head to head

Google Meet vs Jitsi

Jitsi is the open source alternative to Google Meet — video conferencing. Here is the honest comparison.

Yes — Jitsi is a viable free replacement for Google Meet. Jitsi is open source under Apache-2.0, written in TypeScript, with 29,931 GitHub stars, 8,026 forks and 141 open issues; it was last pushed 5 hours ago. Google Meet costs from $6, while self-hosting Jitsi carries no licence fee — the trade is your operational time instead of a subscription. 1 other open source Google Meet alternative is tracked here, led by Element at 13,461 stars. Jitsi ranks #1 of 2 tracked open source Google Meet alternatives by stars. The tracked set, by adoption: Element (13,461 stars). Replacement criteria on this page: 4 reasons to move to Jitsi and 3 reasons to stay on Google Meet.

Jitsi stars ★ 30K license Apache-2.0 self-host yes Google Meet pricing Free / Workspace $6-18/user/month

choose Jitsi if

  • Your Google Meet bill is growing with seats or usage
  • You need your data in a format and server you control
  • Your compliance posture requires auditing the code that touches sensitive data
  • You have (or can rent) a server and basic Docker comfort

full Jitsi profile →

stick with Google Meet if

  • You need the polished onboarding and support SLAs of a commercial vendor
  • Your team has zero capacity to operate software, even self-hosted-simple
  • You depend on a Google Meet integration ecosystem that the OSS alternatives have not replicated

Side by side

Jitsi (open source) Google Meet
Price Free (self-hosted) Free / Workspace $6-18/user/month
License Apache-2.0 Proprietary
Source code Public, auditable Closed
Self-hosting Yes — jitsi/jitsi-meet Cloud only
Data ownership Your server, your format Vendor's cloud
Community ★ 30K · ⑂ 8.0K
Built with TypeScript

Why people look for a Google Meet alternative

Meeting recordings require paid Workspace. 60-minute limit on free calls with 3+ people. No self-hosted option.

About Jitsi

Jitsi Meet is an open source video conferencing platform built on WebRTC standards, designed for privacy focused, account free video calls. It operates as a standalone web application or embeddable component, supporting both browser based and native mobile usage without requiring user accounts to join meetings. The project lives in the video communication ecosystem, competing directly with proprietary services like Zoom, Google Meet, and Slack’s built in calling.

read the full Jitsi overview →

Other open source alternatives to Google Meet

Element ★ 13K

last updated nightly · ranking method: github stars, live-tracked

Frequently asked questions

Is Jitsi a good replacement for Google Meet?

Jitsi is an open source alternative to Google Meet (Video conferencing). It is written in TypeScript and licensed under Apache-2.0, with 29,931 GitHub stars.

Is Jitsi free compared to Google Meet?

Yes. Jitsi is open source — there is no licence fee, and you can self-host it. Google Meet is typically a paid subscription, so the trade-off is licence cost against the operational work of running it yourself.

How do I migrate from Google Meet to Jitsi?

Migration effort depends on the data formats involved. Check Jitsi's documentation for import options, and compare the feature table above to confirm the capabilities you depend on are covered before switching.