ON24 Porter's Five Forces Analysis
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Suppliers Bargaining Power
Cloud Infrastructure Providers
ON24 depends on Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure to host its event platform and handle peak streaming — switching would cost millions and months; a 2025 RightScale report shows 70% of enterprise cloud spend sits with AWS and Azure, concentrating supplier power.
Platform uptime and SLAs hinge on these providers; ON24’s availability risk rose after 2024 outages cost industry peers 0.5–1.2% revenue per incident, giving clouds leverage.
With cloud market share >60% for AWS+Azure in 2025 and enterprise price increases of ~8–12% YoY, suppliers hold strong pricing power over SaaS firms like ON24.
Content Delivery Networks
To ensure low-latency global streaming, ON24 relies on a few specialist content delivery network providers (CDNs) such as Akamai, Cloudflare, and Amazon CloudFront, whose combined market share exceeded 50% of edge traffic in 2024; this makes these suppliers essential for enterprise-quality events. Because only a handful can handle large-scale, global traffic, CDNs hold strong bargaining power, so a 10–20% price rise or service disruption would directly compress ON24’s gross margins and raise event delivery costs.
Software Engineering Talent
The market for AI, real-time comms, and data-analytics developers stayed tight through 2025, with US median software engineer pay rising 6.5% in 2024 to about $140,000 and specialized AI roles often commanding $180k+ total comp.
These skilled engineers are a critical supplier group for ON24; higher wage demands and mobility can raise R&D spend by an estimated 8–12% annually.
Scarcity of talent able to build integrated martech gives labor notable bargaining power, forcing ongoing investment in retention, upskilling, and competitive compensation packages.
Third-Party API and Integration Partners
ON24's value hinges on integrations with CRM/marketing platforms like Salesforce (market cap ~$220B, 2025), HubSpot (2024 revenue $2.5B), and Adobe Marketo; they supply the customer-data ecosystem that makes ON24 analytics actionable.
Those vendors control APIs and set terms; Salesforce’s dominant ~20% CRM market share (2024) gives it leverage to set access fees and rate limits that can force ON24 to change architecture or pricing.
API policy or pricing shifts—e.g., paid API tiers or stricter data access—would raise ON24’s costs or reduce feature capability, forcing product or go-to-market adjustments.
- Dependence: integrations drive client value and retention
- Concentration: Salesforce ~20% CRM share gives supplier leverage
- Risk: paid API tiers or limits increase costs or reduce features
- Action: ON24 must negotiate, diversify, or build proprietary data paths
Specialized AI Model Providers
As ON24 embeds more generative AI, it grows dependent on LLM vendors like OpenAI and Anthropic, who control models powering content and insights; these firms reported combined revenue exceeding $10B+ in 2024 for AI services, concentrating supplier power.
If token prices rise or terms tighten—OpenAI lifted some API prices in 2024—ON24 faces higher costs it may struggle to pass to customers, squeezing margins.
This creates strategic dependency on a few specialized vendors, raising negotiation risk and potential service disruption.
- Concentration: few LLM providers dominate market
- Cost risk: token/API price increases hit margins
- Switching cost: integration and fine-tuning high
- Mitigation: diversify vendors, on-prem models
Supplier dominance (cloud, CDNs, LLMs, talent) squeezes ON24 margins — diversify or negotiate
Suppliers hold strong power: AWS+Azure >60% cloud share (2025), CDN top3 >50% edge traffic (2024), LLM vendors $10B+ revenue (2024), Salesforce ~20% CRM share (2024); switching costs, outages, API/token price hikes and talent wage inflation (~6.5% to $140k median, specialized roles $180k+) compress ON24 margins and force diversification or negotiation.
| Supplier | 2024–25 stat |
|---|---|
| AWS+Azure | >60% cloud share (2025) |
| CDNs | Top3 >50% edge (2024) |
| LLMs | $10B+ rev (2024) |
| Salesforce | ~20% CRM (2024) |
| Talent | Median eng $140k (2024) |
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Customers Bargaining Power
Low Switching Costs
By end-2025, migrations between digital experience platforms are faster and cheaper, with industry tools cutting setup time by ~40% and data transfer costs under $0.10 per attendee, so customers face low switching costs. This ease of move raises buyer leverage: firms can credibly threaten to switch for better pricing or features, pressuring ON24’s gross retention (was 90% in 2024) and pricing power. ON24 must boost customer success, deepen integrations, and increase platform stickiness to reduce churn risk.
