Greenlight vs BigBlueButton
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted video conferencing options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
BigBlueButton
Virtual classroom and web conferencing for education
| Feature | Greenlight | BigBlueButton |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Video Conferencing | Video Conferencing |
| License | LGPL-3.0 | LGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Ruby | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 8,192 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 852 | ★ 9,227 |
| First released | 2016 | 2009 |
| Replaces | Zoom, Google Meet | Zoom, Microsoft Teams |
What are Greenlight and BigBlueButton?
Greenlight
Greenlight is the official simple front-end for BigBlueButton that lets users create accounts and manage their own persistent meeting rooms. It makes BigBlueButton accessible without custom integration.
- Persistent meeting rooms
- User self-service accounts
- Recording management
- BigBlueButton front-end
BigBlueButton
BigBlueButton is an open-source web conferencing system built specifically for online learning. It provides real-time sharing of audio, video, slides, whiteboard, and screen, plus breakout rooms and polling.
- Designed for online teaching
- Interactive whiteboard and polls
- Breakout rooms
- Session recording and playback
Greenlight vs BigBlueButton: key differences
Greenlight is written in Ruby, while BigBlueButton is built with JavaScript. Greenlight is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 8,192 MB for BigBlueButton. BigBlueButton is the more established project (first released 2009), while Greenlight arrived in 2016. BigBlueButton has the considerably larger community, at 9,227 GitHub stars versus 852. Greenlight lists first-class Docker deployment; BigBlueButton does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Greenlight if…
- Released under the LGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Ruby
Choose BigBlueButton if…
- Rich classroom features
- Integrates with LMS platforms
Watch out for
- Heavy resource requirements
- Ubuntu-specific installation
Frequently asked questions
Is Greenlight or BigBlueButton better?
Neither is universally better. BigBlueButton has the larger community, while Greenlight is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Greenlight and BigBlueButton free and open-source?
Yes. Greenlight is licensed under LGPL-3.0 and BigBlueButton under LGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Greenlight and BigBlueButton with Docker?
Greenlight: yes. BigBlueButton: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Greenlight or BigBlueButton?
Greenlight has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 8,192 MB for BigBlueButton. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.