Is Jitsi A Better Zoom and Google Meet Alternative for Online Meetings?

Zoom and Meet are commonly used for online meetings, but they have limited control and usage-based costs. When businesses search for better transparency, customization, or flexibility in a tool, Jitsi comes as a solution. However, the question is, how does Jitsi compare to other popular platforms in the market? Is it truly a better solution? In this blog, we will do a detailed comparison of Jitsi with its top alternatives, including mainstream platforms like Zoom and Google Meet.

We will go through their features, pricing, security, use cases, customization, flexibility, and all the essential factors that help you choose the best solution for your unique requirements. So, whether you need a tool for your remote team, an educational platform, or to create your white-label video conferencing software, this article will help you make the most informed decision (plus, it might help you save thousands in recurring costs).

About Jitsi Meet

Jitsi Meet is an encrypted video conferencing platform that allows you to host online meetings. You can start or join audio and video calls for free without creating an account. You just need to open the meeting link in your web browser or mobile app. Jitsi, being an open-source platform, can be self-hosted on any server. This provides you with complete control of the data and infrastructure.

What Does It Offer?

Here are some offerings that make Jitsi Meet outshine other tools:

• No account required to start or join meetings.
• End-to-end encrypted video calls.
• No limits on meeting durations or participants.

Not just this, you will definitely get all the valuable features other platforms offer, like screen sharing, screen recording, chats, raising hands, custom backgrounds, live streaming to YouTube, joining via phone, integrations, and much more.

Jitsi Meet is WebRTC-based, which allows participants to join meetings from their browsers. This eliminates the requirement of installing or using any other software. However, apps for Android and iOS are also available for use.

From the Developer’s POV, Jitsi offers powerful APIs, frame embedding options, and complete codebase access to modify and build upon.

Apart from all these, Jitsi’s primary strength is its control. You can deploy Jitsi on your infrastructure/server, customize the UI, use your security policies, and scale it based on your needs. All this flexibility and control are nearly impossible with SaaS-only video platforms.

What Are the Top Alternatives to Jitsi Meet?

As we checked, Jitsi is a stand-out video conferencing platform that has numerous features. Now, let’s explore some popular software and tools that are often preferred over Jitsi.

Zoom vs Jitsi

While Jitsi Meet is free and open-source, hosting it on our dedicated VPS gives you significant benefits that you cannot get in typical SaaS solutions. With our Jitsi VPS, you get complete root-level control, unlimited hosts, scalable participant capacity, and the ability to customize the UI and branding, all at a fixed monthly cost. This makes it more private and flexible than Zoom and also dramatically more cost-effective. Let’s see how:

Summary of the comparison

Zoom is indeed popular and user-friendly, but as your team grows, it becomes very expensive due to its user-based pricing. For example, for 25 hosts, you will have to pay over $333/mo. On the other hand, with Jitsi hosted on our VPS, it will cost you only $96 with no user-based pricing.

With Jitsi, you can have the same core features with complete ownership, that too with unlimited meeting durations, admin access, and scalable participant limits.

Google Meet vs Jitsi

Google Meet – another widely used online meeting platform. It is primarily preferred because people can directly start their meetings via Gmail and Chat. However, if you need better customizations, privacy, or control, Jitsi would be a better choice.

Summary of the comparison

Google Meet is a convenient choice for businesses already familiar with Google Workspace, but its per-user pricing structure means that scaling to hundreds of hosts can quickly become expensive. Apart from the cost, Jitsi Meet offers key advantages that you cannot get in Google Meet:

• No vendor lock-in – You can use Jitsi without relying on Google accounts and subscriptions.
• Unlimited usage – There are no caps on meeting durations, number of meetings, or host accounts.
• Deployment control – You choose the server location, configuration, branding, and user access.
• Full customization – You can modify the UI, use your custom domain, and tailor the experience to your brand.

Microsoft Teams vs Jitsi

Microsoft Teams is a powerful collaboration tool, especially for organizations using Microsoft 365. It comes with chat, meetings, file sharing, and more in one unified workspace. However, it has its limitations, like flexibility, cost control, and transparency. Let’s understand more:

Summary of the Comparison

Microsoft Teams has strong productivity features, but as a stand-alone video conferencing solution, it is rigid and expensive. With Teams, every user needs a license to host meetings. For large-scale conferences or multiple hosts, your costs will increase dramatically.

On the other hand, with Jitsi, you can run unlimited meetings, invite unlimited users, and retain complete control without per-user costs or ecosystem lock-in. Overall, choose Jitsi if you need a better long-term solution for customization, predictable, and affordable pricing.

Jitsi vs Twilio, Agora, and Daily.co

Some developers prefer Twilio, Agora, and Daily.co for embedding videos in apps. However, their usage-based pricing creates limitations. Let’s compare them with Jitsi hosted on our VPS.

Summary of the comparison

While Twilio, Agora, and Daily.co provide you with a developer-grade SDK, they lock you in their infrastructure and charge you based on usage like users, sessions, minutes, etc. When your traffic grows, your cost will also increase. With Jitsi Meet hosted on your own VPS, you get the same flexibility, you avoid vendor lock-in and variable cost, you retain 100% ownership of your data, and your pricing will be fixed.

