Janus vs plugNmeet
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted video conferencing options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Janus
General-purpose, lightweight, minimalist WebRTC Server
VS
plugNmeet
Scalable, open-source web conferencing system
| Feature | Janus | plugNmeet |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Conferencing | Video Conferencing |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | C | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,144 | ★ 518 |
| First released | 2020 | 2022 |
| Replaces | — | Zoom, BigBlueButton |
Why pick each one
Choose Janus if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Mature project with 9.1k GitHub stars
- Written in C
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose plugNmeet if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Janus or plugNmeet better?
Janus is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider plugNmeet if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Janus and plugNmeet free and open-source?
Yes. Janus is licensed under GPL-3.0 and plugNmeet under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Janus and plugNmeet with Docker?
Janus: check the project docs for container support. plugNmeet: yes.