High Volume of Competitors
High competitor count in the webinar/virtual-event market lets buyers pit vendors like ON24, Zoom Events, and Intrado against each other, cutting prices—Gartner noted 2024 procurement teams secured average discounts of 18–25% on event-platform deals.
Demand for Measurable ROI
In late 2025 enterprise buyers demand granular ROI: 72% of B2B buyers say measurable pipeline impact is a top renewal condition, so buyers press ON24 to tie webinar metrics directly to revenue.
Customers condition renewals on proof of lead conversion and revenue attribution, giving them leverage to switch if ON24 lacks the analytics they need; churn risk rises if trials show low pipeline influence.
If ON24 cannot deliver specific analytics—multi-touch attribution, ABM integration, or revenue velocity metrics—buyers will move to data-centric rivals; this forces ON24 to update reporting continuously and invest in advanced attribution tools.
Consolidation of Marketing Tech Stacks
Consolidation of martech into suites pushes large buyers to demand seamless ON24 integrations or drop it for bundled platforms; Gartner reported 58% of CMOs favored platform consolidation in 2024.
When a client accounts for a material share of revenue, they can dictate features and timelines, forcing ON24 to prioritize enterprise roadmaps to protect recurring ARR (ON24 reported ~$175m revenue in FY2024).
- 58% of CMOs favored consolidation (Gartner 2024)
- ON24 FY2024 revenue ~$175m
- Large clients can steer product roadmap
- Risk: churn to bundled competitors
Price Sensitivity in the SMB Segment
SMB buyers for ON24 are highly price-sensitive: surveys in 2024 show 62% of SMBs cite subscription cost as the primary purchase barrier, so they downgrade or churn quickly if perceived value lags.
With dozens of low-cost or freemium webinar tools (market entries grew ~18% in 2023), ON24’s pricing power in SMBs is constrained and elastic.
ON24 must adopt flexible tiers and usage-based options—e.g., lower flat fees, pay-per-attendee, or limited-feature plans—to retain SMBs and protect ARR.
- 62% SMBs cite price as main barrier (2024 survey)
- Market entrants grew ~18% in 2023
- Use tiers, pay-per-use, limited-feature plans
Buyers’ Leverage Squeezes ON24: Discounts, ROI Demands & Price-Sensitive SMBs
Buyers have high leverage: low switching costs (setup time cut ~40%, data transfer < $0.10/attendee by end-2025) and many rivals drove 2024 discounts of 18–25%, pressuring ON24’s pricing and retention (~90% gross retention in 2024; FY2024 revenue ~$175m). Enterprise buyers demand revenue attribution (72% in 2025) and can steer roadmaps; SMBs are price-sensitive (62% in 2024).
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Gross retention (2024) | ~90% |
| FY2024 revenue | ~$175m |
| Procurement discounts (2024) | 18–25% |
| SMBs citing price (2024) | 62% |
| Buyers needing ROI (2025) | 72% |
| Setup time reduction | ~40% (by end-2025) |
| Data transfer cost | <$0.10/attendee (by end-2025) |
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Rivalry Among Competitors
Market Saturation and Mature Rivals
The digital experience and webinar market is highly saturated: Zoom, GoToWebinar (LogMeIn), and Cvent dominate with combined 2024 revenue exceeding $9.5B and enterprise footholds across 75% of Fortune 500 accounts.
By end-2025, limited greenfield growth forces share-stealing—ON24 faces intense rivalry as incumbents defend installed bases, with customer churn sensitivity rising when switching costs drop below annual contract value (~$50k).
Aggressive Bundling by Tech Giants
Microsoft and Google bundled webinar features into Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, giving 345M+ and 6M+ paid seats respectively by 2025, often at no extra cost, undercutting ON24’s premium pricing.
This bundling raises a high entry barrier: clients already owning suites see internal tools as 'good enough,' forcing ON24 to prove superior ROI and chargebacks for advanced analytics and integration.
Rivalry pushes ON24 into constant innovation; R&D and platform updates must outpace free native features to retain enterprise customers and justify average subscription fees near $50–$150k/year.
