BigBlueButton vs Openfire
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
BigBlueButton
Virtual classroom and web conferencing for education
VS
Openfire
Real-time collaboration XMPP server written in Java
| Feature | BigBlueButton | Openfire |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Conferencing | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | LGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 8,192 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,182 | ★ 3,052 |
| First released | 2009 | 2004 |
| Replaces | Zoom, Microsoft Teams | Slack, Microsoft Teams |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is BigBlueButton or Openfire better?
Neither is universally better. BigBlueButton has the larger community, while Openfire is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are BigBlueButton and Openfire free and open-source?
Yes. BigBlueButton is licensed under LGPL-3.0 and Openfire under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BigBlueButton and Openfire with Docker?
BigBlueButton: check the project docs for container support. Openfire: yes.