head to head · open source
bigbluebutton vs plugNmeet-server
bigbluebutton has 9,266 GitHub stars, 5,982 forks, 721 open issues and last shipped today. plugNmeet-server has 581 stars, 126 forks, 11 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bigbluebutton leads on adoption by 1,495% (9,266 vs 581 stars). bigbluebutton is written in TypeScript under LGPL-3.0; plugNmeet-server is written in Go under MIT. bigbluebutton has attracted 65% as many forks as stars, plugNmeet-server 22%. bigbluebutton was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (video-conferencing, webrtc), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| bigbluebutton | plugNmeet-server | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.3K | ★ 581 |
| License | LGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.0K | ⑂ 126 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick bigbluebutton if
- You weight community size — 9.3K stars and counting
- You want the LGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick plugNmeet-server if
- You want the plugNmeet-server feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and plugNmeet-server fits your workflow better
About bigbluebutton
BigBlueButton ============= BigBlueButton is an open source virtual classroom designed to help teachers teach and learners learn. BigBlueButton supports real time sharing of audio, video, slides (with whiteboard annotations), chat, and the screen. Instructors can engage remote students with polling, emojis, multi user whiteboards, shared notes, and breakout rooms. During the session, BigBlueButton generates analytics that are visible to moderators in the Learning Analytics Dashboard. Presenters can record and playback content for later sharing with others. We designed BigBlueButton for online learning, it can be…
read the full bigbluebutton overview →
About plugNmeet-server
Plug N Meet A Scalable, Customizable, Open Source Web Conferencing System Plug N Meet is a powerful, open source web conferencing solution built on the high performance WebRTC infrastructure of LiveKit. Designed for scalability and easy customization, Plug N Meet allows you to seamlessly integrate a feature rich, self hosted, and AI powered video conferencing experience into any existing website, application, or system. Have questions or ideas? Join our developer community on Discord to connect with the team and discuss your suggestions. Key Features High Performance & Scalable : Built with Go and leveraging the…
read the full plugNmeet-server overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is bigbluebutton or plugNmeet-server more popular?
bigbluebutton has 9,266 GitHub stars and plugNmeet-server has 581. bigbluebutton has the larger community by that measure.
Are bigbluebutton and plugNmeet-server free?
Both are open source. bigbluebutton is licensed under LGPL-3.0 and plugNmeet-server under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between bigbluebutton and plugNmeet-server?
bigbluebutton is written in TypeScript and plugNmeet-server in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, bigbluebutton or plugNmeet-server?
Choose bigbluebutton if you want the larger community (9,266 stars) or its LGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose plugNmeet-server if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.