Choosing the right video conferencing platform can be tricky—especially when you’re looking for something open-source, flexible, and free. I’ve spent the past few years working with both Jitsi and BigBlueButton, setting them up for clients in education, tech, and even government sectors. So, if you’re stuck choosing between these two, let me walk you through their pros, cons, and key differences.
What Are Jitsi and BigBlueButton?
Jitsi: The Lightweight Champion
Jitsi is an open-source video conferencing tool that’s super simple to use. It’s great for quick meetings, team calls, and even webinars. You can use Jitsi Meet (their main product) on your browser—no downloads required. Plus, it’s self-hostable, which means you can control your data and setup.
Why I love Jitsi: I once helped a startup scale their Jitsi server to host 500+ users with breakout rooms and white-label branding. The flexibility was a game changer.
BigBlueButton: Made for Education
BigBlueButton (BBB for short) is built with teachers in mind. It’s packed with features like real-time whiteboards, breakout rooms, polls, and shared notes. Schools and universities love it because it mimics a real classroom experience.
My experience with BBB: We implemented BBB for an online learning platform in 2023. The feedback from teachers was overwhelmingly positive, especially for the shared whiteboard and real-time quizzes.
1. Ease of Use
Jitsi: Plug and Play
You can literally go to meet.jit.si, type a room name, and start your call. It’s clean, fast, and works well on most devices. Plus, Jitsi integrates with Slack, Google Calendar, and other tools.
BigBlueButton: Feature-Rich but Heavier
BBB has more buttons and tabs, which can overwhelm new users. You’ll need a bit of onboarding to use it properly. But for educators, it’s worth the learning curve.
Winner for simplicity: Jitsi
Winner for features in education: BigBlueButton
2. Features Comparison
| Feature | Jitsi Meet | BigBlueButton |
|---|---|---|
| Video Quality | Up to 1080p | Up to 1080p |
| Screen Sharing | ✅ | ✅ |
| Whiteboard | ❌ (Can integrate 3rd-party like Excalidraw) | ✅ Built-in |
| Polls & Quizzes | ❌ | ✅ |
| Breakout Rooms | ✅ | ✅ |
| Recording | ✅ (via Jibri) | ✅ |
| Mobile App | ✅ (iOS & Android) | ❌ (Web-only experience) |
| Privacy & Encryption | ✅ Strong | ✅ Strong |
3. Performance and Scalability
- Jitsi performs great in smaller to medium meetings (2–75 participants). For large webinars, you’ll need proper scaling (multi-shard + Jibri setup).
- BigBlueButton is more resource-heavy and needs a solid server (usually 16GB+ RAM) to perform well.
Pro Tip: If you’re hosting your own server, Jitsi is more cost-effective to run.
4. Self-Hosting and Customization
If you’re a tech-savvy user or a company with a dev team, you’ll love this part.
Jitsi Self-Hosting: Quick install on Ubuntu, full control over UI, integrations, security settings. I’ve customized it for NGOs with full branding, and it felt like a premium product.
BigBlueButton Self-Hosting: A bit more complex to install. Requires Greenlight (its own front-end), but very powerful once it’s running.
Best for developers, businesses & other : Jitsi
Best for educators who want LMS integration: BigBlueButton (works well with Moodle)
5. Security and Privacy
In today’s world, privacy matters more than ever.
Jitsi offers end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for 1-on-1 calls and strong encryption for group meetings. If self-hosted, your data stays yours.
BigBlueButton also ensures secure communication but relies heavily on your server’s configuration for full protection.
Best for privacy-conscious teams: Jitsi
6. Jitsi & BigBlueButton Use Cases
| Use Case | Best Tool |
|---|---|
| Quick team meetings | Jitsi |
| Classroom and e-learning | BigBlueButton |
| Webinars with recordings | Jitsi (with Jibri setup) |
| Virtual tutoring sessions | BigBlueButton |
| Privacy-focused meetings | Jitsi |
| Learning management systems | BigBlueButton (Moodle) |
7. Community and Support
Both tools have great communities, but:
- Jitsi has strong GitHub activity and an active forum. Easy to get help.
- BigBlueButton has an education-focused community and official documentation geared toward schools.
Conclusion: Which One Should You Pick?
Here’s my honest take:
- Choose Jitsi if you want a fast, easy-to-use, and highly customizable video conferencing platform. It’s perfect for teams, businesses, and privacy-first users.
- Go with BigBlueButton if you’re in the education space. Its classroom tools make learning online feel more like the real thing.
Whatever your choice, both are excellent open-source tools that give you freedom, flexibility, and control over your communication.
Want help setting up Jitsi or BigBlueButton for your organization? Reach out and I’d be happy to guide you.