Choose Jitsi Meet if: You need general-purpose video calls where guests shouldn't need an account You want a simple, fast Docker deployment with minimal operational overhead You handle sensitive conversations that need to stay on your own infrastructure You need mobile app support (Jitsi has native iOS and Android apps) Choose BigBlueButton if: You're running online classes, webinars, or structured training sessions Instructor controls (polling, breakout room assignment, attendance, raise hand m

Open Source Video Conferencing Alternative to Zoom 2026

TL;DR

Jitsi Meet is the best open source alternative to Zoom in 2026 — Apache-2.0 licensed, 24K+ GitHub stars, and requiring zero accounts for guests. Any participant can join a Jitsi meeting with a link, no app install or sign-up needed. For education teams or organizations with strict recording and compliance requirements, BigBlueButton (LGPL-3.0, 9K+ stars) is the stronger choice. Zoom Pro costs $14.99/host/month; both Jitsi and BigBlueButton are free to self-host.

Key Takeaways

Jitsi Meet (Apache-2.0, 24K+ stars) is the most frictionless option — no account required for guests, browser-based, simple Docker deploy, optional E2E encryption
BigBlueButton (LGPL-3.0, 9K+ stars) is optimized for structured meetings and education — breakout rooms, polls, shared notes, whiteboard, and recording built-in
Both support screen sharing, chat, hand-raising, and HD video up to 720p
Self-hosting Jitsi saves $180/host/year vs Zoom Pro; $540/host/year vs Zoom Business
Jitsi requires 3 services (web, backend, prosody); BigBlueButton requires a dedicated server with its own installer

Why Teams Look Beyond Zoom

Zoom's pricing and data model have created friction for teams that prioritize control:

Per-host cost. Zoom Pro charges $14.99/host/month. An organization with 20 hosts that run regular video calls pays $3,597/year before any advanced features. Large meetings (1,000+ attendees) require add-on webinar licenses.

Data handling. Zoom processes meeting audio and video through its servers even for end-to-end encrypted sessions in some configurations. For healthcare (HIPAA), education, and government teams, cloud-processed video is a compliance barrier.

Recording storage. Cloud recording fills up the allotted quota quickly on Pro plans. Local recording requires the desktop app, not available to browser-only participants.

Guest friction. Every Zoom meeting nudges non-Zoom users to install the app. Browser join works but with feature limitations.

Open source alternatives flip this: self-hosted means your data never leaves your servers, and Jitsi's join-by-link model removes the signup barrier entirely.

Jitsi Meet vs BigBlueButton: Feature Comparison

Feature	Jitsi Meet	BigBlueButton
License	Apache-2.0	LGPL-3.0
GitHub Stars	24K+	9K+
Guest Account Required	❌	❌
Max Participants	~75 (recommended)	~150 (recommended)
Screen Sharing	✅	✅
Recording	✅ (Jibri add-on)	✅ (built-in)
Breakout Rooms	✅ (basic)	✅ (full instructor control)
Polls	✅ (basic)	✅ (full, with results)
Shared Notes	❌	✅ (collaborative pad)
Whiteboard	✅ (Excalidraw-based)	✅ (multi-page)
Chat	✅	✅
Raised Hands	✅	✅
Mobile App	✅ iOS, Android	Browser-only (limited)
E2E Encryption	✅ (optional)	❌
Kubernetes Support	✅ (JitsiMeet k8s)	❌ (bare-metal/VM only)
Setup Complexity	Low (Docker)	High (dedicated installer)
Min. Server Specs	4 GB RAM, 4 vCPU	8 GB RAM, 4 vCPU

Jitsi Meet wins for general-purpose video calls — quick to deploy, frictionless for guests, and scalable horizontally. BigBlueButton wins for education and webinars — its instructor tools (slides, polling, breakout rooms with auto-assignment, attendance tracking) are purpose-built for structured sessions.

Setting Up Jitsi Meet (Self-Hosted)

Jitsi's Docker deployment is the fastest path to a working install. It bundles the web interface, backend (Jicofo), video bridge (JVB), and Prosody XMPP server.

Prerequisites

Ubuntu 22.04 or Debian 12 (recommended)
4 GB RAM, 4 vCPU minimum (8 GB for 50+ concurrent users)
A domain with DNS A record pointing to the server
Ports 443 (HTTPS), 10000/UDP (media), and 4443/TCP open in your firewall

Docker Compose Setup

# Clone the Jitsi Docker repository
git clone https://github.com/jitsi/docker-jitsi-meet.git
cd docker-jitsi-meet

# Copy the sample env file
cp env.example .env

# Generate secure passwords
./gen-passwords.sh

# Create required directories
mkdir -p ~/.jitsi-meet-cfg/{web,transcripts,prosody/config,prosody/prosody-plugins-custom,jicofo,jvb,jigasi,jibri}

Edit .env with your domain and settings:

# Required settings in .env
HTTP_PORT=80
HTTPS_PORT=443
TZ=America/New_York

# Your public domain
PUBLIC_URL=https://meet.yourdomain.com

# Enable authentication (recommended for private deployments)
ENABLE_AUTH=1
ENABLE_GUESTS=1
AUTH_TYPE=internal

Start the services:

docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.override.yml up -d

Jitsi is accessible at https://meet.yourdomain.com — HTTPS is automatic via the built-in Caddy or Nginx container.

