Self-Host Jitsi Meet: Video Conferencing Server 2026

TL;DR

Jitsi Meet (Apache 2.0, ~20K GitHub stars) is a fully-featured, self-hosted video conferencing platform. No account required to join calls. Works in the browser (WebRTC). Supports hundreds of participants, screensharing, chat, hand-raising, polls, and call recording (via Jibri). Zoom charges $15+/month per host license. Self-hosted Jitsi is free, unlimited meetings, unlimited participants.

Key Takeaways

Jitsi Meet: Apache 2.0, ~20K stars — browser-based WebRTC video conferencing
No account needed: Send a link, anyone joins from browser
Unlimited: No meeting time limit, no participant cap (hardware-bound)
Recording: Jibri (Jitsi Broadcasting Infrastructure) records to MP4
JWT auth: Optional — require token to join (prevent random people from joining)
Server requirements: 2 CPU + 4GB RAM for up to ~30 participants with decent quality

Jitsi Meet vs Zoom vs BigBlueButton

Feature	Jitsi Meet	Zoom Pro	BigBlueButton
License	Apache 2.0	Proprietary	LGPL 3.0
Cost	Free (hosting)	$15/host/mo	Free (hosting)
Meeting time limit	None	30h	None
Participant limit	Server-bound	300 (Pro)	Server-bound
Recording	Jibri	Yes	Yes
Breakout rooms	Yes	Yes	Yes
Browser-based	Yes	Yes	Yes
Account to join	No	No	No
E2EE	Yes (small calls)	Yes (paid)	No
GitHub Stars	~20K	—	~9K

Server Requirements

Jitsi is more CPU-intensive than most self-hosted apps:

Participants	CPU	RAM
1–10	2 cores	2GB
10–30	4 cores	4GB
30–100	8+ cores	8GB
100+	Dedicated server	16GB+

For most homelab/small team use, a 4-core VPS with 4GB RAM handles 30 participants comfortably.

Part 1: Docker Setup (Jitsi Docker Compose)

git clone https://github.com/jitsi/docker-jitsi-meet
cd docker-jitsi-meet
cp env.example .env

Edit .env:

# Public URL (required):
PUBLIC_URL=https://meet.yourdomain.com

# Timezone:
TZ=America/Los_Angeles

# XMPP domain:
XMPP_DOMAIN=meet.yourdomain.com
XMPP_AUTH_DOMAIN=auth.meet.yourdomain.com
XMPP_INTERNAL_MCS_DOMAIN=mcs.meet.yourdomain.com
XMPP_BOSH_URL_BASE=http://xmpp.meet.yourdomain.com:5280

# JVB (video bridge) settings:
JVB_ADVERTISE_IPS=YOUR_PUBLIC_IP    # Your server's public IP
JVB_PORT=10000    # UDP port for media

# Optional — JWT authentication:
# ENABLE_AUTH=1
# AUTH_TYPE=jwt
# JWT_APP_ID=my_jitsi_app
# JWT_APP_SECRET=your-jwt-secret

# Generate secrets:
./gen-passwords.sh    # Run this to generate random passwords

docker compose up -d

Part 2: HTTPS with Caddy

Jitsi's Docker setup includes a built-in web server on ports 80/443. With Caddy:

# In .env:
HTTP_PORT=8080
HTTPS_PORT=8443

meet.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8080
}

Or use Jitsi's built-in HTTPS (Let's Encrypt via the web container):

# In .env:
LETSENCRYPT_DOMAIN=meet.yourdomain.com
LETSENCRYPT_EMAIL=admin@yourdomain.com
ENABLE_LETSENCRYPT=1

Part 3: Firewall Rules

Jitsi needs these ports open:

TCP 80    HTTP (redirect to HTTPS)
TCP 443   HTTPS (web and XMPP)
UDP 10000 Media (Jitsi Video Bridge)
TCP 4443  RTP fallback (if UDP blocked)

# Ubuntu UFW:
ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp
ufw allow 10000/udp
ufw allow 4443/tcp

Part 4: Start a Meeting

Visit https://meet.yourdomain.com:

Enter a room name: team-standup
Click Start meeting
Share the URL: https://meet.yourdomain.com/team-standup

Anyone with the link joins from their browser — no account, no app required.

Part 5: Meeting Controls

Feature	How to Access
Screenshare	Monitor icon in toolbar
Chat	Message icon → Chat sidebar
Raise hand	Hand icon
Tile view	Grid icon (top right)
Recording	3-dot menu → Start recording (requires Jibri)
Livestream	3-dot menu → Start livestream (requires Jibri)
Breakout rooms	3-dot menu → Breakout rooms
Polls	3-dot menu → Polls
Blur background	... → Apply background effects

Part 6: JWT Authentication

Prevent public access — require a token to join meetings:

# .env:
ENABLE_AUTH=1
AUTH_TYPE=jwt
JWT_APP_ID=my_jitsi_server
JWT_APP_SECRET=your-very-secure-jwt-secret
JWT_ACCEPTED_ISSUERS=my_jitsi_server
JWT_ACCEPTED_AUDIENCES=my_jitsi_server

Generate tokens in your app:

import jwt
import time

payload = {
    "context": {
        "user": {
            "name": "John Smith",
            "email": "john@example.com"
        },
        "room": "*"    # Access to all rooms, or specify room name
    },
    "aud": "my_jitsi_server",
    "iss": "my_jitsi_server",
    "sub": "meet.yourdomain.com",
    "room": "*",
    "exp": int(time.time()) + 3600    # 1 hour expiry
}

token = jwt.encode(payload, "your-very-secure-jwt-secret", algorithm="HS256")
# Meeting URL: https://meet.yourdomain.com/room-name?jwt=TOKEN

Part 7: Recording with Jibri

Jibri records meetings to MP4 using a headless Chrome browser.

Additional requirements for Jibri:

Extra RAM: ~2GB per recording instance
Linux kernel module snd_aloop loaded: sudo modprobe snd_aloop

# Enable in .env:
ENABLE_RECORDING=1
JIBRI_RECORDER_PASSWORD=your-recorder-password
JIBRI_XMPP_PASSWORD=your-jibri-password

# Jibri stores recordings:
JIBRI_RECORDING_DIR=/srv/recordings

# Activate Jibri service in docker-compose.yml:
docker compose --profile jibri up -d

Recordings are saved to /srv/recordings/ on the host.

Part 8: Customize Branding

# .env:
JITSI_WATERMARK_LINK=https://yourdomain.com
DEFAULT_BACKGROUND=#1d1d1d

# Custom interface config:
# Mount custom config.js:
volumes:
  - ./config/custom-config.js:/config/custom-config.js

// custom-config.js
config.defaultLanguage = 'en';
config.startWithAudioMuted = true;    // Muted by default
config.startWithVideoMuted = true;    // Camera off by default
config.requireDisplayName = true;     // Force participants to enter a name
config.prejoinPageEnabled = true;     // Pre-join lobby
config.disableDeepLinking = true;     // No app download prompts

Maintenance

# Update Jitsi:
cd docker-jitsi-meet
git pull
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

# Check logs:
docker compose logs -f web jvb prosody jicofo

# Check JVB stats (Video Bridge):
curl http://localhost:8080/about/stats

See all open source video conferencing tools at OSSAlt.com/alternatives/zoom.

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