Greenlight vs Jitsi Videobridge
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted video conferencing options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Greenlight | Jitsi Videobridge |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | Video Conferencing | Video Conferencing |
| License | LGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Ruby | Kotlin |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 852 | ★ 3,105 |
| First released | 2016 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Zoom, Google Meet | Zoom, Twilio |
What are Greenlight and Jitsi Videobridge?
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
Jitsi Videobridge
Jitsi Videobridge is the selective forwarding unit that routes video streams for Jitsi-based conferences. It can be deployed independently to power scalable WebRTC video applications.
- Selective forwarding unit for video
- Scales to many participants
- WebRTC compatible
- Powers Jitsi Meet
Greenlight vs Jitsi Videobridge: key differences
Greenlight is written in Ruby, while Jitsi Videobridge is built with Kotlin. Licensing differs — LGPL-3.0 for Greenlight versus Apache-2.0 for Jitsi Videobridge. Jitsi Videobridge is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Greenlight. Jitsi Videobridge is the more established project (first released 2013), while Greenlight arrived in 2016. Jitsi Videobridge has the considerably larger community, at 3,105 GitHub stars versus 852.
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 Jitsi Videobridge if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Kotlin
Watch out for
- Component of a larger stack
- Complex to tune
Frequently asked questions
Is Greenlight or Jitsi Videobridge better?
Neither is universally better. Jitsi Videobridge 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 Jitsi Videobridge free and open-source?
Yes. Greenlight is licensed under LGPL-3.0 and Jitsi Videobridge under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Greenlight and Jitsi Videobridge with Docker?
Greenlight: yes. Jitsi Videobridge: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Greenlight or Jitsi Videobridge?
Jitsi Videobridge has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Greenlight. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.