Start Hosting Video Conferences without the Installation Hassle

As we have seen above, self-hosting Jitsi Meet gives you several advantages; however, installing it on your VPS and handling the setup without technical understanding can be a bit tricky. Let’s understand how choosing a VPS from AccuWeb Hosting helps you avoid this.

• Choose Your VPS Plan

  As per your expected meeting size and frequency, choose a Jitsi VPS hosting plan. If you are confused, you can contact our support team via live chat, and they will help you choose the best plan for your needs.

• Our Team Will Handle the Installation

  Once we receive your order and payment, our team will configure the VPS and install the Jitsi Meet instance for your use, making it ready for you to use upon delivery.

• Customize Your Instance

  Want to use your own domain? Add a logo? Change colors or enable recording? You’ll have full access to the server and UI.

• Start Hosting Meetings

  You can now create unlimited rooms, invite participants, and manage everything from your private dashboard. There’s no limit on the number of meetings, hosts, or organizers; you will only need to scale your plan when your resource requirement increases.

Jitsi vs SaaS Pricing Model – How Our VPS Beats It?

SaaS pricing models usually scale based on hosts, meeting duration, or participants. You might find it manageable at first, but the costs will start to rise quickly. Whether it’s Zoom, Meet, or Teams, you’ll find yourself paying more as your team grows, even if your actual server resource usage remains low. Here’s how Jitsi on a VPS flips the model:

Self-Hosting vs AccuWeb Hosting’s Jitsi: Which Is Right for You?

Jitsi is open-source, so technically, you can self-host it, but the process is time-consuming and requires significant DevOps knowledge. For most businesses, our VPS hosting offers the best balance between control and convenience.

Hosting Jitsi in Your Country or Region

Latency and performance of the video conferences often depend on where your meetings are hosted. That’s why we offer Jitsi VPS hosting across 15+ global data center locations, allowing you to host meetings closer to your users. Our available hosting locations include:

Final Thoughts

There is no shortage of video conferencing tools out there, but choosing the right tool for your business raises some obvious questions to make an informed decision.

• Do I want full control over my data and infrastructure?
• Do I need a predictable, fixed-cost solution, not per-user pricing?
• Will I eventually need customization, branding, or integration into my product?
• Am I tired of switching plans just to unlock basic features like recordings or longer meetings?

If the answer to most of these is yes, then you’re not just looking for another tool, you’re looking for freedom. That’s where Jitsi will help you.

Jitsi Meet, when hosted on your own VPS, offers a combination of flexibility, scalability, and cost control that no SaaS solution can match. Whether you want to launch a white-label video platform, run a secure education portal, or simply escape the mounting costs of per-user licenses, Jitsi on VPS gives you control without complexity.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is Jitsi Meet really free? What’s the catch?

Yes, Jitsi Meet is completely free and open-source. You can use the hosted version at meet.jit.si or self-host it on your own server without any licensing costs. There’s no catch, but hosting it yourself gives you more control over performance, branding, and data privacy.

2. What are the biggest advantages of Jitsi over Zoom or Google Meet?

Jitsi offers full server control, unlimited hosts, and no meeting duration limits. Unlike Zoom or Google Meet, your data stays on your server, not theirs. Plus, you can customize everything, including the interface and domain, without paying extra for enterprise features.

3. Can I run Jitsi Meet on a VPS?

Absolutely. A VPS is one of the best environments for hosting Jitsi. With dedicated resources, root access, and scalability, a VPS ensures better performance, security, and full deployment control over your video conferencing solution.

4. How does Jitsi compare to developer-focused tools like Twilio or Agora?

Twilio and Agora are API-first platforms that charge based on usage. Jitsi offers similar flexibility with its APIs and SDKs but without per-minute or per-user fees. If you need full-stack video features without recurring usage costs, Jitsi is a strong alternative.

5. Is Jitsi secure enough for business or government use?

Yes, Jitsi supports DTLS-SRTP encryption for multi-party calls and optional end-to-end encryption for 1-on-1 calls. When hosted on your own VPS, you get complete data ownership and can implement custom authentication or network-level security protocols.

6. Does Jitsi Meet work in the browser?

Yes, Jitsi is WebRTC-based and works natively in most modern browsers, no plugins or downloads required. It also offers mobile apps for Android and iOS, and the platform can be embedded into other apps via its iframe API or SDKs.

7. Can I brand or customize the Jitsi interface?

Yes, Jitsi is fully customizable. You can modify the UI, pre-join screens, button texts, domain, and more. It’s ideal for white-label solutions or businesses looking to offer video under their own brand identity.

8. How many participants can join a Jitsi call?

There’s no hard-coded limit. The number of participants you can handle depends on your VPS resources. With high-tier plans, it’s possible to host meetings with 500–1000+ users smoothly by using Jitsi Videobridge and proper configuration.

9. Can I record meetings with Jitsi?

Yes, Jitsi supports server-side recording via Jibri, which can be configured to save recordings locally or stream to platforms like YouTube. When using our VPS hosting, recording functionality is available and customizable.

10. Why choose Jitsi VPS Hosting instead of shared or SaaS platforms?

SaaS platforms lock you into per-user billing and fixed limitations. Shared hosting lacks the performance needed for video. A VPS gives you full control, better performance, unlimited meetings/hosts, and predictable pricing, making it ideal for long-term use.