head to head · open source
drawnix vs bigbluebutton
drawnix has 14,738 GitHub stars, 1,267 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. bigbluebutton has 9,223 stars, 5,982 forks, 721 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. drawnix leads on adoption by 60% (14,738 vs 9,223 stars). drawnix is written in TypeScript under MIT; bigbluebutton is written in JavaScript under LGPL-3.0. drawnix has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, bigbluebutton 65%. bigbluebutton was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (collaboration), 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
| drawnix | bigbluebutton | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 9.2K |
| License | MIT | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-08 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 6.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick drawnix if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick bigbluebutton if
- You want the bigbluebutton feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and bigbluebutton fits your workflow better
About drawnix
Drawnix is a free, MIT licensed, all in one open source whiteboard tool written in TypeScript that combines mind mapping, flowcharts, and freehand drawing on a single infinite canvas, built for individuals and teams who want a self hostable or browser based alternative to commercial whiteboard SaaS.
read the full drawnix overview →
About bigbluebutton
BigBlueButton is an open source web conferencing system built for virtual classes, described by its maintainers as an open source virtual classroom designed to help teachers teach and learners learn. It lives in the JavaScript ecosystem and is distributed under the LGPL 3.0 license. The project has been developed for roughly sixteen years, carries 9,215 stars and 5,978 forks on GitHub, and its latest release is BigBlueButton 3.0. It supports real time sharing of audio, video, slides with whiteboard annotations, chat, and screen, and it ships with GreenLight as its default front end.
read the full bigbluebutton overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is drawnix or bigbluebutton more popular?
drawnix has 14,738 GitHub stars and bigbluebutton has 9,223. drawnix has the larger community by that measure.
Are drawnix and bigbluebutton free?
Both are open source. drawnix is licensed under MIT and bigbluebutton under LGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between drawnix and bigbluebutton?
drawnix is written in TypeScript and bigbluebutton in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, drawnix or bigbluebutton?
Choose drawnix if you want the larger community (14,738 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose bigbluebutton if its feature set, stack or LGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.