BigBlueButton
Open-source virtual classroom platform built for online education and webinars.
Open source alternative to:
BigBlueButton is an open-source web conferencing system designed specifically for online education and remote learning. It offers a complete virtual classroom experience with video conferencing, shared whiteboards, breakout rooms, polls, presentation mode, annotations, and real-time closed captions, making it far more suited for teaching than general-purpose video tools like Google Meet.
The platform integrates seamlessly with popular Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Moodle, Canvas, Sakai, and Schoology. Teachers can set up virtual rooms, manage participants, present slides, run polls, and record sessions for later playback. BigBlueButton supports multi-user shared notes, allowing students to collaborate in real time during a session.
With over 9,000 GitHub stars and an active community, BigBlueButton is deployed at universities, schools, and online learning platforms worldwide. It is licensed under LGPL-3.0 and can be self-hosted on a dedicated server. For teams and schools wanting a privacy-first alternative to Google Meet, BigBlueButton offers a purpose-built solution.
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Updated 5/12/2026, 10:00:56 AM
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