I want to build a custom interactive room inside my own application.

You need an Interactive Room via API.

• Best for: Developers looking to integrate tailored video collaboration tools directly into a proprietary app or website.
• How it works: This solution allows you to programmatically deploy Kaltura's core interactive room technology into your own software environment, tailored to your organization's exact workflows.
• Capacity: Up to 100 participants, with up to 25 on stage.

For more information, contact your Kaltura representative.

Choose the right experience by audience size

Audience size	Recommended options
Up to 30 participants	Kaltura Room – Interactive mode, Live Studio -External broadcast
Up to 100 participants	Kaltura Room – Interactive mode
Up to 300 participants	Kaltura Room for Webinars / Kaltura Room – Webinar mode
Up to 1,000 participants	Large-scale room (contact your Kaltura representative)
Large-scale view-only broadcasts	Live webcast, Pre-recorded live session

Collaboration and engagement features

Once you've selected your room type, your chosen experience includes the specific interaction tools you need:

Feature	Available in
Chat, Q&A, crowd and attendee reactions, updates, interactions	Available across almost all live formats via the built-in Chat & Collaboration (C&C) widget
Breakout rooms	Interactive Rooms / Interactive Sessions
Whiteboard and collaboration tools	Interactive Rooms
Storyboard tools	DIY live broadcast / Live Studio

FAQs

What’s the difference between viewers and participants?

• Participants have camera and microphone access and can join the stage.
• Viewers watch the session without stage access.

What’s the difference between Interactive Rooms and Interactive Sessions?

• Interactive rooms are standalone Kaltura Rooms created in Content Hubs for meetings, workshops, classes, and collaborative sessions.
• Interactive sessions use the same collaborative room experience as Interactive Rooms, but are managed as part of a Kaltura Event and integrated into the event site, agenda, and speaker workflows.

What’s the difference between webcast and studio experiences?

• Webcast experiences are audience-facing broadcasts.
• Studio experiences are production environments used to run and manage broadcasts.

What’s the difference between Interactive mode and Webinar mode?

• In Interactive rooms, participants typically join directly on stage.
• In Webinar rooms, attendees join as viewers while presenters/moderators join as participants.

What’s the difference between persistent rooms and scheduled events?

• Most live events are scheduled experiences created for a specific date and time.
• Channel Rooms are different because they remain attached to a channel and can be reused continuously for ongoing collaboration.

What’s the difference between Kaltura Webinars and Kaltura Virtual Events?

• Kaltura Webinars are focused, single-session events for individual, presentation-style sessions - essentially online seminars.
• Kaltura Virtual Events is the full event platform designed to run entire multi-session or multi-day experiences.