2 open source alternatives to Cisco Webex
Enterprise video meetings and webinars from Cisco. Here are the open source projects real teams use instead — ranked by fit, with honest pros and cons for each.
What people don't love about Cisco Webex
- Aging UX compared to Zoom and Meet.
- Enterprise licensing can be opaque.
- Webinar features gated to higher tiers.
Current Cisco Webex pricing (for reference): Free tier limited; Business from $14.50/user/month.
Quick comparison
| Alternative | Best for | License | Self-host | Hosted cloud? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Jitsi Meet Open source video meetings you can self-host or use free. |
Simple, privacy-friendly meetings you can self-host. | Apache-2.0 | ★★★☆☆ | Yes |
|
BigBlueButton Open source web conferencing built for online learning. |
Training, classrooms and structured webinars. | LGPL-3.0 | ★★★★☆ | Yes |
1. Jitsi Meet — Simple, privacy-friendly meetings you can self-host.
Open source video meetings you can self-host or use free.
Strengths
- Free public instance (meet.jit.si) with no sign-up.
- Self-hostable for privacy.
- Webhook and SDK integrations available.
Weaknesses
- Tuning a self-hosted instance for scale takes ops work.
- Advanced features (e2ee, breakouts) evolving.
- No native desktop app.
Jitsi Meet homepage · Source on GitHub · Cisco Webex vs Jitsi Meet →
2. BigBlueButton — Training, classrooms and structured webinars.
Open source web conferencing built for online learning.
Strengths
- Designed for virtual classrooms with whiteboard and polls.
- Recording, breakout rooms, and captions built in.
- Integrates with Moodle and other LMS.
Weaknesses
- Demanding hardware for self-hosting.
- Setup and maintenance are not beginner-friendly.
- UI feels academic, not corporate.
BigBlueButton homepage · Source on GitHub · Cisco Webex vs BigBlueButton →
Not what you're looking for?
Browse other tools in Video Conferencing, or check out open source projects by category on the full category index.
Other SaaS in Video Conferencing
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