Rapid Feature Replication
In SaaS, features like AI summaries and interactive polls are copied fast; competitors often ship similar tools within 3–9 months, wiping out ON24’s short-lived edge. When ON24 rolled out AI-driven session summaries in 2024, rivals matched core functionality by late 2024, illustrating the pace. That churn forces sustained R&D: public SaaS peers average 15–20% revenue reinvestment in R&D, so ON24 faces similar pressure to spend to keep up. This dynamic yields constant product churn and thin windows for differentiation.
Price Wars in the Mid-Market
As mid-market competition heats up, vendors are using aggressive discounting—some reporting 15–30% price cuts—to secure multi-year deals, eroding industry margins and pressuring specialized firms to drop premium pricing.
ON24 must defend its high-end brand while matching mid-market price moves; FY2024 gross margin of ~63% (ON24) leaves limited room if discounting spreads, so it must balance margin protection and competitive pricing.
- Price cuts 15–30% reported
- ON24 FY2024 gross margin ~63%
- Risk: premium positioning vs. mid-market share
- Need: selective discounting, value-based offers
Focus on Vertical Specialization
Competitors now tailor platforms to verticals like healthcare, finance, and education, pushing ON24 to build sector-specific features and comply with rules such as HIPAA or FINRA.
When a rival becomes the de facto standard in a sector, ON24 faces higher customer-acquisition costs and lower win rates for those accounts, fragmenting the market into many sub-markets.
In 2024, niche vendors won an estimated 27% of enterprise webinar spend, forcing ON24 to prioritize vertical GTM and product roadmaps.
- Verticals: healthcare, finance, education
- Key risk: de facto standards block entry
- 2024 stat: 27% enterprise spend to niche vendors
Webinar wars: incumbents vs. Microsoft/Google—price pressure, R&D, niche plays
Competition is fierce: Zoom, GoToWebinar, Cvent hold >$9.5B combined 2024 revenue and 75% Fortune 500 presence, while Microsoft/Google bundling (345M+ and 6M+ paid seats by 2025) undercuts premium pricing; ON24’s FY2024 gross margin ~63% and average enterprise ACV ~$50k–$150k. Aggressive 15–30% discounting and niche verticals (27% enterprise spend to specialists in 2024) force continuous R&D (15–20% revenue reinvestment norm) and selective discounting.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Incumbent 2024 revenue | >$9.5B |
| Microsoft/Google paid seats (by 2025) | 345M+, 6M+ |
| ON24 FY2024 gross margin | ~63% |
| Enterprise ACV | $50k–$150k |
| Discounting reported | 15–30% |
| Vertical niche share (2024) | 27% |
| R&D reinvestment norm | 15–20% |
SSubstitutes Threaten
Return to In-Person Events
By 2025 the return to in-person events sharply raises substitution risk for ON24 as global trade show attendance recovered to 2019 levels, with UFI reporting a 48% year‑over‑year rebound in 2024; many B2B marketers cite better lead quality from face‑to‑face meetings.
When companies reallocate budgets to venues and travel—US corporate travel spend hit $343B in 2024 per GBTA—demand for digital experience platforms can fall.
This direct substitution threatens ON24’s revenue mix because event budgets compete for the same marketing dollars, potentially slowing digital spend growth already forecast to drop from 12% CAGR (2021–24) to single digits.
Social Media Live Streaming
Internal Collaboration Tools
The widespread use of Microsoft Teams and Slack has pushed many firms to run external webinars on these internal tools; Gartner reported in 2024 that 78% of enterprises deploy Teams for both internal and external meetings. Since staff already know the interfaces, organizations often choose them for basic digital events instead of buying a specialized webinar platform. This internal substitution threatens ON24 for low-complexity use cases that need no high-end production. ON24 must continually quantify ROI—engagement lift, lead conversion, and reduced churn—to justify extra cost.
Asynchronous Video and Content Hubs
Asynchronous on-demand consumption is rising: global video-on-demand (SVOD) subscribers hit 1.1 billion in 2024, showing users prefer pre-recorded content over live events.
Netflix-style hubs and specialized video platforms act as clear substitutes to live webinars, pulling attention and marketing budgets away from live formats.
ON24 has responded by adding content hubs and on-demand features, yet it still competes with VOD specialists that often offer lower streaming costs and larger content libraries.
- 1.1B SVOD subs (2024)
- Shift reduces demand for live-interaction tools
- ON24 built content hubs but faces VOD rivals
Immersive Technologies and the Metaverse
Immersive VR/AR platforms offer richer presence than 2D webinars, and while niche in 2025—VR headset shipments fell near 10 million units in 2024—enterprise pilots are rising; IDC reported 28% CAGR for enterprise AR/VR spend through 2026.
