head to head · open source
Zulip vs bigbluebutton
Zulip has 26,158 GitHub stars, 10,521 forks, 2,008 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bigbluebutton has 9,263 stars, 5,982 forks, 721 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zulip leads on adoption by 182% (26,158 vs 9,263 stars). Zulip is written in Python under Apache-2.0; bigbluebutton is written in TypeScript under LGPL-3.0. Zulip has attracted 40% 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
| Zulip | bigbluebutton | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 9.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 6.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Zulip if
- You weight community size — 26K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- 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 Zulip
Zulip overview Zulip is an open source organized team chat app with unique [topic based threading][why zulip] that combines the best of email and chat to make remote work productive and delightful. Fortune 500 companies, [leading open source projects][rust case study], and thousands of other organizations use Zulip every day. Zulip is the only [modern team chat app][features] that is designed for both live and asynchronous conversations. Zulip is built by a distributed community of developers from all around the world, with 99+ people who have each contributed 100+ commits. With over 1,500 contributors merging…
read the full Zulip 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 Zulip or bigbluebutton more popular?
Zulip has 26,158 GitHub stars and bigbluebutton has 9,263. Zulip has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zulip and bigbluebutton free?
Both are open source. Zulip is licensed under Apache-2.0 and bigbluebutton under LGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zulip and bigbluebutton?
Zulip is written in Python 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, Zulip or bigbluebutton?
Choose Zulip if you want the larger community (26,158 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.