BigBlueButton is Open-source, But Why Not Free?

BigBlueButton is open-source, but that doesn't mean it won't have any usage cost. Though there is no software or license cost, you need to bear all the resource costs — servers, bandwidth, installation, and maintenance — to use BigBlueButton.

BigBlueButton is Absolutely Free Software Under an Open-source License

If you also have access to a few other resources for free (which are necessary to use BigBlueButton), then you may consider it absolutely free. Like:

• CPU-Intensive Linux Servers or Datacentre — Minimum 8 vCPU & 16 GB RAM
• Public IPs & Unlimited Bandwidth — IPv4, IPv6 & Unlimited Data Transfer Bandwidth
• Maintenance or Support Team — First setup, regular updates & maintenance, support, etc.

If you have the above resources available already or for free, we recommend you self-host BigBlueButton — and we can help you with the first-time setup, installation, support, and more:

• Self-hosted BigBlueButton Mini Cluster Maintenance — $150
• Standalone BigBlueButton Server Annual Maintenance — $699
• Self-hosted BigBlueButton Large Cluster Maintenance — $499
• Self-Hosted BigBlueButton Mini Cluster Setup — $250
• API only BigBlueButton Self-hosted Installation & Rebranding — $45
• BigBlueButton and Greenlight Premium Installation — $100

Self-hosted BigBlueButton Infrastructure Should Be the Only Choice When

• You have your own Data Center, engineers, and technical staff already.
• You have free Azure or AWS credits which can be utilized to run BigBlueButton.
• Government-funded projects where restrictions are applied on cloud-hosting platforms.
• Your own policy or the client's policy doesn't allow outsourcing 3rd party services.
• You want to experiment with a self-hosted BigBlueButton setup without any actual usage.
• Your infrastructure will be too large, such that you can hire a full-time DevOps team.

Our Managed Hosting vs Self-Hosted BigBlueButton

We provision resources and set up your isolated BigBlueButton infrastructure the same as a self-hosted setup. The only difference is we manage it in our infrastructure and we are accountable if anything goes wrong — you can reach out to us directly through Email, WhatsApp, or Phone.

Managed Hosting Monthly & Annual Plans

Available with:

• Fixed Cost
• Unlimited Usage
• ZERO Bandwidth Cost
• Free Maintenance & Support

If things are still not clear for your use case, we're happy to help with a use case analysis, cost assessment, and more. Schedule a Call with us or write to us at info@bigbluebutton.host.