What is a virtual event? The complete guide for 2026

What is a virtual event?

A virtual event is an organized event that happens online instead of in a physical place. People register, then watch, learn and interact from wherever they are.

It can be a single 60-minute webinar or a 5-day summit with 30 experts. What makes it an event, and not just a video, is that it happens at a set time, people sign up for it, and they experience it together.

How do virtual events work?

Most virtual events follow the same flow:

Most creator events mix both: pre-recorded expert interviews for the content, and live sessions for energy and connection.

Types of virtual events

The most common formats are:

• Virtual summits: many experts, one topic, several days. My favorite.
• Webinars: one session that teaches one thing, often with an offer at the end.
• Virtual workshops: hands-on and interactive, usually smaller.
• Online conferences: bigger events with several tracks.
• Challenges: a series of daily lessons with homework over 5 to 30 days.
• Live cohorts: a group going through a program together over several weeks.
• Virtual product launches: an event built around opening a new offer.

I break down all of them, with examples, in 19 types of virtual events.

Virtual vs in-person vs hybrid events

For most creators, virtual is the place to start. You can reach people in 110+ countries from your laptop.

How much does it cost to host a virtual event?

Much less than most people think. Many creators host their first summit with a few hundred dollars, or even less.

You need a microphone, a camera (a phone works), a way to record interviews, a registration page, an email platform and a checkout.

The expensive part isn't the tools. It's your time, and AI now does a big part of that work.

Why host a virtual event?

• Build your email list fast. My List Building School summit added over 26,000 subscribers in 2 weeks.
• Get paid to grow. An all-access pass can make an event profitable before it starts.
• Borrow authority. Standing next to respected experts makes people see you as one.
• Build relationships. Every speaker is a new connection in your industry.
• Create a product. The recordings become something you can sell again.
• Get months of content. Every interview turns into clips, posts and emails.

More in 21 benefits of virtual events.

Who hosts virtual events?

Coaches, consultants, course creators, authors, podcasters, membership owners and SaaS companies all use them. If there's an audience for your topic online, there's room for an event around it.

The niche can be surprisingly specific. Diana Rowan, one of the world's top harpists, hosted the Virtual Harp Summit. Her first summit brought in 2,100 email subscribers and 460 all-access pass sales, and she built a membership on top of it.

Looking for a topic? Start with these 50 virtual event ideas.

Real virtual event examples and results

Here's how some of them describe it in their own words:

Caitlin Pyle

Founder of Proofread Anywhere

We grew an email list of over 60,000 new subscribers in about a week’s time and we generated $502,000 in revenue through our first virtual summit.

If you want step-by-step instruction and you just want to get it done with as little stress as possible, then I would absolutely recommend everything Navid Moazzez is teaching.

Steph Gaudreau

Host of the Women's Strength Summit

Navid Moazzez gave me all the details I needed to run a very successful first-time online event.

My Women’s Strength Summit fielded nearly 20,000 free registrations and 100’s of sales.

More importantly, people commented on how valuable and professional the summit was, and that’s directly because of everything I learned from Navid.

Chandler Bolt

Founder & CEO, Selfpublishing.com

Navid helped me earn $370k+ and 30,000 email subscribers in less than 2 months… it completely transformed our business to a multi million dollar online education company (the summit we did in 2016 was even bigger with almost 40,000 opt-ins!).

It all started with the proven business and marketing strategies Navid shared.. go sign up to his email newsletter now!

For 100 more, see my list of virtual event examples.

How I host virtual events today

When I hosted my first summit, I built every page by hand and edited every interview myself.

Today I host my summits on AI Summit OS, my set of summit templates from registration to replay vault. Claude builds from them, so a summit site comes together fast. AI edits the recordings, writes the transcripts, cuts the clips and drafts the emails.

What hasn't changed: the right topic, the right speakers and a real offer still decide whether an event works.

The future of virtual events

• AI-produced events. One person can now run an event that used to need a team.
• Smaller, more focused events. A 3-day event on one outcome often beats a 10-day event on everything.
• Live and interactive. More live sessions, Q&As and cohorts, less passive watching.
• Evergreen. Events that keep running and selling after the live dates.

Final thoughts on virtual events

A virtual event is an online gathering people sign up for, experience together and remember. For a creator, it's also the fastest way I know to grow a list, build relationships and make money at the same time.

You don't need a big audience or a big budget to start. My first event proved that to me.

If you're ready to host one, start with how to host a virtual summit, then plan your promotion with 21 online event marketing strategies. My upcoming book Virtual Summit OS teaches the full method, rebuilt so AI does most of the work.