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Zoom vs Jitsi Meet

A side-by-side look at Zoom (the paid SaaS) and Jitsi Meet (the open source alternative). Use this page to decide if the switch fits your team and workflow.

Zoom Jitsi Meet
Tagline Video meetings, webinars and events. Open source video meetings you can self-host or use free.
License Proprietary SaaS Apache-2.0
Pricing Free tier with 40-min group call limit; Pro from $14.99/month. Free to self-host · optional paid hosted plan
Self-host option No Yes — difficulty 3/5
Hosted cloud available Yes (only option) Yes
Desktop apps Varies by product Web only
Mobile apps Official apps typically available iOS, Android
Ad slot — between tables

Best for

Free public meetings or a small self-hosted instance.

Jitsi Meet strengths

  • Free public instance (meet.jit.si) with no sign-up.
  • Self-hostable for privacy.
  • Webhook and SDK integrations available.

Jitsi Meet weaknesses

  • Tuning a self-hosted instance for scale takes ops work.
  • Advanced features (e2ee, breakouts) evolving.
  • No native desktop app.

What's the catch with Zoom?

  • Past security incidents and data-handling concerns.
  • 40-minute limit on free tier.
  • Data travels through Zoom cloud — unacceptable for some regulated use cases.

Still unsure?

Check the full list of alternatives to Zoom: see Zoom alternatives, or learn more about Jitsi Meet on its project page.