As headset prices drop (Meta Quest 2 retail ~$299 in 2024) some high-end clients may replace webinars with 3D demos, posing a long-term substitution risk to ON24’s 2D webinar dominance and pricing power.
- 2024 VR shipments ~10M units
- IDC: 28% enterprise AR/VR spend CAGR to 2026
- Meta Quest 2 price ~$299 (2024)
- Substitution risk concentrated in high-value enterprise accounts
Substitution risk erodes ON24: live events, platforms, VOD and AR/VR squeeze growth
Substitution risk is high: in‑person events rebounded (UFI +48% YoY 2024) and US corporate travel hit $343B (2024), while social live (LinkedIn 810M members 2025) and Teams/Slack (78% enterprise Teams 2024) lower demand for paid webinars; VOD (1.1B subs 2024) and rising AR/VR (IDC 28% enterprise CAGR to 2026) further pressure ON24’s pricing and growth.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| UFI trade show rebound (2024) | +48% YoY |
| US corporate travel (2024) | $343B |
| LinkedIn members (2025) | 810M |
| Teams enterprise deploy (2024) | 78% |
| SVOD subs (2024) | 1.1B |
| IDC AR/VR enterprise CAGR | 28% to 2026 |
Entrants Threaten
AI-First Startups
AI-first startups can outpace ON24 by avoiding legacy code and offering automated content creation and hyper-personalized attendee journeys; in 2025, 32% of event-tech VC funding targeted AI-native platforms, raising $1.1B in 2024–25 and lowering customer acquisition costs by ~18% versus incumbents.
Low Barriers to Basic Video Streaming
The availability of open-source protocols (HLS, WebRTC) and cloud streaming APIs from AWS, Azure, and Cloudflare cuts development cost—basic webinar apps can be built for under $100k; this lowers entry barriers into ON24’s market.
While ON24’s enterprise stack (secure SSO, analytics, compliance) is costly to replicate, simple, user-friendly 'lite' products can quickly win SMBs and freemium users.
These entrants often scale: 20–30% annual feature additions let them move up‑market over 3–5 years, slowly eroding ON24’s lower-tier customers.
The democratization of streaming tech reduces the technical moat; ON24 must defend on integrations, data depth, and enterprise trust.
Niche Industry Entrants
New niche entrants target single sectors like clinical trial management or legal depositions, offering tailored workflows and compliance features that general platforms lack; for example, specialist vendors grew 18% YoY in 2024 in life‑sciences event tech according to industry reports.
By solving one industry's pain points faster, they capture users and revenue quickly—median ARR for successful niche SaaS in 2024 was $3.2M within 36 months—then scale outward.
This Trojan‑horse route avoids direct early clashes with ON24, letting niche leaders later broaden offerings and challenge generalist incumbents.
Expansion of Marketing Automation Giants
- Adobe, Salesforce: large revenues and customer bases
- Ownership of CRM/data = seamless UX advantage
- Immediate captive audience lowers go-to-market cost
- Raises pricing, feature and retention risks for ON24
Global Competitors Entering New Regions
Successful regional players from Asia or Europe may enter North America with localized features and aggressive pricing; in 2024, 30% of webinars used non-US platforms, showing room for entrants.
They bring fresh user-engagement models and social integration that attract global brands; superior mobile UX or multi-language support can scale fast—mobile attendees grew 22% in 2023.
This global fluidity keeps the threat high for ON24, as cross-border competitors can leverage lower CAC and faster regional rollouts.
- 30% of webinars on non-US platforms (2024)
- Mobile attendance +22% (2023)
- Multi-language events boost global reach
- Aggressive pricing lowers CAC for entrants
AI startups, cheap builds, and global rivals squeeze ON24's pricing and up‑market grip
New entrants pose a high threat: AI-native startups raised $1.1B (2024–25) and cut CAC ~18%, open-source/Cloud APIs let basic webinar apps be built < $100k, niche specialists grew 18% YoY (life sciences, 2024), and 30% of webinars used non‑US platforms in 2024—pressuring ON24 on price, features, and up‑market erosion.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| AI event-tech funding | $1.1B (2024–25) |
| Cost to build basic app | <$100k |
| Life‑sciences niche growth | 18% YoY (2024) |
| Non‑US platform share | 30% (2024) |