head to head · open source
univer vs bigbluebutton
univer has 22,875 GitHub stars, 1,920 forks, 151 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. bigbluebutton has 9,266 stars, 5,982 forks, 721 open issues and last shipped yesterday. univer leads on adoption by 147% (22,875 vs 9,266 stars). univer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; bigbluebutton is written in TypeScript under LGPL-3.0. univer has attracted 8% 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
| univer | bigbluebutton | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 23K | ★ 9.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 6.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick univer if
- You weight community size — 23K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 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 TypeScript
- You evaluated both and bigbluebutton fits your workflow better
About univer
A full stack, isomorphic office SDK for building spreadsheets, documents, and presentations. Build embeddable productivity experiences with a plugin architecture, Canvas based rendering, a formula engine, and one Facade API that works in the browser and on Node.js. English 简体中文 繁體中文 日本語 한국어 Español 📖 Documentation ✨ Showcase 📘 API Reference 📝 Blog ✨ What is Univer? Univer is an open source SDK for creating office applications inside your own product. It gives you the building blocks for spreadsheet, document, and presentation experiences without forcing you into a hosted app or a fixed UI. Use Univer when you…
read the full univer overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is univer or bigbluebutton more popular?
univer has 22,875 GitHub stars and bigbluebutton has 9,266. univer has the larger community by that measure.
Are univer and bigbluebutton free?
Both are open source. univer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and bigbluebutton under LGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between univer and bigbluebutton?
univer is written in TypeScript and bigbluebutton in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, univer or bigbluebutton?
Choose univer if you want the larger community (22,875 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose bigbluebutton if its feature set, stack or LGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.