Adding User Accounts (If Auth Enabled)

# Add a host account
docker compose exec prosody prosodyctl --config /config/prosody.cfg.lua \
  register alice meet.yourdomain.com secretpassword

Authenticated users can start meetings; guests can join by link without an account (if ENABLE_GUESTS=1).

Enable Recording (Jibri)

Jibri records meetings to local disk or S3 using a Chrome browser in a headless container. Add it to your compose stack:

# Add to docker-compose.yml
jibri:
  image: jitsi/jibri:latest
  restart: unless-stopped
  volumes:
    - ~/.jitsi-meet-cfg/jibri:/config:Z
    - /srv/recordings:/srv/recordings
  cap_add:
    - SYS_ADMIN
  devices:
    - /dev/snd:/dev/snd
  environment:
    - XMPP_SERVER=prosody
    - XMPP_DOMAIN=${XMPP_DOMAIN}
    - XMPP_RECORDER_PASSWORD=${JIBRI_RECORDER_PASSWORD}
    - JIBRI_RECORDING_DIR=/srv/recordings

Jibri requires SYS_ADMIN capabilities for Chrome's Xvfb display. On containerized hosts (e.g., VPS with OpenVZ), this may require a KVM/bare-metal instance instead.

Self-Hosting Experience

Jitsi Meet deploys in 20–30 minutes with the Docker method. The .env configuration is well-documented, and the gen-passwords.sh script handles credential generation. The biggest operational concern is UDP port 10000 — if your server's firewall or upstream NAT doesn't pass UDP traffic, video will fail. Verify with:

# Test UDP connectivity from an external machine
nc -z -u your-server-ip 10000

BigBlueButton is significantly more complex. It requires a dedicated Ubuntu 20.04 server (not Docker), runs its own automated installer (bbb-install.sh), and takes 30–60 minutes. The installer is opinionated — it configures Nginx, Coturn (TURN server), FreeSWITCH, and the BigBlueButton application layer in one pass. Multi-server scaling requires Scalelite, an additional load balancer.

For most teams, Jitsi is the right starting point. For institutions running online learning with 50+ concurrent students, BigBlueButton's structured tooling justifies the setup complexity.

For a complete walkthrough of the BigBlueButton install and classroom setup, see Jitsi Meet vs BigBlueButton 2026.

Scale and Performance Expectations

Jitsi uses a Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU) architecture through the JVB (Jitsi VideoBridge). Each server can handle approximately:

4 vCPU / 8 GB RAM: 75–100 simultaneous video participants per call
8 vCPU / 16 GB RAM: 150–200 participants per call

For larger calls or multiple concurrent meetings, Jitsi supports horizontal JVB scaling — add more video bridge instances behind a load balancer.

A single Jitsi server handles multiple concurrent meetings simultaneously, so a 4 vCPU server can comfortably run 10 small meetings (8 participants each) at once.

When to Use Which

Choose Jitsi Meet if:

You need general-purpose video calls where guests shouldn't need an account
You want a simple, fast Docker deployment with minimal operational overhead
You handle sensitive conversations that need to stay on your own infrastructure
You need mobile app support (Jitsi has native iOS and Android apps)

Choose BigBlueButton if:

You're running online classes, webinars, or structured training sessions
Instructor controls (polling, breakout room assignment, attendance, raise hand moderation) are essential
You need built-in recording and playback without a separate Jibri setup

For a broader look at all self-hosted video conferencing options, see Best Open Source Alternatives to Zoom 2026. For a full Jitsi setup walkthrough with TURN server configuration, see the self-host Jitsi Meet guide.

Cost Comparison

Scenario	Zoom Pro	Jitsi Meet (Self-Hosted)
10 hosts	$17,988/year	~$120/year (VPS)
25 hosts	$44,970/year	~$240/year (larger VPS)
Guest accounts	Required	❌ (join by link)
Recording storage	1 GB/host	Local disk or S3
Data ownership	❌	✅
1,000-person webinars	+$149/month	Scale JVB horizontally

Jitsi runs on a $10–20/month VPS for small-to-medium teams. The only real cost scaling is server capacity — not per-host licensing. For organizations with 10+ Zoom hosts, the savings easily justify the self-hosting overhead.

The SaaS-to-Self-Hosted Migration Guide (Free PDF)